I Was Walking Across the Border And My Money Got Seized By Customs! 30 days Later I Got A Notice of Seizure and Information to Claimants and CAFRA Form -Now What?
You may receive this type of letter is to notify you the U.S. Customs & and Border Protection seized the property described in the letter (but you knew that when they took it from you!) and you receive the letter “Certified – Return Receipt Requested with the year like 2020 and a 12 digit case number (2020250600032201 for example) that is mailed to your address (and anyone that may have an interest, like their name on the title, between 30 to 60 days from the seizure of your property. The letter is going to give the “appraised domestic value of the property” whether the property is a car, motorcycle or a home residence, U.S. Currency or anything of value the Government can claim was:
1. Used in the commission of a federal crime such a failure to file the required financial statement for currency in excess of $10,000.00 when crossing the border. 31 USC § 5316 and 31 USC § 5317
2. Or was purchased or obtained using the ill-gotten gains of some alleged criminal activity.
The Forfeiture Fighters Division of San Diego Defenders Gets Calls Daily From Scared People That The Government Has Taken Their Valuable Items and Then Receive a Letter and Exclaim “The Election of Proceeding is Confusing!” Help Us! And San Diego Defenders Can Help!
Scenarios:
In this particular case, my client was walking across the border with cash in his pocket that was perfectly legitimate from the sale of his deceased parents property in Mexico and he forgot that he had taken out some money from an ATM machine earlier that day to buy Christmas presents on December 24 and therefore he had slightly over the $10,000 limit to declare when crossing from Mexico into the United States. The U.S. Customs wanted to keep it all and would have if he did not come to my office to fight the forfeiture case. We got all but $500 return of the $10,138.00 originally seized by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol at 9495 Customhouse Plaza San Diego, CA 92154. In this case, Mr. Smith argued that it was a violation of the 8th Amendment to the United States Constitution recently decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in Timbs v. Indiana, 586 U.S. ___ (2019).
In another case that a client came to San Diego Defenders forfeiture fighters division for help, our client was crossing from the United States into Mexico and was stopped at a table on the sidewalk and U.S. Border Patrol asked him if he possessed more than $10,000.00 currency on his person. He had a combination of U.S. Currency and Mexican Pesos he was using to build a portion of a retirement home for his elderly mother. Mr. Smith argued that the Mexican Pesos actually belonged to the client’s mother and showed supporting documents concerning the payments being made in Mexico. These are arguments that the client was not aware of could be made and had almost given up!
In both cases, Daniel Smith, the San Diego forfeiture lawyer with 30 years experience fighting seizure cases was careful to write a persuasive petition with supporting documents and successfully got the majority of the money returned through the election of proceedings for a petition for remission or mitigation that is sometimes considered an offer in compromise without having to file a civil action in federal court which could have taken months and expenses in excess of the amount seized.
The government may use language like “A false statement or claim may subject a person to prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 and/or 18 U.S.C. § 1621, and May be punishable by fine and imprisonment. San Diego Defenders can represent you starting at $250 down and $250 for 7-month installments interest-free. Call San Diego Defenders at (619) 258-8888 let us help you get your money or vehicle back from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection today!
