With reference to this thread: Thieves steal, er, I mean, TSA seizes $75,000 in cash from Richmond passenger.
Why was the person travelling with such a large amount of cash in the first place? While it's only recently come to light that police in the US are in the habit of seizing cash, robbery has been a problem for as long as people have been travelling. When I travel I'm concerned about losing my wallet, which often has a decent amount of cash in it, but nowhere near $1,000, let alone $75,000.
Yes, I know some of the more secure ways cost a bit of money. I don't know how much it costs to make a bank draft (or cashier's cheque) in the US; here in Canada my credit union will do one for $6.50, or 0.009% of $75,000. It's much less conspicuous than a bag full of banknotes, and the police might have a harder time getting their hands on the cash represented by the draft should they decide to seize it. And, as far as I know, it is possible to have the draft made out to yourself, if you don't want to name a third party on it.
Doing a wire transfer is another possibility, but they might be more expensive.
One reason I can think of for a person to travel with a lot of cash is to purchase a rare and expensive item. The seller probably wants really good assurance the funds are there to pay for the item before the purchaser walks away with it, and cash is probably the best option. He may not want a bank draft because it's possible to counterfeit them. Counterfeiting 750 $100 bills is more work and probably higher risk on the buyer's part.
Another reason for not wanting to carry a draft would be converting it into cash at the other end of the journey, if the seller was insisting on a cash only transaction. I'm pretty sure a bank would think twice about some Joe with a home address in another state just walking in and requesting to exchange a $75,000 draft for cash.
Why was the person travelling with such a large amount of cash in the first place? While it's only recently come to light that police in the US are in the habit of seizing cash, robbery has been a problem for as long as people have been travelling. When I travel I'm concerned about losing my wallet, which often has a decent amount of cash in it, but nowhere near $1,000, let alone $75,000.
Yes, I know some of the more secure ways cost a bit of money. I don't know how much it costs to make a bank draft (or cashier's cheque) in the US; here in Canada my credit union will do one for $6.50, or 0.009% of $75,000. It's much less conspicuous than a bag full of banknotes, and the police might have a harder time getting their hands on the cash represented by the draft should they decide to seize it. And, as far as I know, it is possible to have the draft made out to yourself, if you don't want to name a third party on it.
Doing a wire transfer is another possibility, but they might be more expensive.
One reason I can think of for a person to travel with a lot of cash is to purchase a rare and expensive item. The seller probably wants really good assurance the funds are there to pay for the item before the purchaser walks away with it, and cash is probably the best option. He may not want a bank draft because it's possible to counterfeit them. Counterfeiting 750 $100 bills is more work and probably higher risk on the buyer's part.
Another reason for not wanting to carry a draft would be converting it into cash at the other end of the journey, if the seller was insisting on a cash only transaction. I'm pretty sure a bank would think twice about some Joe with a home address in another state just walking in and requesting to exchange a $75,000 draft for cash.
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