1082 
mediary in the transfer of the funds 
into the interbank account. 
‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—The foreign finan-
cial institution may be considered the 
‘owner’ of the funds (and no other person 
shall qualify as the owner of such funds) 
only if— 
‘‘(I) the basis for the forfeiture 
action is wrongdoing committed by 
the foreign financial institution; or 
‘‘(II) the foreign financial institu-
tion establishes, by a preponderance 
of the evidence, that prior to the re-
straint, seizure, or arrest of the funds, 
the foreign financial institution had 
discharged all or part of its obligation 
to the prior owner of the funds, in 
which case the foreign financial insti-
tution shall be deemed the owner of 
the funds to the extent of such dis-
charged obligation. 
‘‘(C) FOREIGN FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.— 
The term ‘foreign financial institution’ includes 
a foreign bank as defined in section 1(b)(7) of 
the International Banking Act of 1978. 
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‘‘§ 2553. General rules for civil forfeiture proceedings 
‘‘(a) NOTICE; CLAIM; COMPLAINT.— 
‘‘(1)(A)(i) Except as provided in clauses (ii) 
through (v), in any nonjudicial civil forfeiture pro-
ceeding under a civil forfeiture statute, with respect 
to which the Government is required to send written 
notice to interested parties, such notice shall be sent 
in a manner to achieve proper notice as soon as 
practicable, and in no case more than 60 days after 
the date of the seizure. 
‘‘(ii) No notice is required if, before the 60-day 
period expires, the Government files a civil judicial 
forfeiture action against the property and provides 
notice of that action as required by law. 
‘‘(iii) If, before the 60-day period expires, the 
Government does not file a civil judicial forfeiture 
action, but does obtain a criminal indictment con-
taining an allegation that the property is subject to 
forfeiture, the Government shall either— 
‘‘(I) send notice within the 60 days and 
continue the nonjudicial civil forfeiture pro-
ceeding under this section; or 
‘‘(II) terminate the nonjudicial civil for-
feiture proceeding, and take the steps necessary 
to preserve its right to maintain custody of the 
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property as provided in the applicable criminal 
forfeiture statute. 
‘‘(iv) In a case in which the property is seized 
by a State or local law enforcement agency and 
turned over to a Federal law enforcement agency for 
the purpose of forfeiture under Federal law, notice 
shall be sent not more than 90 days after the date 
of seizure by the State or local law enforcement 
agency. 
‘‘(v) If the identity or interest of a party is not 
determined until after the seizure or turnover but is 
determined before a declaration of forfeiture is en-
tered, notice shall be sent to such interested party 
not later than 60 days after the determination by 
the Government of the identity of the party or the 
party’s interest. 
‘‘(B) A supervisory official in the headquarters 
office of the seizing agency may extend the period 
for sending notice under subparagraph (A) for a pe-
riod not to exceed 30 days (which period may not be 
further extended except by a court), if the official 
determines that the conditions in subparagraph (D) 
are present. 
‘‘(C) Upon motion by the Government, a court 
may extend the period for sending notice under sub-
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paragraph (A) for a period not to exceed 60 days, 
which period may be further extended by the court 
for 60-day periods, as necessary, if the court deter-
mines, based on a written certification of a super-
visory official in the headquarters office of the seiz-
ing agency, that the conditions in subparagraph (D) 
are present. 
‘‘(D) The period for sending notice under this 
paragraph may be extended only if there is reason 
to believe that notice may have an adverse result, in-
cluding— 
‘‘(i) endangering the life or physical safety 
of an individual; 
‘‘(ii) flight from prosecution; 
‘‘(iii) destruction of or tampering with evi-
dence; 
‘‘(iv) intimidation of potential witnesses; or 
‘‘(v) otherwise seriously jeopardizing an in-
vestigation or unduly delaying a trial. 
‘‘(E) Each of the Federal seizing agencies con-
ducting nonjudicial forfeitures under this section 
shall report periodically to the Committees on the 
Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the 
Senate the number of occasions when an extension 
of time is granted under subparagraph (B). 
