How *could* you spend $100K??

[Shy Tall Guy]

Remember the question I posed in the scruples thread about keeping/returning $100K you found?

Just for the sake of discussion, imagine you did keep the $100,000 in cash you found. Imagine that it was all in freshly printed but non-consecutive serial number $100 bills. Imagine that the armor car company did not know that the money was missing and never would. Also imagine that this is within the US.

How could you spend this money?

I emphasize the "could" and not "would" because it is not as easy as it seems. I am not so interested in what you would spend the money on, although that is an issue, but how you would spend the money without getting into legal trouble.

By legal trouble I do not mean problems with the fact that the money isn't legally yours, but I don't want to be explicit since I want to see how many people pick up on what the underlying legal issues are (beyond the fact that the money is not yours).

 

[Caria Knight]

Of course I wouldn't put it in the bank cause that could lead to questions. I'd pay of all my reg. bills that I'm behind on in cash at a payment center. I'd deposit about $1000 to get a month or two ahead on my car payments. From there on I'd just spend cash on reg things like cloths, toys for my son, a new hair cut and stuff like that. I'd deposit a few hundred here and there and open a few new accounts at different banks (not large accounts). Eventually and sooner then believed, my life would be back to normal. LOL

*edit*

And I'd pay my reg. bills with the cash letting my paychecks add up.

 

[Jersey Citizen]

3 lattes, per day

it wouldn't take long to convert those 100s.

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

Of course I wouldn't put it in the bank cause that could lead to questions.

You bet it would lead to questions even if the armor car company didn't know. The people who would be asking the questions would be the IRS.

I say this because I just got a letter from the IRS that they have a problem with my year 2000 taxes and I think it is because I deposited $10k in my savings account that year that I did not put on my tax return. My taxes are fairly simple; I file a 1040a, put down how much I made, how much I owe them/they owe me, and send it it. No complicated stuff, very 1-2-3 simple, so I think they want to know where that $10k came from.

It is not so simple as to just open a few different accounts; it all goes into one computer, and that much money is hard to hide from the IRS unless you are very careful about how you spend it.

I am lucky in that I could pay my rent in cash if I wished, and I could pay for food, etc. in cash, but I could not pay off any credit card bills with cash as they are in Delaware and NY. I couldn't buy a new car as car dealers report such transactions, as does anybody else who sometimes deals in large cash transactions (such as jewelery stores).

It is not as easy as it sounds.

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

Re: 3 lattes, per day

it wouldn't take long to convert those 100s.

The problem is not that they are 100 dollar bills, the problem is that to spend $100K you will probably attract the attention of the IRS regardless of whether the cash is in ones or twenties.

 

[April]

A little bit here, a little bit there.

A few extra books, an inconspicuous trip to the states. I could get my car serviced. Perhaps a few modestly priced gifts for the hubby.

Stretch it out over a period of years. Never buying too much at one time, so that one could "legitimately" claim that you paid for it all from your paycheck. You know, with a little scrimping you could have bought all that yourself. Innocuous, unobtrusive, not flashy. It takes patience.

 

[Andreina]

100k ?

okay, give me 60min and it would be gone....
car: 25k
pearl necklace: 10k
real estate in romania or bulgeria: 10k
real estate in vienna: 20k (then rent it out and hence make money)
re-vamp our house: 20k
holiday: 15k (round the world, 1 year)

 

[Caria Knight]

If this really happened, I'm lucky in one extra way. I can use cash for just about all my bills (only two or three that I couldn't). My finances have NEVER been routine. I've alway had personal loans from my company or friends (in cash) and money flies in and out of my accounts like mad. I also have two other people in my house who could easily pay the bills so if someone asked why I hadn't paid them I could say they did.

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

100k ?

okay, give me 60min and it would be gone....
car: 25k
pearl necklace: 10k
real estate in romania or bulgeria: 10k
real estate in vienna: 20k (then rent it out and hence make money)
re-vamp our house: 20k
holiday: 15k (round the world, 1 year)

prison: 10 years for tax evasion

The problem is not how would you spend the money, but how could you spend the money without winding up in prison.

 

[Azwed]

Take a trip somewhere. Buy your airline ticket in cash about a week before the flight. Don't do it the day of because that sets of certain red flags on most systems. The problem is going to be how to hide that money.

I mean some of it you could hide on your person in your wallet/jacket pockets. Some you could put in your bags and just explain away that you like to seperate the cash you take with you during trips. I do that all the time because I don't like Travelers Cheques. Some would of course go to buying the Airline ticked and maybe new luggage/Clothes for the trip. I guess you could hide some in your shoes, then wad some more up into your socks.

Might be easier to take a cruise somewhere and not take the plane. Sneaking 100,000 in cash onto a cruise trip would be easier then sneaking it onto a plane.

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

A little bit here, a little bit there.

A few extra books, an inconspicuous trip to the states.

Remember, this is in the states; if you buy a relatively expensive (more than $100) airline ticket with cash, you are going to attract attention as the airline people are required by law to report such transactions.

