Forfeiture & Banks

A large part of federal forfeiture practice relates to seizures of wire transfers and bank accounts. These seizures present a range of legal issues which the practitioner needs to be aware of in order to competently represent the claimant/account holder. To that end, two cases won on appeal by the Center are presented below. These cases highlight these issues and provide guidance on how to handle the bank account forfeiture case. 

Villalba et. al. vs. Coutts & Co. et al., Case No. 96-5423 (11th Cir. 1998) - national first impression case on the conflict between the Electronic Communication Privacy Act and the Bank Secrecy Act and regulations promulgated thereunder. Click here

Lopez v. First Union and Coronado v. BankAtlantic Bancorp, 129 F.3d 1186 (11th Cir. 1997) - consolidated national first impression cases defining the scope of bank account holder's privacy rights versus the government's right to bank records under the Bank Secrecy Act. Click here