Originally: US Immigration Seizes $92,843 From Nigerian Woman

This is an article from thisdayonline.com: http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=78320

A 44-year-old Nigerian woman Iyobosa Odiase was disposessed of her hard earned $92,843 for failing to declare it at an airport.

Odiase, a registered nurse in Ft. Worth, was sentenced to three years probation, but ordered to forfeit the amount in cash that she failed to declare after landing at Detroit Metro Airport last August enroute from Nigeria to Texas.
This action of the court triggered reactions from commentators and bloggers who mostly condemned the court's pronouncement.

"Stealing her money for not declaring it when someone can carry any amount. Sounds like the government has a good scam going, as usual." said a blogger goes by the pseudonymn JEK.

Another who did not agree with this replied: "Good Good Good I'm glad to hear it! It's about time those people carrying most likely illegal money from some wrong doing gets her Nigerian titty in a ringer! Plus she's illegal herself. Fool"

Besides losing the money - estate proceeds that she was bringing back to distribute to relatives in the United States the married mother of four never bothered to become a US citizen despite living here as a permanent resident since 1989. As a result, authorities said, she also may face deportation proceedings.

"She's paying a very severe price for a lack of judgment at the airport," her lawyer, Sanford Plotkin of Detroit, said after sentencing Monday before US District Judge George Steeh.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I didnt know US immigration can be this heartless. Have they started stealing? Because she didn't declare it doesn't mean they should take her hard earned cash! Please share your thoughts.

for some reason it quite hard to reply to this

First the judgement is too harsh!

_{on the other hand, in 2007 why do nigerians people (never heard any other country carry cash).
there are banks in nigeria, there are banks in usa,
why cant she do the 'normal thing' and follow the rules.
its obviously safer to transfer funds via banks than carry them physically}

I don't see what's so evil about "failing to declare money at the airport" that justifies
this harsh treatment. I'm sure there are many other Nigerians who are guilty of the
same "crime" but haven't been caught. She's just the scapegoat. Too bad for her.

NB: I changed the title to reflect the fact that 92,843 dollars equals 11.8-12 million naira.

i personally think such shdnt be hppening to someone who's been part of the system since 1989,
she is more aware than i am(as i stay in Nigeria)
and shd know more than carryin physical cash,
i really pity her

it's really unfortunate
and funny enough when i saw the caption on the papers,
i tot she was another victim of fraud,
and now they are talking about deportation, oyinbo!!!
so so sad,

Actually, no excuse for this lady who had been lived in the US for 18 years as registered Nurse and mother of 4 children in Fort Worth, Texas to know better about not to carry any large amount of cash at the airport. For US/Foreign custom inspection in the airport(without declaration), they will suspect for possible illegal drugs selling making money carrying large cash to the airport.

Also maybe she fails reporting to the IRS (Internal Revenue Service, US tax return) how much she make money both her employment and investment on saving account. It leads to tax fraud that will cause her deportation.

Follow the US/Foreign Transportation (bus, taxi, plane, vehicle, rail/subway) policy, IRS policy and US/Foreign immigrant law about declare carrying large cash to the airport or bank. (All bank rules if more than $3,000 in the bank on daily basis something unusual other than business bank account, bank must report to the FBI/CIA for possible illegal money laundering).

I agree with @Dis Guy using external or outbounding bank-to-bank wire transfer between Nigeria bank and US bank to withdraw cash is more safer and better than carrying them physically.

aah aah 11 MILLION NAIRA

That is too much

[list]
[li]Fining her I understand[/li]
[/list]
[list]
[li]Impounding the money pending further investigation i understand[/li][/list]
[list]
[li]Sentencing to 1 month in prison or community service i understand[/li]
[/list]

But seizing the whole amount that the poor lady has worked for, that is too much.
I guess bush needs more money to fund the IRAQ WAR

Failing to declare valuables over $100 (you pay duty for over $100) and cash over $10,000 is an offense and penalties for concealing declarable items can be very severe, as we can see. When you are caught you are subject to the US courts which we all know can be very vindictive and bias.

In hindsight, am sure she would have wished she had declared it, its as simple as filling out a form and duty is NOT paid on cash not matter the amount. The twist here is filling out the form requires you be 100% honest and accurate with your response to the questions failure to do this is perjury-- another offense which if found guilty, a 3 yr probation will not be sufficient.

