(Worthy Insights) – Federal law enforcement exploited the Suspicious Activity Report system to access and surveil Americans’ private financial data without warrants or probable cause, according to a report from the House Judiciary Committee.
The FBI “manipulated” the SAR filing process by pressuring banks to file reports on individuals the FBI deems “suspicious,” making financial institutions “de facto arms of law enforcement,” the interim report released Friday said. SARs do not require any legal process, granting officials “virtually unchecked access” to “confidential and highly sensitive information.”
The Republican-led oversight committee accused the FBI of circumventing the Bank Secrecy Act, which specifies that it is a bank’s responsibility to file a SAR when it identifies a “suspicious transaction relevant to a possible violation of law or regulation.” [ Source (Read More…) ]
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