|
Junkie
|
Another way for the govt to steal money
It is common for immigrants, both legal and illegal, to wire money back home. Wire transfers are also commonly used to pay coyotes for smuggling illegals across the border. Arizona's AG, Terry Goddard started a program that seizes wire transfer funds based only on a profile, precise details about the profile are not given but it has something to do with the amount sent, where it is sent to, and the location of the sender.
According to the article, this has been in place since 2001 and over that time period AZ's AG office has seized over $17M from more than 15,000 transfers. Rather than placing the burden of proof on the government, people who have had their monies stolen by the govt have to prove that the money was sent for legal purposes. Now an immigrant group has filed a class action lawsuit. Good for them, I hope they win a ton of money back.
The govt. keeps coming up with more and more ways to steal money from people.
Quote:
Suit filed over wire transfers
Immigrants group says Ariz. official's crackdown on 'coyotes' also seized innocent people's money
Dennis Wagner
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 19, 2006 12:00 AM
An immigrant rights group is spearheading a class-action suit filed Wednesday against Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, alleging that his office illegally seized millions of dollars in Western Union wires as part of its campaign to shut down money laundering by border smugglers.
The U.S. District Court complaint, lodged in Phoenix by three Western Union customers, claims Goddard's bid to intercept so-called coyote fees violates the Fourth Amendment and due-process rights of thousands of innocent people whose funds were frozen.
The plaintiffs "and others similarly situated" are sponsored by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, or ICIRR, in coordination with Chicago-based Instituto del Progreso Latino. Josh Hoyt, executive director of the coalition, said Goddard has used "sweeping warrants" to seize more than $12 million in wire transactions based on a broad criminal profile, rather than any probable cause.
advertisement
"What this situation requires is targeted rifle-shot action to take out coyotes and drug smugglers," Hoyt said in a news release. "But Attorney General Goddard is practicing a legal drive-by shooting . . . hurting the guilty and the innocent alike."
Goddard said there is no substance to the suit, and he believes it was prompted by Western Union because his assault on smuggling organizations has cut into company revenues. Western Union recently filed a separate action in Maricopa County Superior Court, obtaining a temporary order to stop the attorney general's seizures. Goddard said the company also sent letters to clients, asking those who had funds seized to contact Instituto del Progreso Latino.
"They solicited people" for the federal lawsuit, Goddard said. "It's Western Union trying to protect their profits."
Sherry Johnson, corporate director of media relations for Western Union, said in an e-mail that "while we do have a long-standing relationship with this group, I can assure you that this is a completely independent action by the ICIRR."
In an e-mail last week, she complained that Goddard's task force issued a "grossly unfair and inaccurate representation of Western Union and its customers." She also said the company is diligent in efforts to prevent illicit wire transfers.
The federal action alleges that Western Union clients are not advised that they can challenge the seizures in court, where the state would have to prove illegal conduct. It also says numerous customers have been "interrogated, intimidated and threatened by Goddard's agents when attempting to find out about their money. Still others report making several attempts to recover their money and receiving no response."
Goddard denied those allegations and touted the work of his Financial Crimes Task Force, which claims $1.7 billion in coyote fees has been funneled to Arizona smuggling organizations via Western Union in the past few years. Investigators accuse Western Union of inadequate reporting, an allegation the company denies.
Coyotes charge about $1,600 per immigrant, holding them at drophouses in Phoenix until the fee is sent by wire. An estimated 15,000 transactions have been stopped since 2001, with investigators confiscating upward of $17 million. According to Goddard, not a single seizure was challenged in court.
Hoyt and other representatives of the Illinois coalition met with Goddard earlier this month and asked him to halt the "blanket seizures" and create an independent panel to review all confiscations.
Matt Piers, attorney for the plaintiffs, said more than 450 complaints have been received to date. He said undocumented immigrants often send money via Western Union for legitimate purposes but are too fearful to challenge seizures by law enforcement. "They are not going to be on the phone with a police officer," Piers said.
The complaint says Arizona authorities are now snatching wire transfers of more than $500 "based on nothing more than having originated from one of 26 states." Piers said it is absurd to think that someone from Illinois or any other state would fly to Arizona and file a suit against the attorney general to collect $500 or $1,000.
The class-action suit describes circumstances faced by three named plaintiffs:
• Javier Torres, a legal resident of the United States, sent $1,000 to an Arizona friend in March to pay for a car he had purchased. When the friend did not receive the money, Torres called Western Union and was told that Arizona law enforcement agents would contact him. Investigators subsequently advised Torres that he could not recover the money unless he showed proof of ownership. Because Torres already had sold the vehicle, he could not provide the paperwork and lost the funds.
• Lia Rivadeneyra, a Peruvian maid who has been in the country 30 years, sent $500 to her brother who was visiting friends in Sonora. The money was seized. Rivadeneyra was told by Arizona authorities she could not get her funds back unless they spoke with her brother, who had returned to his home in Peru where there was no phone.
• Alma Santiago sent $2,000 to an Arizona cousin in March 2005. Western Union told Santiago that the money had been frozen. She was contacted by an investigator who said she could not recover the cash unless her cousin, who had no phone, spoke with authorities.
Goddard said his investigators carefully target wires based on criminal profiling and are not taking funds sent innocently by illegal immigrants. He said he asked Piers to identify people whose money was confiscated wrongly but got no response.
|
|