Federal Agents Seized My Car and Bank Accounts – PPP Loan

Federal Agents Seized My Car and Bank Accounts – PPP Loan

Federal marshals showed up at your door. They had paperwork. They took your car. They might have cleaned out your bank accounts too. The whole thing happened fast – maybe you weren’t even home when they came for the car. Now you’re standing in your driveway wondering what just happened and what you’re supposed to do next. Here’s what you need to understand immediately: the seizure isn’t the end of your legal problems. It’s the beginning of an entirely separate legal fight that runs parallel to any criminal charges. And if you don’t understand the rules of this fight – including a critical 35-day deadline – you will lose everything permanently.

Most people think seizure means they’ve already lost. The government took their property, so the property must be gone. That’s not how it works. Seizure starts a legal process. That process has strict deadlines, specific procedures, and opportunities to contest the forfeiture. But those opportunities disappear fast if you don’t know they exist. Miss the deadline to file a claim, and your property is forfeited automatically – no hearing, no trial, no chance to argue. The government keeps everything, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

The seizure notice you received – or should have received – contains information about how to contest the forfeiture. Most people don’t read it carefully. Most people are in shock after federal agents take their car. Most people assume the seizure means the fight is over. Those assumptions guarantee they lose.

The Seizure Isn’t the End – It’s the Beginning of a New Fight

Here’s the inversion that catches everyone. You think seizure is the government winning. In reality, seizure is the government starting a process that you can still contest.

When federal agents seize your property, that seizure triggers a legal proceeding. The government doesn’t automatically own your car or your bank account the moment they take it. They’ve taken possession, but legal ownership is still in dispute. You have the right to file a claim contesting the forfeiture. If you file that claim properly and on time, the government has to prove in court that they’re entitled to keep your property.

The seizure notice contains a deadline. That deadline is typically 35 days from when you receive the notice.

If you file a claim within that 35 days, you get to argue in court. The government has to prove their case. You have the opportunity to present evidence that the property wasn’t connected to fraud, that you’re an innocent owner, or that the seizure was improper.

If you miss that 35-day deadline, none of that matters. The property is forfeited administratively. No hearing. No trial. No opportunity to argue. Gone.

Heres the hidden connection most people miss. The seizure and the criminal case are two seperate proceedings. You might beat the criminal charges and still lose your property through civil forfeiture. You might lose the criminal case and still get some property back through the forfeiture process. These are parallel tracks, and what happens on one track dosent automaticaly determine what happens on the other.

What Civil Asset Forfeiture Actually Means

Lets be clear about what your facing. Civil asset forfeiture is a legal process were the goverment sues your property, not you. This is called an “in rem” proceeding. Literally, its a lawsuit against the thing.

The case name will be something like United States v. One 2020 BMW X5 or United States v. $127,000 in Currency. Your property is the defendant. Not you. The property.

Heres the paradox that destroys people. Property has no constitutional rights. Your car cant invoke the Fifth Amendment. Your bank account isnt presumed innocent. The goverment just has to prove its more likely then not that the property was derived from or used in criminal activity.

Thats the “preponderance of evidence” standard – basicly 51%. The goverment dosent have to prove beyond reasonable doubt. They dont have to prove you guilty of anything. They just have to show that the property is probably connected to the fraud.

This means you can be aquitted of the criminal charges and still lose your property. The criminal case requires proof beyond reasonable doubt. The civil forfeiture case requires preponderance of evidence. Different standards. Different outcomes.

And heres the worst part. In civil forfeiture, the burden shifts to you. Once the goverment shows probable cause to believe the property is connected to the fraud, YOU have to prove your entitled to get it back. Guilty untill proven innocent – thats exactly how civil forfeiture works.

The 35-Day Deadline That Determines Everything

OK so lets talk about the most critical deadline your facing. When your property is seized, the goverment must send you notice of the seizure and your rights to contest it. That notice contains a deadline.

Under federal law, you have 35 days from the date you recieve written notice to file a claim contesting the forfeiture. If you dont recieve written notice, you have 30 days from the date of final publication of notice.

Miss this deadline and your property is automaticaly forfeited. No exceptions. No extensions.

Heres how the cascade works:

• Federal marshals seize your car
• Notice is mailed to your last known address
• You dont open your mail for a few days becuase your in shock
• By the time you talk to an attorney, three weeks have passed
• Your attorney needs time to review the case and prepare a claim
• Suddenly your at day 32
• Three more days pass while your attorney finalizes the paperwork
• Day 35 comes and goes
• Your claim is late. Property forfeited. No hearing. Game over.

This happens constantly. People focus on the criminal case. They ignore the seizure notice. They dont understand the deadline. By the time they realize whats happening, the opportunity to contest the forfeiture has expired.

