Ocean Bank of Miami, Florida entered a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with DOJ and paid concurrent civil money penalties of $10.9 million to FDIC, FinCEN, and Florida OFR in August 2011, forfeiting $10,988,136 in drug trafficking proceeds laundered through five bank accounts — representing the fourth regulatory intervention against Ocean Bank since at least 2007 for chronic BSA/AML compliance failures.

Ocean Bank — $10.9 Million BSA Penalty, Drug Proceeds Forfeiture, Miami (2011)

Outcome: Ocean Bank of Miami, Florida entered a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the DOJ in August 2011, forfeiting $10,988,136 in drug trafficking proceeds laundered through five bank accounts, while simultaneously paying concurrent civil money penalties of $10.9 million to the FDIC, FinCEN, and Florida Office of Financial Regulation — the fourth regulatory enforcement action against Ocean Bank since 2007 for chronic, systemic BSA/AML compliance failures.

Ocean Bank, a community bank headquartered in Miami, Florida serving the South Florida market, had a documented history of persistent BSA/AML compliance failures dating back to at least 2007. In 2007, the FDIC and Florida OFR jointly issued a Cease and Desist Order to Ocean Bank following its failure to correct chronic problems in its BSA/AML program — problems that had been identified in prior examinations and had not been adequately remediated.

Despite the 2007 Cease and Desist Order, Ocean Bank failed to implement the required improvements. The bank's compliance failures included: failure to develop adequate customer profiles (Know Your Customer/due diligence), failure to maintain account monitoring systems capable of identifying suspicious activity, failure to identify high-risk customers and transactions, failure to identify activity warranting SAR filings, and failure to maintain adequately trained BSA compliance staff. In May 2011, the 2007 Cease and Desist Order was replaced by a modified Consent Order — but by this time, criminal investigation had already identified that drug trafficking proceeds had been laundered through five specific Ocean Bank accounts during the period of the bank's compliance failures.

The August 22, 2011 coordinated resolution included: a DOJ Deferred Prosecution Agreement and forfeiture of $10,988,136 (representing drug trafficking proceeds laundered through the five accounts identified by investigators), concurrent FDIC civil money penalties, FinCEN civil money penalties, and Florida OFR civil money penalties totaling approximately $10.9 million.

Primary Source: FinCEN Press Release — FDIC, FinCEN, and Florida OFR Assess $10.9 Million Against Ocean Bank