Quote from: Monnt on May 08, 2016, 02:26:38 AM

Quote from: BurtW on May 08, 2016, 12:21:03 AM

Quote from: X badapple X on May 08, 2016, 12:15:51 AM

Wow, sorry for your loss bro Sad

Thanks. I am still mad about it as you can imagine.

They actually did that to you? It's pretty harsh.

If they let you go, why did they charge you? Ive never heard of anything of the sort. Did you do anything or trade with anyone sketchy?

Yes, this happened to me, my wife and my daughter. I agree it was very harsh and totally draconian. A simple cease and desist letter would have done the trick. Something like:

Quote

Dear BurtW,

We here at Homeland Security and the Justice department noticed that you have started to trade Bitcoins on the web site localbitcoins.com. Contrary to rulings by the IRS we believe that Bitcoins are money. Contrary to all standard definitions of the word "transmittal" we believe that by trading Bitcoins what you are doing could be transmitting money. And finally FinCEN has stated that whether what you are doing is a business or not is a matter of fact and circumstance and we believe what you are doing may constitute a business. Since there is no legal guidelines it would be totally up to a jury to decide if it is a business or not but we believe in our hearts and really feel that it might just possibly be a business.

Please note that if a jury could be persuaded to rule in our favor on all three of these points then you would be facing 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. So, we suggest you consult your attorney and see if you need to get a free license from FinCEN in order to trade Bitcoins on localbitcoins.com

Also, we would like to discuss with you a very small number of totally unrelated cases where we caught some kids buying drugs with Bitcoins that they just happened to buy from you. This really has nothing to do with you but you might be able to help us in building our case against them. Of course this would be at your discretion an convenience. This is not some third world dictatorship under martial law where we would just arrest you, throw you in solitary confinement and try to strong arm you into helping us and steal your assets to directly fund our departments and operations.

Have a great day and thank you,

Michele Korver, AUSA

Aaron McWirter, special agent, Homeland Security Investigations

They charged me in order to extort money and Bitcoins from me.

Most people do not care about or hear about the consequences of living under the patriot act (martial law) or living in a country where their money, Bitcoins and other property can be seized, charged in a civil suit, and be considered guilty until they can prove to the authorities that their money, Bitcoins and other property is innocent.

If interested please watch this brilliant video which explains civil forfeiture.

I traded Bitcoins. The sole charge against me was 18-1960.

They love this regulation because the patriot act applies (they can do everything in secret, lie, etc.) and more importantly civil asset forfeiture applies to this regulation.