Rogue Police Chief Accessed FinCEN Data For "Private Investigation"
A Tennessee Assistant Police Chief gave a former Arizona Representative access to confidential FinCEN data in "private sector racketeering investigation", raising questions on illegitimate surveillance
Shawn Taylor, Assistant Police Chief in Millersville, Tennessee, appears to have given former member of the Arizona House of Representatives Mark Finchem access to confidential financial transaction data via the US Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
Taylor and Finchem claim to have investigated alleged election fraud via Finchem's Election Fairness Institute (EFI), stating that "we had access to FinCEN, legitimate access, through law enforcement channels."
Taylor and Finchem describe their joint endeavour as a "private sector racketeering investigation that we have been engaged in now for about two years".
FinCEN holds over 350 Million confidential financial records containing personally identifiable information, "primarily on innocent Americans". Due to the sensitivity of data collected, the disclosure of FinCEN data, such as Suspicious Transaction Reports (SARs), is deemed a federal crime.
The safety of US American's financial data when handled in central databases, as well as the breadth of financial data collected by the US Government, has recently been brought up for debate in Congress with the introduction of the Saving Privacy Act and Bank Privacy Reform Act.
Taylor's residence and department have since been raided by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The incident highlights that sensitive financial data accrued in a central database may be used for the illegitimate surveillance of US American citizens.
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