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The financial fraud teams have models of what cash-based businesses 'should' look like. They don't, per se, care if these folks aren't paying taxes (the IRS does, and they have their own models). The Bank is looking more for things like "I'm a house cleaner...depositing $250k+ a year" (possible, but unlikely) or "I've been depositing 2-3k a month for a couple of years and suddenly I'm depositing 10-20k a month".

Their AML systems will flag this activity as suspicious, and someone in the back office file a SAR. Think of the financial circuit as closed and traceable. Any untraceable entries and exits into this circuit needs CTRs and SARs.

Untraceable entries/exits: cash, money orders, cashier checks, wire transfers, etc.

> What happens if they deposit say 2-3k / mo spread across several days?

Nothing? Nowhere near the thresholds.