Is there a law as to how much cash somebody can carry with them at a time?

john c

Here in the USA the police can take your money and keep it. It can be $20 or 20 thousand dollars.

You can go to court and swear on a stack of bibles but it still comes down to your word against theirs. You claim these police officers stopped you and took 20 thousand dollars of your money for no reason. They claim you are either lying or crazy.

Guess who wins that argument.

Marc X

In the U.S. there are RICO statutes that permit the confiscation of large amounts of cash from an individual. RICO stands for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act which was a tool to fight entrenched Organized Crime, such as the Mafia.

It seems to me that such confiscations are a violation of the 4th Amendment of the Constitution which prohibits seizures without Due Process, but I'm no lawyer and apparently RICO has withstood Constitutional scrutiny. Basically, if you're searched for any kind of probably cause WHATsoever, and more than a couple hundred dollars in cash is found, the police can seize it and hold it as POTENTIAL evidence in any investigation which may never be completed.

It's up to the individual to sue the government for the return of his assets by proving his entitlement to it. As with any laws whose INTENT was to do good, it's easily subverted by greed, corruption, and power against those unable to retaliate or contest the abuse.

bobwit

Most people only tell you what they want you to know.
I would suggest there's more to this than your friend is telling you. The police won't normally stop anyone for no reason at all. and they don't normally ask what's in your pockets unless they have suspicions.
I reckon he was up to no good or he has been up to no good at some time and he was being watched.

joan k

He will have to prove that the money was obtained legally. Seems starnge that they stopped his car in the first place.

Alfred E Newman

I am not sure about the UK...
In the USA the magic number is $9,999.00
If you have over that amount they are going to keep it....If you deposit that amount into the bank they call the IRS and report you automatically....Then they contact you and seize it if you cant prove where it came from......If you save up the cash and buy a $10,000 car with cash the dealer is required to contact the authorities....The IRS will demand to see proof of where you got the money.....

But other posters are correct.....Anywhere in the world they can always just take it and say they never saw it!!!!!! Cops are the same everywhere...

retox

It would help if he could show a bank statement showing that the money was in his bank and then withdrew. Or, if he had just sold something then a receipt - perhaps a copy of the receipt that he gave to the recipient of the goods he sold. If the money is legitimate, it much have come from somewhere that can be validated. Where did the money come from?

sprcpt

Over 90% of all cash is tainted with drug residue.

Law enforcement is allowed to keep any money that has been used to traffic drugs.

They test the bundle of cash and if any of it tests positive for drug residue, it is grounds for confiscation.

Spartan

there is no law which says how much money someone can have on their person, they can confiscate money if they believe it is from proceeds of crime like drugs but they would need evidence to support this, they cant just take someones cash willy nilly, are you sure your mate hasn't got any previous as i find it strange that the plod would just do this, but then again anything is possible these days, tell your friend to go to the nick and demand his cash back and make a complaint, if he can prove where the money came from so much the better as the plod might ask this although i don't see this as any of their business but they do like to poke their big noses into every part of our lives

art v

I don't know about the UK. In the US there is a law that says you have to have documentation if you have over a certain amount in cash on you. If you don't then it can be seized. It might vary from state to state. I know CA has a limit on the amount you can carry in cash. I think it's an IRS form possibly that you have to carry with you if you have more than the legal amount.
The amount is high, and if I found someone with that amount of cash I would be very interested in that person and whether it was drug money.

As far as the people said earlier, look it up. It is illegal in the US.

Facile Princeps

There must be more to it than that, what reason did the police give your friend for stopping him ?

wmicah33

A few years ago there was a little old lady whose home was destroyed by a hurricane (in Florida). So cashed out her 401k and drove away to start a new life. She got caught for speeding and even though she had the receipts for the money, the idiot cop still confiscated it (I think it was something like $40,000). It took her several years and thousands of dollars in court fees to get her money back.

frankturk50

In the UK there is no law and I think there is a lot more to this than as been revealed here obviously people carry much larger sums than this about routinely and the police would have no reason to take it.

K.T.S.

HE OR HIS MUM WILL HAVE TO PROVE ITS LEGALLY THEIRS OTHERWISE THEY THINK ITS FROM SOME ILLEGAL ACTION AND WILL CONFISCATE IT

Zoe

They probably confiscated it because they thought it was drug money, but as far as I'm aware there is no law against it. Tell him to ring a solicitor for advice.

"isitme"

There must be more to this story than you or we have been told.
In the UK the police can confiscate money or property if they have reasonable grounds to do so, ie, believing it to be stolen.
Your friend will have been given a receipt for the money specifying which police station it's held at and how to reclaim it.
As we in the UK are innocent until proven otherwise, the onus is on the police to prove the origin of the cash, however, it would be in your freinds best interest to produce evidence of ownership and settle the matter.
Tell him to try reclaiming it and take legal advice if he fails.

kid123456

police cant do that there is no evidence unless there was a band robbery and they know how mutch was stolen im not saying he did it but there is no limit of money a person can have

rogerglyn

The Police have to provide proof of wrong doing.

A Solicitor is the answer.

A person can carry as much as they like, however the authorities are always mind-full of drugs dealing etc.

DIANE C

Sorry, but I don't believe a word of this. The police would not just confiscate this money and the guy surely would not be silly enough to let an officer take it without any receipt! If the officer suspected that the money was from something illicit he should have made an arrest and held an interview at the police station. As long as the guy could show that this money is lawfully his, it would be returned immediately. If the police did confiscate this money then they must charge you with obtaining it unlawfully or return it. Why is it that your friend cannot prove that this money is his though, surely this is easy enough, he either earned it, won it, sold something or was given it ?
You can carry any amount of cash you wish in the UK, there is no law against it.

REPUBLICAN AND PROUD

In the UK, I don't know. But in the US, there is no law, but if there is sufficient evidence to prove that this money MIGHT not be his, then, yes, they can temporarily confiscate it.

Just tell your friend to tell the truth. Good luck!

aquannaquarles

I cant believe the police took my money i have proof and receipts i want my money i need to know how long i have before the police say they can take my neymo

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