A federal grand jury indicted the owner of a Somerville recycling business on charges of structuring currency transactions totaling more than $600,000 to evade reporting requirements of U.S. banks and financial institutions, according to U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance.

The indictment filed in U.S. District Court Wednesday charges Jerry Dwayne Lang, 45, of Somerville with making 85 transactions with two separate banks between February and October 2008 that were designed to avoid the legal requirement for banks to report currency transactions in excess of $10,000.00 to the federal government.

The indictment seeks to have Lang forfeit $636,529 as proceeds of illegal activity.

The maximum penalty for structuring transactions is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty can be enhanced to 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine if it is determined that the transactions occurred while another law of the United States was violated, or if the transactions are part of a pattern of illegal activity involving more than $100,000.00 in a twelve month period.

The Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Davis Barlow is prosecuting the case.