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The Government Wants Money from Your Underwear

Orally, Victoria Faren said she was flying from Detroit Metropolitan Airport to the Philippines with just $200 in cash. On a form, she said $1,200, a government court filing says. In various wallets in her carry-on, according to the document, she had $8,000. “This is all the money,” she said. But the government says it found $4,000 sewn into the bag, and $977 in sealed envelopes. Then, it says, she admitted to having $3,000 in her blouse. And then came the $2,000 sewn into her bra strap. A pat-down led officers to $5,000 in the back of her girdle — and about $16,000 in the front, the document says. The document is a forfeiture complaint: the federal government is trying to take the $40,977 it says Faren was trying to smuggle out of the country. It’s about a third of the money for which the newly retired 78-year-old sold her house. According to the complaint, Faren said she carried the money instead of wiring it “because she thought it was safer.” (AC/Detroit News) ...It wasn’t safer from the people whose job it is to keep us safe.