Its unfortunate she lost the money but one needs to follow the rules especially when you are a foreigner.

she wasn't illegal. she's a permanent resident and has been since 1989. its not by force to naturalize and become an american citizen. . they want to now deport her for no reason.

but i dont get why she carried the money in cash. she must have been out o her friggin mind. when i travel with a lot less, im nervous as heck. i keep looking around me thinking people are trailing me.

in these days of terrorism, US is suspicious of anyone carry large sum of money. they deal with even their own here for carrying large sum, as they suspect them to be working with terrorists. they have warnings all over, she should have wired her money.

being a citizen doesn't matter. they can always strip one of it if one break their law. No place to lay in Oyinbo land. hopefully she will be alright.

uspry1, you are right.

Sorry!

She knew what she was up for so she deserved the treatment.

The law is very clear and for those not up to speed on the law, it is clearly stated on the customs form that s handed out in the aircraft just before landing. " If you have cash above $10,000, u need to declare otherwise if it is discovered from a random check, then that money would be forfieted to the government" Declaring does not mean the money would be taken from you. Its just a routine procedure. Nigeria has a similar law, which I think requires you to declare anything $5,000 and above. So lets learn from Ms Odiase's experience and always be aware,

Its time people start reading the story properly before shouting "Oyibo this and Oyibo that"

"but ordered to forfeit the amount in cash that she failed to declare after landing at Detroit Metro Airport last August enroute from Nigeria to Texas.".

The story clearly stated that she arrived in Detroit Metro Airport from NIGERIA!.The nurse actually left Nigeria for Texas with $92,000.She wasn't taking the money back home,the money left Nigeria for the US. How many nurses or doctors in Nigeria have that kind of money to take to texas or any other place?I think she was laundering the money for a Nigerian big man.

I think she was laundering the money for a Nigerian big man.

On the basis of what evidence? If she was laundering money, then she should be charged for that crime.

I agree with jidody, though, that she made a bad judgment call and paid dearly for it. She has no excuses, really.

She was given a three year suspended sentence (probation),if it was her first offense then she is unlikely to go to jail.She would probably have got her money back if she could prove the source of it.Western Nations actually implement their laws unlike Nigeria,the big question is how did she leave the shores of Nigeria with so much cash?I thought Nigerian security agents are supposed to stop all these stuff.Carring large amount of cash is what criminals do because it moves from hand to hand leaving to traces at least in developed countries

Yea, it's very unlikely she was transporting her own money out of naija, but that no be de point. The points are:

1. Naija people sometimes don't care for rules and regulation, do u know how long it takes an average naija to unlearn jumping lines in America?

2. No be our Minister of justice wey just rolled up to the justice dept' in D.C "to say hie to his American counterpart", only to be told that he could'nt see Roberto Gonzalez, because no prior appointment and for non-approval from the states dept.

3. If u have a friend wey just come from naija, watch and see how difficult it is for him to read and follow directions.

4. If ur mailing cash, as my bro used to do, be ready to be called into a post office one of these days; to see enlarged radiographic pictures of the money, ur writings, etc. If ur a smart ass, and deny, then they'll show u zero mercy.
Carrying larger than required amt. no be our only problems, mailing them in an ordinary envelope is another. They sabi-o.

5.The lady can still get her money back, minus attorney fees if she is legit.

A good lesson for everybody!!

Ignorance of the law is not an excuse, Having lived in the US for that long and not knowing about money laundering is very bad, The regulation is very straight forward and simple.

She was given a three year suspended sentence (probation),if it was her first offense then she is unlikely to go to jail.She would probably have got her money back if she could prove the source of it.Western Nations actually implement their laws unlike Nigeria,the big question is how did she leave the shores of Nigeria with so much cash?I thought Nigerian security agents are supposed to stop all these stuff.Carring large amount of cash is what criminals do because it moves from hand to hand leaving to traces at least in developed countries

Mr Mayor is right, there is something suspicious about it.
it wasn't that long ago that Chris Uba had to forfeit 150,000 dollars for doing the same thing.and that was in all our papers. unless she and all of her friends/family/acquanitances  do not read papers, i doubt if she could have been unaware of the possible consequence of her actions.

Most of the time, when a person is caught, it is because he/she has been getting away with doing the wrong thing and gotten careless.

Let me add that bringing dollar into the US carries x10 more scrutiny than leaving with it. If u de carry de money to naija, na naija police and customs u go worry mostly about. Bringing money into the US means that one can shake the economy sometimes using fake currency.

@oyb
well said!!

Segesexy:

Ignorance of the law is not an excuse, Having lived in the US for that long and not knowing about money laundering is very bad, The regulation is very straight forward and simple.

Thanks jare. I love to see Nigerians defend the indefensible,it just proves that despite all our claim of holiness we still find excuses why a Nigerian should not be punished.For an educated woman who had lived for 18 years in the US to claim ignorance is a big joke and for anyone to believe her is worse.

