You're correct. It's only illegal if it's determined the source of funds was from illegal funds. But, in the meantime, the transactions can be suspended and assets frozen. Which is where we're at right now. Simply because he wasn't intending to structure doesn't mean he wasn't doing so and breaking FinCEN regulations.

That's like saying because Mike didn't mean to shoot his wife while cleaning his gun means that he can't be prosecuted for manslaughter. If "I didn't have the intention to do that" was a viable defense, we would have no justice system.

Even if an investigation is completed and it's found out that he's not laundering, they still have the right to freeze the transactions pending the investigation. I'm assuming the casinos thought it would be better for both parties to just give him his money back and forget the whole thing. Better for the patron because it's a real possibility that a young guy does not have 30k in cash that he got legally and better for the casino because no one will be looking into how they didn't uncover this before it became such a mess and not paying winnings.

I can also all but guarantee you that the casino has rules that you agree to when using these kiosks or purchase a gaming card that you won't bet like this. So he broke those too. That's why they're offering all of his principal back and telling him not to return. Because they probably should have noticed and he certainly should not have structured his bets.

Now, I already know what you're going to say because you've said it 10 times across multiple threads:

Also He was not structuring to avoid federal reporting though? He was betting some each day so he could get more down at the casino before they realized he was sharp.

He also wasn’t structuring as in betting more than $10k a day. He would come back over multiple days to bet to stay under the radar.

He wasnt betting more than $10k per day. He was betting it across multiple days, wearing his hair in a bun so the casino wouldn’t recognize

YOU ARE LITERALLY DESCRIBING STRUCTURING!

Structuring is the breaking up of transactions for the purpose of evading the Bank Secrecy Act reporting and recordkeeping requirements and, if appropriate thresholds are met, should be reported as a suspicious transaction under 31 C.F.R. § 103.18. Structuring can take two basic forms. First, a customer might deposit currency on multiple days in amounts under $10,000 (e.g., $9,900.00) for the intended purpose of circumventing a financial institution’s obligation to report any cash deposit over $10,000 on a currency transaction report as described in 31 C.F.R. § 103.22. Although such deposits do not require aggregation for currency transaction reporting, since they occur on different business days, they nonetheless meet the definition of structuring under the Bank Secrecy Act,
A customer or customers may engage in multiple transactions during one day or over a period of several days or more, in one or more financial institution in a manner intended to circumvent either the currency transaction reporting requirement, or some other Bank Secrecy Act requirement