In 2021, federal agents raided US Private Vaults, a private vaulting and safe deposit box company located in Beverly Hills, CA, under the suspicion that the company’s owners were involved in money laundering.
US Private Vaults had over 800 customers at the time. The vast majority were law-abiding citizens who felt it necessary to store their valuables in a secure facility.
More than $86 million in cash and millions of dollars worth of jewelry and other valuable personal items were seized from the rightful owners, most of whom were innocent of any crimes or wrongdoing.
The government intends to keep the contents of more than 350 vaults, alleging that the money, precious metals, watches, and other goods contained in them were the result of unspecified criminal activity without any proof.
Many customers told authorities that they used the private vaulting company to keep their money and savings because they were suspicious of the US banking system and preferred to keep their savings in cash.
Some state-licensed marijuana dispensaries with limited access to banks due to federal regulations were renting some other storage units.
Benjamin Gluck, an attorney who represents some of the box owners, believes it’s a money grab by the government, insisting that “the constitutional and moral bankruptcy of the U.S. attorney’s office by showing that they’re willing to give immunity to an admitted criminal so long as he doesn’t interfere with their illegal scheme to seize money from innocent box holders.”