If you file the claim on time, heres what happens next. The goverment has 90 days to file a formal complaint in federal court. If they dont file within 90 days, they have to return your property. But if they do file – and they almost always do in PPP cases – then you have a full court proceeding were both sides present evidence.

The 35-day deadline is a gate. On one side of the gate, you have rights and options. On the other side, you have nothing. You need to get through that gate before it closes.

The Innocent Owner Defense – What It Is and What It Isn’t

Youve probly heard of the “innocent owner” defense. Lets be clear about what it actualy means.

Heres the inversion most people get wrong. The innocent owner defense is not for criminals claiming there innocent of the underlying fraud. Its for people who owned property that got seized becuase someone ELSE used it for criminal activity.

Example: your adult child used your car to commit a crime. The car gets seized. You can argue your an innocent owner – you didnt know your child was using your car for that purpose, and you took reasonable steps to prevent it.

In PPP fraud cases, the innocent owner defense comes up most often with family members. Your spouse’s car is seized becuase it was purchased during the period when PPP funds were being spent. Your spouse can argue they didnt know you were committing fraud, they didnt consent to the use of fraud proceeds to buy the car, and there an innocent owner.

But heres the uncomfortable truth. If YOU are the person accused of PPP fraud, and the goverment seized YOUR car that YOU bought with PPP funds, the innocent owner defense probly dosent apply to you. You cant be an innocent owner of property you allegedly purchased with fraud proceeds.

The innocent owner defense has two forms under federal law. One applies if you owned the property when the illegal activity occured – you have to prove you didnt know about the illegal conduct. The other applies if you aquired the property after the illegal activity – you have to prove you were a bona fide purchaser for value without knowledge.

Either way, the burden is on YOU to prove your innocent ownership by preponderance of evidence. The goverment dosent have to prove your not an innocent owner. You have to prove you are.

What Federal Agents Seized in Real PPP Cases

Lets look at what actualy happens when federal agents come for PPP fraud assets. Real people. Real property. Real forfeiture.

Dinesh Sah from Texas orchestrated a $24.8 million PPP fraud scheme. Federal agents seized 8 homes and 6 luxury vehicles, including a Bentley, a Porsche, a Chevrolet Corvette, and two Cadillacs. He was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $9 million in restitution. Everything he bought with fraud proceeds is gone.

David Hines from Miami obtained $3.9 million in fraudulent PPP loans. He bought a $318,000 Lamborghini Huracán. Federal agents seized the car. They also recovered much of the money he had spent on luxury hotels, jewelry, and clothing. He was sentenced to over 6 years in federal prison.

Dezfooli from Nevada obtained over $11 million in fraudulent PPP loans. He purchased approximately 25 properties using the alias “James Dez.” Federal agents forfeited all 25 properties plus two vehicles. He was ordered to pay nearly $12 million in restitution and sentenced to over 15 years in federal prison. Everything. Gone.

Richard Ayvazyan from California led an $18 million PPP fraud ring. The group used fraud proceeds to purchase million-dollar homes, gold, jewelry, watches, designer handbags, and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Ayvazyan was sentenced to 17 years in prison. After his conviction, he fled to Montenegro with his wife. They were eventually captured. The assets were forfeited.

Oumar Sissoko from Riverside County obtained $7.25 million in fraudulent PPP loans for a supposed pothole-repair company. He bought a Mercedes-Benz for $113,000 and paid off a loan on a BMW. Both vehicles were seized. He was convicted of wire fraud.

These arent the worst cases. These are typical cases. When the goverment concludes you committed PPP fraud, they dont just charge you criminaly. They take everything they can prove was purchased with or derived from the fraud proceeds.

How the U.S. Marshals Service Manages Seized Assets

Once federal agents seize your property, it goes to the U.S. Marshals Service. The Marshals are the asset management arm of the Department of Justice. There job is to inventory, maintain, and eventualy sell seized property.

As of September 2024, the U.S. Marshals had $7.6 billion in seized assets under there custody. Thats not a typo. Seven point six billion dollars worth of property that has been seized in federal criminal investigations and is being held pending forfeiture proceedings.

The COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force alone has resulted in over $1.4 billion in seized or forfeited assets. Over $605 million was distributed to victims of crime in 2024 from forfeiture funds. This is a massive operation, and your seized car and bank accounts are now part of it.

Heres what happens to your property while the forfeiture is pending. If its a vehicle, the Marshals store it in a secure lot. If its cash, it goes into a goverment account. If its real estate, the Marshals may maintain it or allow you to continue living there during the proceedings – but they control it. Your property is in limbo untill the forfeiture is resolved.

Why Fighting Forfeiture Is So Expensive

Heres the irony that traps defendants. The assets you need to pay for your legal defense are the same assets the goverment seized.

