PDA

View Full Version : Law Lets I.R.S. Seize Accounts on Suspicion, No Crime Required




libertyjam
10-26-2014, 06:34 AM
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/us/law-lets-irs-seize-accounts-on-suspicion-no-crime-required.html

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.”

On Thursday, in response to questions from The New York Times, the I.R.S. announced that it would curtail the practice, focusing instead on cases where the money is believed to have been acquired illegally or seizure is deemed justified by “exceptional circumstances.”

Richard Weber, the chief of Criminal Investigation at the I.R.S., said in a written statement, “This policy update will ensure that C.I. continues to focus our limited investigative resources on identifying and investigating violations within our jurisdiction that closely align with C.I.’s mission and key priorities.” He added that making deposits under $10,000 to evade reporting requirements, called structuring, is still a crime whether the money is from legal or illegal sources. The new policy will not apply to past seizures.

Anti Federalist
10-26-2014, 11:26 AM
As usual, a day late and dollar short for the Times.

But at they are reporting it.

And giving Institute for Justice some press.


Law Lets I.R.S. Seize Accounts on Suspicion, No Crime Required

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/us/law-lets-irs-seize-accounts-on-suspicion-no-crime-required.html?_r=0

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.”

On Thursday, in response to questions from The New York Times, the I.R.S. announced that it would curtail the practice, focusing instead on cases where the money is believed to have been acquired illegally or seizure is deemed justified by “exceptional circumstances.”

Richard Weber, the chief of Criminal Investigation at the I.R.S., said in a written statement, “This policy update will ensure that C.I. continues to focus our limited investigative resources on identifying and investigating violations within our jurisdiction that closely align with C.I.’s mission and key priorities.” He added that making deposits under $10,000 to evade reporting requirements, called structuring, is still a crime whether the money is from legal or illegal sources. The new policy will not apply to past seizures.

The I.R.S. is one of several federal agencies that pursue such cases and then refer them to the Justice Department. The Justice Department does not track the total number of cases pursued, the amount of money seized or how many of the cases were related to other crimes, said Peter Carr, a spokesman.

But the Institute for Justice, a Washington-based public interest law firm that is seeking to reform civil forfeiture practices, analyzed structuring data from the I.R.S., which made 639 seizures in 2012, up from 114 in 2005. Only one in five was prosecuted as a criminal structuring case.

The practice has swept up dairy farmers in Maryland, an Army sergeant in Virginia saving for his children’s college education and Ms. Hinders, 67, who has borrowed money, strained her credit cards and taken out a second mortgage to keep her restaurant going.

Their money was seized under an increasingly controversial area of law known as civil asset forfeiture, which allows law enforcement agents to take property they suspect of being tied to crime even if no criminal charges are filed. Law enforcement agencies get to keep a share of whatever is forfeited.

Critics say this incentive has led to the creation of a law enforcement dragnet, with more than 100 multiagency task forces combing through bank reports, looking for accounts to seize. Under the Bank Secrecy Act, banks and other financial institutions must report cash deposits greater than $10,000. But since many criminals are aware of that requirement, banks also are supposed to report any suspicious transactions, including deposit patterns below $10,000. Last year, banks filed more than 700,000 suspicious activity reports. Owners who are caught up in structuring cases often cannot afford to fight. The median amount seized by the I.R.S. was $34,000, according to the Institute for Justice analysis, while legal costs can easily mount to $20,000 or more.

There is nothing illegal about depositing less than $10,000 cash unless it is done specifically to evade the reporting requirement. But often a mere bank statement is enough for investigators to obtain a seizure warrant. In one Long Island case, the police submitted almost a year’s worth of daily deposits by a business, ranging from $5,550 to $9,910. The officer wrote in his warrant affidavit that based on his training and experience, the pattern “is consistent with structuring.” The government seized $447,000 from the business, a cash-intensive candy and cigarette distributor that has been run by one family for 27 years.

There are often legitimate business reasons for keeping deposits below $10,000, said Larry Salzman, a lawyer with the Institute for Justice who is representing Ms. Hinders and the Long Island family pro bono. For example, he said, a grocery store owner in Fraser, Mich., had an insurance policy that covered only up to $10,000 cash. When he neared the limit, he would make a deposit.

Ms. Hinders said that she did not know about the reporting requirement and that for decades, she thought she had been doing everyone a favor.

