October 6, 2024 | Why I Do Not Trust Safety Deposit Boxes

I have said numerous times that your personal belongings are at risk in safety deposit boxes. The Fourth Amendment was intended to protect Americans from illegal search and seizures, but as we have seen in recent years, the government does not respect the Constitution or our freedoms. Governments will become increasingly tyrannical as we move into 2032, and every government believes that their citizens are to blame for large deficits. If only we paid our fair share then our politicians could fund their endless spending.

The government makes the rules. The Constitution has become a rough guideline that they simply do not follow. There are countless examples of the US government raiding safety deposit boxes under the pretense of restoring law and order. In March 2021, the FBI held a full-scale raid on US Private Vaults, a storage facility located in Beverly Hills, California. The government claimed that they needed to raid safety deposit boxes and confiscate the contents since they were purchased through illegal money laundering.

Up to 1,400 safety deposit boxes were seized, containing $86 million in cash, not including gold, jewelry, coins, and other valuables. The government said that they planned to keep all stolen items until a group of victims filed a class-action lawsuit. US District Judge R. Gary Klausner initially deemed that the FBI was within the scope of the warrant when it confiscated belongings from citizens who had absolutely no ties to criminal activity. A three-judge appeals panel later found that the FBI abused its authority as the warrant only permitted the department to open boxes of individuals under investigation. It took many years for the victims to receive a portion of their belongings, but not everyone was made whole.

This is a worldwide issue and is not limited to the United States. In 2016, for example, UK-based HSBC came after safe deposit boxes in Hong Kong to assist the government in looking for cash from citizens. In 2015, when Greece was suffering from its decision to join the European Union, Deputy Minister of Finance, Olga Valavani, announced that safe deposit boxes were restricted. There are COUNTLESS examples of governments throughout the world confiscating assets and banks are forced to comply.

The grey area that is allowing this seizure of assets is multidimensional. First there is the assumption it is the illegal proceeds from drugs. Second, there is the presumption it is money laundering and that is very broad for it can be drug money to hiding money from the government to avoid taxes, which they also call money laundering. Third, there is the ambiguous Internal Revenue Service regulation that basically states. “Consumers should never conceal cash from the United States government and not pay income tax on it.”  They could argue that cash in a safety deposit box is hidden from the government. They can also now argue that this is money laundering and that cash should be confiscated. It becomes your burden to prove them wrong.

We heard what happened when FDR signed Executive Order 6102 in April 1933, prohibiting US citizens from owning gold. Penalties for disobeying were up to $10,000 and/or 10 years imprisonment. That was mostly fixed through voluntary transfer as the population was regaining confidence in government. What happens when the government moves digital and wants cash off the grid? There are NO guarantees. The government has the ability to accuse anyone of committing a crime and use that as a means to seize assets. We have seen it happen time and time again with debanking practices.

So no, I do not recommend keeping everything in a safe deposit box. There is no precise law against storing metal or cash in a safe deposit box, but the law is malleable in the hands of any judge. A judge can seize the money or gold under the pretense of money laundering or use the same facility as someone accused of the offense.

Martin Armstrong October 6th, 2024

Posted In: Armstrong Economics

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