66 NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2022 Does Indiana Law Recognize Religious ID? Brett J. Ashton Partner Krieg DeVault LLP bashton@kdlegal.com Krieg DeVault LLP is a Diamond Associate Member of the Indiana Bankers Association. COMPLIANCE CONNECTION Question: A long-time customer asked that their name be changed on their existing checking account, and TVIWIRXIH ER MHIRXMƤGEXMSR JVSQ ER organization called the “Moorish Temple Science of the World.” When our customer service representative explained that [I GSYPH RSX EGGITX XLI MHIRXMƤGEXMSR XLI TIVWSR threatened to sue the bank for religious discrimination. Does Indiana law require us to accept “religious” MHIRXMƤGEXMSR# Answer: Banks occasionally encounter attempted fraudulent transactions from a variety of groups commonly referred to as “sovereign citizen” organizations, including among them the Moorish Temple organization, the United Mawshakh Nation of Nuurs and the Washitaw Nation. The premise of the fraud is that these sovereign citizens assert that they are not subject to the U.S. Constitution or to federal and state laws, and accordingly should not be required to produce standard documentation or pay existing debts with U.S. currency. A variation on the fraud has been seen from some enterprising borrowers in default, asserting their underlying mortgages and notes are invalid by virtue of their use of the consumers’ non-sovereign identity and an existing sovereign citizen ownership interest.1 When sovereign citizens are rebuffed, oftentimes they proceed to file a series of baseless, nonsensical property or tax liens against the bank, or in some instances against the bank employees, in what has become known as “paper terrorism.” The Constitution of Indiana2 and the U.S. Constitution3 both prohibit religious discrimination, and your bank should ensure it approaches compliance with all state and federal laws without consideration of the religious affiliation of the customer. However, application of a compliance policy or procedure that is required under state or federal law, provided it is applied consistently and without consideration of religious affiliation, should not be found to be discriminatory in nature. Ind. Code § 28-1-2-6.5 incorporates by reference the myriad of federal regulatory requirements that your bank adheres to, requiring a financial institution (except for a licensee under the First Lien Mortgage Lending Act or the Indiana Uniform Consumer Credit Code)4 to comply with all state and federal money laundering statutes and regulations, including: % the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (31 U.S.C. 5311 et seq.); % the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-56); % any regulations, policies, or reporting requirements established by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the U.S. Department of the Treasury; and % any other state or federal money laundering statutes or regulations that apply to a financial institution. There are no specific provisions under Indiana law that dictate exactly what kinds of documentation a bank should or should not take to ensure appropriate compliance with the above-referenced laws. Therefore, when faced with an attempt to open an account, you should continue to follow the parameters of your existing Customer Information Program (CIP). If provided a sovereign citizen form of identification in lieu of the standard documentation required under your CIP, unless your protocol permits any form of
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