“My mom had told me if you keep your deposits under $10,000, the bank avoids paperwork,” she said. “I didn’t actually think it had anything to do with the I.R.S.”

In May 2012, the bank branch Ms. Hinders used was acquired by Northwest Banker. JoLynn Van Steenwyk, the fraud and security manager for Northwest, said she could not discuss individual clients, but explained that the bank did not have access to past account histories after it acquired Ms. Hinders’s branch.

Banks are not permitted to advise customers that their deposit habits may be illegal or educate them about structuring unless they ask, in which case they are given a federal pamphlet, Ms. Van Steenwyk said. “We’re not allowed to tell them anything,” she said.

Still lawyers say it is not unusual for depositors to be advised by financial professionals, or even bank tellers, to keep their deposits below the reporting threshold. In the Long Island case, the company, Bi-County Distributors, had three bank accounts closed because of the paperwork burden of its frequent cash deposits, said Jeff Hirsch, the eldest of three brothers who own the company. Their accountant then recommended staying below the limit, so for more than a decade the company had been using its excess cash to pay vendors.

More than two years ago, the government seized $447,000, and the brothers have been unable to retrieve it. Mr. Salzman, who has taken over legal representation of the brothers, has argued that prosecutors violated a strict timeline laid out in the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act, passed in 2000 to curb abuses. The office of the federal attorney for the Eastern District of New York said the law’s timeline did not apply in this case. Still, prosecutors asked the Hirsch’s first lawyer, Joseph Potashnik, to waive the CARFA timeline. The waiver he signed expired almost two years ago.

The federal attorney’s office said that parties often voluntarily negotiated to avoid going to court, and that Mr. Potashnik had been engaged in talks until just a few months ago. But Mr. Potashnik said he had spent that time trying, to no avail, to show that the brothers were innocent. They even paid a forensic accounting firm $25,000 to check the books.

“I don’t think they’re really interested in anything,” Mr. Potashnik said of the prosecutors. “They just want the money.”

Bi-County has survived only because longtime vendors have extended credit — one is owed almost $300,000, Mr. Hirsch said. Twice, the government has made settlement offers that would require the brothers to give up an “excessive” portion of the money, according to a new court filing.

“We’re just hanging on as a family here,” Mr. Hirsch said. “We weren’t going to take a settlement, because I was not guilty.”

Army Sgt. Jeff Cortazzo of Arlington, Va., began saving for his daughters’ college costs during the financial crisis, when many banks were failing. He stored cash first in his basement and then in a safe-deposit box. All of the money came from paychecks, he said, but he worried that when he deposited it in a bank, he would be forced to pay taxes on the money again. So he asked the bank teller what to do.

“She said: ‘Oh, that’s easy. You just have to deposit less than $10,000.’”

The government seized $66,000; settling cost Sergeant Cortazzo $21,000. As a result, the eldest of his three daughters had to delay college by a year.

“Why didn’t the teller tell me that was illegal?” he said. “I would have just plopped the whole thing in the account and been done with it.”

torchbearer
10-26-2014, 11:29 AM
O, bountiful
the specious laws
e-lec-tric waves of pain.
For amber lamps and magistrates
the aftermath of raids.
AmeriKa, AmeriKa
God shed a tear for thee
The crowne is goode, blue brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.


O beautiful,
the flash and bang
dur-ing-the night time raids
Of heroes fleet
though stressed replete
with mercy for their own
AmeriKa, AmeriKa
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul through crowd control,
Thy liberty in law!


O beautiful
the patriot act
That hears through all our ears
Thine pan-optic state for all in place
Relief from all our fears!
Amerika! Amerika!
God shed a tear for thee
All souls are bared on earth and air
so we may remain free!


How bountiful the glory hole
for latex scented hands
through cop and feel and hospital bills
freedom throughout the land.
AmeriKa! AmeriKa!
God shed a tear for thee
Protect the state and those they rape
through qualified immunity!

jbauer
10-26-2014, 11:29 AM
I have to take anti money laundering courses every year. This past version makes it a crime for me to have been a part of money laundering circle even if I didn't know it was going on.

Basically if I see anything suspicious or not it's my "duty" to report someone. Or face jail time.

torchbearer
10-26-2014, 11:32 AM
I have to take anti money laundering courses every year. This past version makes it a crime for me to have been a part of money laundering circle even if I didn't know it was going on.