Last year,Wayne Rooney's girlfriend Colleen was detained at Manchester Airport for failing to declare that she brought back so many clothes from her trip to New York without paying VAT on them,and thats just bringing back to many clothes!,same thing happened to Carol Thatcher when she failed to declare that she had jewelery worth more £10,000 in her bag.

whoa,
omo meen,2(tu) bad.
where wuld she start 4rm, 1989 was wen i left primary school o!!!haa,maan they ought not to take d issue dat far!!!!
its cruel.

damn

simple: Dont go America.

Take your money to Switzerland

she knew exactly what she was doing and the law can not be changed because of her

I know a couple of guys here in Europe with similar problems, one was having half a million euros and he lost all in Amsterdam airport for being a Nigerian, another one in Madrid airport lost over 50,000 euros for the same reason and the story continues. All were illegal money.

But what baffles me is that this woman took off from Nigeria with such amount of money _*suspicious*

If she was coming from America with such amount we could have said it was her hard earned money taking into consideration that she has lived there for almost 2 decades, unless she sold some properties here in Nigeria

she should have carried the money to france

This story is somewhat bizarre.
Usually when I travel to naija,I go with some of my hard earned money,do a lot of "father Christmas" and return to the US with nothing but a bag of garri,ukazi and onugbu.

How did this woman go to naija and return with thousands and thousands of dollars?
Which politician sent her?
She ought to confess whose courier she is meanwhile,she should be in prison and eat dry bread and learn that the law must not be messed it.

_{she's lucky they don't serve watery beans .}

When I first read the story I felt very sad because it said this hard working nurse had lost her hard earned money.
Just today my brother was complaining about Nigerian journalists and the sort of foolish things they write,some seem not to have completed secondary school.

Please could some one try to find out how this woman earned this amount in Nigeria while she lives in the US.
So we know we are not sympathising with a drug dealer or some other illegal business person.
One of the king(queen)pins of the Texas medicare fraud saga was a female nurse from my state.

Mrmayor made the first and best observation and now am glad people are becoming more logical. How the hell did she get that amount of money to take out of Nigeria. She deserve what she got, the money laundering fool. They should seize her house if she has any. Am sick and tired of these thieves. Tired.

It's strange to carry that kind of cash from Nigeria to U.S. Do they print dollars in NIgeria these days? You never now what Nigerians can do these days. Are those cash really U.S. dollars or fake dollars. A lot of businesses here in the U.S. can't tell the difference between real and fake dollars without the ink pen they use and mark on it. When I worked at a retail store, I never marked the dollars to see if they were fake. That's why most of the time, you will see a pen mark on the $20, $50, $100 bills.

These days the government can do what ever they want, invade any country, sell their natural resources[oil], kidnap and torture people[term them illegals], stole money from travelers and term them[nigerians, terrorists, criminals, drug dealers], if you are okay with what the government are doing to minorities, you need to wake up and ask questions.

If the government can do illegal things, any one can do it too. The only thing wrong that Nigerian did was to get caught.

If you disagree, go figure.

I am amused at the kind of responses to this story apparently a lof of you cant be bothered to read carefully enough simple the woman made from a real estate transaction in Nigeria obvioulsy there are tons of houses that can be sold for that amount of money the biggest tragedy for her at this point is that she most likely will be deported after this, true its not by force to become a US citizen but its safer just in case if she was a US citizen there would not be any possiblitly of deportation for this one offence but because she isnt a one she will/might be deportated after serving her 3years probabtion except the law changes before then

she should have declared the money , 
and i would be scared to carry that much money on me,  she should have gotten the money to her family another way, 

why would u chance that much money ? she better talk God o.

i hope she doesnt get deported ,  but silly her for having the chance to be a citizen and didnt go for it

she should have declared the money.$92k!!!!!!!  that's too much to carry around.Sounds fishy!

I'm obviously in the wrong country and very wrong profession.$92k, $92k , $92k , $92k.casssssh.olopa o!

Take sentiments out for this and see it for what it really is, she broke the law.
When you fill out the customs forms on getting to the US, it states clearly there that if you have cash or monetary instruments over $10,000, it has to be declared. People tend not to understand this. There is no law against carrying funds into or out of the US, only law is that anything over $10,000 has to be declared.
When this lady filled out her form, she marked "NO" on the part of the form asking if you're carrying more than $10000 US. Right there and then, she broke the law.

Its just like the part of the form that asks if you have any food, people always tick NO. But if you're searched and the food is found, it is immediately impounded and you could be fined - HEAVILY.

@ MSY exactly but ppl thinks its ok not to, then when they get caught they try to blame customs and start bitchin like they didnt know the rules

She marked "NO" even though she had $92.000 on her. The reason she marked "NO" was she wouldn't have been able to explain how she got the money. She should be jailed for life Oloshi