One of the most contentious laws no matter who you ask across the political spectrum is the practice of civil asset forfeiture. This occurs when, even if a citizen hasn't committed a crime but is merely suspected of one, the authorities can seize any assets from the (potential) defendant and hold it indefinitely.

While the intent of the law is to place financial pressure on white-collar criminals and well-funded criminal organizations such as the mafia, it is increasingly used against poor and middle-class Americans—who, keep in mind, often have not even been charged with a crime yet!

shakedown-1340048-pixabay

Now, new legislation that has been proposed in the U.S. Senate seeks to bolster such asset forfeiture rules by extending the scope of this state-sanctioned theft to include a much wider range of assets and circumstances.

S.B. 1241

Typically, civil forfeiture involves a car being seized or a bank account being frozen. In too many cases, the assets are withheld from the owner even long after they have been acquitted of any wrongdoing or the charges were dismissed.  The Senate wants this controversial legal procedure to also apply to hard wealth like gold coins and bullion, among a wide range of other assets.

The title of the recently introduced bill is “Combating Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Counterfeiting Act of 2017.” On the surface, it's pitched as a measure to combat the mechanisms for money laundering and tax evasion. This is a problem not just within the financial sector, but is also how terrorist groups secure a big portion of their funding (aside from seeking ransom for hostages). The idea behind the bill was no doubt influenced by the "Panama Papers" scandal that leaked last year revealing the millions upon millions of dollars in wealth held in offshore tax havens by various world leaders and financial institutions.

There is, of course, merit to the notion that black-market financing channels and money-laundering loopholes must be shut off. The law seems to be targeted at cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which have become increasingly popular in a growing range of criminal activity due to their untraceable and decentralized qualities.

Nonetheless, this proposal will have adverse consequences for an untold number of honest investors and savers. It essentially seeks to criminalize holding any significant amount of wealth ($10,000 or more) in cash or something tangible without wading through the bureaucratic channels of disclosing such assets to the government. The bill also specifically mentions anything stored in safety deposit boxes, where modest amounts of precious metals are commonly stored. Given the high price of Bitcoin or an ounce of gold, it wouldn't take much of an allocation in either asset to trigger such a seizure if you fail to file the right paperwork.

Freedom vs. Security

Like so many anti-cash and anti-gold laws, this bill would have the effect of defeating the purpose of holding a portion of one's wealth outside of the banking system in physical gold or silver.

The practice of civil asset forfeiture in general is constitutionally dubious, yet it has long been defended by high-ranking members of the Justice Department, most notably current Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

While it may in part serve a noble purpose of depriving terrorists and drug-dealing networks of "dark money," giving such a statute blanket application is problematic in regard to civil rights. If passed, S.B. 1241 (as currently written) could empower the IRS or another government agency to seize your assets simply because you did not disclose you had them! Luckily, it remains only proposed legislation at this point in the process, and must pass both the Senate and the House of Representatives before it reaches President Trump's desk.

If nothing else, this is another reminder that your precious metals are much safer in an approved depository (i.e. a vault) than in a safety deposit box!

 

The opinions and forecasts herein are provided solely for informational purposes, and should not be used or construed as an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell any product.

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| 6/16/2017
In a free country civil asset forfeiture could never exist but since it's been so endorsed by Donald Trump and even though some of the suspects may be his friends he must come clean and instruct his Attorney General Jeff Sessions to get off his a*** and use it in the direction of where it was intended to be used. Since suspicion is all it takes then why has it not been used against the 911 scandal? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A9ph-Jz7L4 with, in only one instance, $4.5billion of suspected ill gotten gains which includes suspected murder and suspected treason against you, the people of America? Why has it not been used against NASA with their CGI and Photoshop costing the American people $20billion a year? https://youtu.be/d634wEZPImI You would have to be blind not to see that civil asset forfeiture is a scam. Like the drug war it's there to kill competition and protects not the man in the street. House Bill 17-1313 does nothing to limit this filthy law of civil asset forfeiture and just serves to deprive the foot soldiers of some spoils and send more money to the top of the chain criminals in government for a bigger share of the proceeds of crime. Wake up America.
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| 6/15/2017
Nuts
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Everett Millman

Everett Millman

Managing Editor | Analyst, Commodities and Finance

Everett has been the head content writer and market analyst at Gainesville Coins since 2013. He has a background in History and is deeply interested in how gold and silver have historically fit into the financial system.

In addition to blogging, Everett's work has been featured in Reuters, CNN Business, Bloomberg Radio, TD Ameritrade Network, CoinWeek, and has been referenced by the Washington Post.