FBI Raids a Safe Deposit Box Store - Wants to Keep $1.3M in Vegas Chips (1 Viewer)

kk405

Full House
Site Vendor
Joined
Dec 8, 2015
Messages
4,172
Reaction score
13,861
Location
NYC
Not sure how many times I mentioned to Krish not to put the second half of the Starlite chips in a shady vault :rolleyes: :unsure: ... they will be safe and sound here in NY... :ROFL: :ROFLMAO::ROFL: :ROFLMAO::ROFL: :ROFLMAO:

"The FBI wants to keep $86 million in cash and millions more in jewelry and other valuables seized in a raid on a Beverly Hills, California, safe deposit box business...the government is trying to keep the cash, gold and silver bars, pricey watches and even $1.3 million in poker chips from a Vegas casino..."


https://nypost.com/2021/06/12/fbi-aims-to-keep-valuables-86m-cash-found-in-safe-deposit-store-raid/
 
I've read about this a couple times now. I don't understand much of what's going on.
 
I've read about this a couple times now. I don't understand much of what's going on.
The owners of a safe deposit box business in Beverly Hills were arrested and charged with serious crimes. Because the business was engaged in illegal activity, the government wants to keep everything that was in the safe deposit boxes… even though the warrant and judge does not allow it.
 
The owners of a safe deposit box business in Beverly Hills were arrested and charged with serious crimes. Because the business was engaged in illegal activity, the government wants to keep everything that was in the safe deposit boxes… even though the warrant and judge does not allow it.
That's what I thought, but it's so brazen, I questioned it. Guess I shouldn't have!
 
Technically, those chips are property of the issuing casino. The casino could presumably sue to get their property back. The person(s) who put the chips there might be out of luck regardless.
So technically, after I bought a painting, a loaf of bread or a bar of silver, the issuer could sue to get their property back if found / taken by a third party? I'm not sure that is how it works.
 
the authorities/fbi should never be able to demand to keep funds. When they are allowed to keep it, sell it at auction, or profit from it in any form allows a system where success can be a crime
 
The officers were plainly in contempt of court, but surely won’t be punished.

The box holders should get their stuff back, but may have to spend a ton on lawyers and wait years to get it.

All that said: Why would you store anything of real value with a shady private company that’s been around barely 10 years? They could go bankrupt at any time and just disappear with your valuables. Or have them claimed by some creditors and again get tied up in court forever.

The guy who doesn’t trust banks should have gotten himself a big safe at home, and an alarm system if he was paranoid about break-ins. Presumably he already has a bunch of guns under the bed.
 
So technically, after I bought a painting, a loaf of bread or a bar of silver, the issuer could sue to get their property back if found / taken by a third party? I'm not sure that is how it works.

I don't understand your argument. You can own private property. Live casino chips are a special case.

You don't even "own" your credit cards.
 
Then nevada has a funny grasp on property law. I don't doubt that you're correct, it just seems odd to me.
Not just Nevada. Get pulled over by police in many states, and if they find cash in excess of a couple of hundred dollars (and even lower thresholds in some cases) they automatically seize it as proceeds of crime, and it is up to you to prove otherwise (and that can be much harder than you might imagine). Now that is a funny grasp on property law!

https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/03/civil-asset-forfeiture-7-things-you-should-know
 
One thing that is not being mentioned is that the contents of 75 boxes (of 800) were returned to the owners and another 175 boxes were expected to be returned. That means that the contents of more than two-thirds of the boxes were seized and are being held... When the warrant did not permit the FBI to open the boxes.

I assume a good portion of the 250 boxes were important documents that are valuable, but would not normally be indicative of crime.

I also expect the FBI to claim that the boxes had to be opened to document the contents and avoid claims later (the FBI filmed the opening process).

But wealth is not an indication of criminal activity.
 
Not just Nevada. Get pulled over by police in many states, and if they find cash in excess of a couple of hundred dollars (and even lower thresholds in some cases) they automatically seize it as proceeds of crime, and it is up to you to prove otherwise (and that can be much harder than you might imagine). Now that is a funny grasp on property law!

https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/03/civil-asset-forfeiture-7-things-you-should-know
This is a very different issue though.
I know a thing or two about police law and civil forfeiture is very different from claiming that you still own the thing that you sold to someone else because you wrote your name on it.
 
Then nevada has a funny grasp on property law. I don't doubt that you're correct, it just seems odd to me.

There is probably some sort of historical precedent because casino value cheques are considered a limited form of currency and are subject to some of the same regulations on manufacture and security as other physical objects considered legal tender. Legal morasses like these are good for the legal industry.
 
Having worked in law enforcement, as a prosecutor, and defense attorney, here is what my best is at what's going on based on the limited info in the articles: The owners of the safety deposit company were engaged in criminal activity, including laundering money and allowing criminals to store items without collecting the necessary information. From what I've read, some people have already received their property back, they just had to come forward to claim it. The issue here seems to be that the company wasn't keeping detailed records, probably because that was their sales pitch to criminals, so basically the government is saying "We are seizing this property and treating it as the the company owners', unless people come forward and can prove that its their property." My guess is that this will result in all of the "law-abiding citizens" getting their belonging back and the criminals being SOL. Unfortunately it looks like a lot of regular people who had no idea what was going on are getting caught up in this because of the nefarious dealings of the company.
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account and join our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Back
Top Bottom