The U.S. Treasury Department’s financial crimes unit has asked banks to watch for signs of identity theft, payroll tax fraud and money laundering linked to hiring people living in the country illegally, marking the latest move in President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration, the Associated Press reported.The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on Friday issued guidance to financial institutions to monitor for a host of potential “red flags” associated with payroll schemes involving unauthorized workers.The move follows an executive order Trump signed in May requiring banks to take a closer look at their customers’ citizenship status.The order directs bank regulators and government agencies to identify signs that people without legal status may be opening bank accounts or obtaining loans and credit cards.However, the measure stopped short of requiring banks to collect citizenship information from all customers, despite previous reports that the White House was considering a mandatory requirement.While the order does not call for widespread restrictions on banking services, it is expected to discourage people living in the United States illegally from engaging with the country’s financial system.Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said the administration “will not allow illegal aliens to abuse financial institutions to steal billions of dollars from hardworking American taxpayers.”
“Schemes to pay undocumented workers often rely on access to the US financial system, including US banks,” he said.Banks in the United States have not typically collected information on customers’ nationality or immigration status, meaning there are no reliable public estimates of the risks these customers pose to the financial system.The banking industry has lobbied against proposals that would make citizenship verification mandatory, arguing that such requirements would be costly and create significant administrative burdens.The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) report asks financial institutions to remain alert for more than a dozen potential “red flags” that could indicate that an individual is residing in the United States illegally. (AP)
