Airport Cash Seizure Lawyer

Airport Cash Seizure Lawyer

Your cash got seized at the airport. TSA found it during screening, asked questions, then Customs or DEA agents showed up. They took your money – maybe $5,000, maybe $50,000 – and handed you a receipt. Now you’re trying to figure out if you’ll ever see that money again.

Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group. We’re a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek, with over 50 years combined experience defending clients against federal asset forfeiture. We’ve recovered millions of dollars seized at JFK, LaGuardia, Newark, and airports nationwide. This article explains what happens to your money, the 30-day deadline that determines everything, and why you need a specialist attorney who knows civil asset forfeiture law.

Who Seized Your Money

TSA agents screen your bags, find stacks of cash, ask where it came from. You give answers – maybe vague, maybe nervous, maybe perfectly legitimate but suspicious-sounding to trained officers. TSA doesn’t have authority to seize your money. But they call Customs and Border Protection (CBP) if you’re on an international flight, or the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) if they suspect drug trafficking, or sometimes the FBI if terrorism or money laundering seems involved. Those agencies show up, question you further, and make the actual seizure. The legal mechanism is civil asset forfeiture – government can take your property without charging you with any crime. They only need “reasonable suspicion” that the money is connected to illegal activity. That’s a far lower standard than criminal conviction. You don’t get arrested. You don’t go to court for criminal charges. They just take your money and you leave the airport without it.

Why do seizures happen? The $10,000 reporting requirement is one trigger – if you’re traveling internationally with more than that amount and didn’t file FinCEN Form 105, that’s automatic grounds for seizure. But any amount can be seized if agents deem it suspicious. We’ve seen $3,000 seized from someone whose answers didn’t match their story. The amount matters less than the circumstances: Where are you traveling? Why cash instead of wire transfer or check? How is the cash packaged? What’s your criminal history? Do your answers stay consistent under questioning?

At JFK and Newark, CBP handles most international flight seizures. At LaGuardia, we see more DEA involvement because of domestic routes connected to drug trafficking patterns – Miami, Los Angeles, cities with known drug distribution networks.

The 30-Day Deadline

After seizure, you wait. Days pass, maybe two weeks. Then the notice arrives by mail – formal notification that your cash was seized and you have 30 days from the date of that notice to file a verified claim. This is the deadline that determines whether you ever see your money again. Miss it, and the government keeps everything. Permanently.

The verified claim must state you’re the rightful owner and you want the property returned. Sounds simple. It’s not. The claim has specific federal court filing requirements – proper format, notarization, service on the correct government office. Then you have 20 additional days to file an Answer to the government’s forfeiture complaint. The Answer either denies their allegations, admits them, or states you lack sufficient evidence to substantiate their claims. Every word matters. File the wrong form, miss the deadline by one day, serve the wrong office – the government moves for default judgment and keeps your money.

We handled a case where someone had $22,000 seized at Newark. Business owner, legitimate funds, clear paper trail proving source. But he thought he could handle the paperwork himself. Filed the claim three days late – his calculation of “30 days” didn’t account for weekends and the specific counting method federal courts use. Government moved for default. Judge granted it. $22,000 gone. He hired us after that, begging for help. There was nothing we could do – the deadline is absolute.

What Determines Your Recovery

If you file properly within 30 days, the case moves to negotiation or litigation. The government reviews your claim and supporting evidence. This is where civil forfeiture’s constitutional inversion becomes clear: You carry the burden of proof. Not the government proving your money is dirty – you proving it’s clean. The standard is preponderance of evidence, meaning more likely than not the funds came from a legitimate source.

What evidence helps? Bank records showing deposits matching the seized amount. Tax returns proving income that explains the cash. Business invoices if it’s commercial funds. Employment records for salary. Inheritance documentation. Basically, a paper trail showing where every dollar came from and why you needed it in cash form. “I was going to buy a car” doesn’t work without the car listing and seller contact. “Family emergency” doesn’t work without hospital records or proof of the emergency.

Most cases settle rather than litigate. Government makes an offer: We’ll return 60% if you sign a release and drop your claim. Or 70%. Or 50%. They’re negotiating because full litigation costs them resources too – attorney time, court filings, risk of losing completely. But they have leverage because they already have your money and you’re fighting to get it back. Settlement means you get something within 3 to 6 months instead of fighting for 18 months in federal court hoping for 100% but risking total loss if you lose.

We’ve recovered everything from 50% to full return depending on evidence strength. A client with clear business records and zero criminal history got 100% back after 8 months. Another client with legitimate source but prior drug conviction from 15 years ago settled for 65% – the conviction made full return unlikely even though current funds were clean.

Why Specialists Matter

Civil asset forfeiture is not criminal defense. It’s federal civil litigation governed by specific statutes – primarily the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act (CAFRA). Most criminal defense attorneys have never handled a CAFRA case. They don’t know the filing deadlines, don’t understand preponderance vs. beyond reasonable doubt, don’t have relationships with the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who handle forfeitures in the Southern District of New York or District of New Jersey.

Many forfeiture attorneys work on contingency – typically 30% to 40% of recovered funds. If we get back $50,000 from your $80,000 seizure, our fee is $15,000 to $20,000 and you keep $30,000 to $35,000. Others charge hourly ($300 to $500 per hour), which can run $10,000+ in fees before resolution. Contingency aligns incentives – we only get paid if you get money back, so we’re motivated to maximize recovery.

Studies show people without lawyers recover their money in about 20% of cases. With specialized lawyers, recovery rate jumps to 70%+. Even after legal fees, you’re likely to net far more with representation than fighting alone.

Civil asset forfeiture inverts the constitutional presumption. In criminal law, you’re innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. In civil forfeiture, your property is guilty until you prove its innocence by preponderance of evidence. The government takes your cash without charging you with any crime, then puts the burden on you to prove it came from legitimate sources. The Supreme Court has weakened Fourth Amendment protections through this civil vs. criminal distinction. Because it’s technically a lawsuit against the property itself (United States v. $50,000 in U.S. Currency, not United States v. John Smith), the Court says criminal procedure protections don’t fully apply.

At Spodek Law Group – we’ve defended hundreds of asset forfeiture cases and recovered millions for clients who thought their money was gone forever. If your cash was seized at a New York-area airport and you’re facing that 30-day deadline, call us at 212-300-5196. Every day that passes is one day closer to losing your money permanently.