Yeah you have to report income to the IRS but that’s just a once a year thing am I correct? So in this hypotheical you have a million dollars in cash in a bag open visible in your car and a police sees it and asks where you got it? Do you have to explain it? Obviously they will be suspicious and I assume search your car for illegal contraband but if they find nothing is there anything else they can do?
edit: just want to clarify in my hypothetical you’ve obtained this money legally but for whatever reason you just want to have it in cash
Aside: this question was inspired by The Big Lebowski
I don’t know much about toting big bags-o-bucks. I don’t see why you would have to explain, barring any illegal activity or crime committed.
But there’s that old “officers discretion” or “suspicious activity observed” thingy that might get you into a need to prove some ownership.
Civil asset forfeiture is a thing in the US. The police can and often do seize assets from someone, especially cash, and then it is up to the person to prove their cash is “innocent” of being involved in a crime. You do not need to be charged. It is the money that is guilty and must be proven innocent of a crime. This has been an egregious overreach of law enforcement for some time and there are no shortage of stories of police essentially stealing money but, so far, the courts seem unwilling to deal with it.
Civil forfeiture allows the government (typically the police) to seize — and then keep or sell — any property that is allegedly involved in a crime or illegal activity. Owners need not ever be arrested or convicted of a crime for their cash, cars, or even real estate to be taken away permanently by the government. The government does not have to charge the property owner with any specific crime in order to seize the property, and must prove only by a preponderance of the evidence that the property is legally forfeitable. After property has been seized, the burden of proofshifts to the owner, who must prove that the property was not involved in nor obtained as a result of illegal activity. - SOURCE
Sadly no. Courts repeatedly let this happen (including SCOTUS). See the link in my post above.
You can, in theory, get your money back but it takes time and will cost you to do so.
You can also find many, many stories out there of police essentially robbing people using this process. Lots and lots of stories about it over the years.
To be fair, I think that was just an easy setup for the question. Many people have been transporting cash and had it seized but the cash was not just lying around loose in a backseat or in a bag on the front seat with cash sticking out. The cash was stored in some reasonable fashion but the police found it by asking the person and/or doing a search.
Also, I think their “probable cause” amounts to, “I think…” or “I believed at the time…” If a court finds later that is not enough…ah well. Taxpayers paid for the court case. Not them. You spent six months and thousands of dollars to get your money back.
Just say no to a search. They can look around where you are sitting for a gun or something, but they can not generally open your trunk without a warrant or your Okay.
I think it is illegal to lie to the police. If you lie about how much money you have you have committed a crime. Maybe you can just not answer directly:
Police: “Are you carrying any money today?”
You: “I’d rather not discuss this and do not see how it is relevant to this stop.”
Police: “You are being evasive. That is suspicious. We will search the vehicle.”
Will the police win that one in court? I think not, but it will take you time and a lot of money to fight it. Something that is not a problem for them. In the meantime, they have your money.
I served on a grand jury that (among many other things) indicted two police officers for stealing a car this way. (They were ultimately convicted.) The guy they stole it from was guilty of “driving while Black”. The police department had sold the car to a third party long before the case came to court, and I’ve wondered if the victim got anything back.
I think the civil forfeiture laws are incredibly corrupt, and encourage the police (who typically get to keep the stolen property) to steal from civilians.
I’ve never understood the disconnect between the police deciding the money (or whatever asset) is potentially involved in a crime but not charging the person who had it with a crime.
If they will take the money as part of a criminal endeavor then they should charge the person who had it with that same illegal endeavor.
The only guy I know who did this went to the bank and withdrew a shoebox worth of Benjamins (not a secret, since you have to arrange that kind of thing with the bank in advance). He stuffed them in a backpack and headed to the airport. Some FBI agent there (not “the police”) asked him “what it was for”, and he indeed replied that it was none of their damn business. His wife panicked and spilled the beans, though
In the case i saw, they charged the guy with possession of cannabis. They planted a joint in his ashtray. They held him in jail and said that it would take several days before his case would even be heard, but if he pled guilty the sentence would be suspended. They didn’t tell him that meant they got to keep his car. His wife was about to give birth, and he wasn’t wealthy and had no connections.
Did i mention the civil forfeiture laws are incredibly corrupt?
I believe some jurisdictions have something called an “unexplained wealth order” where the government can require a citizen to explain where their money comes from. Not quite the same thing as a cop stopping someone on the street, though.
