Millions of dollars illegally seized from FedEx packages: Lawsuit

FedEx delivers over 3 billion packages a year and what is inside the packages can be anything from clothes to toys to even money. However, a new class action lawsuit alleged not all the money in those FedEx packages is going to the rightful recipient.

According to the Institute for Justice, the nonprofit libertarian law firm representing the plaintiffs, law enforcement and prosecutors seized millions of dollars a year in cash from these packages that are sent through the FedEx Express World Hub in Indianapolis, where up to 99,000 packages are processed every hour.

Authorities can seize these packages through civil asset forfeiture laws, which allow police to take property if it is suspected of being connected to a crime, even when no charges are filed.

The Department of Justice said asset forfeiture is “designed to deprive criminals of the proceeds of their crimes, to break the financial backbone of organized criminal syndicates and drug cartels, and to recover property that may be used to compensate victims and deter crime.”

However, the Institute for Justice said the legal process “turns justice on its head, making cops into robbers rather than crime fighters.”

In its suit against the state of Indiana and the Marion County prosecutor, the institute said the cash is being taken without a legitimate reason while presenting the case of a couple who owns a wholesale jewelry business in California.

According to the suit, one of their customers from Virginia sent them money through FedEx. An Indianapolis officer seized the package and prosecutors began forfeiture proceedings to keep the cash.

The institute said prosecutors have not been able to connect the cash with a crime, adding that the reasons given for its initial seizure were based in large part on a slate of factual inaccuracies.

Officers said the package did not have a signature when it did, and they called the package “suspicious” because all the seams were sealed with tape, which is a recommendation on the FedEx website.

Earlier this year, a civil forfeiture case brought before the Supreme Court led to a 6-3 ruling. The decision said a preliminary hearing to determine whether police may keep the seized property was not constitutionally required.

In her dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayer wrote the process is “vulnerable to abuse” as “police agencies often have a financial incentive to seize” and keep the property.

In this class action lawsuit, the Institute for Justice is seeking for the California couple to get their money back and for the Marion County prosecutor’s policies to be declared illegal and unconstitutional.