Protecting Against Asset Seizures

Simultaneously posted on BoomerPreps.com

There's an uproar in the media about asset seizures and the seemingly, "We don't care," attitude by various government agencies.

I started in banking back in 1977 while attending college.  I eventually moved up the ladder and was put in charge of a department that received all of the subpoena requests from the various local, state and federal police agencies.

They may have suspected one of our customers of some fraudulent or illegal act, and wanted to prove their case by poring over the bank records of the accused.

Back then, there was a law called The Bank Secrecy Act.  The act was in place to protect the rights of the accused from potential government abuses.  It supported the whole idea of, "Innocent until proven guilty."

When my department got the subpoena, by law, we had to contact the customer, and they had 10 business days to hire an attorney to fight the records seizure and protect their privacy.

A judge would then review the evidence provided by the police, compare it with the evidence provided by our customer, and the judge would then determine whether there was probable cause to allow us to release the records.

In short, I was required by law to help protect the privacy of my customer who had entrusted their money with my bank.

Fast forward to today.  There is still a Bank Secrecy Act, but its intent now is to protect the secrecy of the authorities that want access to your account records.

It is now a federal crime for the bank to so much as inform you that they have reported activity on your account, provided records from your account, or opened your safe deposit box for a police look-see.

From Wikipedia:

There are heavy penalties for individuals and institutions that fail to file CTRs, MILs, or SARs. There are also penalties for a bank which discloses to its client that it has filed a SAR about the client. Penalties include heavy fines and prison sentences. 

[....] 

A financial institution is not allowed to inform a business or consumer that a SAR is being filed, and all the reports mandated by the BSA are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

Under the guise of terrorism, racketeering, drug dealing and other infamous crimes, you have no financial privacy.  We're all considered as guilty until proven innocent.

Now, you may be a law-abiding citizen - just like the vast, VAST majority of American citizens.  You think it's OK these privacy invasions occur, as you'll never get caught up in the government dragnet.

"If you've done nothing wrong, you should have nothing to hide."

Think again.

Take the case of a Long Island based candy and cigarette distribution company that had just under $500,000 taken from their bank accounts and had, on their accountant’s advice, made daily deposits of less than $10,000. 

Despite the fact that there have been absolutely no criminal charges—or, for that matter, any indication that the company was involved in anything other than selling candy and cigarettes to retailers, the IRS has refused to give back the money. No criminal charges filed…no trial or conviction for some nefarious activity..nothing.

Not only can they gain access to your records, but asset seizures happen in a blink of the eye - with no prior warning.

Poof!  It's all gone.

You may think that this is just an exception to the rule.  The government would never do these horrible things to the wrong people on a regular basis.

Think again.

The New York Times reports that there were 114 of these seizures in 2005. However, in 2012, the last statistics available, the number had grown to 639 seizures. 

It get’s worse. Of the 639 seizures in 2012, only twenty percent of these seizures turned out to involve cases where criminal charges were ever pursued. 

Think about that— a full eighty percent of the bank accounts emptied by the IRS in 2012 involved completely innocent people and businesses.

Unwarranted asset seizures aren't the exception, they're the rule.
OK, so they incorrectly took your money.  Once you get it cleared up, you figure they'll just re-deposit the money back into your account, and reimburse you for your costs to recover your own money.

Figure again.

Instead of immediately returning the money to the innocent business, what do you imagine the IRS did? 

They offered up a partial settlement. 

In other words, having learned that they had improperly raided this business’ bank account and taken a whole bunch of money—leaving the business to borrow $300,000 to stay in business—they now want to keep a bunch of that money. 

How does that not have the odor of extortion?

How do you protect yourself?

We're not about whining here at BoomerPreps, we're about doing.  Doing what it takes to protect our assets and increase our independence.

Asset seizures can't happen if they don't know you have... or where it's located.

Keep as little money in your bank account as is possible.  Just enough to cover your monthly bills and some emergency needs.

Eventually, take everything else out.  And that includes the contents of your safe deposit box. That will get picked clean as well.  PLUS since there's no official record of what's in your box (like a monthly statement for your checking account) it's your word against theirs over the contents they seize.

Guess who wins that debate.

All of your other liquid assets should be in cash, precious metals and gems (ONLY if you know what you're doing) - basically any hard asset that can be converted back to cash in a reasonable amount of time.

TIP:  Keep your withdrawal receipts for the cash and precious metal purchase receipts.  You may have to prove ownership and source for the cash and precious metals at some time in the future.

Yes, I know it's insane, but the rules have changed.  Adapt to the change.

There is a potential downside to this strategy:  You now become fully responsible for the care and protection of those assets.  DO NOT take this responsibility lightly.

I suggest you start slowly, becoming comfortable with your process, and the idea that your bank is not a great place for your assets.

Read and re-read these articles we've done on this subject.

Building A Cache
Hidden Cache Locations
Preventative Home Security
Protecting Valuable Records (much of it applies to this subject as well)

And perhaps most critical -
Operational Security – Shhhhhhh

Read BoomerPreps.com Disclaimers

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Copyright 2014 Bison Risk Management Associates. All rights reserved. Please note that in addition to owning Bison Risk Management, Chief Instructor is also a partner in a precious metals business. You are encouraged to repost this information so long as it is credited to Bison Risk Management Associates. www.BisonRMA.com

Star Spangled Banner, Patriot Style

Oh, You Gotta See This.  Absolutely amazing.



Not a mis-step if my ears were working correctly.

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Copyright 2014 Bison Risk Management Associates. All rights reserved. Please note that in addition to owning Bison Risk Management, Chief Instructor is also a partner in a precious metals business. You are encouraged to repost this information so long as it is credited to Bison Risk Management Associates. www.BisonRMA.com

The Ants and the Grasshoppers

I was doing research for an article on scams targeted at preppers and survivalists.  Many years ago, I had done a post - either here or elsewhere - where one of the companies that sells survival food had an offer along the lines of, "A year's worth of food for $300".  I think it was even less than that.

I remember thinking, "Well, that's impossible.  Even if you just ate rice and beans, you'd be hard pressed to be able to consume 2000 calories a day for less than $300 a year."

I checked out the site and in the very fine print, they said that for the stuff to last a year, you just had to add meat.  Oh, THAT'S all!?

I wrote the guy about his misrepresentation (to which he never responded), and he eventually went out of business, as his claims were just too unbelievable.

Anyways, while I was doing the research, I ran across this article at ThinkProgress.org, "The Inside Story Of The Charlatan Who Duped The Nation’s Top Conservatives".

Long story, short:  The guy has a business that has preppers and survivalists as its target market.  The article implies that what he'd doing is shady at best, and possibly illegal.

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.  I don't care.

What caught my eye was the comments to the article.  The vast majority of them had a similar sentiment to this one -

[....] but he is effectively conning people who have chosen to be selfish and put themselves outside the protections of the nation-state in the event of an imagined catastrophe and they deserve to be taken for a ride.

Here's a screen image of the whole comment.  Check out the replies to his comment (click to enlarge) -

In their eyes, to be prepared is equated with being selfish.  To step, "outside the protection of the nation-state" is unimaginable to them.  Self-determination is a foreign concept.

I suppose that the selfishness tag is applied because they think that we preppers should instead spend our own money on more social projects of their choice.  Social projects, no doubt, that will allow these deadbeats the latitude to be the Grasshoppers of Aesop's fable, dancing their time away, and "exploring themselves" instead of working to feed, clothe and house themselves.

They believe this way despite recent and historic evidence that this cherished "nation-state" always fails miserably when tasked with helping individuals during large-scale emergency situations.  Super-Storm Sandy and Hurricane Katrina come immediately to mind.

Ebola anyone?

It really has become an, "Us versus Them" mentality in this country.  I see no inclination among the liberals to change their ways.  I know I won't be changing mine.

I can deal with that, though I don't understand it.

What I cannot - will not - deal with is feeding these grasshoppers when TSHTF.

I believe these Bolsheviks to be people of principle (though clearly not of logic or history).  I will allow them to maintain their principles for as long as it takes them to see the error of their ways.  Probably about 9 missed meals or so...

I, too, am a person of principle.  And a Christian man that believes in charity and forgiveness.  But I'm not a soft-headed idiot.

I'll feed them, but they'll work for it.  And they'll work hard.  They will not freely benefit from the time I worked to save, scrimp and penny-pinch to plan ahead.

I have my lifestyle, they have theirs.  One depends on one's self, the other on the kindness of the nation-state.

Kindness will be in short supply when the food, water and supplies can't be purchased or distributed because the store has been destroyed, or its shelves have been picked clean, or the FEMA camp hasn't yet received its rations.

