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Anything to declare? Well, no. Wait. I mean yes.

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by slappy4428, May 14, 2007.

  1. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    Feds seize $92,843 from Nigerian woman

    May 14, 2007

    BY DAVID ASHENFELTER

    FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

    A 44-year-old Nigerian woman from Texas received a painful lesson today in U.S. District Court in Detroit about federal currency law and citizenship.

    Iyobosa Odiase, a registered nurse in Ft. Worth, was sentenced to three years probation, but ordered to forfeit $92,843 in cash that she failed to declare after landing at Detroit Metro Airport last August enroute from Nigeria to Texas.

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    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 U.S. 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 U.S. District Judge George Steeh.

    Plotkin said the woman was frazzled because she was toting her children and worried about missing a connecting flight to Ft. Worth when customs officers asked her how much cash she was carrying. Not thinking, Plotkin said, she declared $20,000. Officers checked her luggage and purse and found $112,843.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Leonid Feller told Steeh that there was no evidence that the money came from illegal activities. Until now, Odiase had no criminal record. She pleaded guilty in February to making false statements to customs officers.

    Under federal law, travelers can carry as much money as they wish, but they must declare anything over $10,000. If they don't, they can wind up like Odiase, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. It said the currency law was amended after the 9/11 terrorist attacks to help federal officials do a better job of tracking money.

    Last week, a 35-year-old Ethiopian man was sentenced in federal court in Detroit to a year and a day in prison and ordered to forfeit $60,000 that he had failed to declare. The man's lawyer told the judge at sentencing that the man feared that he would get into trouble, have to pay federal taxes or be forced to pay a bribe had he told customs officers how much he was carrying.
     
  2. She was bringing me the money that the guy who sent me the e-mail said was mine!
    Dammit.
     
  3. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Good point, Fenian. I see it now. The Nigerians are trying to give us the money -- it just keeps getting confiscated at airports.
     
  4. alleyallen

    alleyallen Guest

    We need to update Snopes.com to correct what many to believe is an urban legend. You really can get money from these emailers.
     
  5. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    Do you have an e-mail address for me? I want to sign up now.
     
  6. hockeybeat

    hockeybeat Guest

    I've won both the British and Irish lotteries.
     
  7. alleyallen

    alleyallen Guest

    Pshaw! You only get paid in pounds sterling or Euros in those lotteries. You need American money!
     
  8. GB-Hack

    GB-Hack Active Member

    Yeah, but with pounds Sterling, think of the exchange rate!
     
  9. hockeybeat

    hockeybeat Guest

    Aye lads, it's fish and chips, shepard's pie and ale for the rest of me days...
     
  10. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    the nigerians actually sent me my money, but i lost it all in an e-mail scam.
     
  11. I hear "pounds Sterling," and I think, "Waldman."
     
  12. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    Nice...
     
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