The federal gov't. seized a family owned grocery store's checking account even thought they haven't commited any crimes
Can the government use civil forfeiture to take your money when you have done nothing wrong—and then pocket the proceeds? The IRS thinks so.
For over 30 years, Terry Dehko has successfully run a grocery store in Fraser, Mich., with his daughter Sandy. In January 2013, without warning, the federal government used civil forfeiture to seize all of the money from the Dehkos’ store bank account (more than $35,000) even though they’ve done absolutely nothing wrong. Their American Dream is now a nightmare.
Federal civil forfeiture law features an appalling lack of due process: It empowers the government to seize private property from Americans without ever charging, let alone convicting, them of a crime. Perversely, the government then pockets the proceeds while providing no prompt way to get a court to review the seizure.
On September 25, 2013, Terry and Sandy teamed up with the Institute for Justice to fight back in federal court. A victory will vindicate not just their right to be free from abusive forfeiture tactics, but the right of every American not to have their property wrongfully seized by government.
http://www.ij.org/miforf
DEA targeted man who purchased a one-way ticket for a train & seize (steal) $100,000 from briefcase:
Chicago - A man trying to reclaim the $100,000 cash he had in a briefcase must be given the chance to show that police were wrong to seize it as drug money, the 7th Circuit ruled.
In December 2002, Vincent Fallon bought a one-way tr o Seattle, leading the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to suspect he might be a drug courier.
After Fallon boarded the train at Chicago's Union Station, DEA agents approached him, claiming that they were doing a routine check, and asked him some questions.
Fallon told the agents he was unemployed and going to visit a friend in Seattle. He denied carrying more than $10,000 in cash, but when he refused to allow the agents to search his locked briefcase, he admitted that it contained about $50,000.
He claimed that he intended to buy a house in Seattle with the money.
The agents then ordered Fallon to get off the train, and in the station, a police dog named Deny alerted the agents to drugs in the briefcase.
The DEA then confiscated the luggage, and agents found that it contained $100,120 in cash.http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/09/24/61400.htm