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 \u2014 until last year, when two tax agents knocked on her door and informed her that they had seized her checking account, almost $33,000.<\/p>\n
The Internal Revenue Service agents did not accuse Ms. Hinders of money laundering or cheating on her taxes \u2014 in fact, 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can this happen?\u201d Ms. Hinders said in a recent interview. \u201cWho takes your money before they prove that you\u2019ve done anything wrong with it?\u201d<\/p>\n
The federal government does.<\/p>\n
Using a law designed to 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 ever filing a criminal complaint, and the owners are left to prove they are innocent. Many give up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re going after people who are really not criminals,\u201d said David Smith, a former federal prosecutor who is now a forfeiture expert and lawyer in Virginia. \u201cThey\u2019re middle-class citizens who have never had any trouble with the law.\u201d<\/p>\n