By: A.J. Cook


Anthony Asbridge told car dealer Phillip C. McLamb he wanted to buy a new Lincoln with cash. "My brother-in-law wants to buy the car, but he is in a situation right now where he can't buy it himself. He has problems with the drug people so he can't have a car in his name. One problem is the reporting stuff."

McLamb, who owned the Smithfield, N.C., Ford-Lincoln-Mercury dealership, said, "I run a straight up business, but there are ways to do that, that don't get anybody in trouble. It can be quite a serious problem if you don't do it right."

Federal law requires businesses that receive more than $10,000 in cash or cashier's check to report the transaction to the Internal Revenue Service. With this information it targets drug dealers and other illegal operations that don't pay taxes.

The dealer suggested Asbridge pay about $9,000 in cash and either finance the balance or pay it with separate cashier's checks each for less than $10,000. "If the IRS ever questions me, this conversation never existed." Noting he was supposed to report a purchase broken down in checks or cash under $10,000 to evade reporting requirements. "But you know, you can't live by the letter of the law."

Asbridge said he'd call back after talking to his brother-in-law.

The next day Asbridge phoned the auto dealer and agreed to buy the Lincoln. They discussed terms again, and again McLamb cautioned the buyer not to bring cash or cashier's checks of more than $10,000.

The next day Asbridge went to the dealership with three cashier's checks, each for less than $10,000. After the bookkeeper computed the balance due, Asbridge said he would get the cash from his car, and so he left the office.

That signaled Asbridge's fellow IRS agents, stationed outside, to swoop down on the dealership and seize documentation of this and prior money laundering deals.

The IRS had suspected McLamb often violated the reporting law, so it assigned Asbridge, who wore a hidden tape recorder, to the case. McLamb was convicted of money laundering and sentenced to concurrent terms of 71 months and 60 months.

The Moral: Taxes could be lower for everyone if more such lambs were led to slaughter.