He either believes he's clever or your bank is stupid or both. It's structuring. If you saw him put the cash in a brief case, your SAR will say that. If he went to his safe deposit box immediately after each withdrawal, your SAR will say that.

Thanks for the information. I agree with the structuring. (For me a large withdrawal would be $200.)

Yep, I would file for structuring on that, regardless of where the client is taking the money. And even though he is going into the safe deposit booth, you probably aren't seeing him actually placing the cash in there. For all you know he may be taking more cash out of there to go with what he has from your teller.

When Y2K was on the horizon I had several clients who withdrew large amounts of cash. Some took it home, but one woman straight up told me that she was putting it in her safe deposit box. I kept my mouth shut, but my thought process was that if the whole system collapsed on 01/01/00 then the chances of her getting inside the bank to get into that SDB were slim.

If I present audio and video evidence to the manager of a bank in NYC that there is inappropriately confiscated cash and gold coins in a safe deposit box, is the manager obligated to file a report or does he have the right to seal the box or prevent access to the person who rented the box?? I want to prevent the contents from disappearing until the abysmally slow legal system runs its course.

You need to talk to legal counsel. The only avenue to prevent someone access to their own safe deposit box would be through a court order.