Jonathan Feld Quoted in Main Street.com

Jonathan S. Feld, a member of Dykema’s Litigation Department resident in Dykema’s Chicago and Washington, D.C. offices, whose practice focuses on business litigation, white-collar criminal defense, internal investigations and corporate compliance matters, is quoted in an article—“File This $10,000 IRS Form to Prevent Asset Seizure”—that appeared on MainStreet.com on September 26, 2013.

The article notes that individuals or companies that fail to file Form 8300 with the IRS after receiving more than $10,000 in cash are susceptible to having those assets seized by the federal government. Government seizure of assets has quadrupled in the past eight years, from roughly $600 million in 2005 to almost $4.2 billion in 2012.

Feld notes that this dramatic upswing in asset seizures—carried out by task forces within the civil division of the U.S. Attorney’s office and the Department of Justice—traces to two factors:  increased whistleblower activities and government agencies that have intensified their enforcement actions.

Feld cautions, however, that no assets can be seized without an appropriate court order. “There are a number of specific statutes you need to get a court order,” Feld observes. “And there's a lot of litigation about what assets are covered and whether they're related to the illegal activity or not before asset seizure can occur.”

To read this article in its entirety, click here.