Welcome to Spodek Law Group. What you're about to read isn't the sanitized version of airport cash seizures that government websites publish. This is the reality of what happens when Customs and Border Protection takes your money at JFK - and why the system is specifically designed to keep it.
Here's the thing most people don't understand about cash seizure at Kennedy Airport: they're not prosecuting you. They're prosecuting your cash. Literally. The case name reads something like "United States v. $47,000 in U.S. Currency." Your money becomes the defendant. And unlike you, your money has no constitutional right to be presumed innocent. In the civil forfeiture system operating at every international terminal at JFK, your cash is guilty until you prove it innocent - and proving that costs more than most people can afford.
Between 2022 and 2024, the DEA alone seized $22 million from airport travelers across the country. How many arrests came from those seizures? Fifty-seven. Do the math. That's $386,000 taken for every single person who was actually criminal enough to arrest. The other 99.7 percent of that money came from people like you - travelers who walked through security with cash they earned legally, cash they needed for business or family or a hundred legitimate reasons, and walked out with nothing but a custody receipt and a ticking clock.
What Happens at Terminal 4 When CBP Takes Your Cash
The seizure itself takes maybe twenty minutes. What comes after takes months or years. The imbalance is intentional - quick for them to take, slow and expensive for you to fight.
Heres how it typically unfolds. Your carrying cash through JFK - maybe your flying internationally and have more than $10,000 you failed to declare on a FinCEN 105 form. Maybe your on a domestic flight and TSA saw the stack on their x-ray and decided something looked suspicious. Either way, you end up in a secondary screening room with a CBP officer or a DEA agent asking questions you shouldn't answer.
The officer writes up a custody receipt. You sign it because what else are you going to do - they have your money and your not going anywhere without signing. Then you leave. Thats it. No arrest. No charges. No Miranda rights because your not being detained criminally. Just a receipt and a promise that something called the Fines, Penalties, and Forfeitures Division will be in touch.
What nobody tells you in that room is that a clock starts ticking the moment they generate your seizure paperwork. The government will send a "Notice of Seizure" to whatever address they have on file - sometimes the address on your ID, sometimes an address you gave them, sometimes an address thats been wrong for years. That letter contains a deadline. And missing that deadline means you lose. Permanently. No appeals.
The 30-Day Deadline Nobody Warns You About
The notice of seizure arrives by certified mail. In theory. In practice, people find out about deadlines in all kinds of terrible ways - a letter forwarded three times, a notice shoved under an apartment door, a confused family member who didnt understand what it meant. Some people never recieve the letter at all. Some people are still traveling when it arrives.
The government knows this. They count on it. Every person who misses the deadline is money they keep without ever having to justify the seizure to a judge.
That letter contains a 30-day deadline to file a verified claim for judicial review - but the 30 days starts from the DATE ON THE LETTER, not the date you recieve it.
Think about what that means. If CBP sends your notice on January 1st and it takes 15 days to reach you through the mail, you have 15 days left. Not 30. Fifteen days to find a lawyer, gather documentation proving where your money came from, and file the verified claim that determines whether you ever see that cash again.
Miss the deadline by one day? Your done. The government keeps your money through "administrative forfeiture" which requires no court, no judge, no hearing. Just a bureaucrat checking that your response didn't arrive in time.
Todd Spodek has seen clients lose everything because a notice went to an old address. Because mail was slow. Because they were traveling internationally when the letter arrived and couldnt respond in time. The system is built this way on purpose - the harder they make it to respond, the more money they keep by default.
One client - a businessman from Queens - had $85,000 seized on a flight to the Dominican Republic. The notice went to his old apartment in Brooklyn, an address he hadnt lived at in three years. By the time his former landlord forwarded the letter, the deadline had passed by two weeks. Gone. Eighty-five thousand dollars earned over years of running a legitimate import business, forfeited because of a mailing address.
Why They're Prosecuting Your Money (Not You)
OK so heres where it gets truely bizarre. When CBP seizes your cash, they dont charge YOU with a crime. They charge your MONEY with a crime.
This isnt a metaphor. Civil asset forfeiture works by making your property the defendant in a legal case. The government files something like "United States of America v. $47,000 in United States Currency" and argues that the money itself is guilty of being connected to illegal activity. You - the owner - are just a third party "claimant" who has to prove the money is innocent.
In criminal court, the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. In civil forfeiture? They only need "preponderance of the evidence" - meaning more likely than not. And heres the kicker: once they establish probable cause that the money is connected to crime, the burden shifts to YOU to prove it isnt.
Read that again. You have to prove a negative. Prove your money ISNT connected to drugs. Prove you DIDNT intend to use it for something illegal. How do you prove you DIDNT do something?
This is why civil forfeiture is so devastating. Your presumption of innocence doesnt apply because your not the defendant. Your money is. And money cant testify, cant hire a lawyer on its own behalf, cant invoke the Fifth Amendment. Money just sits in a government account collecting interest while you scramble to prove you deserve it back.