Basically if I see anything suspicious or not it's my "duty" to report someone. Or face jail time.


Your lack of faith in the government system has been reported to the DHS. You will soon be sent to re-education camp.

Suzanimal
10-26-2014, 11:34 AM
Thieves, the whole lot of 'em.



Army Sgt. Jeff Cortazzo of Arlington, Va., began saving for his daughters’ college costs during the financial crisis, when many banks were failing. He stored cash first in his basement and then in a safe-deposit box. All of the money came from paychecks, he said, but he worried that when he deposited it in a bank, he would be forced to pay taxes on the money again. So he asked the bank teller what to do.

“She said: ‘Oh, that’s easy. You just have to deposit less than $10,000.’”

The government seized $66,000; settling cost Sergeant Cortazzo $21,000. As a result, the eldest of his three daughters had to delay college by a year.

“Why didn’t the teller tell me that was illegal?” he said. “I would have just plopped the whole thing in the account and been done with it.”

Bank tellers have advised me to do the same thing when I didn't even ask for their advice. The money was legit, btw.

Anti Federalist
10-26-2014, 11:40 AM
Perfect.

I see I have been beaten to the punch on this story however.

Mods, merge please.


O, bountiful
the specious laws
e-lec-tric waves of pain.
For amber lamps and magistrates
the aftermath of raids.
AmeriKa, AmeriKa
God shed a tear for thee
The crowne is goode, blue brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.


O beautiful,
the flash and bang
dur-ing-the night time raids
Of heroes fleet
though stressed replete
with mercy for their own
AmeriKa, AmeriKa
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul through crowd control,
Thy liberty in law!


O beautiful
the patriot act
That hears through all our ears
Thine pan-optic state for all in place
Relief from all our fears!
Amerika! Amerika!
God shed a tear for thee
All souls are bared on earth and air
so we may remain free!


How bountiful the glory hole
for latex scented hands
through cop and feel and hospital bills
freedom throughout the land.
AmeriKa! AmeriKa!
God shed a tear for thee
Protect the state and those they rape
through qualified immunity!

Slave Mentality
10-26-2014, 11:43 AM
As the empire crumbles it becomes necessary to create new ways to steal from the peasants. It is for our safety. Terrorism and all that scary stuff.

Collapse already.

luctor-et-emergo
10-26-2014, 11:50 AM
Your lack of faith in the government system has been reported to the DHS. You will soon be sent to re-education camp.

Education, completely free of charge I presume ?

This is some serious stuff. This is where the system itself starts breaking down. There are so many parallels to previous 'civilizations' that have gone through the same expansion in the reach of government, the same kind of deficit spending.. Well, it's too obvious what will happen. The only thing that's not clear is the timeframe.

thoughtomator
10-26-2014, 11:52 AM
So much for storing money in a bank for safety. You're better off with a safe and a gun now.

tangent4ronpaul
10-26-2014, 11:54 AM
So every min wage worker, every small business owner needs to cash and not deposit their checks and keep their money under their mattress until they have at least 10,000 before depositing it or risk loosing it.

Got it!

Brilliant scam IRS!

-t

osan
10-26-2014, 11:57 AM
Fake tits, FTW.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVLxb-5tpvY

Dr.3D
10-26-2014, 12:08 PM
That is a direct violation of the fourth Amendment to the constitution of the United States of America.

Anti Federalist
10-26-2014, 12:19 PM
That is a direct violation of the fourth Amendment to the constitution of the United States of America.

A violation of what???

Sorry, I can't hear over the noise of all this freedom.

luctor-et-emergo
10-26-2014, 12:51 PM
That is a direct violation of the fourth Amendment to the constitution of the United States of America.

It's not just that, it's an entity claiming to 'protect and serve' your NATURAL/GODGIVEN rights pissing on them.
This is not even about just the fourth amendment, this is about the most basic form of morality. Property, animals mostly understand how the natural rights of property work, they are evolutionary and innate. Criminals and the beast that is government are the only classes that do not have the mental capability to understand how these things work. They eventually get bitten by their lack of cognition, it's a shame that we have to suffer the consequences for it.

Only police states, ruled by despots have laws that allow for indiscriminate asset forfeiture. No matter what your opinion is on the rest of the political system, this is a few steps worse than anything else. In reality it's effects will be sooner and more severe than indefinite detention policies hidden in the NDAA.

