Lawsuit Claims Indiana Unconstitutionally Seizes Millions in Cash From FedEx Packages Every Year
A new class action lawsuit accuses Indiana law enforcement of seizing millions of dollars a year in cash from FedEx packages without ever informing owners of what crime they’re suspected of violating.
Henry and Minh Cheng, who run a small California jewelry wholesaler business, allege in a class action countersuit filed in Indiana state court that police seized over $42,000 in cash from a FedEx package en route to them from a client in Virginia. County prosecutors then filed a lawsuit to forfeit their money through civil asset forfeiture, claiming the Chengs’ money was connected to a violation of a criminal statute, but the complaint never stated which statute.
The Chengs’ suit, though, says they’re not the only victims. The lawsuit says Indiana law enforcement officials “exploit Indianapolis’s location at the Crossroads of America to forfeit millions of dollars in currency being shipped from one side of the nation to the other.”
The Chengs’ countersuit against the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office and the State of Indiana was filed on their behalf by the Institute for Justice (I.J.), a libertarian public interest law firm that has challenged civil asset forfeiture laws in several states.
According to I.J., the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office has sued to forfeit $2.5 million in currency from at least 130 FedEx parcels in transit from one non-Indiana state to another over the past two years.
“This scheme is one of the most predatory we have seen, and it’s past time to put a stop to it,” I.J. senior attorney Sam Gedge said in a press release. “It’s illegal and unconstitutional for Indiana to forfeit in-transit money whose only connection to Indiana is the happenstance of FedEx’s shipping practices.”
Under civil asset forfeiture laws, police and prosecutors can seize property suspected of being connected to criminal activity, even when the owner is not convicted, charged, or even arrested for a crime. Law enforcement groups say civil forfeiture allows them to interdict and disrupt organized crime like drug trafficking by seizing its illicit gains.Â
However, civil liberties groups argue lax safeguards and p
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