Legal Question in Consumer Law in Pennsylvania

Re: cash carrying

You asked whether it is legal to carry $10,000 or more within the U.S.

I think a better question would be is it a smart thing to do?

To answer your question it is not per se illegal to carry any amount of cash within the U.S. But recent case law makes the practice highly questionable.

In a recent case a person was stopped police for a vehicle infraction and a large amount of cash was found in his vehicle. The government siezed the cash as "proceeds of illegal activities." The gentleman had what many people including some judges thought were plausible and reasonable explanations for carrying the cash. The owner of the cash claimed he had travelled by plane to purchase a truck but found the truck unavailable when he arrived. He decided to rent a car to return but not having a credit card ahd another person rent the car for him to drive. When pulled over the cash was stored in a cooler wrapped in tin foil. POlice siezed the money and in the case of siezure of assets the case is actually against the assets. The owner must file a claim and then prove that the assets are not the proceeds of illegal activities. In this case the last I heard was that the assets remained siezed after a few appeals.

But then you just go ahead and walk around with all the cash you want. You'll either make a cop or a thief very happy.

Regards,