You might not even get on the plane and if you are carrying any significant amount of cash on you, it will be confiscated and you will have to spend more money to get it back than it is worth (if it is less than about $10k).

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

Take a trip somewhere. Buy your airline ticket in cash about a week before the flight. Don't do it the day of because that sets of certain red flags on most systems. The problem is going to be how to hide that money.

That would flag you anyway - it would just give them more time to investigate you before you got on the plane. The best way would to be use a credit card to pay for your airline ticket if you were going to be smuggling money out of the country.

As for explaining away the money on your person:

Suspicious Activity Report (SAR, U.S. Treasury Form 90-22.47): All financial institutions in the United States are required to make this report for various suspicious transactions including those totaling $5,000 or more that involve potential money laundering or other violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.

Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments (CMIR, U.S. Customs Form 4790): Report required for the physical transport of currency or bearer monetary instruments over $10,000 into or out of the United States.

Currency Transaction Report (CTR, IRS Form 4789): Report required for cash transactions of more than $10,000 conducted at financial institutions.

You would be arrested for smuggling money out of the US.

 

[Azwed]

Ackk damn i forgot about those little strips. The tiny strips they put in the money can be picked up by metal detectors/x-ray machines.

Just take a cruise then. Not as much security on those.

 

[Jersey Citizen]

Alright already!

Just give 25% to the local money launderer, and take the $75k and have a ball. That's what we have those people for.

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

I also have two other people in my house who could easily pay the bills so if someone asked why I hadn't paid them I could say they did.

The more people know you have the money the more you risk going to prison; federal programs give rewards of up to 50% of such confiscated monies to the people who would turn you in. Could you trust your friends not to turn you in for a 50,000 dollar reward??

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

Ackk damn i forgot about those little strips. The tiny strips they put in the money can be picked up by metal detectors/x-ray machines.

I do not believe this; those threads are plastic not metal, and the XRAY machines would not see anything special even if they were metal. If the strips weren't there the XRAY machines would still see the blocks of money even if you hid them inside a cutout in a book (different density than paper).

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

Re: Alright already!

Just give 25% to the local money launderer, and take the $75k and have a ball. That's what we have those people for.

And how would you be sure that they wouldn't rip you off. These people launder money for organized crime, not as a public service. They don't rip off crime lords and drug dealers because it is in their best interest not to, but you they could rip off with impunity - who are you going to report them to, the IRS?

There was a guy in your area that did just this and went around flashing money until he wised up, and then tried to launder it and almost got murdered dealing with the wrong people. Eventually he was caught, but he was aquitted. He did loose all the money though.

 

[xzchief]

I give up.

OK, STG. What's the correct answer? How could we spend the $100,000?

 

[Hamletmaschine]

Not a problem

A little bit here, a little bit there.

A few extra books, an inconspicuous trip to the states. I could get my car serviced. Perhaps a few modestly priced gifts for the hubby.

Stretch it out over a period of years. Never buying too much at one time, so that one could "legitimately" claim that you paid for it all from your paycheck. You know, with a little scrimping you could have bought all that yourself. Innocuous, unobtrusive, not flashy. It takes patience.

I think April has the right idea, here. Spending it slowly, in dribs and drabs, over the course of several years wouldn't attract any attention at all.

The problem is that most people aren't disciplined enough to do that (as all the bankrupt lottery winners could attest).

~H~

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

Re: I give up.

OK, STG. What's the correct answer? How could we spend the $100,000?

Very carefully!

 

[Azwed]

I do not believe this; those threads are plastic not metal, and the XRAY machines would not see anything special even if they were metal. If the strips weren't there the XRAY machines would still see the blocks of money even if you hid them inside a cutout in a book (different density than paper).

That is just a rumor I have heard. I know it is something they were planning to do in order to help keep track of money leaving the states.

 

[Andreina]

prison: 10 years for tax evasion

The problem is not how would you spend the money, but how could you spend the money without winding up in prison.

who said i'd be doing it in the UK or US?.... United Arab Emirates.... no taxes to be paid there

 

[Gilly Bean]

Money orders are nice for paying bills that don't accept cash, so things like credit card bills would actually be able to be paid off, a bit at a time. The company who sells the money orders don't keep track of who specifically buys them. The company you pay into may check, but overall, a few payments here and there won't be noticed.

 

[Caria Knight]

The more people know you have the money the more you risk going to prison; federal programs give rewards of up to 50% of such confiscated monies to the people who would turn you in. Could you trust your friends not to turn you in for a 50,000 dollar reward??

Yes, I could trust them.

 

[VanB]

STG

Simple

I travel a lot (30 trips last year) mostly to countries where the good old US greenback is the preferred form of payment - hard currency not credit cards. All transactions on an NQA (no questions asked) basis. Let me tell you $100k would go a very, very long way in these places.

But - for those who don't get out so much the answer is to spend it slowly and in smallish amount. uy your groceries cash, buy clothes cash, go out cash etc. you don't spend much of our own money (although you need to be seen to be paying bills etc.) and over a period you save the equivalent - apparently legitimately.