That is not happening - which means the number is wrong, or there is important information that has not been reported in this article.
I know several people personally who have had property seized by the government. I am not talking about small amounts... they have lost everything in some cases. These people were generally not able to find “contingency lawyers” to help them after their property was seized. They paid lawyers until every last penny was gone in some cases. The government is a tough nut to crack. Our legal system is corrupt. Civil actions are actually more difficult to fight than criminal defense. For the most part lawyers are unwilling to take on the system unless they are getting paid directly for their time. I have no skepticism of the 4.5 Billion dollar figure at all.
That’s incredible. I didn’t know it was that rampant. Wow!
So, what are we talking about here?
Tax liens?
In that case, I believe $4.5 billion in forfeiture is accurate, and no lawyer would waste his time trying to get any of that money back.
But the article says nothing about tax liens, which is why I said important information has been left out.