A court fight has erupted in Indiana because police there, inspecting a package routed by FedEx through its hub there, opened it up, found $42,000 in cash, and decided to keep it.
Even though they could not identify any law that may have been broken by those sending the payment to the owners of a jewelry distribution company that was owed the money.
It’s the Institute for Justice that has brought the case in Indiana state court on behalf of Henry and Minh Cheng, who crisscross the nation selling jewelry to small business.
“They have never done business in Indiana. Yet today they are fighting in Indiana state court to get back more than $42,000 seized from their company’s parcel that was routed through the FedEx shipping hub in Indianapolis,” the IJ said.
The background includes allegations that police routinely “for years” have made a practice of examining FedEx packages and taking cash when they find it.
“It’s a profitable practice. Since 2022 alone, Indiana has begun proceedings to forfeit more than $2.5 million from in-transit parcels, and the state has already raked in approximately $1 million from those parcels.”
It’s the prosecutor in Marion County that claims, in court, that there’s a taint to the cash. In this case, the allegation is that it was involved in some violation of a law.
But the process forces cash owners to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to Indiana and then prove their ownership.
“The Indiana government cannot take money from people just because a shipping company routes it through Indiana,” said IJ Attorney Marie Miller. “Henry and Minh have never been to Indiana or done business in Indiana, but now they have to defend against a forfeiture action in Indiana, without the state bothering to identify an Indiana crime that it can allege the money is linked to.”
This situation developed because one of the company’s customers, in Virginia, was slow to pay. Then suddenly the retailer said a cash payment would be possible, and they accepted.
The payment was shipped via FedEx, which routed it through Indiana, and when a dog “alerted,” an officer opened the package and took the cash.
“The government can’t even identify a crime that would allow them to keep the money that we need to run our business,” said Henry. “We were shocked when we found out what was going on in Indianapolis and we want to put a stop to it.”
“This scheme is one of the most predatory we have seen, and it’s past time to put a stop to it,” said IJ Senior Attorney Sam Gedge. “It’s illegal and unconstitutional for Indiana to forfeit in-transit money whose only connection to Indiana is the happenstance of FedEx’s shipping practices.”
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