US Government Being Sued For Allegedly Stealing $100,000,000

A lawsuit has been filed against the US government, accusing it of seizing over $100 million in cash, gold, and jewelry from citizens in California without providing any explanation.

The nonprofit Institute for Justice has taken legal action to stop the forfeiture proceedings for a group of individuals whose assets were confiscated by the FBI, with little clarity on the reasons behind it. The case revolves around a couple based in Los Angeles, Linda and Reggie Martin, who had $40,200 of their life savings seized from a safety deposit box without any evidence of illegal activity being presented by the agency.

Their attorney, Bob Belden, argues that the actions taken by the government are immoral, violating basic human rights as American citizens. The government employs civil forfeiture, allowing it to decide independently whether to seize and attempt to retain properties, even when there are no suspicions of criminal behavior.

The FBI sends standardized forfeiture notices that fail to provide owners with any information regarding the grounds for taking their assets, which the Institute for Justice deems unconstitutional. The operation conducted by the FBI at the Beverly Hills location resulted in the seizure of more than $100 million in various valuable assets.

Although the government issued blanket notices that vaguely referenced numerous federal crimes, it has refused to specify the exact wrongdoing in the case of the Martins. The lawsuit seeks to halt administrative proceedings for all recipients of the forfeiture notices. Linda states that neither she nor her husband have been charged with a crime and there is no indication of whether they will recover their money.

The Institute for Justice highlights that civil and criminal forfeiture is a lucrative practice for federal law enforcement, with individuals receiving inadequate notices that vaguely link their property to potential federal crimes. This particular situation demonstrates how federal forfeiture incentivizes agents to seize assets without sufficient cause, while keeping property owners in the dark to discourage resistance.

A federal judge has previously ruled that a client involved in the same safety deposit seizure operation received a deficient forfeiture notice, resulting in the FBI violating due process and the Fifth Amendment.