“The Wall Street Journal published a disturbing article earlier this week entitled \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Federal Asset Seizures Rise, Netting Innocent With Guilty.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
You can already imagine the crux of the article.<\/p>\n
In the United States, there are hundreds of regulations which authorize dozens federal agencies to confiscate private property\u00e2\u20ac\u201c homes, cars, bank accounts, gold, company shares, and even personal effects.<\/p>\n
Ironically, most Americans still think that they live in a country where you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re innocent until proven guilty. Nothing could be further from the truth, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just another clear example of how the US Constitution has become a worthless piece of toilet paper for the federal government.<\/p>\n
The Fifth Amendment states that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No person shall be\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Tell that James Lieto, a New York businessman who was relieved of $392,000 when the armored car company used by his check-cashing firm was taken down by the FBI.<\/p>\n
Lieto was innocent and not implicated in any wrongdoing, but the FBI took his money regardless as it just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.<\/p>\n
Last October, another businessman named Raul Stio was suspected of wrongdoing by the Treasury Department. The government seized over $150,000 from his account, yet in the 10-months that followed, Stio has still not been charged with a crime.<\/p>\n