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‘‘(F) If the Government does not send notice of 
a seizure of property in accordance with subpara-
graph (A) to the person from whom the property 
was seized, and no extension of time is granted, the 
Government shall return the property to that person 
without prejudice to the right of the Government to 
commence a forfeiture proceeding at a later time. 
The Government shall not be required to return con-
traband or other property that the person from 
whom the property was seized may not legally pos-
sess. 
‘‘(2)(A) Any person claiming property seized in 
a nonjudicial civil forfeiture proceeding under a civil 
forfeiture statute may file a claim with the appro-
priate official after the seizure. 
‘‘(B) A claim under subparagraph (A) may be 
filed not later than the deadline set forth in a per-
sonal notice letter (which deadline may be not earlier 
than 35 days after the date the letter is mailed), ex-
cept that if that letter is not received, then a claim 
may be filed not later than 30 days after the date 
of final publication of notice of seizure. 
‘‘(C) A claim shall— 
‘‘(i) identify the specific property being 
claimed; 
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‘‘(ii) state the claimant’s interest in such 
property; and 
‘‘(iii) be made under oath, subject to pen-
alty of perjury. 
‘‘(D) A claim need not be made in any par-
ticular form. Each Federal agency conducting non-
judicial forfeitures under this section shall make 
claim forms generally available on request, which 
forms shall be written in easily understandable lan-
guage. 
‘‘(E) Any person may make a claim under sub-
paragraph (A) without posting bond with respect to 
the property which is the subject of the claim. 
‘‘(3)(A) Not later than 90 days after a claim 
has been filed, the Government shall file a complaint 
for forfeiture in the manner set forth in the Supple-
mental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime 
Claims or return the property pending the filing of 
a complaint, except that a court in the district in 
which the complaint will be filed may extend the pe-
riod for filing a complaint for good cause shown or 
upon agreement of the parties. 
‘‘(B) If the Government does not— 
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‘‘(i) file a complaint for forfeiture or re-
turn the property, in accordance with subpara-
graph (A); or 
‘‘(ii) before the time for filing a complaint 
has expired— 
‘‘(I) obtain a criminal indictment con-
taining an allegation that the property is 
subject to forfeiture; and 
‘‘(II) take the steps necessary to pre-
serve its right to maintain custody of the 
property as provided in the applicable 
criminal forfeiture statute, 
the Government shall promptly release the property 
pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Attorney 
General, and may not take any further action to ef-
fect the civil forfeiture of such property in connec-
tion with the underlying offense. 
‘‘(C) In lieu of, or in addition to, filing a civil 
forfeiture complaint, the Government may include a 
forfeiture allegation in a criminal indictment. If 
criminal forfeiture is the only forfeiture proceeding 
commenced by the Government, the Government’s 
right to continued possession of the property shall be 
governed by the applicable criminal forfeiture stat-
ute. 
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‘‘(D) No complaint may be dismissed on the 
ground that the Government did not have adequate 
evidence at the time the complaint was filed to es-
tablish the forfeitability of the property. 
‘‘(4)(A) In any case in which the Government 
files in the appropriate United States district court 
a complaint for forfeiture of property, any person 
claiming an interest in the seized property may file 
a claim asserting such person’s interest in the prop-
erty in the manner set forth in the Supplemental 
Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims, 
except that such claim may be filed not later than 
30 days after the date of service of the Govern-
ment’s complaint or, as applicable, not later than 30 
days after the date of final publication of notice of 
the filing of the complaint. 
‘‘(B) A person asserting an interest in seized 
property, in accordance with subparagraph (A), shall 
file an answer to the Government’s complaint for 
forfeiture not later than 20 days after the date of 
the filing of the claim. 
‘‘(b) REPRESENTATION.— 
‘‘(1)(A) If a person with standing to contest the 
forfeiture of property in a judicial civil forfeiture 
proceeding under a civil forfeiture statute is finan-
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cially unable to obtain representation by counsel, 
and the person is represented by counsel appointed 
under section 3006A in connection with a related 
criminal case, the court may authorize counsel to 
represent that person with respect to the claim. 
