Posted on 09/21/2021 4:57:04 AM PDT by Magnatron
After the FBI seized Joseph Ruiz's life savings during a raid on a safe deposit box business in Beverly Hills, the unemployed chef went to court to retrieve his $57,000. A judge ordered the government to tell Ruiz why it was trying to confiscate the money.
It came from drug trafficking, an FBI agent responded in court papers.
Ruiz’s income was too low for him to have that much money, and his side business selling bongs made from liquor bottles suggested he was an unlicensed pot dealer, the agent wrote. The FBI also said a dog had smelled unspecified drugs on Ruiz’s cash.
The FBI was wrong. When Ruiz produced records showing the source of his money was legitimate, the government dropped its false accusation and returned his money.
Ruiz is one of roughly 800 people whose money and valuables the FBI seized from safe deposit boxes they rented at the U.S. Private Vaults store in a strip mall on Olympic Boulevard.
Federal agents had suspected for years that criminals were stashing loot there, and they assert that’s exactly what they found. The government is trying to confiscate $86 million in cash and a stockpile of jewelry, rare coins and precious metals taken from about half of the boxes.
But six months after the raid, the FBI and U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles have produced no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the vast majority of box holders whose belongings the government is trying to keep.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
How many more people need to be harmed?
Who will step in and finally disband this thoroughly corrupt enterprise?
Guilty until proven innocent. Unless you’re rich, famous or a democrat.
Welcome the the USSA.
Your papers please....
It’s becoming evident that the disbanding will only be done through extra-judicial means.
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2021/09/20/fbi-raids-beverly-hills-area-safe-deposit-boxes-fishing-for-illegal-contraband-then-confiscate-all-contents-saying-owners-need-to-prove-contents-are-legal-property/
The feds gained a search warrant with very specific limitations (which they abruptly violated), to look at the legal contents of some boxes. However, the judge said no content could be removed unless the FBI specifically could prove the content was illegal.
Very strange that this didn’t come up when I searched…
They have gone rogue
Why The FBI Shouldn’t Take A Knee, But Did: Concerns Mount Over FBI’s Role In Protests
Jeff Sessions championed civil asset forfeiture during his tenure as Attorney General...this mess is on him.
I’m surprised that courts even listen to evidence about drug-sniffing dogs and cash anymore. Last I heard, 90% of cash generates a “hit” for a drug-sniffing dog.
I get that a drug dog alert can be used as probable cause for a search warrant. (in this case for specific safety deposit boxes) But for seizure of assets or criminal charges, I want the dog to testify in English.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/cocaine-on-money-drug-found-on-90-of-us-bills
Any dog with a schnoze will smell something funny on any US bill that didn’t just drop out of the printer. It’s been that way for decades.
Unless one of them is rolled up an ready to smoke.
In some cases, the drug dogs react to verbal commands from the handler, it only appears they’re reacting to a smell. It’s fabricated probable cause.
They had to give the money back. Bet that ruined somebody’s vacation.
FBI raid
Any questions why Biden wants to flood the IRS offices with more bodies.
American Marxism has many names.
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