Feds Lied To Judge In Order To Steal $86 Million
According to a new report, the FBI and the US Attorney’s office lied to a federal judge in order to steal $86 million. The bombshell report came as a result of subpoenaed FBI documents and testimony by FBI agents.
In 2021, the FBI raided U.S. Private Vaults, which is a safety deposit company based in Beverly Hills. The company was charged in a sealed indictment of conspiring to sell drugs and launder money. The company later pled guilty to conspiracy to launder drug money.
The box holders at U.S. Private Vaults then sued the feds alleging that their rights had been violated. Among their claims was that the government did not know what was in their boxes and even who owned the boxes. They allege that the government engaged in a fishing expedition and did not have probable cause to search and seize the contents of their boxes.
As a part of the discovery process of the lawsuit, lawyers for the box holders subpoenaed documents from the FBI and interviewed FBI agents that were involved in the raid. According to both the documents and the testimony of the agents, it appears the feds lied to the federal judge who signed the warrant authorizing the search.
The search resulted in the confiscation of $86 million in cash and millions more of other assets. A senior FBI agent testified that central to the plan, which was not disclosed to the judge, was the permanent confiscation of the contents of every box that contained at least $5,000 worth of cash and other goods. The FBI justified the seizure of the money and property by alleging they were tied to unknown crimes.
In addition, the FBI defied the judge’s restrictions on the warrant by searching through box holders’ belonging for evidence of crimes.
For its part, the FBI and US Attorney’s office deny any wrongdoing or that they had misled the judge.
This apparent abuse of its search warrant and forfeiture laws by federal law enforcement is one more black mark that will further erode trust in the FBI. This time, it’s not merely a political dissident that was targeted but instead average Americans and their savings and private information.
Instead of enforcing the law, the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies are increasingly likely to break the law. It’s time to force changes to federal law enforcement by refusing to fund the Department of Justice until the FBI stops breaking the law and engaging in fishing expeditions.
