americansforprosperity | What happens when the federal government blatantly violates a court order and takes the property of citizens who are not under criminal suspicion?
Why should innocent property owners have to prove their innocence in order to get their property back from the government?
These are a few of the questions that have come into play when law enforcement agencies seized private property through the most recent horror story involving civil asset forfeiture.
In this ongoing case in California, federal agents exceeded their authority, took property from citizens not even under criminal suspicion, and are refusing to give it back unless they can successfully navigate the government’s demands.
The stories of these people are unfortunately not the first example of the government violating our rights in this manner, but they are certainly not any less shocking.
The raid on U.S. Private Vaults
On March 22, 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Agency acted under a warrant to shut down a Beverly Hills, California business called U.S. Private Vaults.
USPV provided bank-style safety deposit boxes to customers who wanted anonymity. Through biometric identifiers, or a nondescript key, boxholders could store valuables without ever having to identify themselves by name.
Prosecutors say it was a criminal business however, and a grand jury indicted the company on charges of conspiracies to launder money, distribute controlled substances, and structure transactions.
The warrant authorizing the raid allowed investigators to seize a list of items, including deposit box keys, money counters, biometric scanners, security cameras, and computers.
There’s no public indication however, that law enforcement had specific information about criminal suspects with boxes there or had identified boxes that held ill-gotten gains from specific crimes. And the warrant specifically prohibited law enforcement from seizing the contents of the more than 800 privately held safe deposit boxes at the business:
This warrant does not authorize a criminal search or seizure of the contents of safety deposit boxes … in accordance with their written policies, agents shall inspect the contents of the boxes in an effort to identify their owners in order to notify them so that they can claim their property.
That restriction was ignored. Prosecutors seized the contents of the boxes, intentionally casting a wide net that took in all customers, innocent or otherwise. The FBI now says it intends to hold onto $85 million in cash, and an unspecified haul of gold, silver, and precious metals.
On June 22, U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner found that the FBI “provides no factual basis for the seizure of Plaintiffs’ property,” and issued a temporary injunction against the seizures.
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