DC - Savvas Savopoulos, family & Veralicia Figueroa murdered; Daron Wint Arrested #5

[BellaVita]

And believe you would need a credit card or debit card with CC logo to order Uber car

I'm thinking prepaid debit????

 

[Elley Mae]

Since banks don't keep a lot of cash on hand anymore perhaps that is all BOA was able to hand out on short notice? Maybe SS asked for a lot more and was still trying to get more during the flurry of phone calls before noon. And in general response to other posts, SS was breaking no regulations by withdrawing his own cash. However much it was. I'm sure the AML software at BOA kicked in and a CTR was generated automatically. Even if done at different branches for amounts under $10,000 at each branch, the daily AML reports would have caught it and aggregated the amounts and a CTR would have been filed at this point. Customer does not have to be present for that report to generate. The IRS/Treasury receives millions of these reports every year. Not a big deal. What is a big deal is a SAR regarding suspicious activity in relation to fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, etc. And the customer is NEVER to be informed that a SAR is being filed. I just don't see that bank management was skirting regulations. IMO.

I withdrew 5000 cash about a month or so ago and my teller had to get more money from another teller. jmo idk I think they keep the tellers at a minimal amount, jut like most cash operating business's they have drop boxes to put excess cash/ big bills.

 

[katydid23]

If Amy went out and Phillip was home sick, I think the housekeeper might stay...because she was too responsible or kind hearted to leave a sick child alone in the house. IF Amy was carjacked...that might be how he gained entry...with Amy. Then they wait for SS.

I think he entered the house with either VF or AS at knifepoint. He may have carjacked Amy and forced her to return home OR it is quite possible that he grabbed VF as she walked out the door, and forced his way back inside with her, knife to her throat.

 

[Canaille]

So we see the kind of help his brothers gave him:

http://theweeklychallenger.com/kill...-family-spent-1000-on-cab-fair-from-ny-to-dc/

Poor reporting again???

"The first employee went inside the branch, received four bundles of cash from a bank manager, and put them in their pockets. Outside, a second employee received the four bundles and placed them in a red striped bag. This employee then drove to Mr Savopoulos’ home on Embassy Row to meet the assistant, who placed the four bundles in a manila envelope and put it inside an unlocked red car in the garage."

BBM and underscored by me

I didn't realize that an employee drove to the S home to meet the assistant.

 

[katydid23]

Poor reporting again???

"The first employee went inside the branch, received four bundles of cash from a bank manager, and put them in their pockets. Outside, a second employee received the four bundles and placed them in a red striped bag. This employee then drove to Mr Savopoulos’ home on Embassy Row to meet the assistant, who placed the four bundles in a manila envelope and put it inside an unlocked red car in the garage."

BBM and underscored by me

I didn't realize that an employee drove to the S home to meet the assistant.

I think that is misreporting. :waitasec:

 

[Skigirl]

I've wondered the same thing: whether SS was periodically withdrawing large sums of cash, and this is what triggered the crime, if such habits were known. This would require an insider. (For example, someone who drove him to the bank for each pickup.)

As for the purpose, could SS be transporting cash to Puerto Rico periodically to deposit in his hedge fund? Puerto Rico is a legal tax haven for permanent residents, and SS was reportedly interested in establishing permanent residency there, presumably for the tax advantages. He reportedly made frequent trips to Puerto Rico specifically for his hedge fund. I presume that this was less about managing the hedge fund (which could be done from anywhere) than to establish that he spent at least half a year in Puerto Rico, as is required for residency declaration, and perhaps to make in-person cash deposits.

$40K per week is $2 million in annual deposits. Maybe someone who knew DW thought that SS had a huge sum of cash in a safe at the house, not knowing about the final destination of the funds (Puerto Rico in this very speculative scenario).

Source for regular trips to Puerto Rico for his hedge fund:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...family-beloved-neighborhood-article-1.2232256

Source for interest in Puerto Rico for permanent residency: CNN. "A close business associate said Savopoulos was working on making Puerto Rico a permanent residence for himself and his family." http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/21/us/washington-mansion-fire-slayings-savopoulos-family/

Sources for Puerto Rico as legal tax haven:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurengensler/2015/02/11/puerto-rico-new-age-tax-haven/
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/07/realestate/puerto-rico-luring-buyers-with-tax-breaks.html

That's very interesting... but what advantage would there be to carrying a suitcase full of cash over wiring it to PR? It just seems safer and easier to me to move money by electronic or paper means. There would have to be some upside of moving cash anyplace for anyone to want to do it.

 

[Mrs G Norris]

So we see the kind of help his brothers gave him:

http://theweeklychallenger.com/kill...-family-spent-1000-on-cab-fair-from-ny-to-dc/

This may be another reason he went back to DC .. to get with his brothers.

 

[popsicle]

Anyone else notice this pic where the ATF agent needs the ammonia ampule?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...iller-spent-1-000-cab-NY-DC-flee-manhunt.html

 

[Cassie P]

Puerto Rico is part of the U.S. That's one reason it's an attractive tax haven, because one can retain U.S. citizenship while being a permanent resident (at least half the year) in Puerto Rico.

There are no limits for carrying cash on U.S. flights. Travel outside the U.S., cash has to be declared.

Wires are traceable events. Cash is traceable only to the point it becomes cash.

Source: http://www.airsafe.com/issues/baggage/cash.htm

A question I have, why move the family to PR? They all seem so deeply attached to the community, well liked and respected. Could SS have had some security concerns? Just wondering.

