She saved thousands to open a medical clinic in Nigeria. U.S. Customs took all of it at the airport.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

I'm guessing there's a better way to transfer $41,000 than to carry it in cash.

Retweeted by David Fahrenthold: https://twitter.com/Fahrenthold

She saved thousands to open a medical clinic in Nigeria. U.S. Customs took all of it at the airport.

Link to tweet

Morning Mix

She saved thousands to open a medical clinic in Nigeria. U.S. Customs took all of it at the airport.

By Meagan Flynn May 9 at 5:20 AM

[e-mail]

Anthonia Nwaorie spent years saving up thousands of dollars to open a medical clinic in Nigeria, where she was born. Finally, last October, she walked down a jet bridge at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport to board the plane to get there.

The 59-year-old registered nurse had more than $37,000 in her carry-on bag and $4,000 in her purse. It was all cash, stowed in separate envelopes, some of it earmarked to help ill or aging family members. In her checked luggage she packed medical supplies and over-the-counter medication, which she planned to use to provide free basic care and checkups to anyone who needed it.

But she wouldn’t make it there. Just as she was about to board the flight to Nigeria, agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped her.
....

The questioning threw her off guard. She explained she had legally earned the money and she was alone. Nwaorie, who lives in Katy, Tex., became a U.S. citizen in 1994. She showed her passport, thinking perhaps they were questioning her legal status. The agents took her to a room to search her and her luggage anyway. ... Then they seized all $41,377 dollars.

Meagan Flynn is a reporter on The Washington Post's Morning Mix team. She was previously a reporter at the Houston Chronicle and the Houston Press. Follow @Meagan_Flynn

[Nay]

1. You know why customs took it? Because NOBODY does this. Nobody. It's insane

to carry that sort of cash, and not just because it will be seized -- it could just as easily have been stolen, lost as baggage, etc. I have no idea how this lady has lived here for 20 years but has yet to figure out how to put money in a bank and transfer it to wherever she wants it to go. Nigeria has banks, the internet, phones, everything needed to safely transfer her money. She could have gotten to Nigeria, opened a bank account at a trusted bank there, and transferred money from her US account to her Nigerian account with the tap of a key.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. I agree. I have a hard time carrying $100 in cash. I use plastic for everything.

There's no way I'd have that amount of cash on me. Ever.

Thanks for writing.

[Nay]

3. I have to add this, too -- when she got to Nigeria, was she just going to walk around

with suitcases of money??? Really? She would be robbed and killed within a week as soon as people figured out she had lots of cash.

Was she going to open a bank account when she got there and deposit the cash?? Then why not use electronic transfer?

Was she going to start her clinic and just dole out suitcase cash for supplies as she needed them?? Again, how to get robbed within the week. And never mind that her total lack of business sense and lack of business knowledge would probably make the clinic a disorganized mess.

Her actions make NO SENSE at all. That's why she was stopped.

[jberryhill]

4. Well, yes it is legal to carry that amount of cash

But, no, you can't do that if you don't declare it. I know this is on the tick-box form for entering the country, and I seem to recall it on the list of questions required to issue the ticket (I'll have to double check that).

There's no problem carrying the money, but if you have $10,000 or more and are traveling internationally, you have to fill out the form declaring it.

[Nay]

5. That is as I recall it. But we're not talking about whether it was legal or not -- we're

talking about whether it was sensible or not.

[procon]

6. Her story either portrays her as a simple minded fool, or a suspicious character.

I don't know which is true, but no charges were ever filed and she has now filed a class action suit against the U.S. Customs and Border Protection for their capricious civil asset forfeiture policy. They have amassed millions this way, with no oversight and few regulations, and they need to be reined in. If she prevails, hopefully she will have learned from her experience and look into using banks, or an accounting service, a money manager or an attorney to safeguard her nest egg.

[The Mouth]

7. I really don't see why it is in ANY way the business of anyone

how much cash I carry, where, or why.

Utterly silly for some dingbat fascist to think to question me if I wanted to come into or leave the country with *ANY* amount. Intolerable. We are more at risk from idiots who practice or support Civil Asset Forfiture than we every could be from drug lords or terrorists.

[3Hotdogs]

8. It could be a preventative for tax evasion, money laundering.

That's why it is supposed to be declared.