Accounts closed due to banking decision

[Abyrns]

I am a 19 year old student and about 8 months ago a friend approached me and asked if her friends from the east coast could put money into my Bank of America account and I would get $150 every time I would withdraw and give it to her. I don't have a job because I go to school more than full time so I agreed considering she comes from a rich family and I had known her for about 6 years. The deposits were cash counter deposits which means they deposited cash at a Bank of America and only had to give the account number it was being deposited to. The deposits were always around $9000 and I made these withdrawals maybe 25 or so times throughout the months. Yesterday I received a letter saying that Bank of America does not want to do business with me and that it was a banking decision and no other information would be given and my savings that I had in my account would be sent to me in the mail by check. I would be fine with all of this considering I only had about $1300 in my account besides the fact that they closed all of my accounts (Credit Card, Savings, and 2 checking) except that my mom was on my savings and one checking account so they closed all of her accounts as well (the ones not with me also). The friend who I made the withdrawals for told me sorry when I told her and that there's nothing she can do and also would not elaborate on where the money comes from or where it goes either when I asked. I've been scanning the internet for about 7 hours reading everything there is about banking laws and such and have come to the conclusion that I am in trouble but of what I'm not sure, I've read a lot about structuring laws and I don't know if I would be guilty of that considering I didn't deposit the money or chose the amount, but just withdrew it. I cannot access my online bank information and don't have any statements since they were all paperless and online but on estimation adding everything up by memory the withdrawal amount had to have been somewhere in the quarter of a million dollar range. The only thing I know about whoever deposited it is the bank in which they did on the east coast, policy did not require anything from them to make the deposits. I also understand that there obviously had to have been SAR and CRT reports filed about me by the Bank of America tellers, because although I live in Southern California a 19 year old making these withdrawals is obviously out of the ordinary. I now know how stupid me being apart of this was but at the time over the course of me doing that I wasn't aware of any of the banking laws nor was I informed but the measly $150 I received was a blessing when I had no income so I never questioned it. Now my moms accounts are frozen along with mine and we aren't sure what to do now, I have not even told her about what I have been doing because I know she will just be disappointed that I did all of that just for some money since she works her ass of to provide our family with everything she can afford.

 

[cbg]

Lawyer. Now. Don't even bother telling me you can't afford one. You can't afford not to. You fell for one of the oldest scams in the book and you are in serious trouble.

 

[ElleMD]

Ditto! And apologize to your mother as you just got her in a heap of trouble by being naïve and not doing any research or asking any questions before involving an account with her name on it.

 

[adjusterjack]

Ditto, ditto, and ditto.

You are an accomplice to a variety of crimes including, but not limited to, money laundering and could potentially spend many years in prison.

Be afraid, very afraid, and hire a criminal defense attorney right now.

 

[army judge]

You're probably just about tapped out financially, you're nervous, and you're afraid.
No worries, mate, if you're approached by the AUTHORITIES, simply SILENCE YOURSELF, INVOKE, say, "Sorry, I'm invoking my constitutional privilege to remain silent, and respectfully refuse to answer any questions about this matter. Thank you."

Now, no matter what the AUTHORITIES do or say, repeat, "Sorry, I've invoked."

Trust me, the AUTHORITIES are very smart, they will try to get you to blab, stay on message.

You could be arrested, if you are, cooperate with the arrest, booking, and court processes.
Eventually you'll see a judge, probably be released on your signature and promise to appear in court as directed.
When the opportunity presents itself, you ask the judge to appoint a public defender to represent you.
Don't discuss the case, and don't admit to anything, you aren't required to explain.
Besides, no matter what you say, THEY think you're a liar and a crook.
So, don't blab, discuss the case and your options with your public defender.
If mom is arrested, make sure she does as I've instructed you.

As others have said, this is very serious.
That said, you're a scapegoat.
Your "rich" pal used you to skirt the system, launder and move some very dirty money.
You're not even a minnow, you're an amoeba.
Your "rich" pals are killer whales and great white sharks.
Your public defender will eventually position you to "rat" them out.
The AUTHORITIES want brains, not garden slugs.
So, hang in there, be strong, be silent, the path to redemption will be shown to you.
I've done this for several duped clients.
Remember, mums the word. Your US constitution protects citizen, tourist, immigrant, and border invader equally; so relax, for you it won't end that badly, ASSUMING you're telling a close approximation of the truth and not spinning a yarn.