Your bank account is frozen or emptied. Your car is in the goverments possession. Your house might be next. The resources you would use to hire an attorney and fight both the criminal case and the forfeiture are exactly the resources the goverment took.

This isnt an accident. Seizing assets early in the investigation serves multiple purposes for prosecutors. It prevents you from “dissipating” – spending – fraud proceeds. It preserves assets for potential restitution to victims. And it dramaticaly weakens your ability to mount an effective defense.

Fighting a civil forfeiture case is expensive. Your attorney has to file claims, respond to the goverments complaint, conduct discovery, prepare for trial. The legal fees in a contested forfeiture can easily exceed $50,000 or $100,000. And heres the uncomfortable truth: in many cases, the cost of fighting the forfeiture exceeds the value of the seized property.

If the goverment seized $75,000 from your bank account, is it worth spending $80,000 in legal fees to try to get it back? The math dosent work. Many people abandon the forfeiture fight becuase they cant afford to pursue it – which is exactly what the goverment expects.

Some attorneys will petition the court to release funds for legal fees. This is possible but difficult. You have to show that you have no other resources available and that the funds are needed for constitutionally-protected legal representation. Courts grant these petitions sometimes, but theres no guarentee.

The Sentences Coming Down in 2024-2025

Before we talk about what to do, you need to understand the sentencing environment your facing. Its gotten significantly worse.

Defendants sentenced in 2024-2025 recieve prison terms 40% longer on average then those sentenced in 2021-2022 for identical conduct.

Early in the pandemic, some judges showed leniency. People were scared. The economy was uncertain. PPP was rolled out chaotically. Judges sometimes acknowledged that the program itself was flawed and that mistakes were made.

Those days are over.

Federal judges in 2025 include prison time in nearly every PPP fraud sentencing, regardless of the amount involved. A Cincinnati defendant got 18 months for a $21,000 PPP loan fraud in March 2025. Thats for twenty one thousand dollars. The leniency window has closed completly.

Stephanie Hockridge, a former Phoenix TV anchor, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and ordered to pay nearly $64 million in restitution for her role in a PPP fraud scheme. A Texas couple recieved a combined 32 years in federal prison. Sentences of 10, 15, even 17 years are becoming common for large PPP fraud cases.

And the prosecutions are not slowing down. The statute of limitations was extended to 10 years in 2022. The goverment has untill 2030 or later to bring charges against people who committed fraud in 2020. There still actively investigating. There still indicting defendants. If your assets just got seized, your criminal charges are probly coming soon – if they havent already.

What To Do After Federal Agents Take Your Assets

Your property has been seized. Heres what to do.

First, find the seizure notice and read it carefully. This document contains the deadline to file a claim. It contains information about what was seized, why it was seized, and your rights to contest the forfeiture. If you didnt recieve a seizure notice, that might be a procedural defect you can exploit – but you need an attorney to evaluate that.

Second, hire a federal criminal defense attorney immediatly. Not next week. Not after you “figure out” what happened. Now. The 35-day clock is running. Your attorney needs time to review the case, prepare a claim, and file it before the deadline. Every day you wait is a day closer to permanent forfeiture.

Third, understand that you may need two attorneys. The criminal case and the forfeiture case are seperate proceedings. Some attorneys handle both. Some specialize in one or the other. At minimum, make sure your criminal defense attorney understands civil forfeiture and can coordinate the two cases – becuase what you do in one case affects the other.

Fourth, do not destroy any documents or move any remaining assets. The seizure is evidence that your under serious federal investigation. Destroying documents is obstruction of justice. Moving assets to avoid further seizure is also obstruction. Leave everything exactly were it is.

Fifth, prepare for the possibility that more seizures are coming. If they seized your car and one bank account, they might be preparing warrants for your house, your investment accounts, your spouses assets. Talk to your attorney about what else might be at risk and wheather there are legitimate steps you can take to protect property that isnt connected to the fraud.

The seizure is a warning. Its the goverment telling you that they beleive you committed PPP fraud and that they intend to take everything connected to that fraud. The criminal charges may already be filed or may be coming soon. The forfeiture is one piece of a larger prosecution.

The instinct after a seizure is paralysis. Your in shock. You dont know what to do. You wait. That waiting is the worst possible response. Every day you wait is a day the 35-day deadline gets closer. Every day you wait is a day you could be preparing your defense but arent.

Get an attorney. File the claim. Contest the forfeiture if theres any basis to do so. And understand that the seizure is serious – but its not the end. There are still fights to be had. There are still arguments to make. There are still outcomes that dont involve losing everything and going to prison for years.

But those outcomes require action. Immediate action. Before the deadlines pass and the options disappear.