Think about how insane this is for a moment. If a prosecutor accused you of murder, they'd need to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. You'd get a public defender if you couldnt afford one. You'd have the right to confront witnesses, the right to remain silent, the right to a speedy trial. But when CBP takes your $50,000 at JFK? None of that applies. You have fewer protections fighting for your life savings than someone fighting a parking ticket.
The Institute for Justice - a civil liberties organization that has fought these cases nationwide - calls airport cash seizure "jetway robbery." They documented case after case of travelers losing money without ever being charged with a crime. Rebecca Brown had her life savings seized by DEA at a Pittsburgh airport. The money was for her elderly fathers medical expenses. No arrest, no charges - just a seizure and months of litigation to get her own money back.
The Drug Dog Problem Everyone Ignores
When CBP or DEA wants probable cause to seize your cash, they have a foolproof method: bring in a drug-sniffing dog.
Heres why this is a scam. Multiple studies have shown that approximately 90 percent of U.S. currency in circulation contains detectable traces of cocaine. Paper money absorbs residue from hands, counting machines, and contact with other contaminated bills. After a few weeks in circulation, almost all cash tests positive for trace drug residue.
So when a dog "alerts" on your cash, what does that actually prove? Nothing. It proves your money has been in circulation. It proves your money is... money.
But in court, that dog alert becomes "probable cause" justifying the seizure. The handler writes in his report that his trained K-9 indicated on the currency, suggesting connection to narcotics trafficking. Suddenly your legitimately earned cash looks like drug money because a dog did what dogs do when they smell 90% of all American currency.
Defense attorneys know this. Prosecutors know this. Judges know this. The system keeps using dogs anyway becuase it works. It provides legal cover for seizures that would otherwise require actual evidence. At Spodek Law Group, challenging the dog alert is often our first line of attack - but by the time we get involved, the government already has your money and possession is nine-tenths of the law.
The dog alert creates a paper trail that looks legitimate to a judge who hasnt researched how currency contamination works. The handler's training records, the dog's certification, the documented "positive indication" - it all sounds scientific. It all sounds reliable. But any defense attorney who handles these cases knows the dogs are basicly confirming that you have cash. Nothing more. The question is whether the judge will listen.
Some courts have started pushing back on dog alerts as sole justification for seizure. But at JFK, the seizures keep happening. The dogs keep alerting. And travelers keep losing money they earned legitimatly because the system prefers the appearance of evidence over actual evidence.
Mistakes That Guarantee You Lose Forever
When that CBP officer starts asking questions at JFK, everything feels urgent. Explain yourself. Prove your innocent. Tell them where the money came from. This instinct is natural. Its also exactly what the government wants.
Everything you say will be used against your cash in the forfeiture proceeding.
When you explain that the $30,000 came from selling your car, that statement goes in the officers report. When you cant remember the exact date of the sale, thats inconsistency. When your explanation doesn't match your bank records perfectly, thats evidence the cash is "guilty." The more you talk, the more ammunition you provide.
The cooperation trap works like this. Level one - they ask where the money came from and you answer honestly. Level two - your answer becomes evidence in the forfeiture case. Level three - any inconsistency or gap in documentation becomes proof the cash must be dirty. Level four - your own words convict your money.
Heres what nobody tells you: you dont have to answer. You can politely decline to answer questions. You can ask if your being detained. You can provide identification and nothing else. Yes, they'll take your money anyway - but you wont have given them a roadmap to keep it.
Other mistakes that guarantee permanent loss:
- Filing a "petition for remission" instead of a "verified claim" - petitions have no deadline for government response, people wait 6+ months just to get denied
- Missing the 30-day deadline for even one day
- Hiring a lawyer who files late or files incorrectly
- Settling for partial return because the fight seems overwhelming
- Providing documentation that reveals other vulnerabilities (tax issues, immigration status, business problems)
The documentation trap deserves special attention. When you start proving where your money came from, you open doors the government might not have known existed. Bank records showing large cash deposits? Now they want to know if those were reported to the IRS. Business income from a side hustle? Was it on your taxes? The forfeiture case can become a gateway to other investigations you never anticipated. Weve seen seizure cases lead to tax audits, immigration issues, even unrelated business investigations. The government treats your documentation as discovery, not just defense evidence.
What a JFK Cash Seizure Lawyer Actually Does
The first thing we do is file a verified claim demanding judicial review. This is critical. Filing the verified claim triggers a 90-day deadline - now the GOVERNMENT is on a clock. They have 90 days to either return your money or file a formal complaint for forfeiture in U.S. District Court.
Why does this matter? Because prosecutors are busy. They have hundreds of cases. If your seizure was weak - no actual evidence of crime, just cash and a dog alert and your nervous demeanor - they might decide its not worth litigating. They might offer to return part of the money. They might return all of it because fighting you in federal court costs taxpayer money and their case was thin from the start.
Without the verified claim, theres no deadline on them. They can hold your money indefinitly through administrative process, wait for you to give up, and then forfeit it with no judicial oversight whatsoever.
