{"id":11638,"date":"2017-05-15T12:07:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-15T20:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/looking-into-trump-campaigns-russia-ties-investigators-follow-the-money\/"},"modified":"2017-05-15T12:07:00","modified_gmt":"2017-05-15T20:07:00","slug":"looking-into-trump-campaigns-russia-ties-investigators-follow-the-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/looking-into-trump-campaigns-russia-ties-investigators-follow-the-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking Into Trump Campaign's Russia Ties, Investigators Follow The Money"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jim Zarroli<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n The now-closed Trump Taj Mahal casino resort in Atlantic City, N.J., was repeatedly cited by federal officials for having inadequate money-laundering controls.<\/p>\n

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Jewel Samad\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Jewel Samad\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Investigators looking into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia will be able to pursue leads by tapping into a huge database of suspicious financial transactions maintained by the federal government.<\/p>\n

Under the Bank Secrecy Act<\/a>, financial institutions operating in the U.S. are supposed to inform the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, when they see transactions that indicate possible money laundering, such as all-cash purchases of expensive real estate.<\/p>\n

Senate investigators indicated last week that they would be using the database to begin tracking the financial activities of some of President Trump’s associates.<\/p>\n

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“Congress has kind of shifted the focus here to the money, and they’re trying to see if there’s a money trail that could link and identify different participants,” says Jimmy Gurul\u00e9, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame and a former Treasury Department official.<\/p>\n

“It goes to the old adage of ‘follow the money.’ If there was collusion between the Russians and members of the Trump campaign, was it for free or was there some exchange of moneys or payments from foreign governments?” he adds.<\/p>\n

Trump made much of his fortune in real estate and gaming, two industries that have been notorious venues for money laundering.<\/p>\n