investigation Archives - Great Lakes Customs Law

When Customs or Homeland Security wants to discuss your Customs currency seizure case with you after filing a petition, by telephone or in person, including the contents of your petition, the sources of the money, or intended uses of the money… DECLINE. The scenario:

You foolishly decided to file your petition for remission of forfeiture for your seized currency without hiring a lawyer because you didn’t read our article about currency seizures. A few weeks has passed and you haven’t heard anything. On a quiet day you get a call from a blocked phone number, out of curiousity you answer it. The caller says:

“This is Special Agent Johnny Customs from Homeland Security Investiations. Is this the person who filed a petition for seizure of currency in Case Number 2015-3807-0000005-01?”

“Yes,” you answer, shocked.

“I’d like to ask you some questions about your petition.”

Upon hearing it, you panic. Hopefully you don’t say anything stupid or that can be interpreted as suspicious. This is a very real situation and a common occurrence.

Politely decline to speak with them. Then keep calm, and immediately contact your Customs Attorney.

The reason is as old as the hills: never talk to law enforcement. It can only go badly for you. Even though Customs is not your local police officer or the FBI, U.S. Customs, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Homeland Security Investigations agents and officers are all the same; they are police. The same Customs Money Seizure goes for a paralegal specialist. If you don’t believe us then watch this YouTube video called “Don’t Talk to Police“. You might be really motivated to talk because you want your money back. But the guy who wants to interview you really does not want to give it back. The system is adversarial and any interview will be designed to work against you.

The request for an interview has happened when our law firm has filed petitions for returned of seized currency and the petition is referred to Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation or “technical review” (a topic we briefly discussed in our article about the length of time it takes Customs to decide a petition). I consider these interview requests a scare tactic to convince the petitioner to abandon the seized currency. I have had a homeland security agent try to bully me into producing my client for an interview and threaten that if my client did not abandon the currency, they would conduct a full-scale financial investigation, and involve the Homeland Security attache’s office in the country where the money came from. No one wants to believe that about their government or their country but there is no other way to interpret it other than bullying.

A good petition to retrieve seized currency gives Customs everything necessary in writing. Consequently, there is ABSOLUTELY NO GOOD REASON to participate in a telephone or sit-down, face-to-face interview, and talk about where the money came from, what was its intended use, or the events that led to the seizure (like the failure to report). The interview is designed to make you uncomfortable, intimidate you, uncover incriminating facts, or give Customs enough information deny your petition to get the money back.

If you have been contacted by Homeland Security Investigations and they have asked to interview you, please make use of the other information available on this website or call our office at (734) 855-4999 to speak to a customs lawyer, or e-mail us through our contact page. We are able to assist with cash seized by customs around the country, including Chicago, Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, Orlando and many other places, and not just locally in Detroit. Please read these other articles:

My clients who have had currency seized from Customs often ask me how long it takes to get the money back, or in other words, how long customs has to respond to a petition? The answer depends on a lot of factors. After the currency/monetary instruments are seized
Customs must issue a notice of seizure, and usually they must issue it within within 60 days. ((19 CFR Part 162)) If you elect to file a petition to try and have them money returned, usually the longest part of the process is waiting for Customs to make a decision on the petition.

That’s because Customs has no time limit or deadline for deciding a petition. This is hard for anyone to understand because almost every aspect of our lives has some sort of time limit on it…. but not so for Customs. It is possible that it could take forever to make their decision; and as ridiculous as that sounds, it’s basically true. ((The exact limits of how long Customs may take to make a decision are discussed by the U.S. Supreme Court in U.S. v. Von Neumann, 474 US 242 (1986), and the government indicated that the Administrative Procedures Act might provide a remedy.))

When Customs revised their regulations, during the notice and comment period someone commented that Customs should be required to make their decision on a petition in 120 days. Here is the exchange that sets forth Customs policy ((65 FR 53565, 68, dated 9/5/2007)):

Comment

One commenter indicates that the regulations should be amended in a manner to require Customs to act on petitions within 120 days. The commenter states that when a petition is received, not much else has to be done by Customs and there is no basis for continued delays.

Customs Response

Customs does not agree. When a petition is received, an investigation often must be undertaken in order to determine the veracity of statements made in that petition. This can be a time consuming process, particularly if information from foreign sources must be obtained. Additionally, there are instances when a claimant to seized property or a charged party asks that Customs delay a decision on a petition for relief. If Customs is required to adhere to a rigid decision schedule, it could work to the disadvantage of such a party. While Customs makes every effort to decide petitions for relief as expeditiously as possible, Customs sees no reason to amend the regulations to place a strict time frame on the processing of petitions.

As stated above, there is no time limit on their deciding a petition because Customs conducts their own investigation and review of the incident. For example, the paralegal specialist assigned to the case must determine who has authority to make the decision (it varies based on the property value), analyze the facts presented in the petition against those presented by the seizing officer, thoroughly review the law with respect to the violation, and determine if FP&F has all the necessary information to render a decision, and if not, refer to another source to get that information. The petition can then be referred to the seizing officer, and/or the office of investigations, other agencies, and other technical and legal experts. This is sometimes called by CBP a “technical review” by Homeland Security Investigations. Sometimes HSI will ask to interview you (bad idea, here’s why).

On top of that, there are the normal delays inherent in the process. There may be a number of petitions ahead of yours; or, the paralegal, investigators, or agents may be on leave, sick or taking a vacation, and of course something more urgent might intervene (for example, a change in priorities due to a government shutdown). All of these things can effect how long it takes your petition to be decided. Some ports, on average, take longer than others. In our experience, Detroit processes its cases much faster than New York or Chicago.

The one thing that is for certain is that hiring an experienced attorney to handle you currency/monetary instrument seizure case is important. An experienced attorney can make sure that Customs has all the evidence they need, and everything is presented to Customs in the appropriate fashion. We often find that when we are hired, Customs issues the notice of seizure immediately which can have a great impact on how quickly the petition is prepared, filed and decided by Customs.

If you have had your currency/monetary instruments seized, do not decide how to respond to the notice of seizure without first consulting an attorney. If a petition is appropriate, my office prepares a detailed legal memorandum that contains factual narrative with my client’s side of the story, what led to the seizure, a review of the relevant law, regulations and Custom’s own guidelines concerning the seizure. When the facts allow for it, my Petition will always include a strong argument for return of the money in full, or even when there is a valid basis for the currency seizure, a strong argument for the money to be returned upon payment of a fine in the smallest amount of money possible, rather than forfeiture of all your money. At times, Customs violation of the law or their own policies may permit us to make technical arguments that cancel the seizure entirely.

If you have had cash seized by customs and are contemplating what to do next, please make use of the other information available on this website or call our office at (734) 855-4999 to speak to a customs lawyer, or e-mail us through our contact page. We will be happy to answer any questions you have and explain the process to you. We are able to assist with cash seized by customs around the country, including Chicago, Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, Orlando and many other places, and not just locally in Detroit. Please read these other articles:

Tag: investigation

Don’t Talk About Your Customs Currency Seizure Case

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