This is a great suggestion for all you road warrior AP's. The cost is less than $100 and the benefit is much easier pass through TSA with lots of cash!!!Originally Posted by Bigdaddy
I have two words for you: "TSA Pre-check" (maybe more than two words)
You won't have to hold cash above head like - "bust me I'm an idiot". Just keep it in your cargo shorts and walk right through...
+1 to Bigdaddy for bring this one to the table!!
Luck is nothing more than probability taken personally!
1 The FBI, unlike TSA and most state and local law enforcement, actually does have jurisdiction to investigate federal financial crimes. So, their questioning you is not entirely inappropriate, as it would be for, say, a beat cop.
2. I'm not giving you legal advice. But if it were me, I would have given very general information to the FBI. This would include things like "I am a professional gambler, that is why I am carrying cash." After that, I would respectfully state that your attorney has advised you not to answer questions from law enforcement when they are not present. Something like:
"Officer, I understand that you are doing an investigation, and I have tried to provide some basic information so that you can determine that I have a lawful purpose for my actions. My attorney has advised me not to answer questions from law enforcement officers when he is not present, because I am not a legal expert. I am not familiar with all of the legal issues that you may be investigating, and I don't want to mis-speak, because I have the utmost respect for the law and the job that you are doing. My attorney is in a much better position to answer any of your questions, here is his phone number.
The Cash Cow.
If the FBI asks you questions, answer them, unless they go way too far or ask you about your chain of brothels. Kicking a hornet's nest doesn't usually work out well. Later, write a letter to your congressman if it'll make you feel better.
"I don't think outside the box; I think of what I can do with the box." - Henri Matisse
I understand the sentiment here. Don't start problems with law enforcement. And it is good advice.
But I have to take issue with one part. A person without good legal training can accidentally get themselves in trouble by saying something they don't mean. For example, if you said something like "well, it's not my money, it belongs to my investors," that could easily get it confiscated on all kinds of criminal theories (not necessarily valid ones, but they could take the money).
You can also get in trouble if they hear you incorrectly.
The Cash Cow.
Understood. In my mind, there exist three groups of people that enter law enforcement. People that want a reasonably good paying job without much education, high school bullies that want a job that allows them to continue bullying people, and people that actually think they are doing good – and may be doing so. As an alien studying the human condition; my opinion is that you should take on a demeanor that would satisfy all types. My point is that you want to exit the situation with a minimum of wasted time and no actual loss. Screw your pride. Pride with strangers has no value, unless the stakes are monumental and effective for others outside your current predicament. Gendarme are the ones with the pride problem.
Now, when dealing with a casino cashier, that’s a different story. I’d still be polite. But, not obsequious. If asked a question I don’t want to answer – “You don’t need to know that.” You have to go by feel. Just don’t let your own pride get in the way of their pride.
"I don't think outside the box; I think of what I can do with the box." - Henri Matisse
One thing I learned recently -- if "they" don't know the whole picture, and since you're being investigated or questioned - they probably don't.....then it's not gonna help you to give them more information than they already know. The more you say, the more they can twist your words or misconstrue what you've said and the more likely you are to make a mistake and say something you shouldn't have said. IMO, at least.
"Everyone wants to be rich, but nobody wants to work for it." -Ryan Howard [The Office]
This is also why you should never lie. Lying to an FBI agent is not only illegal -- it's stupid if you've done nothing wrong. They are trained to look for contradictions. But, lying in general is a mistake. Someone will eventually catch you in a contradiction.
Rick Blaine gives more info on passing through airports in Blackjack Blueprint.
"I don't think outside the box; I think of what I can do with the box." - Henri Matisse
If you decide not to feel the pressure, you're not being pushed around. I mention this in my book:
I talk about this a few times in the book -- the gains of dealing with authority with aplomb. Life is what it is. Sometimes it's better to look at it with humor. Step outside of yourself in such a situation. Don't feel anything. Just deal with exiting the situation with the best possible result.I was a great deal younger and longer of hair when the hijackings to Cuba first forced airlines to search passengers and use metal detectors. My hair was halfway down my back. (A Caesars pit boss once mistook me for Jimmy Page. If I could have faked a British accent, I would have been given a suite to trash.) Despite my long hair, I was always waved through airport lines without a search, while some businessmen would be patted down and have their briefcases opened. I delighted in businessmen that would complain, “Why are you searching me and not the hippie?”
