Asset Forfeiture: The Risks of Travelling With a Large Sum of Cash

Originally published by Steve Jumes.

How Innocently Carrying a Large Amount of Cash Can Result in a Seizure and Asset Forfeiture

Imagine you are driving in your vehicle on the way to make a big purchase, maybe buy a new car or put down a down payment for a house. Also assume you are pulled over for a minor traffic infraction. You start to panic because you realize you have a large amount of cash in your vehicle. If the cash you are carrying was obtained through legal means or you were not on your way to or from a crime, should you be nervous? After all it is not illegal to carry money that you legally obtained right? Even though it is technically not illegal to travel with large amounts of cash, it is definitely suspicious to many law enforcement officers. On what grounds can they seize money even if you are not arrested for an offense?  Asset Forfeiture.

You typically have a small amount of time to file your claim after receiving a Notice of Seizure and Intended Forfeiture, so you must act fast or you will lose your assets automatically.

In case you thought such a situation could not happen in the United States, think again. Roadside seizures are so common some government entities call them “road kills.”

How does Asset Forfeiture work?

Forfeiture is a judicial construct where the government pursues the outright taking of private property on the basis that it is linked to crime.  There are two bases most commonly used to seize and forfeit property. First, the Government may try to establish that targeted property is ill-gotten gains (proceeds) of crime. In the alternative, it could allege that such property, like a vehicle, is used to aid (facilitate) a crime. Obviously, it is designed to take away a huge motivation for crime, which is greed. In fact, administrative, civil, and criminal forfeiture recoveries have resulted in the growth of the DOJ’s Asset Forfeiture Fund (AFF) to $1.8 billion in 2011.  (GAO Analysis of DOJ Data). By the way, the Treasury Department has its own asset forfeiture fund known as the Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture (TEOAF). It also has hundreds of millions of dollars.

Even though it is technically not illegal to travel with large amounts of cash, it is definitely suspicious to many law enforcement officers.

The legal bases for forfeiture in the federal system exist in 18 U.S.C. 924, 981 and 982 as well as certain portions of Title 19 (Customs) and Title 21 (Drugs).

In addition to federal forfeiture efforts, state government entities are able to take assets if such assets were derived from illegal activity. In Texas, civil forfeiture is provided for in Article 59 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. Interestingly, in Texas, property subject to forfeiture is called contraband.  Art. 59.01 Tex.Crim.Pro. It also calls for the forfeiture of property that is either proceeds or facilitating property.

Clearly, the idea of depriving criminals of their ill-gotten gains is an honorable one. However, it becomes because courts do not require direct proof of a known crime to forfeit property.

Going back to the traffic stop. If you find yourself in that situation, how will you prove that the money you have is legitimate? Will the police believe you and just give it back?

How does property unrelated to any criminal activity get seized and forfeited?

Law enforcement agencies routinely seize and forfeit property and funds without any definitive proof of a crime or connection to criminal activity. Under civil asset forfeiture laws, they are able to do this without ever charging the owner with a crime. As a result this process is often abused and the hard earned assets of innocent citizens are forfeited to the government, because they are intimidated into giving up the assets.

First, forfeitures are not criminal actions but civil actions. Theses lawsuits are unique because they are actually brought against an object, such as a vehicle or currency, rather than an individual. This means the defendant is the actual object the government is seeking to forfeit, and not the person whom the object was taken from.

Because civil asset forfeiture has a lower standard of proof than a criminal action, it is much easier to forfeit money without definitively proving it was obtained from criminal activity. In fact, to get seized assets returned, the owner, and not the government, is usually required to prove that the assets are not connected to criminal activity.

The government uses civil asset forfeiture as an important tool in the war on drugs to seize assets involved in the drug trade such as cash, weapons, vehicles and other property acquired from the proceeds of illegal drug sales or involved in facilitating illegal drug activity. Unfortunately this process is subject to abuse and the victims are usually law-abiding citizens.

People who have had their property seized for forfeiture have the right to make a claim and demand the return of their property and should do so as soon as possible or the property will be forfeited to the government by default. See 59.02-59.06 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure and 18 U.S.C. 983.

Abuses by law enforcement in regards to civil asset forfeiture

Unfortunately, the ease by which the government is able to take assets from citizens under the civil asset forfeiture laws makes it a system that is readily subject to abuse by certain agencies or individuals. There are numerous reports around the country of law enforcement officials abusing their civil asset forfeiture powers and targeting innocent citizens, scaring them into giving up their cash.

One small Texas town named Tenaha located on the interstate on the way from Houston to Louisiana was engaging in a scheme that targeted minorities, mostly African Americans and intimidated them into giving up their assets. Police were pulling over travelers passing through the town and threatening to bring felony money laundering charges if they did not sign over their assets.

From 2006 to 2008 officials in Tenaha seized property such as vehicles, cash, phones and jewelry without ever bringing charges in almost 150 different cases. Innocent families and grandparents were amongst those targeted as well and were forced into giving up their assets because they could not adequately explain how they came to be in possession of the assets.

Understand that once your assets have been seized, you typically have a small amount of time to file your claim after receiving a Notice of Seizure and Intended Forfeiture, so you must act fast or you will lose your assets automatically. Under 983 and Art. 59.02-59.06, citizens typically have around 30 days to claim their property. If they fail to do so, then the property goes to the government entity by default. Most assets are forfeited by default.

Tips to follow when traveling with large amounts of cash.

The best advice would be to not carry large amounts of cash at all. The burden on proving its legality will be shifted to you upon its seizure and challenging the government is not always easy or cheap.

When possible, always make sure you have bank receipts or other identifying documents that indicate where the money came from and what it is intended for. Use common sense when carrying large amounts of money. Using a pad locked bank bag or lockbox will be less suspicious than just carrying stacks of cash in your pocket and it makes the money less susceptible to theft.

Other important tips include the following:

Avoid packaging cash in plastic bags or with rubber-bands

Avoid packaging the cash in odor blocking materials.

Avoid carrying large amounts of cash in your pockets.

Never conceal the money in places which would be suspicious to law enforcement such as the trim of the vehicle or in hidden compartments 

Never store money with drugs or other contraband.

Never keep cash in open view, when in your vehicle.

The post Asset Forfeiture: The Risks of Travelling With a Large Sum of Cash appeared first on Fort Worth Criminal Defense Attorney DWI Attorney Civil and Family Lawyers.

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