- The owners of Cartier bracelets, Rolex watches and their cash savings are fighting back against the FBI after they were taken from their safe deposit boxes
- The goods were seized during a raid on a Beverly Hills safe deposit box company that authorities say was a front for money laundering in March 2021.
- The tenants claim the government violated Fourth and Fifth Amendment protections by seizing their property
The owners of Cartier bracelets, Rolex watches and gold bars are suing the FBI for seizing their belongings from their safe deposit boxes and refusing to return them.
About $86 million in cash, as well as a trove of jewelry and other valuables, was seized in March 2021 during an FBI raid on a Beverly Hills safe deposit box company.
The company was accused of money laundering and a judge granted the FBI a search warrant.
Agents have seized about 1,400 safe deposit boxes from private U.S. vaults that were regularly used by “unsavory figures to store criminal proceeds,” according to court documents.
However, depositors who were not charged or accused of any crime had their life savings and valuables retained under the “administrative forfeiture process,” Fox News reported.
Locker tenant Linda Martin (photo) is one of the plaintiffs in the case against the government
Civil asset forfeiture allows the government to seize property and cash from individuals believed to be linked to a crime without ever charging the owner.
US Private Vaults ultimately pleaded guilty to money laundering, but the US Attorney's Office said it had not filed any other criminal charges.
A spokesperson declined to comment on the case Thursday.
Now, a group of locker tenants who have had their belongings taken but have not yet been charged have filed a class-action lawsuit against the government.
The tenants allege that the government violated their Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures and their Fifth Amendment protections against seizing private property without compensation.
“I felt misled, I felt angry, I'm still angry,” box tenant Linda Martin told Fox News.
“They haven't told us why they took our money, they haven't told us why until now,” she added.
“It's been a long road to get accountability from the government for this,” Travis May, another prosecutor, said after Thursday's hearing.
Paul and Jennifer Snitko (pictured) are among those whose assets were seized by the FBI without notice
Attorney Rob Johnson (pictured) of the Institute for Justice is leading the class action lawsuit against the government
'Clearly the journey is not over yet. But today it felt really good to see these concerns being taken seriously,” he explained.
The case will be decided by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, after a lower court sided with the FBI last year.
“I think the public sees this and recognizes that this is just a total violation of people's constitutional rights,” Institute for Justice attorney Rob Johnson said Thursday.
During Thursday's hearing, Victor Rodgers argued on behalf of the government that the FBI did everything it could to reunite customers with their property by posting a notice on the USPV window.
“All they had to do was contact the FBI,” Rodgers said.
The FBI declined to comment on pending litigation.
The agency calls forfeiture an important tool for “disrupting and dismantling criminal and terrorist organizations and punishing criminals,” as well as “compensating victims and protecting communities.”