[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2449 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2449

 To amend the Controlled Substances Act relating to the forfeiture of 
   currency in connection with illegal drug offenses, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             September 8 (legislative day, August 31), 1998

  Mr. Cleland (for himself and Mr. Grassley) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Controlled Substances Act relating to the forfeiture of 
   currency in connection with illegal drug offenses, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Drug Currency Forfeitures Act''.

SEC. 2. DRUG CURRENCY FORFEITURES.

    (a) In General.--Section 511 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 
U.S.C. 881) is amended by inserting after subsection (j) the following:
    ``(k) Rebuttable Presumption.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    ``(A) the term `drug trafficking offense' means--
                            ``(i) with respect to an action under 
                        subsection (a)(6), any illegal exchange 
                        involving a controlled substance or other 
                        violation for which forfeiture is authorized 
                        under that subsection; and
                            ``(ii) with respect to an action under 
                        section 981(a)(1)(B) of title 18, United States 
                        Code, any offense against a foreign nation 
                        involving the manufacture, importation, sale, 
                        or distribution of a controlled substance for 
                        which forfeiture is authorized under that 
                        section; and
                    ``(B) the term `shell corporation' means any 
                corporation that does not conduct any ongoing and 
                significant commercial or manufacturing business or any 
                other form of commercial operation.
            ``(2) Presumption.--In any action with respect to the 
        forfeiture of property described in subsection (a)(6) of this 
        section, or section 981(a)(1)(B) of title 18, United States 
        Code, there is a rebuttable presumption that property is 
        subject to forfeiture, if the Government offers a reasonable 
        basis to believe, based on any circumstance described in 
        subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D) of paragraph (3), that there 
        is a substantial connection between the property and a drug 
        trafficking offense.
            ``(3) Circumstances.--The circumstances described in this 
        paragraph are that--
                    ``(A) the property at issue is currency in excess 
                of $10,000 that was, at the time of seizure, being 
                transported through an airport, on a highway, or at a 
                port-of-entry, and--
                            ``(i) the property was packaged or 
                        concealed in a highly unusual manner;
                            ``(ii) the person transporting the property 
                        (or any portion thereof) provided false 
                        information to any law enforcement officer or 
                        inspector who lawfully stopped the person for 
                        investigative purposes or for purposes of a 
                        United States border inspection;
                            ``(iii) the property was found in close 
                        proximity to a measurable quantity of any 
                        controlled substance; or
                            ``(iv) the property was the subject of a 
                        positive alert by a properly trained dog;
                    ``(B) the property at issue was acquired during a 
                period of time when the person who acquired the 
                property was engaged in a drug trafficking offense or 
                within a reasonable time after such period, and there 
                is no likely source for such property other than that 
                offense;
                    ``(C)(i) the property at issue was, or was intended 
                to be, transported, transmitted, or transferred to or 
                from a major drug-transit country, a major illicit drug 
                producing country, or a major money laundering country, 
                as determined pursuant to section 481(e) of 490(h) of 
                the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2291(e) 
                and 2291j(h)), as applicable; and
                    ``(ii) the transaction giving rise to the 
                forfeiture--
                            ``(I) occurred in part in a foreign country 
                        whose bank secrecy laws render the United 
                        States unable to obtain records relating to the 
                        transaction by judicial process, treaty, or 
                        executive agreement; or
                            ``(II) was conducted by, to, or through a 
                        shell corporation that was not engaged in any 
                        legitimate business activity in the United 
                        States; or
                    ``(D) any person involved in the transaction giving 
                rise to the forfeiture action--
                            ``(i) has been convicted in any Federal, 
                        State, or foreign jurisdiction of a drug 
                        trafficking offense or a felony involving money 
                        laundering; or
                            ``(ii) is a fugitive from prosecution for 
                        any offense described in clause (i).
            ``(4) Other presumptions.--The establishment of the 
        presumption in this subsection shall not preclude the 
        development of other judicially created presumptions, or the 
        establishment of probable cause based on criteria other than 
        those set forth in this subsection.''.
    (b) Money Laundering Forfeitures.--Section 981 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(k) Rebuttable Presumption.--In any action with respect to the 
forfeiture of property described in subsection (a)(1)(A), there is a 
rebuttable presumption that the property is the proceeds of an offense 
involving the felonious manufacture, importation, receiving, 
concealment, buying, selling, or otherwise dealing in a controlled 
substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act), 
and thus constitutes the proceeds of specified unlawful activity (as 
defined in section 1956(c)), if any circumstance set forth in 
subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D) section 511(k)(3) of the Controlled 
Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 881(k)(3)) is present.''.
                                 <all>