Federal Civil Asset Forfeiture

Supplemental Rule G(8)(c) allows the United States to move to strike a claimant’s claim or answer under certain circumstances. See Supp. R. G(8)(c). Supplemental Rule G(8)(c) …

Newspaper Articles About Forfeiture Abuses

LA TIMES (9-23-2022): FBI misled the Judge on Beverly Hills safe deposit box seizure

CNBC (10-20-22): Customers battle to regain billions in bitcoin seized by DOJ

USA Today (7-16-2021): Innocent people shouldn’t lose cash to forfeiture

LA TIMES (5-10-2022): FBI gives up attempt to confiscate $1 million

CNN (1-31-2022): FBI illegally seized cash belonging to licensed dispensaries

Attorney for Federal Civil Asset Forfeiture

After the government commences a civil forfeiture action, you should act quickly to retain an attorney to file a claim asserting your property ownership claim. We can help you properly file a verified claim with the seizing agency under 18 U.S.C. § 983(a)(2).

If a complaint for forfeiture is filed, we can help you file a verified claim under Rule C(6) which is distinct and separate from filing an administrative claim. In addition to filing the verified claim under Rule C(6), we can help you file the answer, motion to dismiss, motion to suppress, and demand for attorney fees and costs.

Forfeiture attorney Sebastian Rucci can help you assert affirmative defenses including a showing that the money was not the proceeds of illegal drug activity or bulk cash smuggling. He can also represent an innocent owner who was not present when the money was seized. If the government’s action is barred by the five (5) year statute of limitations, he can file a motion to dismiss the forfeiture action. Whether your cash was seized at the airport or taken in connection with a criminal prosecution, forfeiture attorney Sebastian Rucci can help.

Don’t waive any of your rights by pursuing administrative options through a petition for remission or mitigation until you speak with forfeiture attorney Sebastian Rucci. The best course of action is to demand early judicial intervention in the U.S. District Court immediately after the seizure.

Experienced asset forfeiture attorney Sebastian Rucci can challenge federal asset forfeiture cases throughout the United States. He can help you file a verified claim for the seized asset, an answer challenging the allegations in the verified forfeiture complaint, they can demand an adversarial preliminary hearing if one was denied, challenge an illegal search or seizure to suppress and return the seized finds and file to dismiss the forfeiture complaint on various other procedural grounds and seek the immediate return of the seized assets.

Experienced asset forfeiture attorney Sebastian Rucci can help you show that the seized funds, or other assets, are not the proceeds of criminal activity and that the agency did not have probable cause to seize the funds or file the forfeiture action. Even if a showing of probable cause has been made, experienced asset forfeiture attorneys can help you meet the burden of rebutting the probable cause showing, demonstrating why the forfeiture statute was not violated, or showing an affirmative defense that entitles the claimant to repossession of the seized assets.

Experienced asset forfeiture attorney Sebastian Rucci often takes civil asset forfeiture cases on a contingency fee basis, you pay nothing until the money or other asset is returned. He often works with attorneys in other jurisdictions as co-counsel to fight these cases throughout the United States.

The Government’s Notice Obligations in a Civil Asset Forfeiture Action

Supplemental Rule G “governs a forfeiture action in rem arising from a federal statute.” Supp. R. G(1). To discharge its notice obligations in a civil asset forfeiture action, the United States must provide notice of the action to any potential claimants. See Supp. R. G(4). Supplemental Rule G(4)(a)(i) relates to notice by a publication by stating: “A judgment of forfeiture may be entered only if the government has published notice of the action within a reasonable time after filing the complaint or at a time the court orders.”

As provided in Supp. R. G(4)(a)(ii) the notice must contain the following information: describe the property with reasonable particularity; state the times under Rule G(5) to file a claim and to answer; and name the government attorney to be served with the claim and answer.

Supplemental Rule G(4)(b)(ii) relates to notice to known potential claimants by providing: “The government must send notice of the action and a copy of the complaint to any person who reasonably appears to be a potential claimant on the facts known to the government before the end of the time for filing a claim under Rule G(5)(a)(ii)(B).” Supp. R. G(4)(b).

The notice must state: (i) the date the notice is sent; (ii) “a deadline for filing a claim, at least 35 days after the notice is sent”; (iii) “that an answer or motion under Rule 12 must be filed no later than 21 days after filing the claim”; and (iv) “the name of the government attorney to be served with the claim and answer.”

Intervening in a Civil Asset Forfeiture Action

To intervene in a civil asset forfeiture action, each claimant must meet both Article III and statutory standing requirements. To demonstrate Article III standing, the claimant must have an interest in the property sufficient to create a “case or controversy.”

To establish statutory standing, a claimant must comply with Supplemental Rule G(5)’s pleading requirements. Supplemental Rule G(5) states that to assert their claim in a civil forfeiture action, claimants must file both a verified claim and an answer to the United States’ complaint. See Supp. R. G(5).

Supplemental Rule G(5) requires a claimant to file both a verified claim and an answer. The claim ensures that any party who wishes to defend a forfeiture action will be forced to swear his interest in the forfeited property.