The DEA seized her father’s life savings at an airport without alleging any crime occurred, lawsuit says

WaPo/Seattle Times ^ | 1/15/2020 | Justin Jouvenal

[bkopto]

Every dollar Terry Rolin had saved over a lifetime was stacked in a large Tupperware container: $82,373. At 79, he was aging and worried about keeping so much cash on hand, his daughter said, so during one of her visits he asked her to open a joint bank account.

Rebecca Brown was catching a flight home from the Pittsburgh airport early the next day and said she didn’t have time to stop at a bank. She confirmed on a government website that it’s legal to carry any amount of cash on a domestic flight and tucked the money in her carry-on.

But just minutes before departure in late August, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent met her at the busy gate and questioned her about the cash, which showed up on a security scan. He insisted Brown put Rolin on the phone to confirm her story. Brown said Rolin, who is suffering mental decline, was unable to verify some details.

“He just handed me the phone and said, ‘Your stories don’t match,’ ” Brown recalled the agent saying. ” ‘We’re seizing the cash.’ “

[Graybeard58]

Paywall prevents me from seeing the whole story.
………………………………………………………………………

I didn’t get a pay wall. Annoying pop ups, yes.

[roadcat]

Places here in LA are only accepting cash.
when I go to buy a donut for breakfast...I have to pull out my credit cards. I do buy a coffee....but still!

Do you have that backwards? Did you mean they only accept cash in L.A.? Or that they don't accept cash?

In San Francisco, some stores on downtown Market Street tried to institute a non-cash policy, refusing to allow cash transactions. City Hall came down hard on them to reverse the policy, saying it discriminates against poor people who don't have credit cards or debit cards. Which is okay with me, as I try to pay cash for most purchases (I don't like having my spending habits tracked).

[tallyhoe]

I believe you can only take out of the country about $10,000. The problem here is most people don’t report the money to authorities until they are caught.. Lots of foreigners do this they take other peoples money for them over to other countries to give to the families the got the money from now they are on the hook to pay back all the money.. Clinton put this in place in the 1990’s to stove drug kingpins from hiding money over seas.. I think it is bull poop but that is m opinion. I am against government from telling me how much money I can carry out of the country or telling me I have to report to the government how much money I move from one account to another if it’s more than 10,000.. It is none of their business.. It is my money not theirs!

[SanchoP]

Oh yeah. I’ve carried over $10k several times but I always had a paper trail to back it up.

[Zhang Fei]

[Retired railroad worker Terry Rolin and his parents, scarred by their experiences during the Great Depression, used to squirrel earnings and pension withdrawals in the basement of their Pennsylvania home.]

---

Rolin was born in 1940. He would have come of age in the 1950’s, the greatest era of relative prosperity and abundance the US had ever seen. Doubly so in Pittsburgh, an outpost of a number of industrial giants.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Pittsburgh#Renaissance_I_(1946%E2%80%931973)

His vaguely problematic story is, of course, no reason for the Feds to seize his money without due process.

[roadcat]

I’ve carried over $10k several times but I always had a paper trail to back it up.

And I've carried just under $10k for transactions but nervously looked over my shoulder, not for thieves but for government DEA jerks intent on stealing citizens' money. A paper trail won't save you, because you'll lose in lawyer's fees and loss of money while fighting to get it back. Ordinary citizens are victimized while Mexican drug lords get away with murder (literally).

[Jonty30]

If you spend $10,000 at any one time,it must be reported or you could have your purchase seized. Including the watch.

[Ex gun maker.]

I’ve made many purchases of over $10K, usually machine guns, sometimes cars.
Rarely cash, so there was a banking trail.
Never heard a peep from Gov., just waited on the NFA forms to clear.
Maybe the additional $200.00 NFA tax per item is really their “Cut”?

[ScottinVA]

For $82k, you MAKE time to go to a bank and at least get a cashier’s check.

[Jonty30]

I mean cash transactions.

[Does so]

Mentioned before, here, a Georgia judge returned $300,000 taped to a Columbian’s body aboard a jetliner. I had reported him to the pilot, as he appeared suspivious—and suspected a hijacking—popular at the time.

Attendents related a drug deal concluded during the flight to the judge. Mid-80s, I’m guessing.

[SkyPilot]

Soon, Cash will be completely illegal.

It already is in many places of business, and it's use is very restricted already in most countries.

If you take your own money out of the bank, the Feds can arrest, prosecute, and convict you of the "Crime of Structuring" - claiming you used the money in ways to "void scrutiny by regulators and law enforcement."

I am not joking, or exaggerating.

In the EU (and the UK as well), if you are traveling with thousands of Euros, Dollars, or Pounds, they will have dogs sniffing not only for bombs and drugs, but for cash.

You must declare to Customs Agents €10,000 or more, or the equivalent sum in pounds. But even if you are well below that amount, they can seize it if your "story" is not to their liking. It happens every single day.

In the global New World Order being constructed, cash is on it's last legs.

[SkyPilot]

For $82k, you MAKE time to go to a bank and at least get a cashier’s check.

Many older individuals have a deep distrust of banks that was passed onto them by their parents, or that they developed themselves from seeing the Great Depression as a child.

I am not disagreeing with you, but stating a reason as to why this is the case.

[Phil DiBasquette]

SNAP cards which were supposed to
eliminate the stigma of being on the dole
apparently didn’t count

[texas_mrs]

I remember seeing a $5000 bill once when I was a kid.

[Daffynition]

Mark Levin talks about this *war on cash* all the time.

[4yearlurker]

I have not seen this story on the local Pittsburgh news.

[AppyPappy]

Probably Dementia

[zeugma]

The gentleman in question should have used the money to purchase an expensive wristwatch (no one would have stopped him because of an expensive wristwatch), and then - after landing at his destination - resold it.

This is actually something I'd recommend for anyone traveling overseas. I'd recommend a Rolex, not because it is the best of what they call 'luxury watches', (I'd prefer a Patel Phillipe) but because it is easily recognizable, and is directly convertible to cash just about anywhere in the world. If you get into trouble, if nothing else, it can get you home.

[zeugma]

I remember seeing a $5000 bill once when I was a kid.

Yup. We were once a free nation and the government didn't yet consider us its slaves, and thus restrict us from transporting large sums of cash. Back when that $5000 bill was printed, a brand new car from Ford would have probably cost around $500. That means that note had the actual value of about 10 new automobiles. Today, an equivalent bill would probably be a note worth several hundred thousand dollars.

The $5000, $10000, and $100000 notes were generally used as interbank notes, as opposed to actual circulating bills. $500 and even $1000 bills did circulate, though obviously the velocity of such denominations was somewhat low. If we actually lived in a Free Republic, you'd still be able to make use of $500 and $1000 bills, but our government doesn't believe its slaves/serfs should be able to carry that much value in a single bill anymore. I'd say $10,000 bills would be much more useful today for citizens, given what inflation has done to our currency.