The Government can legally steal your money if they think it was involved in a crime…

I’ve posted video’s from John Oliver’s show on HBO before and I have to say I love this guy. Last time he was warning of the dangers of cash advance loans. This time he delves into the hidden world of civil asset forfeitures. Civil asset forfeitures are when the police suspect that money or property are proceeds from a crime, or used in a criminal enterprise, the police can seize the money or property and keep it unless you prove that it was not ill gotten gains. Prove in this sense usually means that you have to file a lawsuit to get the money back. It is presumed that the property is from ill gotten gains if it is seized. To make matters worse, police have an interest in seizing the property because the money or property usually go to the police department that seized it. Few people ever challenge an asset forfeiture due to the time and expense of navigating the Court system. So the police are free to use the seized money or property to buy things that the department needs like, margarita machines.

You can watch the video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3kEpZWGgJks