Brian4Liberty
10-26-2014, 01:38 PM
526456635024105472

phill4paul
10-26-2014, 06:49 PM
Don't keep your money in a place the IRS can electronically shut you down. That is all.

Dr.3D
10-26-2014, 06:52 PM
So every min wage worker, every small business owner needs to cash and not deposit their checks and keep their money under their mattress until they have at least 10,000 before depositing it or risk loosing it.

Got it!

Brilliant scam IRS!

-t
Then if the police catch you with all that money, on your way to the bank, they will confiscate it before the IRS could.

TheTexan
10-26-2014, 07:22 PM
He added that making deposits under $10,000 to evade reporting requirements, called structuring, is still a crime whether the money is from legal or illegal sources.

Don't want the IRS to take your money? Follow the law, pretty simple...

http://static01.********/images/2014/10/26/us/JP-STRUCTURE1/JP-STRUCTURE1-master675.jpg


Ms. Hinders said that she did not know about the reporting requirement and that for decades, she thought she had been doing everyone a favor.

Ya, OK, sure... TAX CRIMINAL

Anti Federalist
10-26-2014, 08:03 PM
Don't want the IRS to take your money? Follow the law, pretty simple...

Ya, OK, sure... TAX CRIMINAL

You mean, we shouldn't vote harder to change this?

TheTexan
10-26-2014, 08:04 PM
You mean, we shouldn't vote harder to change this?

Nah, it's fine the way it is. She broke the law.. she didn't know she was breaking the law, but when has that ever mattered?

Tax evaders gonna tax evade... gotta stop them somehow!

RonPaulIsGreat
10-27-2014, 02:13 AM
Bitcoin, Silver, Gold, Cash money, and enough in your checking for bills.

I have to much in my checking account right now, Not following my own advice.

Czolgosz
10-27-2014, 02:35 AM
Making sure she pays her fair share. Praise be!

Occam's Banana
10-27-2014, 04:20 AM
So much for storing money in a bank for safety. You're better off with a safe and a gun now.

Not even that. You can't shoot inflation, and Inflation can crack any safe ...

RonPaulIsGreat
10-27-2014, 04:21 AM
Hillary 2016!! Let's make sure we fought WWII for nothing..

HOLLYWOOD
10-27-2014, 06:07 AM
yep The 10 PLANKS stated in the Communist Manifesto and some of their American counterparts are...




1. Abolition of private property and the application of all rents of land to public purposes.
Americans do these with actions such as the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (1868), and various zoning, school & property taxes. Also the Bureau of Land Management (Zoning laws are the first step to government property ownership)

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
Americans know this as misapplication of the 16th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, 1913, The Social Security Act of 1936.; Joint House Resolution 192 of 1933; and various State "income" taxes. We call it "paying your fair share".

3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
Americans call it Federal & State estate Tax (1916); or reformed Probate Laws, and limited inheritance via arbitrary inheritance tax statutes.


4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
Americans call it government seizures, tax liens, Public "law" 99-570 (1986); Executive order 11490, sections 1205, 2002 which gives private land to the Department of Urban Development; the imprisonment of "terrorists" and those who speak out or write against the "government" (1997 Crime/Terrorist Bill); or the IRS confiscation of property without due process. Asset forfeiture laws are used by DEA, IRS, ATF etc...).


5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
Americans call it the Federal Reserve which is a privately-owned credit/debt system allowed by the Federal Reserve act of 1913. All local banks are members of the Fed system, and are regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) another privately-owned corporation. The Federal Reserve Banks issue Fiat Paper Money and practice economically destructive fractional reserve banking.

osan
10-27-2014, 06:30 AM
So much for storing money in a bank for safety.

Regardless of what may have been true in the past, and some notions are eminently questionable, today's banks have nothing to do with safety. FDIC "insurance" is proof positive of that. Even their "public service announcements" on radio unequivocally imply that the threats to your "assets" (HA!) issue not from bank robbers, but from other sources wholly unrelated to overtly violent and physical acts of theft.

Banks now serve Themme as monitors of money flow and personal transactions. They serve as the choke point Theye may employ to stifle access to the means of purchase or other financial transactions by the Individual, a group, or entire populations. The banks are Theire eye-in-the-sky... perhaps not wholly unlike the one depicted on the dollar bill.


You're better off with a safe and a gun now.

