That wouldn't be the end of the world. Does it really seem just to penalize someone $175,000 for failing to file a form declaring that he's carrying his money across the border?

I'm afraid that you and many other people assume that the man shouldn't have the money in the first place, and feel comfortable with taking it away from him because of that. But he hasn't even been accused of stealing, money laundering, or profiting from illegal transactions, much less convicted of such. He has been accused -- without charges even having been filed -- by some border agent, of failing to declare that he was transporting the money across the border. That's it. That's all that happened. Somebody said, "it seems that you didn't declare this money, and as penalty, I'm going to take it from you."

But for the sake of discussion, given that $175,000 is likely to be needed from the man, here's one way to avoid having the money to disappear and provide judicial oversight: Seize the money. Argue in court that he did something wrong and let a judge impose the $175,000 fine. Don't let the agency who seized the money use it. If a judge doesn't find guilt, return the money to its owner.