This article originally appeared on WND.com
Guest by post by Bob Unruh
What happened to my company shouldn’t happen to anyone.’
A family jewelry business that lost $42,000 when police in Indianapolis simply took it and kept it is getting it back.
The Institute for Justice has confirmed the money is being returned to the small jewelry operations of Henry and Minh Cheng.
A customer earlier this year sent them $42,000 cash as payment, but it never arrived because “Indianapolis police seized their parcel and tried to take the money without alleging any specific crime,” the IJ reported.
“Now, after the Chengs defended their property from civil forfeiture with the Institute for Justice (IJ), Marion County prosecutors have agreed to return their money. The Chengs’ class-action countersuit, aimed at ending the unconstitutional seizures, will continue to move forward,” the legal team explained.
“”Indiana had no basis to forfeit the Chengs’ money, and so it’s only right that the government has agreed to return it,” said IJ lawyer Marie Miller. “But many other people are affected by the state’s practices of taking money simply because it goes through Indiana and failing to identify a crime that would justify the forfeiture. The counterclaims aim to end this abuse of civil forfeiture not just for Henry and Minh, but for everyone.”
Henry Cheng said he was pleased.
“What happened to my company shouldn’t happen to anyone. Indiana should stop trying to steal from law-abiding citizens by seizing property and figuring out later whether there’s any basis for keeping it,” he said.
The IJ documented now, “For years, police have seized cash at the busy processing center, and the Marion County prosecutor has filed civil forfeiture actions on behalf of the State of Indiana to keep the seized money. This places people like Henry and Minh in the position of having to prove their innocence in a court hundreds or thousands of miles from their home in California.”
The legal team noted that Indiana launched proceedings against more than $2.5 million since 2022.
“To get their money back and to end these predatory practices, Henry and Minh teamed up earlier this year with the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit law firm that defends people from abusive civil forfeiture nationwide,” the IJ said.
The Chengs started their wholesale jewelry supply decades ago, and travel across the country to serve retail shops.
“Early this year, they made a bulk sale to a retailer in Virginia, who was slow to submit payment. A few months after the sale, in April, the retailer informed the couple that she could pay promptly with cash. Henry and Minh agreed to accept that form of payment,” IJ said.
The retailer shipped the cash using FedEx, but the parcel was sent through the hub the company has in Indianapolis, and there a police officer grabbed the package and shoved it in front of a K-9.
“The dog alerted, allowing the police to get a warrant to open the parcel. After an officer found the cash in the parcel (and without finding any contraband), the Marion County prosecutor filed a civil-forfeiture action to keep the money,” the IJ said.
The prosecutors claimed the money was the result of “a violation of a criminal statute.”
Copyright 2024 WND News Center
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