Perhaps, but is it not only marginally so?

presence
10-27-2014, 07:19 AM
FUCK BANKS FUCK FIAT


hold tangibles

twomp
10-27-2014, 01:12 PM
An Iowa woman named Carole Hinders saw her bank balance go from $33,000 to zero thanks to IRS confiscation. Hinders, who owns a small, cash-only Mexican restaurant, has not been charged with any crime and is not suspected of tax fraud. The IRS says they took her money solely because she deposited too little of it at a time, and the agency claims she did so to avoid the required reporting of any bank transaction over $10,000. She says she just thought it was helpful to save the bank paperwork.

Though the $10,000 rule is ostensibly designed to help catch terrorists and drug dealers, it is far more often used on regular citizens who are unlikely to ever see their money returned. "I don't think [the IRS is] really interested in anything," said a lawyer representing another seizure case. "They just want the money."

To keep her restaurant afloat following the confiscation of her savings, Hinders has had to take out a second mortgage and max out her credit cards. "How can this happen?" she asks. "Who takes your money before they prove that you've done anything wrong with it?"

http://theweek.com/article/index/270692/speedreads-irs-seizes-womans-entire-savings-because-she-deposits-less-than-10000-at-a-time

HOLLYWOOD
10-27-2014, 01:40 PM
Judge Napolitano on FOX BUSINESS w/ Stewart Varney


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kV-NTqIbDE

Brian4Liberty
10-27-2014, 02:01 PM
526751746698526722

Brian4Liberty
10-27-2014, 02:52 PM
The IRS Can Seize Your Business Bank Account With Zero Evidence Of A Crime (http://www.pocketfullofliberty.com/irs-bank-account-seizures/)
by Jay Caruso


Imagine running your small business for 40 years. People who do often fall into a pattern of how they conduct business. Particularly for a food business. It’s remarkable that a business involving food that isn’t a franchise can survive 40 years but it does happen.

Now imagine that one day, some pencil neck at the IRS gets a hold of your deposits at the bank and doesn’t like the way you’ve been making those deposits. That pencil neck, without a warrant, without evidence of a crime, without a complaint can seize your account and all the cash in it and there’s nothing you can do about it....

More: http://www.pocketfullofliberty.com/irs-bank-account-seizures/

Deborah K
10-27-2014, 03:04 PM
Thieves, the whole lot of 'em.




Bank tellers have advised me to do the same thing when I didn't even ask for their advice. The money was legit, btw.

Same. And it's not just deposits, it's withdrawals as well.

DamianTV
10-27-2014, 03:07 PM
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/14/10/26/0357201/law-lets-irs-seize-accounts-on-suspicion-no-crime-required
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/law-lets-irs-seize-accounts-on-suspicion-no-crime-required/ar-BBbbfW3?ocid=mailsignout


The IRS admits to seizing hundreds of thousands of dollars of private assets, without any proof of illegal activity, merely because there is a law that lets them do it. From the article: "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 and settle the case for a portion of their money.

'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.'" The article describes several specific cases, all of which are beyond egregious and are in fact entirely unconstitutional. The Bill of Rights is very clear about this: The federal government cannot take private property without just compensation."

And John Q. Public is just now becoming aware of what we've all known for how damn long now?

Anti Federalist
10-27-2014, 03:55 PM
"How can this happen?" she asks. "Who takes your money before they prove that you've done anything wrong with it?"

How?

Because millions of people just like you have not been paying attention.

Who?

The government, that people just like you vote for more and more and more of, every year.

Anti Federalist
10-27-2014, 03:58 PM
And John Q. Public is just now becoming aware of what we've all known for how damn long now?

And Boobus will belch, and fart, and scratch, and maybe raise a little hell.

Until the next game comes on.

If we were the people we were 250 years ago, these official bandits would be hanging by their own entrails.

But, we are not.

And the band played on...

ZENemy
10-27-2014, 04:13 PM
HILARAND PAULUSHINTON 2016!!!!!







PLEASE BE SLIGHTLY NICER THAN THE LAST MASTER!

phill4paul
10-27-2014, 05:16 PM
Steal my money and see what it gets ya. Go on. I DARE you.

