Nipate
Forum => Kenya Discussion => Topic started by: Georgesoros on October 26, 2014, 03:54:43 PM
-
For a business.
Law lets IRS seize accounts without filing criminal complaint
Using a law designed to help catch drug traffickers, racketeers and terrorists by tracking their cash, the government has gone after run-of-the-mill business owners and wage earners without so much as an allegation that they have committed serious crimes.
By SHAILA DEWAN
The New York Times
Carole Hinders at her Mexican restaurant in Iowa. Because she had deposited less than $10,000 at a time in her bank account, Internal Revenue Service agents seized her funds.
Enlarge this photo
ANGELA JIMENEZ / THE NEW YORK TIMES
Carole Hinders at her Mexican restaurant in Iowa. Because she had deposited less than $10,000 at a time in her bank account, Internal Revenue Service agents seized her funds.
READER COMMENTS
HIDE / SHOW COMMENTS
So are you all proud of our country now? Do we all think this is what we stand for, jack-booted thugs operating above... (October 25, 2014) MORE
Hundreds of comments on the school shooting - but not a single comment or word of dismay at the Federal government... (October 25, 2014) MORE
One government agency can look into your bank account without cause. Not just any government agency, but one with the... (October 25, 2014) MORE
Read all 19 comments Post a comment
advertising
Click here
ARNOLDS PARK, Iowa — For almost 40 years, Carole Hinders has dished out Mexican specialties at her modest, cash-only restaurant. For just as long, she deposited the earnings at a small bank branch a block away, until last year, when two tax agents knocked on her door and informed her they had seized her funds, almost $33,000.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents did not accuse Hinders of money laundering or cheating on her taxes. She has not been charged with any crime. Instead, the money was seized solely because she had deposited less than $10,000 at a time, which they viewed as an attempt to avoid triggering a required government report.
“How can this happen?” Hinders said in a recent interview. “Who takes your money before they prove that you’ve done anything wrong with it?”
The federal government does.
Using a law designed to help catch drug traffickers, racketeers and terrorists by tracking their cash, the government has gone after run-of-the-mill business owners and wage earners without so much as an allegation that they have committed serious crimes. The government can take the money without filing a criminal complaint, and the owners are left to prove they are innocent. Many simply give up and settle the case for a portion of their money.
“They’re going after people who are really not criminals,” said David Smith, a former federal prosecutor who is now a forfeiture expert and lawyer in Virginia. “They’re middle-class citizens who have never had any trouble with the law.”
On Thursday, in response to questions from The New York Times, the IRS said it would curtail the practice, focusing instead on cases where the money is believed to have been acquired illegally or seizure is deemed justified by “exceptional circumstances.”
Richard Weber, chief of Criminal Investigation at the IRS, said in a written statement: “This policy update will ensure that C.I. continues to focus our limited investigative resources on identifying and investigating violations within our jurisdiction that closely align with C.I.’s mission and key priorities.” He added that making deposits of less than $10,000 to evade reporting requirements, called structuring, is still a crime whether the money is from legal or illegal sources. The new policy will not affect seizures that have occurred