Earlier this month I posted a John Oliver segment on civil forfeiture; it focused on local police efforts to seize money from innocent people. Today the NY Times has an article about the IRS work in this area. Here, the focus is on deposits you make in your bank.
If you deposit $10,000 or more in your account, the government must be informed as it is possible these funds have been obtained illegally via drugs, terrorist financings or other criminal means. But our ever-vigilant government is also on the alert for some deposits under $10,000. The deposit might have been kept under $10,000 so that an official report need not be filed. However, the government is still interested. In fact, they took these deposits in 639 cases in 2012 (this is up from 114 in 2005). The money can be taken without the government filing a criminal complaint; the depositors are left to prove their innocence. Most of the takings do not reach the courts; in only 20% of the cases does the government bring the depositor to court.
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