GUWonder

In other words, money and material goods may be seized, wrongful as it may be, by the federal authorities, even in the absence of a criminal conviction, even in the absence of a civil judgment.

The federal government has become more aggressive in locking people out of their accounts or seizing possessions (including money) before a civil sentence or criminal conviction has even been handed down (if ever).

cestmoi123

You weren't doing anything illegal. The seller almost certainly was, or will be when he doesn't pay sales tax on the transaction...

bocastephen

I don't know about NYC, but down here sales tax is collected upon registration - to ensure money is collected when cars are sold or transferred. The new owner would need to pay the tax.

LightingGuy

There are a substantial number of people who believe that the security strips embedded in the bills can be counted through remote sensors (sort of like RFID).

Not true:
http://www.snopes.com/business/money/strip.asp

Landing Gear

Didn't you mean income tax?

ND Sol

If it is like here in Texas, he meant sales tax. A sale of a car involves the payment of a sales tax as part of the registration process, though I do acknowledge that it is the responsibility of the purchaser and not the seller.

cestmoi123

I did mean sales tax. It's usually the responsibility of the buyer here too, although I don't know how NY would handle it if I sold my car to someone living in a state without a sales tax...

SirFlysALot

About 10 years ago a little old lady on her way to Las Vegas had 5,000 confiscated. MSP was so proud they mentioned how much they took in their newsletter.

Turns out it was a congressman's mom. Never heard another thing about it.

GeneCMH

Actually, believe it or not, I'm neither nor was I asking for information on how to launder money. My original question was whether or not there are laws governing how much currency one can transit the airsystem with (i.e. for internation arrivals/departures one is to declare cash and equivelent instruments of $10,000 or more). I just never seen any paper work at my local airport that asks the same thing.

Deeg

Pretty much, yeah. With some exceptions (real property, stuff inside your house or other 4th Amendment area), only probable cause is required to seize the property. No warrant or court order required. It's very similar to making an arrest of a person in that regard.

However, in order to forfeit the property (IOW, for the Government to keep it), the agency generally must prove it in court.

I have it in the back of my mind that to freeze a bank account, a court order is indeed required. But I'm not positive.

Deeg

Well, I guess you got more of an answer than you bargained for! The simple answer is that there is no such law, but you run the risk of authorities being suspicious of why you have such large amounts of currency.

MissJoeyDFW

There was a farmer in Oklahoma who flew to Texas with $25,000 cash to buy a tractor. He was stopped when he got off the plane in Texas and the cash confiscated. His activity was "suspicious" because he was flying out and back the same day. I never heard if he got it back.

VideoPaul

Boy, did I ever find that out the hard way. Certified funds are NOT like cash. TCF bank here in Chicago once put a certified check I had for $23,000 on a 10 day hold. I had One-and-Two-Thirds bank put a $4,000 cashier's check on hold for 5 days. I was told that just because the person on the other end had to put up cash to get the chcek meant nothing to them, they would put it on hold until such time as the check cleared the issuing back.

I was also admionished that the only options ofr real time or near real time money transfer were good old American greenbacks, or a wire transfer. The sometimes significant wire transfer fee is their way of punishing you for not letting them use the money interest free for several days.

One day someone will explain to me why we don't all keep our cash under the mattress where it belongs!

--PP

VideoPaul

Believe it or not, there is no good hard and fast answer. Cash transportation is largely conditioned on the caprices of local law enforcement and their ability to confiscate cash at will in the name of drug interdiction. Getting it back requires legal assistance that will likely exceed the amount of the cash being transported. Short answer, transport money at your own risk. Using cash generates no paper trail, and we don't like that, citizen.

--PP

PETEFLYS

What a very interesting subject with lots of answers. I think you can carry as much cash as you want without leaving the US. I personally know someone who deals in currency transactions nationwide and has no problem clearing airport security. With regards to everyones checks getting holds put on them I would suggest seeing an officer of the bank before you make the deposit and let them know if you find the holds unexceptable. I would move my accounts in an instant if any bank even thinks of the word hold,what nonsence it is just one more thing most people just grin and bear.
I would sugest getting out of the large banks where you are nothing more then a number and this is less likely to happen