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I have a hard time imagining a scenario in which my hard-earned, fully-documented, all-taxes-paid cash, withdrawn from my account can amount to money laundering. But whatever.

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Exactly what a money launderer would say. Busted.

The suspicion arises because you're withdrawing to cash. They don't care about Electronic funds transfers because they know the ultimate destination. Large denominations of cash without justification or with refusal to justify are grounds for elevated suspicion, and anything going as high as 10k, especially broken up over several transactions, combined with an agitated customer in response to any refusal to do so, is generally considered a red flag. Financial institutions are, in essence, a fiscal surveillance network for law enforcement.

Pro-tip: Announce you are aware of the CSR/SAR they now have to file, and apologize for the inconvenience. Tends to put them at ease.

Be aware, you'll still draw elevated attention for a while. Isn't AML grand?

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