Friday, May 2, 2014

“Aren’t we in the United States? We did nothing wrong”

Terry, who came to Michigan from Iraq in 1970, soon did what immigrants often do: He went into business, buying Schott’s Supermarket in Fraser, Mich., where he still works six days a week. The Internal Revenue Service, a tentacle of a government that spent $3.5 trillion in 2013, tried to steal more than $35,000 from Terry and Sandy that year.
Sandy, a mother of four... remembers, “They just walked into the store” and announced that they had emptied the store’s bank account. The IRS agents believed, or pretended to believe, that Terry and Sandy were or conceivably could be — which is sufficient for the IRS — conducting a criminal enterprise when not selling groceries.

What pattern of behavior supposedly aroused the suspicions of a federal government that is ignorant of how small businesses function? Terry and Sandy regularly make deposits of less than $10,000 in the bank across the street. Federal law, aimed primarily at money laundering by drug dealers, requires banks to report cash deposits of more than $10,000. It also makes it illegal to “structure” deposits to evade such reporting.

Because 35 percent of Schott’s Supermarket’s receipts are in cash, Terry and Sandy make frequent trips to the bank to avoid tempting actual criminals by having large sums at the store. Besides, their insurance policy covers no cash loss in excess of $10,000.

In 2010 and 2012, IRS agents visited the store and examined Terry’s and Sandy’s conduct. In 2012, the IRS notified them that it identified “no violations” of banking laws. But on Jan. 22, 2013, Terry and Sandy discovered that the IRS had obtained a secret warrant and emptied the store’s bank account. (read more)
While trying to avoid "actual" criminals this family made themselves a target of another set of criminals, our own government. In an instance when "government is good" and "taxes are good" is proven to NOT necessarily be so, all the time. For the power to tax is also the power to destroy and there is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.

30 comments:

Shouting Thomas said...

Obamacare adds something like 14,000 new busy bodies to the IRS payroll.

The worst is yet to come.

Fortunately, there's always the black market.

KCFleming said...

I went to bed in America and awoke in the Soviet Union.

The Dude said...

Did nothing wrong? What difference, at this point, does that make?

If you have money then you are a criminal. Turn it over the the lunch money bullies from the government.

You want good, non-corrupt government? Go elsewhere.

Calypso Facto said...

"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government,
so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution
so the second will not become the legalized version of the first." Thomas Jefferson

chickelit said...

I have to wonder aloud how much more IRS mob tactics like this the American people will stomach. I suppose there will be a tipping point, when enough people recognize that Washington D.C. is slowly sucking the country dry.

Shouting Thomas said...

@chickenlittle

I don't know. Defending civil rights is kinda new territory for the people who are the targets.

And, the left figures those people have it coming.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

While trying to avoid "actual" criminals this family made themselves a target of another set of criminals, our own government.

Looks like Lem's taken a page from Althouse's playbook and is now trolling his own blog.

Oh, well. She didn't start out that way, either.

chickelit said...

Shouting Thomas said...

I don't know. Defending civil rights is kinda new territory for the people who are the targets.

And, the left figures those people have it coming.


Good point. There will be a lag time before the realization sets in that IRS is strong-arming money out of the small business class to redistribute in D.C. The small business community has target-rich pockets of wealth to seize by an administration biased against them.

bagoh20 said...

Na, we don't need no stinking Tea Party. Those people are crazy. We need moderate, measured, careful people who see this as just a few broken eggs, and who understand the value of that big fluffy omelet we've built.

ricpic said...

Lem's...now trolling his own blog.

You're getting battier by the minute, Eric.

You don't see the gubmint as criminal? At least Willie Sutton was honest about his "withdrawals." Not so the IRS.

bagoh20 said...

Imagine if they had a larger business with a lot of employees. A company like that supports not only it's own people, but a whole network of other businesses and and their employees. Vendors depend on them for work and payments to meet their payrolls, and customers depend on them for product to use supporting themselves or their companies.

A stupid move like this could disrupt thousands of lives ruining peoples credit, losing jobs and even costing lives. Someone needs a perp walk.

Shouting Thomas said...

One of my last contracting jobs involved the implementation of Dodd/Frank in a huge securities firm.

Dodd/Frank isn't about regulation. It's about imposing huge costs on small businesses that can't afford it, thus driving them out of biz and eliminating competitors for crony capitalist corporations with political connections.

Major purpose of Obamacare, too.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

No. I see government as a necessary evil, emphasis on necessary.

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary "

-- James Madison

bagoh20 said...

"No. I see government as a necessary evil, emphasis on necessary."

Every single person on earth agrees, but what does this have to do with "necessary".

Unknown said...

The media are to blame.

They will screw us over as they climb over each other to appease democrat daddy.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

What happened to those people looks like a fuckup and nothing more.

Trying to turn it into yet more evidence of some vast conspiracy to screw the American citizenry is paranoia at best, demagoguery at worst, and disingenuousness, quite possibly.

I'm not getting myself worked up about it, but you all have fun.

OH NOES!!!!11!!!

ITZA KAFKAESQUE NIGHMARZZZ!!!!

Aridog said...

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

What happened to those people looks like a fuckup and nothing more.

Really? From that remark I can assume you've never dealt with the IRS on a frequent basis or as an opponent.

The legal protocol for federal "Targeting Orders" (limits on transaction amounts before Bank reporting) were violated big time. That cannot be a fluke.

