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Innocent Citizens Sue FBI Over Illegal Safety Deposit Raid - YouTube
Channel: Institute for Justice
[3]
In March, 2021 hundreds
of people across
[6]
southern California
woke up to a nightmare.
[8]
The FBI executed a search
on a business on Palm Drive
[13]
an Olympic Boulevard this
morning, Even though none
[15]
of the individuals were
charged with a crime, the
[18]
private security deposit
boxes were seized by
[20]
federal law enforcement.
[22]
The FBI raided U.S.
[24]
Private Vaults after the
company had been charged
[26]
with various crimes,
including money laundering.
[28]
The affidavit supporting
that warrant is
[30]
sealed for now over.
[31]
The next few days, federal
agents opened all the boxes
[35]
and then demanded that
box holders submit to an
[37]
investigation before getting
their prize possessions back.
[41]
It was scary to learn
that we had to submit our
[43]
personal information the FBI.
[44]
We didn't do anything wrong.
[46]
Paul and Jennifer Snitko live
in southern California and
[49]
have a good reason to keep
their valuables in a vault.
[51]
It's the second fire in the
area in less than two weeks.
[55]
The Pacific Palisades
is in a fire prone area.
[59]
We've had to pack up
a couple times on the
[61]
cusp of evacuation.
[63]
And we realized, as careful
as we were with packing up,
[66]
that we miss some stuff, but
their bank had a two year wait
[69]
for security deposit boxes.
[71]
So they started searching
for another option.
[73]
I just did a simple Google
search on safe deposit boxes.
[77]
U.S.
[77]
Private Vaults showed up.
[78]
Safe deposit boxes
just got a lot safer.
[82]
They visited U.S.
[83]
Private Vaults and we're
impressed with their
[85]
security measures and
ease of accessing the box.
[88]
It's so easy.
[89]
You pull up into the parking
lot and you put your eyes in
[91]
front of this iris scanner.
[92]
If it's a match, click, and
then you go past the actual
[95]
bank vault door, which
is equally as impressive.
[98]
They use their box
to store possessions
[100]
valuable mainly to them.
[101]
Paul's father's will,
back up hard drives,old
[104]
family watches, and
Paul's flight log.
[106]
At least you have some
comfort that the things
[108]
that really matter to you
and artists place, Paul and
[111]
Jennifer had no idea that U.S.
[113]
Private Vaults might've
been breaking the law.
[115]
The business had been
open for years and was
[117]
a member of the Beverly
Hills Chamber of Commerce.
[120]
But now innocent people
were caught up in a
[123]
federal investigation.
[124]
I saw a headline reference
an FBI raid and, in about,
[130]
a sentence or two later, my
eyeballs fell on the keyboard.
[133]
I didn't want to read
about all of this because
[136]
it was so unsettling and
to be the person where
[139]
it happened to that's a
whole new world for me.
[143]
When the Snitko's tried
to get their property
[145]
back, they got no clear
answer from the government.
[148]
We filled out the form.
[150]
And I think it was at
least a week before we
[153]
had heard back from them.
[154]
An FBI agent called.
[156]
And so I gave her our box
number and she said, someone
[160]
will be in contact with you.
[162]
The government can't seize
your property and force you
[164]
to prove your innocence, the
Snitko's and other box holders
[167]
have now teamed up with the
Institute for Justice to
[170]
sue, to get their property
returned and to protect
[173]
their constitutional rights.
[175]
An announcement of a major
federal class action lawsuit.
[178]
Only minutes after the
Snitko's announced their
[180]
lawsuit they got a call.
[183]
Hello, this message is
for Jennifer Snitko.
[185]
I'm calling from FBI Los
Angeles regarding your...
[188]
The message said that their
property would be returned
[190]
and that it would be two
to three weeks before they
[192]
could expect another phone
call with further direction.
[195]
Thank you, Jennifer,
and have a great day.
[198]
But the government violates
the Constitution each day
[201]
it continues to hold onto
property it should never have
[204]
seized in the first place.
[205]
That was an unreasonable
search and seizure and
[209]
it violated our fourth
amendment rights.
[212]
While the Snitko's may have
their property returned
[214]
in a matter of weeks, the
government is trying to take
[216]
the property of hundreds
of other box holders
[218]
through civil forfeiture.
[220]
The Institute for Justice
won't stop until their
[222]
properties returned and
their constitutional
[225]
rights protected.
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