My Bank Called and Said Federal Agents Want My Records
Your bank just called. Someone from the compliance department, maybe the branch manager. They're telling you that federal agents have requested your account records. They might be giving you a heads up, or maybe they've already turned everything over. You're standing there with the phone in your hand wondering what this means.
It means the investigation started months ago.
Welcome to Spodek Law Group. We handle federal financial investigations throughout New York and across the country. If federal agents are requesting your bank records, if you've received notice of a grand jury subpoena, or if your accounts have been frozen - this article explains what's actually happening, what rights you have, and what you should do right now. The situation is serious, but there are steps you can take. The timing of those steps matters enormously.
Most people assume that when the bank calls, it's early warning. A chance to get ahead of whatever is happening. They think the investigation is just starting and they have time to figure things out. That's almost never true, and understanding why changes everything about how you should respond.
The Investigation Started Long Before Your Bank Called
By the time federal agents formaly request your bank records, they've been building a case for months. Sometimes years. Your records aren't the starting point of there investigation - their the confirmation of what they already believe.
Federal investigators begin with SAR data, tips from informants, referrals from other agencies, public records, or analysis of patterns across multiple accounts. They build a theory of what crime occurred and who was involved. They gather as much evidence as possible before tipping off targets. Only after months of groundwork do they subpoena bank records - often as confirmation of what they already suspect. The subpoena isn't curiosity. It's prosecution preparation.
Heres the part that surprises most people. Federal investigators dont need probable cause to subpoena your bank records. The legal standard is something called "official curiosity." Unlike search warrants, which require a judge to find probable cause, grand jury subpoenas don't require that level of judicial scrutiny. A United States Attorney or Assistant US Attorney authorizes the issuance. No judicial finding that you probly committed a crime. Just official interest in your financial life.
The Bank Secrecy Act requires financial institutions to file Suspicious Activity Reports on transactions over $5,000 where they suspect illegal activity. According to a 2020 Bank Policy Institute study, law enforcement responded to a median of only 4% of SAR filings. A tiny fraction of those responses resulted in arrest and conviction. That means 90-95% of SARs were false positives - reports of perfectly legal activity that looked suspicious to a compliance algorithm. But once your flagged, your flagged. The report sits in a federal database. Investigators can access it whenever they want. Whether the original flag was accurate doesnt matter if they decide to look at you for other reasons.
What can they actualy get from your bank? The answer is: almost everything.
What Federal Agents Can Actually Get
A grand jury subpoena is a powerful tool governed by Rule 17 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Prosecutors can demand a broad range of materials. Bank statements going back years. Wire transfers. Credit card transactions. Accounting ledgers. Deposit slips. Signature cards. Account opening documents. Communications with the bank. Practicaly any document that might be relevent to the investigation.
The subpoena goes to the bank, not to you. In many cases, you wont even know it happened until charges are filed. The bank's legal department recieves the subpoena, pulls the records, and turns them over to the government. Your accounts sit there looking normal. You keep depositing checks and paying bills. And somewhere, federal agents are building spreadsheets from your transaction history.
What do those records reveal? Amounts and dates of every transaction. Patterns of deposits and withdrawals. Connections to other accounts and other individuals. Sources of income and uses of funds. Evidence of structuring - breaking up transactions to avoid Currency Transaction Report thresholds. Any unusual cash movements that might support a money laundering theory. The bank records become the skeleton of the governments case. They add muscle and skin with testimony, documents, and communications they've gathered from other sources.
One set of bank records can support multiple federal charges. Wire fraud under 18 USC 1343 carries 20-30 years. Bank fraud under 18 USC 1344 carries 30 years. Money laundering under 18 USC 1956 carries 20 years. False statements to federal agents under 18 USC 1001 carries 5 years. Aggravated identity theft adds a mandatory 2 years consecutive to any other sentence. Your bank records dont just show what you did - they establish the predicates for charge stacking that gives prosecutors enormous leverage in plea negotiations.
