U.S. Marshals refuse to return 200K to Minneapolis man
Since that November 2012 day, all charges have been dismissed against the store’s clerk, Mokrane Rahim, and a Hennepin County district judge ordered the return of his seized property. But a year later, U.S. marshals are still baby-sitting the biggest haul from the investigation: $200,020 in cash, discovered by police in Rahim’s New Brighton bedroom.
After the case failed in state court, U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger filed a lawsuit against the money so it could be forfeited under federal law.
“It is possible to have a civil case, a forfeiture action, without a criminal case attached to it,” said Tasha Terry, a spokeswoman for Luger. “As far as the specifics on this case, we are moving forward with this forfeiture.” Terry would not say anything else.
In fact, no one who knows about this case wants to say much about it.