Kentucky Small Business Sues After Federal Government Takes Nearly $1.4 Million Without Explanation During Two Different Incidents

MIAMI—Today, a Kentucky small business filed federal lawsuits against the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) after the two agencies took nearly $1.4 million from the company without explanation or criminal charges last fall. Global Coin Logistics CEO Steven Bailey and his attorneys from the Institute for Justice (IJ) argue these attempted forfeitures, and the lack of notice those agencies provided, violate his due process rights.  

• Miami lawsuit here
• San Diego lawsuit here

“The government cannot take and keep your money without ever telling you what you did wrong,” said IJ Attorney Keith Neely. “In America, you’re supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, but civil forfeiture flips that principle on its head by forcing people to prove their own innocence.”  

Global Coin Logistics is a wholesale currency exchange company with two main components. One is helping Americans exchange their U.S. dollars for exotic currencies that are hard to find at banks. The other is purchasing large amounts of U.S. dollars from currency exchange companies in Mexico, repatriating the currency to the United States, and selling the dollars to their customers: mostly ATM providers. When Global Coin brings dollars back from Mexico, its employees declare the money with officials on both sides of the border and file all necessary paperwork explaining the source and destination of the money. The company, which has made near-daily trips across the border for years, is tightly regulated by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and meticulously tracks every dollar it brings in to ensure there is no connection to criminal activity.  

For nearly a decade, Global Coin had no issues with law enforcement. Then, in autumn 2025, Global Coin employees had money taken from them without charges on two separate occasions.  

“We did everything right, followed all the necessary rules and laws, and we still had this money taken from us,” said Steven. “If this can happen to me and my business, this can happen to anybody. For example, someone flying with a few thousand dollars for a trip abroad or someone flying to a cash-heavy event like an auction.”   

The first occurred in September 2025, when a Global Coin employee arrived at San Diego International Airport with $320,000 worth of $20 bills for an ATM provider in Philadelphia. The money had already been processed and approved by both U.S. and Mexico customs officials. The employee was carrying paperwork proving the source and destination of the money, and showing that Global Coin was a FinCEN-registered business. But when he went through security, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) flagged the money for additional screening. TSA called the Port Police, who called the Department of Homeland Security, who called the DEA. They then called Steven, who offered to provide even more paperwork proving the legality of what his employee was doing.   

Instead of accepting Steven and his employee’s full and verifiable documentation for the currency, DEA agents took the money into a separate room, where they claimed a drug-sniffing dog alerted to the money. This is common with circulated currency, which often passes through dozens or even hundreds of hands during its life cycle. Then DEA agents seized the currency.  

The following month, another Global Coin employee was preparing to depart Miami carrying currency Global Coin had recently brought in from Mexico, declaring the money with both Mexican and American authorities in the process. As the plane taxied toward the runway, multiple vehicles blocked it on the tarmac. Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) held the pilot for hours. The pilot called Steven, who offered to walk the agents through the paperwork proving the legitimacy of the money and Global Coin as a business, but they refused to listen. 

Once again, instead of examining the paperwork, the agents seized $960,000 of U.S. dollars and 2 million Mexican pesos, which the government valued at $100,100. Nobody was arrested. No charges were ever filed. 

In both instances, Global Coin received forfeiture notices, explaining that the government was planning to permanently take the money. And in both instances, the notice did not specify what Global Coin allegedly did wrong and did not provide the business with an informed way to challenge the forfeitures.  

Both notices cited general federal forfeiture provisions that sweep in dozens or even hundreds of distinct criminal provisions. Neither notice said which crime Global Coin was suspected of violating or a single fact connecting the money to wrongdoing. The Miami lawsuit also argues that CBP’s notice violates the agency’s own regulations, which require it to identify the specific law it believes was violated and the specific acts behind that belief. 

“If the government wants to keep your money, it has to tell you what you did wrong, provide evidence and give you a real opportunity to prove your innocence,” said IJ Senior Attorney Robert Frommer. “What happened to Steven and Global Coin happens to countless innocent people and flips our justice system on its head.” 

 IJ is the nation’s leader in the fight against civil forfeiture, the legal process through which the government can take people’s property without charging them with a crime. Just last week, IJ filed a lawsuit on behalf of two Arizona money services businesses that had money seized by federal agents without ever being charged with a crime. After IJ sued the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) for seizing a woman’s life savings without charging her with any crime, the FBI returned her money. IJ is also representing a small jewelry business that had a package with cash in it seized by law enforcements at a FedEx hub in Indianapolis.