Stonebridge Creek Man Charged in Federal Court with Structuring

Larry T. Chuppa of Avon was charged June 25 with one count of structuring cash deposits into a financial institution in order to evade bank reporting requirements, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

According to court records, Chuppa, 57, currently resides in Avon.

Between December 2011 through March 2012, Chuppa made a series of cash deposits at Fifth Third Bank for the purpose of evading reporting requirements, according to the information. The charge is a felony. 

According to documents filed in the Northern District of Ohio court, Chuppa is accused of making a series of cash deposits totaling under $100,00 at First Third Bank.

Daniel Dever, a Public Information Officer for IRS Criminal Investigation for the Northern District of Ohio, said “structuring” is a federal criminal offense of splitting up bank deposits so as to keep them under a threshold such as $10,000 above which banks have to report transactions to the government. An individual charged may have made a $9,000 deposit at the same, or a series of banks to avoid having deposits reported.

Chuppa lives on Kenwyn Boulevard in the Stonebridge Creek subdivision, according to the Lorain County Auditor’s office.

A press release issued by the Attorney General’s office said the information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.

This case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Perry D. Mastrocola, following an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service

Chuppa was not available for comment at deadline.