United States v. $104,250.00 in U.S. Currency

947 F. Supp. 2d 560, 2013 WL 2357787, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77738
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maryland
DecidedMay 29, 2013
DocketCivil No. 12-cv-03566-RDB
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 947 F. Supp. 2d 560 (United States v. $104,250.00 in U.S. Currency) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. $104,250.00 in U.S. Currency, 947 F. Supp. 2d 560, 2013 WL 2357787, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77738 (D. Md. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER

RICHARD D. BENNETT, District Judge.

Before the Court is the Government’s motion, filed pursuant to Supplemental Rule G(8)(c), F.R.Civ.P., to compel the Claimant Norma Fouche to comply with Rule G(5)(a) by filing a more detailed statement of her claim to the defendant property, or in the alternative, to strike her claim for failure to comply with the Rule. The Claimant has not filed a response to the Government’s motion. For the following reasons, the motion to strike the claim is granted.

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Nature of the Forfeiture Action

This is a civil forfeiture action against U.S. currency involved in violations of the Controlled Substances Act and the money laundering statutes, making the currency subject to forfeiture pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 881(a)(6) and 18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(A), respectively. The defendant property is $104,250.00 in U.S. Currency that was seized from the Claimant, Norma Fouche, at the TSA security checkpoint at BWI Airport on September 7, 2012.

The Government’s Verified Complaint (Doc. 1) sets forth the following facts in support of the forfeiture action: On September 7, 2012, a person using the name “Norma Fouche” passed through the TSA checkpoint at B-Pier, Lane 4 at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport with a ticket to board Southwest Airlines flight 304 to Phoenix. When “Fouche” passed through the checkpoint, she was in possession of a carry-on bag that contained a package wrapped in birthday paper. Upon examination by law enforcement personnel, the package was found to contain $104,250.00 in U.S. currency, wrapped in black paper with the ends taped closed so that none of the currency was visible. The money was in two large bundles of various denominations, wrapped in smaller bundles with preprinted bands.

“Fouche” stated that the money belonged to her, and that she had just re[562]*562ceived it as payment for an estate. A drug-detection dog displayed a positive alert to the odor of a controlled substance on the currency.

Further investigation revealed that “Fouche’s” true name is Norma Gibson, and that in addition to “Norma Fouche,” she has used various other aliases, including Sharon Brown, Norma Ruth Del, Norma M. Fouche, Norma R. Fouche, Norma R. Gibson, Normana Gibson, Norma Ma-hon, Norma R. Mahon, Norma Matton, Norma Wilson, Norma N. Wilson, and Sandy Wilson. The investigation also revealed that Fouche/Gibson has been arrested multiple times for criminal offenses in Arizona, New York and other places for the possession and distribution of a controlled substance, the possession of a loaded firearm, aggravated assault, and interference with judicial proceedings.

B. Claimant’s Claim to the Defendant Property

The Government filed the instant forfeiture action on or about December 6, 2012, and sent notice to Norma Fouche of her right to file a claim pursuant to Rule G(5)(a). On January 15, 2013, Fouche responded by filing a “Verified Claim” that stated only that “he[r] interest in the property herein is an ownership and possessory interest.” (Doc. 5) In response, on January 23, 2013, the Government sent Fouche a letter explaining that a “bald assertion of ownership” is insufficient to state a claim under Rule G(5)(a). The letter went on to cite the substantial case law on this issue, and concluded by giving Fouche an additional 21 days to correct her claim.

On February 7, 2013, Fouche sent a letter to the Assistant U.S. Attorney acknowledging that she “must document the source of all the funds in question,” and asking for another extension of time to do so. On February 19, 2013, the Government, in response to Fouche’s request, gave Fouche an additional extension, to March 8, 2013, to comply with the Rule.

Finally, on March 9, 2013, Fouche sent the Government a letter on her attorney’s letterhead, purporting to expand on her original claim to the seized currency. Instead of “documenting] the source of all the funds in question” as she promised to do, however, the letter added only the following sentence regarding her relationship to the defendant property: “This money ... is proceeds of my personal investments in the entertainment industry, and proceeds from my mother’s estate.”

DISCUSSION

A. Summary

Neither Fouche’s original claim nor the amended version submitted on March 9, 2013 sufficiently describes her interest in the seized currency to comply with the pleading requirements in Rule G(5)(a). Even as amended, the claim is little better than a “bald assertion of ownership”—an assertion that courts have consistently held to be insufficient to state a claim.

Courts require claimants in civil forfeiture cases to set forth the nature of their interest in the defendant property in greater detail for two reasons: to deter false claims and to allow the Government to focus its discovery requests in a way that would not be possible if it had to guess at the nature of the claimant’s alleged interest in the property. Allowing a claimant to make a vague claim that the money came from “personal investments in the entertainment industry” does nothing to discourage the making of a false claim. Only by requiring a claimant to state the nature of her interest with specificity can the threat of a perjury prosecution for making a false claim effectively deter persons from attempting to contest the forfei[563]*563ture of property in which they have no true interest.

Moreover, Claimant’s claim, even as amended, is so vague as to provide the Government with no guidance whatsoever as to how to direct its discovery requests. As the Government argues, the quantity of currency, the manner in which it was packaged, the dog alert, the Claimant’s numerous aliases, and her criminal record all suggest that the Claimant may have been acting as a courier for a drug trafficking organization. Hence, if this case were to go forward, the threshold issue would be whether the Claimant has a sufficient interest in the property to establish standing to contest its forfeiture.

To that end, the Government is entitled to serve the Claimant with special interrogatories pursuant to Rule G(6), inquiring into her identity and the circumstances surrounding her acquisition of the seized currency. Indeed, the drafters of Rule G(6) intended the special interrogatories to provide an efficient means of testing the truthfulness of the Claimant’s claim to have a real interest in the defendant property. But as submitted and amended, the vagueness of the claim will require multiple rounds of interrogatories as the Government attempts to zero in on the facts asserted to establish standing to contest the forfeiture. That is the very antithesis of the focused inquiry that the drafters intended and that the interests of justice require.

B. Rule G

Civil forfeiture actions are governed by Rule G of the Supplemental Rules for Admiralty or Maritime Claims and Asset Forfeiture Actions. Rule G(l). Rule G(5)(a) provides that a person contesting the forfeiture of property in a civil forfeiture action must file a verified claim identifying the claimant and her interest in the property. Rule G(5)(a)(i)(B). Rule G(8)(c) permits the Government to move to strike a claim for failing to comply with Rule G(5).

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Bluebook (online)
947 F. Supp. 2d 560, 2013 WL 2357787, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77738, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-10425000-in-us-currency-mdd-2013.