Free Advanced CAMS-Financial Crimes Investigations (Advanced CAMS-FCI) Exam Questions and Answers

An investigations lead at a regional bank is running a review of 14 linked accounts that moved about USD 3.2 million through rapid in-and-out wire transfers over five months. Transaction records show that the same relationship manager approved several exceptions to documentation requirements for four of the accounts and received repeated calls from one of the account signatories. The lead has no proof of wrongdoing by the relationship manager. What should the lead do FIRST?

• AA. Instruct the relationship manager to freeze updates to the client files while the review is under way
• BB. Restrict the relationship manager's access to the case and related files and escalate the insider concern under the unit's protocol
• CC. Continue the review with the relationship manager as the main source of client information and add the concern to the final report
• DD. Interview the relationship manager about the account history to obtain an explanation before the network review widens

An investigator reviews payments from Delmar Tile Imports to a related company in another country. Each wire pays a single invoice for ceramic tiles at USD 412 per square meter, while market prices for the same grade are about USD 38. The bill of lading, weight and container count match the invoiced quantity, and customs records confirm that the shipment arrived. Which scheme does this pattern MOST strongly indicate?

• AA. Multiple invoicing of one shipment to obtain repeated payments
• BB. Over-invoicing of imports to transfer value to the related exporter
• CC. Under-invoicing of exports to evade customs duties
• DD. Phantom shipment of goods that were never moved

A checking account at a branch in Ohio receives cash deposits of USD 2,000 to USD 9,500 made on the same day at branches in Texas, Georgia and Nevada. Within 24 hours most of the balance is withdrawn from ATMs in Mexico. The account holder is a student with no known link to any of those states. Which typology does this activity describe?

• AA. Round-tripping through related accounts
• BB. Nested correspondent banking
• CC. Loan-back arrangement
• DD. Funnel account

A US bank filed a suspicious activity report (SAR) on March 3 on a customer's structured cash deposits. The investigator's follow-up review confirms that the same structuring pattern has continued since that filing. Under FinCEN guidance on continuing activity, what is the latest date by which the bank should file the continuing activity SAR?

• AA. April 2
• BB. May 2
• CC. June 1
• DD. July 1

Quality control testing at a financial institution finds that analysts closed 98% of the alerts from one transaction monitoring rule as "no suspicion" over six months, and none were escalated. The documentation in every sampled alert met the unit's standard, and the closure rationales were consistent across analysts. What should the head of the investigations unit do FIRST?

• AA. Refer the results to the monitoring team for a tuning review of the rule's thresholds and logic
• BB. Raise the rule's threshold to reduce alert volume and resume sampling in the next cycle
• CC. Retrain the analysts on this rule and require escalation of borderline alerts
• DD. Assign senior investigators to rereview every alert the rule generated over the six months

Two investigators at a bank opened separate cases from unrelated alerts: one on a freight company with large cash deposits, the other on a consulting firm receiving repeated third-party wires. Link analysis now shows that both entities share a director, a registered address and two signatories. Each case is due for a filing decision in three weeks. What should the investigations lead do?

• AA. Close the consulting firm case and move its transactions into the freight company file
• BB. Consolidate the cases under one coordinating investigator and assess the combined activity
• CC. Let each investigator finish separately and cross-reference the other case number in each report
• DD. Extend both deadlines until the owner of each entity has been interviewed about the links

At a commercial bank, the head of the financial crime investigations unit reports to the head of corporate banking, whose division is measured on revenue growth. Over the past year, 11 cases on corporate clients were closed without a filing after the division head questioned the investigators' conclusions. Which change would BEST address this governance weakness?

• AA. Require the division head to attest quarterly that no case outcomes were influenced
• BB. Add a second review of each corporate case by a senior investigator in the unit
• CC. Give the division head a formal role in approving the unit's staffing and budget
• DD. Move the unit's reporting line to the chief compliance officer, with board committee access

During a fraud investigation, an investigator at a bank exports a customer's online banking session logs and saves them to a shared drive. Over the next month several analysts open and annotate the file, and no record is kept of who accessed or changed it. Law enforcement then requests the logs under a subpoena. What is the main risk created by the missing record?

• AA. The bank may breach SAR confidentiality by producing the logs to law enforcement
• BB. The logs may be rejected because an outside forensic examiner did not collect them
• CC. The bank may have to notify the customer before producing the logs
• DD. The bank may be unable to show that the logs were not altered after collection

A private bank's investigations lead is working a case on a long-standing client whose accounts sent transfers to six offshore entities over four months. The alerts show that the client's relationship manager approved three limit overrides for these transfers. The relationship manager also recently went on a trip that the client paid for. The relationship manager reports to the head of private banking. The lead has not yet reviewed the override approvals or the relationship manager's email. What should the lead do FIRST?

• AA. Interview the relationship manager about the overrides before requesting any further records
• BB. Secure the override approvals and email, and staff the case with investigators outside private banking
• CC. Brief the head of private banking on the allegations and obtain the override files through that office
• DD. Refer the paid trip to human resources as a gifts breach and continue the transaction review separately

What is the primary goal of financial crime investigations?

• AA. To identify patterns
• BB. To satisfy legal obligations
• CC. To prevent future crimes
• DD. To recover stolen assets