The FBI’s seizure of contents from safe deposit boxes during a raid on a Beverly Hills vault in 2021 violated the U.S. Constitution, a federal appeals court ruled on Jan. 23.
Agents raided U.S. Private Vaults, a business that allowed people to rent safe deposit boxes anonymously, based on the belief that criminals were using the service. The search warrant stated that agents could only open the boxes to inventory their contents and identify the owners for the return of their property.
However, agents brought drug-sniffing dogs and planned to set aside cash worth more than $5,000, with the intent to seize the money.
The FBI searched the contents of about 700 safe deposit boxes.
When people who rented boxes asked the FBI for their belongings back after the raid, the bureau refused, saying it was going to file for forfeiture or transfer ownership to the government. The renters of the boxes then sued.