IRS Seize Financial Accounts on Suspicion, No Crime Required
Oct 28, 2014 14:24:21 GMT -5
Regolyth likes this
Post by Morreion on Oct 28, 2014 14:24:21 GMT -5
So much for the 'Land Of The Free', huh? If you deposit over 10k into a bank account, you may be a criminal. If you deposit UNDER 10k, you may be a criminal because you are avoiding looking like one! Better take it all! It's easier that way, and who cares about the little people anyway?
Beware when the government declares a 'war' on something. The War On Drugs and the War On Terror have resulted in horrid violations of the Constitution as we knew it for 200+ years. And funny how they typically lose those 'Wars' anyway, but we're stuck with all of the abuses and greater encroachment of governmental power.
/soapbox off
Law Lets I.R.S. Seize Accounts on Suspicion, No Crime Required (New York Times)
ARNOLDS PARK, Iowa — For almost 40 years, Carole Hinders has dished out Mexican specialties at her modest cash-only restaurant. For just as long, she deposited the earnings at a small bank branch a block away — until last year, when two tax agents knocked on her door and informed her that they had seized her checking account, almost $33,000.
The Internal Revenue Service agents did not accuse Ms. Hinders of money laundering or cheating on her taxes — in fact, she has not been charged with any crime. Instead, the money was seized solely because she had deposited less than $10,000 at a time, which they viewed as an attempt to avoid triggering a required government report.
“How can this happen?” Ms. Hinders said in a recent interview. “Who takes your money before they prove that you’ve done anything wrong with it?”
The federal government does.
Using a law designed to catch drug traffickers, racketeers and terrorists by tracking their cash, the government has gone after run-of-the-mill business owners and wage earners without so much as an allegation that they have committed serious crimes. The government can take the money without ever filing a criminal complaint, and the owners are left to prove they are innocent. Many give up.
“They’re going after people who are really not criminals,” said David Smith, a former federal prosecutor who is now a forfeiture expert and lawyer in Virginia. “They’re middle-class citizens who have never had any trouble with the law.”
Beware when the government declares a 'war' on something. The War On Drugs and the War On Terror have resulted in horrid violations of the Constitution as we knew it for 200+ years. And funny how they typically lose those 'Wars' anyway, but we're stuck with all of the abuses and greater encroachment of governmental power.
/soapbox off
Law Lets I.R.S. Seize Accounts on Suspicion, No Crime Required (New York Times)
ARNOLDS PARK, Iowa — For almost 40 years, Carole Hinders has dished out Mexican specialties at her modest cash-only restaurant. For just as long, she deposited the earnings at a small bank branch a block away — until last year, when two tax agents knocked on her door and informed her that they had seized her checking account, almost $33,000.
The Internal Revenue Service agents did not accuse Ms. Hinders of money laundering or cheating on her taxes — in fact, she has not been charged with any crime. Instead, the money was seized solely because she had deposited less than $10,000 at a time, which they viewed as an attempt to avoid triggering a required government report.
“How can this happen?” Ms. Hinders said in a recent interview. “Who takes your money before they prove that you’ve done anything wrong with it?”
The federal government does.
Using a law designed to catch drug traffickers, racketeers and terrorists by tracking their cash, the government has gone after run-of-the-mill business owners and wage earners without so much as an allegation that they have committed serious crimes. The government can take the money without ever filing a criminal complaint, and the owners are left to prove they are innocent. Many give up.
“They’re going after people who are really not criminals,” said David Smith, a former federal prosecutor who is now a forfeiture expert and lawyer in Virginia. “They’re middle-class citizens who have never had any trouble with the law.”
