The TSA Stole Over $2 Billion From Travelers According to A New Lawsuit
Jennifer Billock March 02, 2020
Officials at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection are currently facing a lawsuit from a trucking company that alleges the agencies stole more than $180,000 from one of their employees as he attempted to go through security at Tampa International Airport.
What Happened?
According to FGL Transport, it’s common for purchasers to buy pre-owned big-rig trucks with cash to avoid fraud. With that in mind, the company sent employee Boris Nulman to Cleveland to buy four trucks. He was carrying $191,500 cash on him when he got to the airport in Tampa for his flight.
Nulman had the cash in a carry-on bag, and it was pulled out for extra inspection while he was going through security. The TSA questioned him for 45 minutes, and would only allow him to leave with $10,000, though they provided a receipt documented that the remaining $181,500 was confiscated. The following day, the trucking company hired a lawyer and filed a claims form to get the money back.
“This is legitimate money,” Michael Rozenberg, co-owner of FGL Transport, told the Tampa Bay Times. “There is nothing dirty about this. We have evidence to show we took this out of our business account. Something is fishy here.”
Things Steadily Got Worse
It took Customs and Border Protection weeks to reply to the claims form. And when they did, the agency said that it was seizing $159,950 as proceeds from “specified unlawful activity,” the Tampa Bay Times reported. The other $21,550 Nulman had was unmentioned and is currently unaccounted for.
Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, Nulman and one of the owners of the trucking company had their Global Entry revoked without warning. Now, the lawsuit is continuing as the agencies refuse to return the money they took.
This Appears to be a Trend
This isn’t the first time the TSA has been accused of stealing money from passengers. Another current lawsuit against the TSA and the Drug Enforcement Agency says that the two organizations allegedly stole $82,373 from a father and his daughter. According to the complaint, the TSA took more than $2 billion from passengers between 2009 and 2013. FlyerTalkers report TSA theft of other items as well, including jewelry, phone chargers, and cameras.
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I had about $500 disappear upon going through a TSA checkpoint. There's nothing you can do. They're questioning you while they're going through your stuff. The bag gets stuck in the XRay and they have to manually go through it. Interestingly they took out a receipt and cash, but they took out the wrong receipt (the receipt they left in the bag was for the cash they took). Regrettably there's really not much you can do except sue. I hope this suit prevails. They shouldn't be able to get away with this. I'm grateful they didn't take my passport or anything else, although I really would have liked to keep the $500. Wish they hadn't done that.
Looking "fishy" isn't a crime. If they have evidence that the cash was unlawfully gained, they can have the relevant authority press charges, but they have no right to confiscate things they find "fishy", especially if the party involved can provide evidence that the money IS legitimate.
I bought a pickup truck last month $7500.00 cash ,and a lawn mower $1200.00 cash .Its what the owners wanted .
This reminds me decades ago a TV show (maybe 60 Minutes?) did a segment on crooked cops in Louisiana stopping out-of-state cars on I-10, ostensibly for minor infractions like improper lane use. Then they would arrest the occupants and search the vehicle, finding drugs which the cops planted themselves. So never underestimate how crooked cops - and entire police departments - can be.
Not sure what is illegal here and even if it was what does the TSA have to do with it. The original charter is to protect and screen people for dangers weapons and stop travel disasters. What threat is 200 k in cash.