Civil asset forfeiture is different from most legal processes, where law enforcement officials seize property they assert has been involved in criminal activity. One need not be involved or charged with a crime in order for his or her property to be seized. In other words, in civil asset forfeiture proceedings, it’s essentially the property that is charged with the crime.

Forfeiture laws have been used historically and are intended to be used as tools to fight organized crime. When targeting criminal organizations whose sheer amount resources make them incredibly difficult to prosecute, having a legal means to seize the assets of these organizations can be helpful in weakening them. In practice, however, civil asset forfeiture laws are not always used in this way.

Before going into the varying applications of this law, it’s good to know the most common types of asset forfeiture:

• Contraband – Any illegal property as classified at the state and federal levels. Items such as narcotics, smuggled weapons or animals, and stolen property are unlawful to possess, are classified as contraband, and thus can be seized.
• Profits from illegal activity – Any property that was gained as a result of illegal activity. For example, if law enforcement charges someone with selling drugs, this opens up a very broad range of property that can be seized from that person because law enforcement can allege that their property was obtained through illegally-gained income.
• Commission of a crime instrumentality or tools – Any property used to aid the commission of a crime can be seized by law enforcement, such as a house or automobile which facilitated the sale of illegal drugs. This can even happen when the owner of the property is judged to be innocent of the crime – all it takes is for law enforcement to prove that a house or vehicle is linked to the crime.

As you might have gathered, some of these categories are very broad and have potential for abuse. Although it can be a strong way to fight larger criminal organizations, some law enforcement agencies have used and continue to use civil asset forfeiture as a way to pad their own revenue.

Despite its potential for abuse, proponents of civil asset forfeiture maintain that the good far outweighs the bad. It is true that it has been used in certain cases to benefit unsuspecting citizens who were victims of fraud or other schemes, such as the returning to victims of their swindled funds in the wake of the Bernard Madoff fraud.

Whatever the case, once the government has decided to seize property, however, you are still legally obligated to a fair chance to win your property back. The problem is that even if you are innocent or completely oblivious to a crime, you must put forth a defense to demonstrate that your assets were obtained lawfully and that you did not consciously use them to break the law. An experienced asset forfeiture attorney can make sure that you keep what’s yours.

Sources:

Dealing With A Case Of Asset Forfeiture In Miami

Civil Asset Forfeiture: 7 Things You Should Know

Alexandra Danison of Palm Springs, Florida was arrested on Sept. 13 on a DUI charge. She was arrested inside Palm Beach after she failed to follow police orders to exit the island from one of the security checkpoints set up in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.

Danison, 32, was charged with a DUI. She was held at Palm Beach County jail and released on her own recognizance the following day. It is unclear if she has acquired the services of an attorney.

According to the police report, Danison was ordered by a police officer to use the Southern Boulevard Bridge police checkpoint to return to West Palm Beach, but she continued driving on S. Ocean Boulevard.

A police officer pulled her over near Mar-a-Lago and placed her under arrest. In his report, the officer wrote that Danison was driving erratically and almost crashed into his patrol vehicle. After she was booked into Palm Beach County Jail, Danison consented to two Breathalyzer tests. The first test gave a reading of 0.28—which is over three times higher than the state’s legal limit—and the second one registered 0.27, the report said. Danison purportedly told police that she had some drinks at a friend’s house earlier that night.

After Hurricane Irma passed, Palm Beach authorities followed a long-established policy and set up 24-hour security checkpoints at all entry points into the island. Only residents, employees with verification, and business owners were allowed to enter the island. Police also issued a nighttime curfew.

Two other people were arrested for attempting to illegally access the island. On Sept. 11, Jeffrey Sardinha of West Palm Beach was arrested after he stormed a checkpoint and was found in possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. Sardinha, 32, was booked into Palm Beach County Jail and released on $3,000 bond the following day. It is unclear if he has acquired the services of an attorney.

On Sept. 12, Luan Gabriel Da Rocha Cruz was arrested after he attempted to pass security checkpoint by claiming to be a U.S. Secret Service agent, which is a federal offense. Cruz, 22, is being charged with impersonating a Secret Service officer. The press did not name an attorney for him.

According to the police report, Cruz told police at a checkpoint that he was a Secret Service agent and needed to enter the island to protect a diplomat. The officers suspected that Cruz had criminal intent. He reportedly appeared nervous and would not make eye contact when they asked him questions.

Before he was detained, Cruz showed the officers “a U.S. Secret Service badge that was oddly placed in a brown leather wallet with a bright blue interior that did not contain a slot for the badge,” the report said. Police contacted the West Palm Beach division of the Secret Service and confirmed that Cruz was not an agent before placing him under arrest.

Source: 9.15.17 Alexandra Danison of Palm Springs, Florida Arrested on DUI Charge.pdf

Four personal-injury lawyers were arrested on September 6 for allegedly running an illegal health care kickback scheme in South Florida.

Steven Slootsky, who has a law office in Boca Raton, and Adam Hurtig, Mark Spatz, and Vincent Pravato, who have law offices in Fort Lauderdale, are accused of referring car-accident victims to health care facilities that paid them cash for the referrals, records show.

All four face charges ranging from money laundering to organized fraud and patient brokering. They have all bonded out of jail. Slootsky, 57, faces 15 charges and was released on $13,000 bond. Hurtig, 46, faces 14 charges and was released on $18,000 bond. Spatz, 38, faces 13 charges and was released on $13,000 bond. Pravato, 48, faces three charges and was released on $2,750 bond.

