Lifelock didn't help Carole Hinders' bank account from being drained by I.R.S.

Have you heard the Lifelock commercial about the man that woke up one morning to discover that his life savings of $300,000 was stolen by an identity thief? What you're less likely to hear about is another type of thief that acts in in a similar way - emptying numerous bank accounts throughout the year, legally. It's the I.R.S. - one of many enforcement agencies of the U.S. government

The New York Times printed a story about restaurant owner Carole Hinders, who saw her bank balance go from $33,000 down to zero - confiscated by the I.R.S. That in itself isn't so unusual. We
all know that the I.R.S. can do that to tax cheats.

But Hinders wasn't being investigated for tax fraud. She has operated a small, cash-only Mexican restaurant in Arnolds Park, Iowa for almost 40 years. And she has been depositing cash into her bank account for just as long. But because somebody in the government noticed that her cash deposits we're often just under the $10,000 reporting threshold, the I.R.S. thought that she must have been doing something illegal. So they emptied her bank account without charging her with a crime.

A spokesman for the IRS readily admits that they took her money solely because she deposited too little of it at a time, claiming that she did so to avoid the required reporting of any bank transaction over $10,000. Hinders has been depositing money at the same bank for over 30 years and nobody told her that she was doing anything wrong.

Though the $10,000 rule is ostensibly designed to help catch terrorists and drug dealers, it is far more often used on regular citizens who are unlikely to ever see their money returned. The government is going after small "mom-and-pop" business owners and regular wage earners without any allegations that they have committed any type of crime. What's worse is that the government can take the money and keep it without ever filing a criminal complaint. The owners are left to prove they are innocent of any wrongdoing. Many are forced to give up.

I.R.S. is clear that making deposits under $10,000 to evade reporting requirements, called structuring, is a crime - whether the money is from legal or illegal sources.

Related Articles:

 The IRS Can Seize Tons Of Your Cash If You Deposit It The Wrong Way

Law Lets I.R.S. Seize Accounts on Suspicion, No Crime Required

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