Craig Panzera, $19M Money Laundering Scheme, New York 2024

BROOKLYN, NY – Belair Payroll Services, Inc., a now-defunct check cashing company based in Flushing, New York, and its owner Craig Panzera, 47, have pleaded guilty to failing to follow reporting and anti-money laundering requirements for over $19 million in transactions in violation of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).

Panzera also pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States by willfully failing to pay income and payroll taxes.

As part of the guilty plea, Belair will forfeit $3,267,252.10, and Panzera will pay restitution in the amount of $946,841.17 to the IRS.

“As today’s guilty pleas make clear, Panzera used the hard working residential community of Queens as a cover for his illegal schemes,” stated United States Attorney Loretta E. Lynch. “Under the guise of offering much needed financial services to the community, Panzera instead operated Belair as a crooked enterprise, hiding illicit transactions, lining his own pockets and evading taxes.”

According to court filings, from June 2009 through June 2011, numerous checks drawn on bank accounts of shell corporations were presented to Belair employees to be cashed at Belair. The checks appeared to be related to health care services, but in fact, the corporations did no legitimate business. The shell corporations and the corresponding bank accounts on which the checks were written were established in the names of foreign nationals, many of whom were located overseas.

Belair accepted the checks and, in return, provided cash in excess of $10,000 per check. Panzera and others at Belair intentionally failed to require or obtain identification documents or information from the individuals presenting the checks. Belair filed CTRs falsely stating that the checks were cashed by the foreign nationals who set up the shell corporations, and with respect to certain CTRs, failed to indicate the full amount of cash provided to the individuals.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Patricia E. Notopoulos and Trial Attorneys Claiborne W. Porter, Kevin G. Mosley, and Darrin McCullough of the Criminal Division’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section (AFMLS).

The guilty pleas were accepted by United States District Judge Frederic Block.

Related Federal Cases