Charged Under 31 U.S.C. 5324 What Happens Next

A structuring charge usually arrives after the investigation is finished rather than at its start. By the time a summons or an arrest happens, the account history has been read, the deposit slips have been sorted, and a chart has been built. What follows is procedural, and knowing the sequence removes some of the uncertainty from a period that is otherwise difficult to plan around.

This page describes what the first weeks look like in the Eastern District of Virginia and what defense work is available in each of them.

On this page

From Charge to First Appearance

Structuring cases often proceed by summons rather than arrest, particularly where the person has a business, a fixed address, and no history. A summons directs an appearance in court on a stated date. Where an arrest occurs instead, the first appearance follows promptly and covers identity, the charge, the right to counsel, and release.

The first appearance is short and is not the occasion for arguing the case. It is, however, where release terms are set, and those terms shape the months that follow. Counsel who has already gathered employment records, residence history, passport status, and a proposed structure for supervision is in a better position at that hearing than counsel who is meeting the client that morning.

Release Conditions and Running a Business

Release conditions in currency cases frequently touch the thing the client needs most, which is the ability to keep operating. Conditions can reach travel, contact with employees who may be witnesses, financial reporting, and in some matters the handling of currency itself.

Each of those is negotiable at the margins if the practical consequences are explained with evidence. A condition that would close a business is different from one that inconveniences a defendant, and courts respond to specifics: payroll schedules, supplier terms, the number of people employed, and what a proposed alternative would actually look like in operation. Conditions can also be revisited as a case develops, which is worth knowing at the outset rather than discovering later.

Discovery in a Records Case

Structuring discovery is documentary and large. It typically includes account statements, deposit tickets, teller records, institutional reporting, transaction monitoring output, agent reports of interviews, grand jury material where disclosure is required, and a summary chart prepared for trial.

The chart deserves particular attention, because it is an argument in the shape of a document. How it was assembled is examinable: which accounts were included, what window was chosen, whether transfers between the client’s own accounts were counted as separate transactions, whether deposits by employees were attributed to the client, and what operational context was left out. Requests for the underlying data behind a summary are made early, since the answer often takes time to produce.

Defense discovery runs in parallel. Business records that explain the pattern are gathered from the client rather than from the government, and they are gathered before systems overwrite them.

The Seized Account

Where funds have been seized or restrained, that proceeding runs on its own track with its own filings and its own statutory deadlines. It does not pause because a criminal case has been filed, and a claim has to be made in the correct form and on time or the argument is lost.

Because those deadlines come from statute rather than from local practice, they are confirmed with counsel as soon as a notice arrives. The interaction between the two proceedings also requires care, since positions taken in one can affect the other and are coordinated deliberately rather than handled by separate people working independently.

The Pace of This District

The Eastern District of Virginia sets criminal matters on a short schedule. Motions deadlines and a trial date arrive quickly after arraignment, and extensions are not assumed. For a defendant, that has one clear implication: investigation that has not started by arraignment may not finish in time to matter.

It also has an advantage. A case that is going to resolve resolves sooner here than in many districts, and the period of uncertainty is correspondingly shorter. Either way, the work is front-loaded, and the client who begins assembling records immediately is in a materially different position from the one who waits.

Preserving the File

Once a charge is known, ordinary deletion becomes a problem. Retention schedules that overwrite point-of-sale data, discard deposit logs, cycle security footage, or purge email are suspended in writing, and the instruction is documented so it can be shown later. Conduct that would have been routine housekeeping is read differently once an investigation is known, and it can add an obstruction question to a case that did not have one.

The same instruction goes to anyone who holds relevant material: a bookkeeper, an accountant, a payroll provider, a bank relationship manager. Employees who may be interviewed are told, in neutral terms, that they are free to speak with anyone or to decline, and that they may consult their own counsel. Nothing said to them should suggest what their account ought to be.

Frequently Asked Questions

I received a summons rather than being arrested. Is that better?

It usually reflects an assessment that the person is not a flight risk and not a danger, which is a reasonable starting point for release terms. It does not indicate anything about the strength of the case. The date on the summons is firm, and the period before it is used to gather records and to prepare for the release hearing rather than treated as a pause.

Can I keep running my business while the case is pending?

In most cases yes, subject to the release conditions the court sets. Where a proposed condition would prevent normal operation, the practical effect is explained to the court with specifics rather than described in general terms. Banking relationships are a separate problem, since institutions sometimes close accounts on their own initiative, and that is planned for early.

My employees are being interviewed. What should I do?

Tell them the truth about their options in neutral terms: they may speak with anyone, they may decline, and they may consult their own counsel. Do not suggest what they should say, and do not ask them to report back on what was asked. Both create serious risk. Where an employee has exposure of their own, separate counsel is the right answer and is arranged before an interview rather than after.

How long will the case take?

This district moves criminal matters on a short schedule, so the interval between arraignment and a trial date is compressed. The exact schedule is set by the court in the particular case. The consequence for the defense is that investigation begins immediately, because the calendar will not wait for records that could have been requested earlier.

Will the seized funds be released when the case ends?

Not automatically. The disposition of seized funds is resolved within the forfeiture proceeding or as part of a negotiated resolution, and it is addressed deliberately rather than left to follow the criminal outcome. The filings and deadlines in that proceeding are statutory, so they are confirmed with counsel as soon as a notice of seizure is received.

Can this still be resolved without a trial?

Most federal matters resolve without one, and structuring cases are no exception. What a resolution looks like depends on the transaction set the government can support, on the value figure used in the guidelines calculation, and on the disposition of any seized funds. Those are the things a defense works on from the first week, whether the case ends in a negotiated resolution or in a trial.

Working With Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C.

The first weeks after a structuring charge decide what evidence still exists, and the records that explain a deposit pattern do not survive on their own.

Mr. Sris, Owner and Founder of Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., is a former prosecutor and is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York. The firm has been practicing since 1997. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys handle criminal defense matters across those jurisdictions, which matters in federal practice because a single investigation frequently reaches conduct, witnesses, and records in more than one state. Mr. Sris brings a background in accounting and information systems from George Mason University, applied to complex financial and technology-related cases.

The firm serves Northern Virginia from 1655 Fort Myer Dr, Suite 700, Room 719, Arlington, VA 22209 and central Virginia from 7400 Beaufont Springs Drive, Suite 300, Room 395, Richmond, VA 23225. By appointment. Call (888) 437-7747 to schedule. Request a consultation. Reach our location at (888) 437-7747.

This page provides general information about what happens after a federal charge under 31 U.S.C. § 5324 and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Case results depend on a variety of factors unique to each case. Results may vary.

Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Attorney responsible for this advertising: Mr. Sris.

Being charged is one stage of the case. Our page on structuring charges sets out the offence from start to finish.