‘‘(B) In determining whether to authorize coun-
sel to represent a person under subparagraph (A), 
the court shall take into account such factors as— 
‘‘(i) the person’s standing to contest the 
forfeiture; and 
‘‘(ii) whether the claim appears to be made 
in good faith. 
‘‘(2)(A) If a person with standing to contest the 
forfeiture of property in a judicial civil forfeiture 
proceeding under a civil forfeiture statute is finan-
cially unable to obtain representation by counsel, 
and the property subject to forfeiture is real prop-
erty that is being used by the person as a primary 
residence, the court, at the request of the person, 
shall insure that the person is represented by an at-
torney for the Legal Services Corporation with re-
spect to the claim. 
‘‘(B)(i) At appropriate times during a represen-
tation under subparagraph (A), the Legal Services 
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Corporation shall submit a statement of reasonable 
attorney fees and costs to the court. 
‘‘(ii) The court shall enter a judgment in favor 
of the Legal Services Corporation for reasonable at-
torney fees and costs submitted pursuant to clause 
(i) and treat such judgment as payable under section 
2465 of title 28, regardless of the outcome of the 
case. 
‘‘(3) The court shall set the compensation for 
representation under this subsection, which shall be 
equivalent to that provided for court-appointed rep-
resentation under section 3006A. 
‘‘(c) BURDEN
OF PROOF.—In a suit or action 
brought under any civil forfeiture statute for the civil for-
feiture of any property— 
‘‘(1) the burden of proof is on the Government 
to establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, 
that the property is subject to forfeiture; 
‘‘(2) the Government may use evidence gath-
ered after the filing of a complaint for forfeiture to 
establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, that 
property is subject to forfeiture; and 
‘‘(3) if the Government’s theory of forfeiture is 
that the property was used to commit or facilitate 
the commission of a criminal offense, or was in-
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volved in the commission of a criminal offense, the 
Government shall establish that there was a substan-
tial connection between the property and the offense. 
‘‘(d) INNOCENT OWNER DEFENSE.— 
‘‘(1) An innocent owner’s interest in property 
shall not be forfeited under any civil forfeiture stat-
ute. The claimant shall have the burden of proving 
that the claimant is an innocent owner by a prepon-
derance of the evidence. 
‘‘(2)(A) With respect to a property interest in 
existence at the time the illegal conduct giving rise 
to forfeiture took place, the term ‘innocent owner’ 
means an owner who— 
‘‘(i) did not know of the conduct giving 
rise to forfeiture; or 
‘‘(ii) upon learning of the conduct giving 
rise to the forfeiture, did all that reasonably 
could be expected under the circumstances to 
terminate such use of the property. 
‘‘(B)(i) For the purposes of this paragraph, 
ways in which a person may show that such person 
did all that reasonably could be expected may in-
clude demonstrating that such person, to the extent 
permitted by law— 
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‘‘(I) gave timely notice to an appropriate 
law enforcement agency of information that led 
the person to know the conduct giving rise to 
a forfeiture would occur or has occurred; and 
‘‘(II) in a timely fashion revoked or made 
a good faith attempt to revoke permission for 
those engaging in such conduct to use the prop-
erty or took reasonable actions in consultation 
with a law enforcement agency to discourage or 
prevent the illegal use of the property. 
‘‘(ii) A person is not required by this subpara-
graph to take steps that the person reasonably be-
lieves would be likely to subject any person (other 
than the person whose conduct gave rise to the for-
feiture) to physical danger. 
‘‘(3)(A) With respect to a property interest ac-
quired after the conduct giving rise to the forfeiture 
has taken place, the term ‘innocent owner’ means a 
person who, at the time that person acquired the in-
terest in the property— 
‘‘(i) was a bona fide purchaser or seller for 
value (including a purchaser or seller of goods 
or services for value); and 
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