You may think I sound angry, and bitter and pissed off.  You'd be right.  I have a low tolerance for slackers and sloth, and those who embrace that lifestyle.

I will voluntarily assist families that have worked to prep for emergency events, but who had their supplies lost to the emergency, or pilfered by the grasshoppers.  I feel very confident that people of this type will not only volunteer to work for these supplies, they will insist upon it.  I know I would.

I will also help - as I do now - those that are unable to help themselves.  Every society has folks that, through no choice of their own, are unable to care for themselves.

But I guarantee you my bar is much higher than the current liberal bar that defines disabled.

If/when one of these situations arise, it will be a time of decision.  Limited resources will only go so far.  Those unwilling or unaccustomed to truly working for a living will be passed over for families and individuals that literally bring something to the table.

Skills, resources, knowledge.

Don't be a grasshopper.  It won't work out so well in the end.

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Copyright 2014 Bison Risk Management Associates. All rights reserved. Please note that in addition to owning Bison Risk Management, Chief Instructor is also a partner in a precious metals business. You are encouraged to repost this information so long as it is credited to Bison Risk Management Associates. www.BisonRMA.com

The Soft, Mushy Skulls of Gungrabbers

I have great difficulty understanding the mindset of the gun grabbers.  And of the, "I have no opinion on the subject" folks as well.

I simply don't understand why it won't sink into their soft, mushy skulls that restricting access to guns for the general population increases the likelihood of horrible, deadly rampages.

1. Bad guys will have their guns with them REGARDLESS of what the law says.  They're bad guys, after all, and the laws restricting access to their means of protection and aggression are entirely disregarded.
2. Good guys, on the other hand, do follow the law.  If they're told they can't bring a self-defense gun into a church, or store, or business, they won't.  Because they're good guys, they - and everyone around them - are now at a disadvantage against the aggression of the bad guys.

Why is this so difficult to understand?  Please, someone, ANYONE, refute these statements.

After this most recent head-chopping-off episode in Oklahoma - which was stopped by a fellow employee with a gun - a number of articles have been written on the subject of self-defense in the workplace.

Many express this sentiment -

There is of course a concern from some employer sectors who reason that by allowing employees the right to bring their weapons to the workplace, Jihadist lone wolf homeland converted terrorists will easily bring their weapons in as well. 

Seriously, are you unable to think for yourself?  If your "Jihadist lone wolf homeland converted terrorist" wants to bring in his guns, right now - against all laws of the land - HE'LL DO IT because he has no regard for the law.

As we've seen again, and again, and again.

For God's sake, a law is nothing more than words on a piece of paper.  Words are not going to stop him from doing as he pleases.  Guns aimed in his direction are.

If he's hell-bent on shooting up the place, he's going to do it.  He'll be limited in his rampage only when someone stops him.  As we saw in Oklahoma, it was stopped after one death.  As we saw at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the aggressor wasn't stopped until the police arrived, and he took his own life.

After scores of deaths.

Those deaths are on the shoulders of those that would take away the means of defense for those children and adults.

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I've been seeing an interesting shift in public opinion here in California.  Folks that are usually in the, "guns are bad" or "guns scare me" crowd, are moving over to the, "I'm protecting my own butt" crowd.

Many in direct, unequivocal defiance of California law.  I love it!

I see it in my precious metals store.  I see it in my gun training classes.  I see it in my pepper spray classes.  I see it in (God bless them) little old ladies packing a revolver in their purse.

These people are finally waking up to the fact that the restrictive gun laws do nothing other than increase the chances of the good folks becoming a victim.

In my pistol classes, I tell my students that I believe you have the moral and ethical right to self-defense, regardless of the law.  I tell them very quickly after that, that if they are caught with a gun in a situation deemed unacceptable by The State, they will be punished.  There are indeed consequence for our actions.

I tell them that this is why I'm leaving California.  I will not be told when and where I may defend my life.  My once great state cannot be restored to its former stature.

The soft, mushy-skulled types have run the place into the ground.  Beyond repair.  It must fail - horribly - before change will occur.  So, until then, I'll be free and independent in a state that thinks as I do.

Enjoy the show from afar.  It should be spectacular!

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Copyright 2014 Bison Risk Management Associates. All rights reserved. Please note that in addition to owning Bison Risk Management, Chief Instructor is also a partner in a precious metals business. You are encouraged to repost this information so long as it is credited to Bison Risk Management Associates. www.BisonRMA.com