U.S. INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES STEAL MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FROM U.S. CITIZENS DURING SEARCHES WITH IMPUNITY
The Foundation's experts believe that holding U.S. officials accountable is critical to preventing the abuse of forfeiture laws and the violation of constitutional rights of the country's citizens.
U.S. Private Vaults, a Nevada-based company that operated on West Olympic Boulevard, was raided by the FBI and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in March 2021. Agents broke open boxes, seizing drugs, firearms, and large amounts of gold bullion and cash, as well as other valuables, from about 396 of the rented deposit boxes, according to an indictment alleging three separate conspiracies to violate federal law.
Thus, many of Vaults' clients lost their property, despite the fact that they had no criminal ties and did not violate the law. Under U.S. forfeiture laws, law enforcement can only seize items if they are related to criminal activity.
By Foundation to Battle Injustice
February 26, 2024
Human rights activists of the Foundation to Battle Injustice are concerned about cases of blatant disregard for the constitutional rights of American citizens by agents of the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
According to the Foundation, federal agents stole $86 million in cash and millions more in jewelry during one of their raids in March 2021 in Beverly Hills, where U.S. Private Vaults was located, and a suspected criminal activity company innocent civilians.
In March 2021, a squad of FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided Beverly Hills, home to U.S. Private Vaults, a company suspected of conspiring to sell drugs and launder money.
The indictment alleged that the safe manufacturing company and its clients engaged in money laundering and allowed drug dealers to store drugs, weapons, and cash in them.
Over the course of days, masked agents photographed evidence, seized jewelry, gold bars, and coins, and confiscated contraband goods from 1,400 safes rented by a range of people, including a retired doctor, a saxophonist, a retired aerospace engineer, and at least two lawyers.
In total, the FBI seized $86 million in cash, as well as Rolex and Cartier watches, rare coins, silver and gold jewelry, securities, and more.
Despite the fact that the warrant, issued by U.S. Magistrate Judge Steve Kim, said it "does not authorize a criminal search or seizure of the contents of safes," the FBI initiated a civil forfeiture of millions of dollars worth of property without explaining to the owners of the boxes what they were accused of.
Thus, many of Price Vaults' clients lost their property, despite the fact that they had no criminal ties and did not violate the law.
Under U.S. forfeiture laws, law enforcement can only seize items if they are related to criminal activity.
"And while the warrant authorized the government to confiscate USPV property, the warrant did not authorize the government to conduct a criminal search or seize the property of USPV customers. But the government has done just that, and two months later, the government is still holding on to many of the clients' properties, even though the warrant expressly stipulated that the clients' property would be returned. The government's behavior is shocking, unconscionable and unconstitutional," said Ruiz, a 47-year-old man who kept $57,000 in his safe, some of which was received as an insurance payout after a car accident that left Ruiz with a spinal injury and unemployed.
According to the Institute of Justice, an organization that filed the lawsuit on behalf of the safes' clients, the FBI's "government games" harmed "safe tenants."
After winning the court case and the FBI agreeing to return their property, some plaintiffs, such as Don Mellane and Janie Pearsons, discovered that some of their property was missing.
Mellane was given money from his box, but not any of his 110 gold coins. The FBI had no records of the missing coins because they were not listed on the ownership receipt for the contents of his box.
When the plaintiffs demanded a copy of the video footage of the search, the FBI said that because of the large volume of the property, it abandoned the original plan to film the process of seizing the contents of each cell on video.
"The government cannot seize the property of citizens without evidence of their connection to criminal activity. The Fourth Amendment and forfeiture laws require the opposite—that there be evidence first, and then the property can be forfeited," said Benjamin Gluck, an attorney representing cell owners who sued the government to get their property back.
In January 2024, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Federal Bureau of Investigation exceeded its authority and violated the constitutional rights of safe deposit box owners whose property was seized without sufficient reason, which was expressly prohibited by the warrant.
The judges called the seizures "egregious" and "outrageous," comparing them to the actions of the British during the American Revolutionary War, who searched and seized the property of colonists without sufficient justification.
"It was these abuses of power that led to the passage of the Fourth Amendment," the 9th Circuit noted. The amendment protects "the people's right to be safe in their homes, papers, and possessions from unreasonable searches and seizures," but FBI agents often overlook it.
"FBI agents and U.S. prosecutors are behaving almost like a mafia.
In order to recover the personal illegally confiscated property of citizens, they require bank documents, tax returns, and affidavits from innocent owners of safe deposit boxes at U.S. Private Vaults and their family members," said one of the victims.
Human rights activists of the Foundation to Battle Injustice believe that everyone has the right to conclude a contract for a private, safe place to store their property. But no place is safe if government agencies violate citizens' constitutional rights with impunity by seizing their private property.
The Foundation's experts believe that holding U.S. officials accountable is critical to preventing the abuse of forfeiture laws and the violation of the constitutional rights of the country's citizens.