According to the arrest report, the four men paid runners from towing companies and body shops to solicit car-accident victims for them. They then referred the victims to Broward Spine Associates or Margate Physicians for medical treatment, and the clinics would pay them for the referrals.

“They were actively involved in illegal patient brokering and the unlawful solicitation of motor-vehicle accident victims throughout South Florida,” arrest records state. “After the patient was brokered to the health care facility, the facility was then able to begin treatment and bill the auto insurance companies for claims covered by the PIP benefits, which resulted in fraud on the insurance companies.”

Under federal law, it is illegal for a doctor, clinic, or other health care provider to pay for patient referrals. It is also illegal for a “patient broker” to receive monetary kickbacks for sending patients to a health care provider.

Health care fraud is one of the most commonly prosecuted offenses in Florida. 18.4% of all cases prosecuted in the state involve a fraud-related offense, which is almost twice the national average. There are many different types of health care fraud schemes. The most common ones include:

• Medical facilities billing insurance companies for services never rendered
• Payment of kickbacks to patient brokers
• Billing patients for non-covered services as covered services
• Prescription of unnecessary medication
• Filing duplicate billing for the same services
• Intentionally reporting unnecessary procedures or false diagnoses to inflate payment
• Filing insurance claim forms containing fraudulent information.

A typical health care fraud case usually contains multiple counts. For example, if a person is accused of committing fraud by filing a different claim with Medicare every day for 30 days, then prosecutors can charge them with 30 counts of health care fraud. Each count is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Even though health care fraud is considered a white collar crime, it is usually punished very severely in order to deter the practice. Despite the severe penalties, some statistics estimate that at least 10% of all funds paid by the U.S. government for health care were fraudulently obtained. The real figures are likely much higher because many heath care fraud schemes go undetected.

Source: 9.14.17 Four South Florida Lawyers Arrested for Involvement in Illegal Health Care Kickback Scheme.pdf

Any property can be subject to forfeiture, whether it be cars, boats, airplanes, cash, bank accounts, homes or businesses. If it can be connected to a crime, then it can be seized by the government.

You might be wondering what steps you should take to get your property back once it is seized. Here are a few pointers about asset forfeiture and how you should proceed if your property gets involved.

If your property was seized as evidence in a crime, you should get it back unless one of the following applies:

Looters have reportedly been breaking into empty homes and businesses around Florida despite stern warnings from authorities. Some have been caught on camera.

ABC News caught footage of a group looting a shoe store in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday. The footage shows looters leaving Simon’s Sportswear with boxes of shoes. The perpetrators went on to rob a nearby pawn shop, sources say.

The suspects, six adults and three teens, were arrested by Fort Lauderdale Police hours later. The adults were identified as Rossano Henry Jr., Tyrell Pratt, Teonhki Robinson, Kenneth Pinkney, Michael Brown, and Zara Dumornay. All the suspects are charged with burglary during a natural disaster.

“Going to prison over a pair of sneakers is a fairly bad life choice,” Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Rick Maglione told the press. “Stay home and look after your loved [ones] and be thankful they are all safe.”

Other looters were arrested even before Hurricane Irma made landfall. In Polk County, news sources reported the arrest of two teens, Marvell Parkinson and a minor whose name was not disclosed, for burglarizing an empty home.

Polk County Sheriff’s Office is reportedly hoping to make an example out of Parkinson, 18, and his partner in crime. The duo are being charged with grand theft, resisting arrest without violence, burglary of an unoccupied dwelling during a state of emergency, and other charges.

The minor told police they searched the area for a home that wasn’t boarded up, broke into the home’s garage and tried to steal a 2001 Dodge Intrepid, but the battery was dead. Polk County Sheriff Gardy Judd released the following statement to the press:

“We want everyone to be safe during the hurricane. And we will not tolerate thieves taking advantage of those evacuating their homes. Looters need to be prepared to go to jail if they try to take advantage of people during a state of emergency.”

In St. Lucie County, a deputy patrolling the shuttered businesses and homes along North U.S. 1 on Saturday morning reportedly caught a man attempting to break into Atlantic Hardscapes. Police confirmed that the suspect, identified as 30-year-old Keith Adams, burglarized the store.

“I have said over and over that we will not tolerate looting or price gouging,” St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken J. Mascara said following Adams’ arrest. “We have deputies actively patrolling the county, including our beach communities, to ensure the safety and security of your homes and businesses. If you think you are going to take advantage of these evacuated properties, be prepared to spend the storm at the county jail.”

In West Palm Beach, ex-firefighter Kenneth Gray was arrested days before Hurricane Irma reached Florida for allegedly stealing equipment from a city ambulance. Gray, 34, faces two counts of burglary and larceny from an emergency vehicle. He is being held in Palm Beach County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bond.

According to the arrest report, authorities were notified after it was discovered that an electrical saw valued at $450 was missing from an emergency vehicle. A search of pawn shops in the area revealed that the saw, marked with “West Palm Beach Fire Dept” and “WPBFD,” had been pawned by Gray’s wife for $30.

Surveillance footage from the pawn shop reportedly shows Gray waiting for his wife as she completed the transaction. When questioned by police, Gray admitted to stealing the equipment, the report said. He told investigations that his wife was not aware that the saw was stolen.

Sources: 9.10.17 Hurricane Irma Looters Caught on Camera.pdf & 9.7.17 Ex-Firefighter Arrested for Stealing from Ambulance.pdf