 

[stmarysmead]

CNN Jake Tapper - Pam Brown report -

- Detectives following trail of money
- Two people in car with Wint cashed money orders for $2,500 each


Well, I doubt they were paid $2500 each to ride with him as moral support as he turned himself in. Good luck to their lawyers, with that story.

But they were paid for ....something.

 

[stmarysmead]

A question I have, why move the family to PR? They all seem so deeply attached to the community, well liked and respected. Could SS have had some security concerns? Just wondering.

Phillip might soon have been old enough for boarding school. The older girl would be in College...the other soon to follow. It would be just the two of them. Maybe they were going to spend part of the year there (like the D.C. Winters) and part of the year in DC.

 

[katydid23]

A question I have, why move the family to PR? They all seem so deeply attached to the community, well liked and respected. Could SS have had some security concerns? Just wondering.

Are we sure the family was moving to PR? I know it was said he was taking a job there. But I don't know the logistics yet.

 

[jd dickinson]

A question I have, why move the family to PR? They all seem so deeply attached to the community, well liked and respected. Could SS have had some security concerns? Just wondering.

I don't think SS had security concerns. Also, I'm not sure that he would actually need to move his family to P.R. For one thing, the D.C. house was in the name of a trust, so the family already lacked a U.S. domestic footprint. If SS could make a legitimate case that he was spending at least half the year in P.R., and had a residence in his name (or with AS) there as well, that might be enough.

I think his interest in P.R. was mostly as a tax haven. His hedge fund operated out of P.R. while being legally based in British Virgin Islands. British Virgin Islands is separately the world's biggest corporate tax haven (and leading corporate domicile), with 500,000 businesses registered there. The combination of a corporation based in British Virgin Islands while operating out of Puerto Rico is practically the definition of a personal corporation set up to avoid taxes, legally.

Source, British Virgin Islands: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_haven

 

[SpanishInquisition]

CNN Jake Tapper - Pam Brown report -

- Detectives following trail of money
- Two people in car with Wint cashed money orders for $2,500 each


Well, I doubt they were paid $2500 each to ride with him as moral support as he turned himself in. Good luck to their lawyers, with that story.

But they were paid for ....something.

That is a curious amount as that is only 1/16th of the haul each if $40K was delivered.

 

[epiphany]

Two in the car had purchased money orders for him

Two had cashed money orders worth $2500 each

Wint could have paid them a few hundred to purchase money orders and/or cash couple of them FOR HIM

These individuals may have been involved only after the major crimes had been committed

 

[jd dickinson]

That's very interesting... but what advantage would there be to carrying a suitcase full of cash over wiring it to PR? It just seems safer and easier to me to move money by electronic or paper means. There would have to be some upside of moving cash anyplace for anyone to want to do it.

Yes, the upside is a non-taxable / non-traceable withdrawal of funds from the taxable 50 states to the tax haven Puerto Rico. If those funds are coming out of a corporate account, that should be a taxable event, namely earned income, dividend, capital gain, etc.

Let's say I'm the owner of ACME, Inc, a privately held corporation. I could take out business bank loans against my inventory and construction loans against my contracts, but not actually use that cash (or all of it) in my business. I could just use the loans like a personal ATM. I could fly the cash to Puerto Rico and use it for my hedge fund, tax-free. As long as the bank gets its payments on time, it doesn't know any better. As long as the company isn't audited by the IRS (a rare event), the IRS doesn't know.

I'm not saying that this is what happened, but rather answering your question as to what is the upside of moving cash to a tax haven instead of sending a wire. In practice, I think most people using off-shore tax havens actually try to move their money around electronically to various locales to make it hard to trace. (Instead of moving money from A to B, they move it from A to J to Z to B.) However, if one were already making regular trips to the tax haven for other reasons (to establish residency), it might seem simpler just to carry cash for each trip. For example, an average of $40K cash per week.

 

[Isabelle]

From where is the video showing the person in a hoodie running w hole carrying what looks like a white bucket? Looks like the person runs past a blue dumpster. SS' home wouldnt have a dumpster behind it?? Is this video near the church where the car was burned? Thanks

 

[Elley Mae]

From where is the video showing the person in a hoodie running w hole carrying what looks like a white bucket? Looks like the person runs past a blue dumpster. SS' home wouldnt have a dumpster behind it?? Is this video near the church where the car was burned? Thanks

IIRC it is at the shopping center next to the church were the porsche was left and torched. The building is the back of the end business in the mall( defense shopping center) iirc the church addy is 8201 annapolis rd., here, https://www.google.com/maps/place/8...2!3m1!1s0x89b7c10758176c95:0xfb71c0f96ad9143b

it has been reported that he was living less then 2 miles from this location. jmo idk

 

[Keefer]

Federal Banking Rules on Withdrawing Large Sums of Cash

http://finance.zacks.com/federal-banking-rules-withdrawing-large-sums-cash-1696.html

I can tell you a few stories about people that have money and how the bank treats them and how they treat their banks. But first and foremost I bet that what ever SS asked the bank to do they did it. As the saying goes, you don't know what you don't know. Some customers pretty much kinda own their branch, there are lots of rich people. jmo idk

Not buying that. Maybe if mr. S showed up in person but over the phone or by proxy? guess we will have to wait and see if any details come out about the money. Btw is that bacon in the pan?

 

[katydid23]

I still want to know what was in that bucket. It seems like such a bulky, awkward thing to carry when trying to lay low and be unnoticed. I am sure there were lost of backpacks in Phillips room. Why a bucket and not a duffel bag or pack?