No, it wasn't. He was caught because the feds noticed him moving large amounts of currency around. Currency reporting requirements were enacted in the 1970's, and money laundering has been illegal for 20+ years. The Patriot Act merely extended these laws to include aspects of terrorist financing.
Believe it or not, the Patriot Act wasn't a nefarious scheme cooked up by Rove and Halliburton to entrap innocent gigolo-governors.
Really, what's most objectionable about the failure of the Dem Congress to renew the Protect America Act is that it now requires the exec. branch to go through the courts to wiretap people outside the country who are also talking to people outside the country. You can't say with a straight face that that (a) hurts American civil liberties, and (b) doesn't hamper America's intelligence collecting capabilities.