HOLLYWOOD
10-27-2014, 06:03 PM
http://jacksonville.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/superphoto/photos/blogs/13737/IRSS.jpghttp://www.secretsofthefed.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/IRSS-vi.gif

Brian4Liberty
10-27-2014, 07:11 PM
“Innocent until proven guilty” is officially dead
By Bonnie Kristian - October 27, 2014


For nearly four decades, an Iowa woman named Carole Hinders has made regular cash deposits at her local bank. She runs a small Mexican restaurant which doesn’t accept checks or credit cards, so this banking process made sense. Hinders saved up $33,000 to provide some financial security and help keep her business running—but now, her entire savings is gone, confiscated by the IRS.

What crime is she accused of? Well, none.

Hinders is up to date on her taxes, and no one suspects her of money laundering. The sole problem is the size of her cash deposits at the bank: The IRS says they’re too small, and that’s suspicious.

See, there’s a rule that any cash transaction involving more than $10,000 has to be reported to the IRS. Hinders’ deposits didn’t hit that limit, and, nonsensically, the government says that’s a problem.
...
She’s guilty until proven innocent.

Our government’s new principle of guilty until proven innocent goes beyond just the tactics of the IRS. 16-year-old Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was an American citizen who was killed by U.S. drone strike without charge or trial three years ago in Yemen. Abdulrahman was described as “a typical teenager—he watched ‘The Simpsons,’ listened to Snoop Dogg, read Harry Potter and had a Facebook page with many friends. He had a mop of curly hair, glasses [and] a wide, goofy smile.”

And then he was killed by a U.S. drone strike.

Abdulrahman wasn’t suspected of any crime, but apparently he was still considered guilty until proven innocent—or at least, guilty enough to be executed by hellfire raining from the sky.

Since this boy was assassinated, the convoluted statements we’ve received from the Obama Administration have reached a level of obfuscation worthy of the IRS.
...
It’s not just confusing government rules and rhetoric that make these two incidents similar. At first glance, a woman in Iowa losing $33,000 and a boy in Yemen losing his life may not seem to have much in common, but there’s a thread which ties these two stories together:

Both people were treated as if their most basic rights didn’t exist.

Both were victimized by a government that does what it wants, due process be damned.

Both were considered guilty until proven innocent.

Ultimately, stories like what happened to Carole Hinders and Abdulrahman al-Awlaki lead me inevitably—though unwillingly—to one conclusion: If the government can take your money and your life without proving you committed any crime, ‘innocent until proven guilty’ is officially dead in America.
...
More:
http://rare.us/story/innocent-until-proven-guilty-is-officially-dead/

Lucille
12-15-2014, 05:58 PM
I.R.S. Asset Seizure Case Dropped
http://www.strike-the-root.com/irs-asset-seizure-case-dropped

Federal prosecutors have agreed to dismiss a case against Carole Hinders, an Iowa restaurant owner whose bank account was seized by the I.R.S. based solely on a pattern of cash deposits (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/14/us/irs-asset-forfeiture-case-is-dropped-.html?_r=2).

[...]Civil forfeiture has become an issue in the confirmation of President Obama’s nominee for attorney general, Loretta Lynch, who as United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York presided over a case involving more than $440,000 seized from a family-run business on Long Island (http://www.ij.org/long-island-forfeiture).
[...]
The I.R.S. recently announced that it was sharply curtailing seizures in cases like Ms. Hinders’s, where there is no suspicion that the money involved came from an illegal source. But officials said they would not drop cases that were already underway.

Mr. Salzman said that early last week, he agreed to halt depositions in Ms. Hinders’s case when prosecutors said they would drop it, return her money, and clear the way for her to recover interest, expenses and legal fees. He wanted a “stipulated” dismissal, signed by both parties, but was unable to reach an agreement with prosecutors to include language that would declare Ms. Hinders innocent.

Still at issue was whether prosecutors would drop the case with prejudice, clearing the way for Ms. Hinders to recover interest and legal costs, or without prejudice, reserving the right to reopen the case at some time, Mr. Salzman said.

Suzanimal
12-15-2014, 06:07 PM
I.R.S. Asset Seizure Case Dropped
http://www.strike-the-root.com/irs-asset-seizure-case-dropped

:mad:
Scumbags.

PaulConventionWV
12-15-2014, 06:53 PM
I.R.S. Asset Seizure Case Dropped
http://www.strike-the-root.com/irs-asset-seizure-case-dropped

Well, thank goodness for that. At least now she knows how not to earn the ire of the almighty IRS.