re: Georgia deputies seize over $500,000 in cash during traffic stop

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quote:There is an anti money laundering statute for banking and financial institutions, but this mysterious obsession with 10k has nothing to do with possessing cash.

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It's not about possessing the cash. It's about entering it into (or withdrawing it from) the financial system.

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Correct. When depositing or withdrawing $10K or more in cash, a CTR (Cash Transaction Report) must be filed with the govt. This goes for banks, CUs, casinos, or any sort of banking institution. It is perfectly legal to carry any amount of cash, but with thieving cops trying to grab anything they can, it is wise to have bank receipts or other paperwork showing that it came from a legal source. It is also smart to be able to show what the money is for - to purchase a vehicle, enter a poker tournament, going to an auction, etc. I know people who also carry a letter from their attorney explaining the purpose of the cash.

It's better to get a check for casino winnings, auto sales, etc. because even if seized (not likely) it can be replaced more easily than recovering cash.

They apparently haven't read the recent unanimous SCOTUS opinion on forfeitures.

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So it is a crime to have a lot of cash?

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Legal transactions involving cash amounts like that are few and far between. Legal transactions are done via cashiers check, certified funds and bank transfers (EFT).

Some of you need to get off your high horse and simply think about how piles of cash like that are generated.

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I'm sure someone in this thread has done the research, but any time a story comes up like this, is it ever an otherwise law abiding citizen that has the money from purely legal avenues?

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Didn’t have to search long at all...

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Victim: Dale Augostini
Location: Tenaha, TX
Amount: $50,000
Time to Return: 1 year

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According to records for the traffic stop, Tenaha deputy city marshal Barry Washington pulled over Agostini's vehicle because it was going too slow in a "passing only" lane. A search by a drug-sniffing police dog led to the discovery of $50,000 in Agostini's luggage.

In his suit, Agostini says he explained that he often dealt in cash transactions in his restaurant business. But Washington said he was going to arrest everyone in the vehicle and contact CPS because "everybody is lying," the suit says.

Agostini asserts in the suit that authorities even denied his request to kiss the boy goodbye.

A year later, the money laundering charge was dropped and the $50,000 was returned after Agostini hired an attorney who provided records verifying the restaurant owner's business history.

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LINK
Victim: Charles Clarke
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Amount: $11,000
Time to Return: 3 years

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The federal government agreed to return $11,000, plus interest payments, it seized from a young man traveling to Florida nearly three years ago under laws that allow law enforcement to take property if it suspects it’s tied to a crime.

In February 2014, Charles Clarke, who was 24 at the time, was waiting for a flight at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport when officers with a Drug Enforcement Administration task force and the airport police department seized his cash using civil asset forfeiture.

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LINK
Victim: Stephen Skinner
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Amount: $17,000
Time to Return: 2 years

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After two years, Stephen Skinner and his son are getting back the nearly $17,000 in cash Albuquerque police confiscated from them during a minor traffic stop in 2010 in which no charges were ever filed.
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In the case of Skinner and Breasher, the seizure was made after a drug dog alerted police to a vehicle that was stopped during a routine traffic stop and “in light of other circumstances indicating that the currency might be associated with drug trafficking.”
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“We’re standing out there about two hours,” Skinner said. “(The officer) is trying to call DEA and FBI. He told me that. Then he says, ‘You guys can go.’ We put stuff back in bags. As we were getting ready to leave, I looked at him and said, ‘All of this for nothing.’ He said, ‘Trust me, it’s not over.’ ”

It wasn’t.

After a 45-minute fast-food stop in Las Vegas, N.M., they continued to Albuquerque, where they were stopped by Albuquerque police – this time Breasher was driving – for allegedly making improper lane changes. Skinner believes the Raton officer contacted police in Albuquerque.
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On the heels of APD officers was Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Before the day was over, the rental car had been towed, their cash taken and the two were dropped at the Albuquerque Sunport with only the coins, Skinner said.

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Exactly. Not sure why people are acting like having 500k wrapped up isnt deserving of proof. 10k has been well established for a long time.

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If you truly believe this, write your congressman and ask them to pass a bill making it illegal to carry over $10k in cash without some sort of documentation. Then, everyone being “shady” by carrying large sums will actually be in the wrong. See how the rule of law is supposed to work?

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There's a division of fault. And it begins with the person carrying such a large quantity of money.

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Which is not illegal in any manner.

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I'm not sure about Georgia but in Louisiana you cannot carry over 10k without proof of how you got the money.

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Show me the statute that says an individual cannot carry over $10,000 in cash without documentation of its source.

LINK

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Notably, however, having a sum of $10,000 or more is not specifically illegal in any jurisdiction or under any law in the United States. You may legally store cash as you wish in your home and carry it with you in your travels, and if you’re traveling privately you need not report the transport of your own money even if you carry $10,000 or more.

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'm not sure about Georgia but in Louisiana you cannot carry over 10k without proof of how you got the money. Bank receipt, voucher from casino etc. If you have over 10k and do not have proof of why you have so much money it is subject to be seized until you can prove it lawfully belongs to you.

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bullshite!!!

Just an Alabama bagman delivering the goods to a recruit.

Wait-wait-wait-wait...wait...

To quote you:

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I'm not one of these types that thinks its ok for illegal behaviors to take advantage of those to skirt it all. Why we have some many problems right now in this country.

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What does this even mean? There is no logic in this statement. It is contradictory in and of itself, and to your first statement that you are "all about freedoms." No, sir, you are not all about freedoms. You cannot "skirt" a freedom while that same freedom also be considered illegal.

Mainly because laws do NOT grant us our rights and freedoms- THEY ARE INALIENABLE, but even if they did grant us freedom, then by definition, BREAKING the LAW is not skirting the law, it is BREAKING THE LAW.

I cannot be given the right, the freedom, to carry $500k in cash on me, and then actually DO that, and then be skirting that freedom by actually doing it... can I? Or can I? It either is or isn't against the law.

And so you say that the reason why we have so many problems in this country is BECAUSE we have too many freedoms for criminals to take advantage of- to skirt?

That, sir, is ludicrous. The problem with this country is that we have so MANY laws that no one person or people can make sense of it all. We are all in violation of our bloated legal code. LAWS don't = FREEDOM and laws don't = life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. THAT IS OUR F'ING PROBLEM.

Laws do not CREATE freedom and freedom does not CREATE criminals or opportunities for criminals. The same economic laws (I pay you for your product or service) and fundamental human rights (staking claim to property that is rightfully mine, e.g. cash) that allows my legal enterprise to operate also allow a criminal enterprise to "package money like cocaine" and utilize it as they see fit. The problem is not my legal enterprise, the problem is the criminal, and no law will deter him, but it WILL strip me of even more freedom, of even MORE of my rights and of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

If I want to carry $500k in cash wrapped up like cocaine (which is a subjective claim and offensive to drug dealers who were born with a touch of femininity and package their product cute as button), just like a criminal would do, then I ought to gotdayumed well be able to, and no law should GIVE me that right, because using and owning property that is rightfully mine is an inalienable, God-given right. Period.