According to IRS Criminal Investigation data from fiscal years 2022-2024, cases where the primary subject had a related Bank Secrecy Act filing resulted in a 97.3% conviction rate. Defendants recieved average prison sentences of 37 months. During that same period, BSA data helped investigators identify $21.1 billion in fraud and seize $8.2 billion in assets tied to criminal activity. Of all IRS-CI investigations recomended for prosecution, 87.3% had a primary subject with a BSA filing. Once they have your financial records, the conviction rate tells you what happens next.
What about your rights? The Right to Financial Privacy Act exists. It requires the government to notify you before obtaining your records. But the reality is more complicated then the statute suggests.
The Window That Might Not Exist
The Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978 was enacted to provide bank customers some protection from federal government scrutiny. Under the Act, the government must generaly give you written notice of its intent to obtain your financial records. You get an explanation of the purpose. You get 10 days from service, or 14 days from mailing, to challenge the requested disclosure. This sounds like meaningful protection. A window to fight back.
But there's multiple exceptions that swallow the rule.
Grand jury subpoenas are exempt from RFPA notice requirements. If a federal grand jury issues a subpoena duces tecum for your bank records, you don't get advance notice. The bank produces the documents. The grand jury reviews them. You find out when the indictment drops. Search warrants are also exempt - and warrants can include delayed notice provisions of up to 90 days where earlier notice would endanger life, cause flight from prosecution, destruction of evidence, or "otherwise seriously jeopardize" the investigation. Ninety days of the government reviewing your complete financial history without you knowing it's happening.
Theres another problem most people dont realize. Banks can voluntariy disclose certain information to law enforcement without any authorization, subpoena, or warrant. Under exceptions to the RFPA, financial institutions are permitted to disclose the nature of the offense they suspect, the identity of the customer, the account numbers involved, and the dates of suspicious transactions. This basic information lets agents get started. They use it to obtain the more detailed records through formal legal process. Your bank's compliance department answers to regulators and law enforcement. There not on your side. There doing there job.
The Right to Financial Privacy Act covers individuals and small partnerships. Corporations, trusts, and large partnerships are not covered. The Act only governs disclosures to federal agencies - not state or local law enforcement. And even for covered customers, the exceptions create more holes then protection.
So if challenging the disclosure is rarely possible, what should you actualy do?
What You Should Do Now
Your first instinct might be to fight the subpoena. File a motion to quash. Challenge the disclosure before it happens. In most cases, this is the wrong approach.
A motion to quash a grand jury subpoena for bank records is technicaly possible. But filing one signals to prosecutors exactly what your worried about. It creates a record. It draws attention. Courts rarely grant motions to quash bank records because the relevance standard for grand jury investigations is extremely broad. Unless there's genuine privilege at stake - attorney-client communications, perhaps - most defense attorneys advise against it. The motion usually fails. And now prosecutors know you're scared enough to fight.
What you should do instead:
- Contact a federal defense attorney immediately. The earlier you act, the more options may exist.
- Do not destroy any documents. Document destruction during an investigation becomes obstruction of justice - a seperate federal charge.
- Do not discuss the matter with others who may be involved. Those conversations can become evidence. They can be used against everyone involved.
- Do not lie to federal agents if they contact you. False statements to federal agents under 18 USC 1001 carries up to 5 years. But you also dont have to talk. You can decline to answer questions without counsel present.
- Do not make voluntary payments or take other actions without legal guidance. Depending on the situation, such actions might look like consciousness of guilt. Or they might be exactly the right move. Context matters enormously.
Todd Spodek has handled federal financial investigations in New York federal courts. He understands the difference between cases where early intervention might shape the outcome and cases where aggressive defense is the only option. He knows how federal prosecutors think about bank records cases. He knows which arguments work and which ones waste time and money.
What you'll get from Spodek Law Group is an honest assessment. Where is the investigation? What do they appear to be looking for? What's the realistic range of outcomes based on how these cases actualy play out? Not best-case fantasies. Not worst-case scare tactics. Honest analysis of where you stand and what options exist.
The consultation is free. There's no obligation.
Call us at 212-300-5196. Federal investigations move on their own timeline, but once they move into prosecution phase, things accelerate fast. The earlier you have counsel, the more room there is to maneuver. The call from your bank was a warning. The question is what you do with it.
Were here when you need us.
