ABSTRACT
The U.S. government has many forfeiture laws on the books. The following is a partial list of those forfeiture laws that are commonly used by federal prosecutors:
1. Title 18: Criminal Code Section 492: Counterfeiting Section 545: Smuggling Section 981: Civil “White Collar” Transactions Section 982: Criminal “White Collar” Transactions Section 1467: Obscene Materials Section 1956: Money Laundering for Monetary Instruments Section 1957: Money Laundering for Property Section 1963: Racketeering — Criminal Section 1964: Racketeering — Civil Section 2339C: Financing Terrorism
2. Title 19: Customs Section 1595(a): Conveyances and Items Used to Facilitate Illegally Introduced
Items
Section 848: Continuing Criminal Enterprises Section 853: Drug Felonies — Criminal Section 881: Controlled Substances — Civil
4. Title 26: Taxation Section 7301: Property Subject to Tax Section 7302: Property Used in Violation of Internal Revenue Laws Section 7303: Other Property Subject to Forfeiture
5. Title 31: Money and Currency Section 5111: Coin Melting Section 5317: Unreported Monetary Instruments Section 5321: Civil Penalties Section 5322: Criminal Penalties
6. Title 49: Transportation Section 782: Contraband Seizures Section 1474: Civil Aircraft
All kinds of property are subject to seizure and forfeiture. This includes all real and personal property, tangible and intangible property. Many states also have forfeiture laws on their books. State forfeiture laws are usually patterned after the federal statutes with some modifications. However, both federal and state forfeiture laws subject forfeitable property in the following categories:
1. Illegal goods. Illegal goods consist of things like drugs, cigarettes, liquor, and other personal and intangible property that has been specifically outlawed by federal or state statutes. These assets can be seized and forfeited at the point of discovery. Contraband property is usually destroyed after criminal trials of defendants.