There was a reason. In the ’60s, because of my hair, I had been stopped and questioned over 100 times by the police and often searched for simply walking down the street. I was used to it, and the sight of guards searching people meant nothing to me. People not used to this would look nervous. Security guards cannot search everyone, so they are trained to look for signs of nervousness: lack of eye contact, sweaty palms and upper lip, tense muscles, strained voice, jerky motions, clenched jaw, excessive blinking, grinding teeth, slight muscle spasms, flushed skin. It is very difficult to control your body’s reaction to stress. The only sure-fire way is not to feel stress in the first place.
Last edited by Norm; 12-17-2016 at 06:13 PM.
"I don't think outside the box; I think of what I can do with the box." - Henri Matisse
1. Yes to all of the above. My initial response to reading your thread was "Ohhhhh you're fucked".
2. No, the only way you'll get that evidence is with a court order, so contact your lawyer if you really want it that badly.
3. You're very much under a lot of crosshairs and scrutiny and will probably need to contact your lawyer.
This is not another day in the life of any-stakes AP, most APs will have accounted for this long before it happened. You made a mistake, and a bad one, and it sounds like your arrogance caught up with you, especially in conversation with TSA in the departing city who notified the FBI in your arriving city, who nabbed you the second you landed because they already had a visual from the departing city's surveillance as well as their database.
Very important, incredibly important, especially since you mentioned "poker", which ties in the Casino, the number 1 area of money laundering in all of the world, save for perhaps the stock market.
Even something as simple as the route in which you took to drive to a traffic stop. (More on this later)
Solid advice about being general and deferring to your attorney, kindly.
Probably wouldn't go this route if you were planning on keeping your money and not being detained.
110% this, if you have a sore on your ass, tell them about it, but in a way that wouldn't suggest you're holding a package up there. The FBI you don't want to mess with, and if you aren't prepared to answer them, you're likely going to have further contact with them, after they've already contacted every person you've ever came in contact with, put you under surveillance, and the likes.
This is really important to understand.
I was recently stopped on a holiday and had my car searched. The reason given to me for why the trooper asked for permission (later) was because of the route I told him I had traveled through the area. The guy legitimately google mapped it in his car while running my drivers license. I would then be asked for permission to search the car, to which I obliged. After he and his partner who showed up a minute later tore through my car and found nothing, I was allowed to ask a few questions, and I wasn't exactly "nice" about it, and after talking to his superiors, I certainly understand quite a bit more about the situation now than I did then. Specifically, Thanksgiving, simply due to the number of people on the road, is one of the biggest "transportation" days in a few unscrupulous industries, and most are directed to make interdiction stops for certain "interesting" things, specifically "interesting" travel routes that wouldn't normally go through areas.
My issue was I didn't tell the guy how much money I had on me for fear of civil forfeiture, so I left out that I had gone that "interesting route" because I was stopping by a casino. This ultimately got me searched. And I mean that in the nicest sense, because I had no option. If I hadn't given permission, I'd have been removed from my vehicle and detained if I had refused, as I was told from his superior. I made about 38 errors on this stop, and it ultimately lead to my interdiction stop. Being TOO honest was one of them. Telling him I had been in Biloxi, New Orleans, and Dallas, and driving at 2am, and that I was visibly tired, were not good either.
In the case of the OP, the combination of 65k, travel, and casino to the FBI sounds a lot like "Money Laundering". Especially when it doesn't go through pre-screen TSA, and you give TSA any grief about it.
What most people don't seem to understand is that Casinos are a huge target for money laundering nationwide, its so easy to do a caveman can do it, and do it without getting caught. That's the exact reason the FBI brought up money laundering to the OP, because he had already mentioned either to TSA at the departure or to them at arrival that he had played "poker" which is why they'll ask him if anybody can verify it, because they will, its their job to investigate and verify this stuff. Chances are, they asked OP exactly which casino or casinos, and they've already called and given your identity to them, asking for some kind of verification. The IRS is probably on the other line to see if they can come up with any reason you'd have 65k in your hands (specifically reported winnings past or present).
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks