"the bulk of the siezures are from criminal origins", what about the siezures that weren't of criminal origins? Screw those people?
You guys are looking at this like the FBI raided your local bank's safety deposit boxes and some how you are at risk of a similar raid on your personal rights. I'm looking at this from the point of view that this isn't exactly a place where average law abiding citizens are stashing their belongings for safekeeping. Do you really think that innocent people would use such a service? If use is not born out of criminal intent or source, then tax evasion could be implied at a minimum. Either way, innocence is subjective.
"U.S. Private Vaults, a Nevada-based company that operated on West Olympic Boulevard, was raided by the FBI and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in March 2021."
"A Beverly Hills business that rented safety deposit boxes to customers who were not required to use their real identities will plead guilty to money laundering, admitting in federal court that it sought drug traffickers and other criminals as customers who often kept stacks of illegally obtained cash in their personal vaults, according to court papers"
"The company admitted to having recruited as its customers drug traffickers and other criminals "who paid over $550,000 in cash and bitcoin in exchange for the anonymous use of safety deposit boxes to store the proceeds of their offenses, most often in stacks of $100 bills,'' according to the agreement filed in Los Angeles federal court."
"Box rental payments were made to U.S. Private Vaults with the company's knowledge that the money came from the proceeds of the distribution of controlled substances and other crimes, the plea agreement states."
"The company would deposit the cash with banks, using the money to pay its costs for maintaining the business, thereby promoting the distribution of controlled substances and other crimes by its customers, federal prosecutors wrote."
But yeah, those FBI bastards sure overstepped their bounds this time...SMH.