The only possible rationale, one not cited, would have been if the IRS had contacted the business owners and asked for more information, but were ignored repeatedly. That's a bad idea...you hire an attorney (best idea) or deal with it directly, you do not deep six the certifed letters you receive. Doing that provides the rationale to seize funds.

I missed any part of the story where sources of the funds were investigated. That is the normal procedure when "structured deposits or withdrawals" are suspected. Without that evidence there is no probable cause for levy or forfeiture. And the IRS knows that...they wrote the rules. Had the IRS investigated first the sources, they'd not have made the seizure....due to no grounds.

It is not illegal to make deposits, or withdrawals, under $10K. Good Lord, I am retired and all of my deposits and withdrawals are under $10K. Actually in the Detroit Metro Area the targeting orders (they vary from time to time) are frequently much less than $10K...sometimes as low as $1K.

In my sojourn in the private sector, in the heavy equipment business was before the wide advent of business to business credit cards...it was either trade credit or cash or check if the bank verified deposit sufficiency. The issue cited here was a daily consideration back then, and I'd presume still is for small markets where cash may be predominant. There are records all legitimate businesses keep that will verify sources of funds, and a routine audit will disclose any unsubstantiated revenue versus deposits and withdrawals. The IRS knows that and did not do it, obviously, since they lost in court.

AllenS said...

I don't know what to say, except that bats are known to have rabies. It will eat at your brain until there's nothing left.

bagoh20 said...

You always wonder how those big evils in history happened despite the people having the power to stop it by just speaking up. I think dismissing things like this as no big deal is exactly how those things happen, as it gives everyone else an excuse to ignore it. The only thing that allows one to be dismissive about something like this is that it's not happening to you. Remember that when it hits you or someone you do care about, and you scream out "Why doesn't anyone help me? How can you let this happen to your neighbor?"
Because people are like that.

edutcher said...

The Choom Gang are the perfect little Narzis, right down to the Ministry of Propaganda and the Waffen SS.

"We did nothing wrong", is right out of the Reich.

This sort of thing seems to happen most often in Democrat regimes (it was very bad in the 60s).

(of course, Ritmo approves as it is in the name of income inequality)

President-Mom-Jeans said...

Let me fix it for you, Fruit.

What happened to those people is fucked up.

bagoh20 said...

I'm not picking on Eric, but rather that attitude expressed by people about every one of these stories of government criminality unless it involves a dog being killed and often even then as if they each exist in a vacuum. They don't. It's rampant, and it's a pattern of arrogance in government workers with no fear of the people or the law.

Regardless of the actual facts behind this story, if any other entity or group was said to do this it would be outrageous to everyone, but for some people if the government does it, then it's probably just part of living in a community. The culprits are assumed to be innocent or simply incompetent at worst.

Now, some others of us on the other side, can be a little quick to assume the worst when it's the government.

History, and especially recent history, seems to make a pretty good case that those suspicious of the government are ignored at great peril. What's the big cost of being especially sensitive to over-reaching government? What is the real threat to us as a free people: revolution and anarchy or over-controlling government gradually and consistently increasing it's own power?

Regulation and compliance now cost every family in America over $15,000 annually. That's more than we pay for anything else except housing.

"Americans paid a grand total of $1.863 trillion in federal compliance costs for 2013. That's more money than the entire Gross Domestic Products of countries like Australia, Canada, and India."

http://reason.com/blog/2014/04/30/the-united-states-of-regulation-complian

In addition, there are now a plethora of government entities that have their own SWAT teams, as if we are all prisoners in their camp who will comply or else to each little fiefdom. Things are not normal, and they are increasingly un-American.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Hey, don't get me wrong. I'm tickled pink that there are commenters here who want to do something constructive about governmental abuses of power.

You know, really doing something constructive rather than just bitching about it on the internet with your same-minded friends like you're talking about sports or movies. Politics isn't just an excuse to be social, after all.

So here's what you can do to really help, to be part of the solution. And it's not too late.

You can go to law school, get an education, fill your head with knowledge, become a lawyer, and get something actually accomplished.

And the good news is, I hear that the price of law school is coming way down and that getting admitted is easier than ever!

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Hey! I felt picked on!

(I'm very sensitive, you know.)

;-)

bagoh20 said...

If bitching didn't matter, there would be no need for the First Amendment. Dismissing wrongs as no big thing is how terrible situations get their foothold. This is a forum - it's only talking here. That doesn't mean it's all we do when we come here.

And please don't get a law degree. Is there anything our society needs less than another lawyer? Learn plumbing so you can clear the pipes instead of clogging them.

AllenS said...

Question. Does the Bat post here using another name?

bagoh20 said...

The Bat is cool. He just overdoes the fruit sometimes.

Aridog said...

bagoh20 said ...

... there are now a plethora of government entities that have their own SWAT teams, as if we are all prisoners in their camp who will comply or else to each little fiefdom. Things are not normal, and they are increasingly un-American.

Thread winner. A commenter & virtual acquaintance of mine on another blog said it this way:

... as I've said before, if you want to know what the inside of a FEMA camp looks like, just step outside, and look around...

Amartel said...

The bat has gotten into the sherry.

I understand. Really, I do. Yesterday I got trapped in the liquor cabinet myself. Guzzled whiskey until I passed out. It happens. TGIF but, seriously, it's not even noon yet, bat.
And this story is just awful.

President-Mom-Jeans said...

A few government employees and politicians hanging from lamp posts now and again would probably help keep the rest of them in line.

The problem is they think they are untouchable, and they are usually right.