How the Government Can Seize “Clean” Money From Your Bank Account — Even If It Can’t Trace a Single Dollar

When federal investigators pursue fraud cases, they often encounter a familiar obstacle: the person responsible may be located overseas, beyond the easy reach of U.S. law enforcement. But surprisingly, that does not always stop the government from recovering money.

Under 18 U.S.C. § 984, the government has a powerful forfeiture tool that allows it to seize money from a bank account without proving that the exact dollars in the account came from criminal activity.

Here’s why that matters.

Normally, forfeiture law requires the government to trace specific funds connected to unlawful conduct. But Section 984 creates a major exception for fungible property — assets like cash or bank deposits that are interchangeable.

The statute allows a court to order forfeiture of funds in a bank account even when the original criminal proceeds have already been spent or moved, so long as identical funds remain in the same account.

The law states:

18 U.S.C. § 984(a):

• The government does not need to identify the exact property involved in the offense in order to pursue forfeiture.

• It is not a defense that the original tainted funds were removed and later replaced by other, identical funds.

• Any identical property found in the same account may be subject to seizure.

In plain English: if stolen or fraud-related money was deposited into an account, the government may be able to seize replacement funds sitting in that account later — even if those funds came from legitimate sources.

There is, however, an important limitation.

18 U.S.C. § 984(b) provides:

“No action pursuant to this section to forfeit property not traceable directly to the offense… may be commenced more than 1 year from the date of the offense.”

That means the government generally has a one-year window to pursue substitute funds that are no longer directly traceable to the underlying crime.

The takeaway is significant.

Under Section 984, federal authorities may pursue civil forfeiture against money in a bank account without tracing the exact dollars connected to fraud or other criminal conduct, allowing them to seize up to the amount of suspicious deposits made within the previous year.

For anyone dealing with fraud investigations, asset recovery, or federal forfeiture proceedings, this statute can dramatically expand the government’s reach — and create serious exposure for account holders who assume commingled funds are protected.

The bottom line: The government may not need to prove which money was stolen — only that stolen money was there.

If your assets have been frozen, seized, or targeted in a federal forfeiture investigation, acting quickly can make a critical difference. Isaac Safier Esq. at Law Office of Rebecca Feigelson focuses specifically on civil and criminal asset forfeiture matters and has extensive experience challenging government seizure actions and recovering improperly seized funds. Learn more about your rights and available defenses here: https://www.safierlegal.com/asset-forfeiture

The information contained in this website is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal advice on any matter. Some of the information provided may have changed since publication.