Here's what else we do immediately:
- Obtain airport surveillance footage before it gets deleted (retention periods vary, sometimes as short as 30 days)
- Document everything that happened during the seizure while your memory is fresh
- Gather evidence of the cashs legitimate source - bank records, tax returns, sale documents, employment records
- Identify constitutional violations during the stop and seizure that might get the case thrown out
- Calculate whether fighting is worth it financially (attorney fees typically 30-40% on contingency)
At Spodek Law Group, weve handled seizures from every terminal at JFK. We know which officers are reasonable and which ones seize everything that moves. We know which prosecutors negotiate and which ones fight everything to trial. This matters more then people realize.
The difference between an experienced forfeiture attorney and a general practitioner can be the difference between getting your money back and losing it forever. General criminal defense attorneys often dont understand the unique procedural requirements of forfeiture cases. They might file a petition when they should have filed a claim. They might miss the nuances of the innocent owner defense. They might not know that the government will almost always negotiate if you demonstrate your willing to fight in federal court.
We also know how to value cases realistically. If you lost $15,000 and fighting to get it back costs $10,000 in legal fees, that might not make financial sense. But if you lost $100,000 and the government's case is weak, contingency representation means you pay nothing unless we recover your money. Every case is different. The initial consulation helps determine what approach makes sense for your specific situation.
The First 72 Hours After Seizure
The clock is running from the moment they take your money. Heres what needs to happen immediately:
Hours 1-24: Preserve Everything
Write down everything you remember. What questions did they ask? What did you say? Who else was there? What time did it happen? Get the custody receipt somewhere safe - photograph it, email it to yourself, make copies. That receipt contains the seizure number you'll need for everything.
Hours 24-48: Find Representation
You need a lawyer who handles federal asset forfeiture - not just any criminal defense attorney. Forfeiture is its own specialized practice area. Call multiple firms. Ask specifically about their experience with CBP seizures at JFK. Ask about their success rate. Ask if they work on contingency.
Hours 48-72: Start Documentation
Begin gathering proof of where the money came from. The more documentation you have before the government asks for it, the stronger your position. Bank statements showing withdrawals. Sale receipts for property. Pay stubs and tax returns. Business records. Anything that creates a paper trail connecting you to that cash legitimatly.
Dont wait for the Notice of Seizure letter. By the time it arrives, you may have already lost valuable days. Start preparing your defense the moment they take your money.
The $10,000 Reporting Requirement
Many JFK seizures happen because travelers dont understand the reporting requirement. Federal law requires anyone entering or leaving the United States with more than $10,000 in currency or monetary instruments to file a FinCEN Form 105 - the Currency or Monetary Instruments Report. This is seperate from customs declarations. This is specifically about money.
The $10,000 threshold applies to the total amount your carrying, not per person in your travel group. A family of four with $3,000 each triggers the reporting requirement. Monetary instruments includes cashiers checks, travelers checks, money orders, and negotiable instruments. The rule is broader then most people realize.
Failing to file the form - even if your money is completly legitimate - creates automatic grounds for seizure. CBP can and will take your cash for the reporting violation alone, regardless of where the money came from. And once they have it, you're in the civil forfeiture system fighting to get it back.
Why This Keeps Happening at JFK
Kennedy Airport processes over 60 million passengers per year. Its the busiest international air gateway in North America. That volume means opportunity - opportunity for CBP to find undeclared currency, for DEA task forces to profile "suspicious" travelers, for the Treasury Forfeiture Fund to grow.
The Justice Department ended its airport cash seizure program in January 2024 because of what officials called "significant constitutional concerns." The DEAs own internal review found the program was "outdated" and produced few arrests relative to the money seized. That should have been the end of it.
But the Department of Homeland Security never got that memo. Or they ignored it. Task forces combining HSI agents, CBP officers, and local police continue operating at JFK and other major airports. They flag passengers using the same profiling they always used. They bring in the same dogs. They seize the same cash. The only difference is which agency's letterhead appears on your notice of seizure.
The Treasury Forfeiture Fund - which receives forfeited assets and distributes them back to participating agencies - held over $800 million as of 2023. Agencies literally profit from taking your money. There is no incentive to reform. Every dollar they seize that you dont fight for is a dollar that funds their operations.
Detroit's CBP field office reported a 62 percent increase in unreported money seizures recently. Similar increases are happenning at major airports nationwide. The practice isnt slowing down - its accelerating. More agents, more dogs, more seizures, more money flowing into government accounts while travelers fight to prove their own money is innocent.
Civil liberties organizations have called this system "policing for profit" - and at JFK, the profit motive is clearly winning.
Moving Forward After a JFK Cash Seizure
Getting your money back requires fighting a system designed to keep it. That fight is winnable, but it requires immediate action, proper legal strategy, and realistic expectations about costs and timelines.
Call Spodek Law Group at 212-300-5196. We handle JFK cash seizures and understand exactly what your facing. The consultation is free. The clock is already running. And every day you wait is a day closer to that 30-day deadline that determines whether you have any chance at all.
The system treats you like your guilty because thats easier for them. Proving otherwise takes work. But your money - money you earned, money you need, money the government has no right to take without due process - is worth fighting for.
