Henry and Minh Cheng

Henry and Minh Cheng began their small wholesale jewelry business almost 30 years ago. They specialize in Italian gold and diamond jewelry, and they service many jewelry retailers around the country.

In April 2024, one retail jeweler located in Virginia sent them a cash payment (totaling $42,825) for a bulk order of gold jewelry. The retailer mailed the cash through FedEx to Henry and Minh in California. But the parcel was seized by an Indianapolis police officer at the FedEx hub. The officer’s dog alerted to the parcel, and the officer opened the package. He found only the cash payment. The county prosecutor then brought a civil-forfeiture case on behalf of the state of Indiana to keep the cash.

Following the prosecutor’s policy to use certain boilerplate allegations, the forfeiture complaint simply alleged that the cash was proceeds of “a violation of a criminal statute.” But the cash is not proceeds of any crime at all. And the cash has no connection to Indiana other than the fact that FedEx chose to route the parcel through the Indianapolis hub on its way from Virginia to California. Neither the parcel’s sender nor its intended recipient chose to connect themselves to Indiana. Nor has Indiana alleged otherwise.

Henry and Minh have teamed up with the Institute for Justice to challenge the unlawful forfeiture policies they’ve fallen victim to. It is unconstitutional for Indiana to keep money it seizes without any connection to an Indiana crime and without adequately notifying the money’s owner about how the money is allegedly linked to an Indiana crime.