New York City Federal Criminal Forfeiture Lawyer
Federal forfeiture is one of the most aggressive tools in the government’s arsenal, and it operates on a timeline that catches people off guard. Before a conviction, after a conviction, or sometimes without any criminal charge at all, the government moves to strip away assets it claims are connected to alleged criminal activity. Cash, real estate, bank accounts, cryptocurrency wallets, vehicles, and business interests are all fair game. When federal agents come for what you own, the question is not just whether you can win the criminal case. The question is whether anything will be left by the time that fight is over. For anyone navigating this process in New York, working with a New York City federal criminal forfeiture lawyer who understands both the criminal and civil dimensions of these proceedings is not optional. It is the difference between keeping what is yours and watching it disappear into the federal government’s coffers.
Forfeiture law sits at an unusual intersection. It is punitive enough to feel like sentencing, but it operates through mechanisms that bypass many of the protections people associate with criminal prosecution. Civil forfeiture, in particular, does not require the government to prove a crime was committed. It requires the government to show a connection between the property and alleged criminal activity, and then the burden shifts. Property owners must affirmatively come forward to contest the action, file claims on a tight statutory deadline, post bonds in some circumstances, and then litigate against the full weight of federal resources. Miss a deadline by a day and the government may move for a default judgment. The assets are gone. Understanding this framework from the first moment federal agents appear or assets are frozen is what separates a recoverable situation from a permanent loss.
New York is one of the most active jurisdictions in the country for federal asset forfeiture. Cases originating in the Southern District of New York and the Eastern District of New York routinely involve sophisticated forfeiture allegations tied to white-collar fraud, narcotics distribution, public corruption, money laundering, and organized crime. The United States Attorney’s offices in both districts have dedicated units focused on asset recovery, and they pursue these actions with the same institutional intensity they bring to the underlying criminal prosecution.
Federal Forfeiture Proceedings: What the Government Is Actually Doing to Your Assets
There are three distinct forfeiture mechanisms federal prosecutors use, and each requires a different response strategy. Criminal forfeiture is incorporated directly into the criminal case. If a defendant is convicted, the court enters a forfeiture order as part of the sentence. The government typically files a bill of particulars identifying the assets subject to forfeiture, and the defendant has the right to challenge that order before it is finalized. Third parties who claim an interest in those assets, a spouse who co-owns a property, a business partner with a legitimate share, must intervene through an ancillary proceeding once the criminal forfeiture order is entered.
Civil forfeiture is a parallel action brought against the property itself. The case caption reads something like “United States v. $250,000 in U.S. Currency” because the government is technically suing the money. The claimant, the person who owns the property, must assert their interest and contest the forfeiture in a civil proceeding. This can happen simultaneously with a criminal case or entirely separate from one. Federal statute governs the timelines for filing verified claims, and they are unforgiving. Administrative forfeiture applies when the property is of a type and value that allows agencies like the DEA, FBI, or IRS to process the forfeiture internally without going to court, unless the owner challenges it. Once a challenge is filed, the agency must refer the matter to the United States Attorney’s office for judicial forfeiture proceedings.
Across all three mechanisms, the government typically secures assets first through restraining orders, seizure warrants, or lis pendens filings on real property, often before anyone outside of federal law enforcement knows an investigation is underway. By the time a target learns their accounts are frozen or their property is seized, the government has already built a factual record supporting the restraint. That record needs to be challenged, and quickly.
What Jason Goldman Brings to Federal Asset Forfeiture Defense
Federal forfeiture defense demands a lawyer who is comfortable at every stage of federal criminal litigation and who understands that forfeiture proceedings run on their own procedural track. Jason Goldman began his career as a Brooklyn prosecutor, building the kind of institutional knowledge of how federal and state prosecutors build cases that informs every aspect of his defense practice. Having tried more than 25 cases to verdict, he is not someone who treats the trial stage as a last resort. He is a litigator who prepares from day one to contest everything, including the government’s claim to his client’s assets.
The Law Offices of Jason Goldman has represented corporate executives in finance, real estate, and hospitality, as well as doctors, politicians, and high-profile individuals across a range of federal matters. Forfeiture allegations arise frequently in these practice areas, where the government targets business revenue, investment accounts, and real property alongside the underlying criminal charges. The firm’s approach to these cases reflects a core principle from its founding: controlling the narrative, controlling the outcome. That means moving early on asset restraints, contesting the factual predicate for seizure, identifying third-party interests that need protection, and forcing the government to justify every dollar it is trying to take. Cited in national media and described by the New York Post as “high-powered,” Mr. Goldman brings that same intensity to the forfeiture proceedings that often define how much, if anything, a client can rebuild after a federal prosecution concludes.
Categories of Federal Forfeiture Cases Handled in New York
- Drug Trafficking Forfeiture: Federal narcotics statutes authorize forfeiture of proceeds derived from drug sales and property used to facilitate distribution, including vehicles, residences, and phones. The SDNY and EDNY pursue these aggressively in cases involving everything from street-level distribution networks to sophisticated international supply chains.
- Money Laundering and Financial Crime Forfeiture: Cases involving bank fraud, wire fraud, and structuring often include forfeiture allegations targeting every dollar the government can trace through financial institution records, cryptocurrency exchanges, and wire transfers, even when some of those funds are commingled with legitimate income.
- White-Collar and Securities Fraud Forfeiture: Federal prosecutors in Manhattan regularly seek disgorgement of profits tied to insider trading, Ponzi schemes, and investment fraud, often through criminal forfeiture orders that attach to accounts, real estate holdings, and brokerage assets.
- Public Corruption Forfeiture: Bribery and kickback cases generate forfeiture orders targeting the proceeds of corrupt payments, which can include cash, property purchased with those funds, or business revenue traceable to contracts obtained through improper means.
- Cryptocurrency and Digital Asset Seizure: Federal agencies have developed substantial capacity to trace and seize cryptocurrency, and forfeiture actions targeting Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital assets require counsel familiar with both the technical tracing methods the government uses and the procedural mechanisms for contesting those seizures.
- Innocent Owner and Third-Party Interest Claims: Spouses, business partners, lenders, and co-owners who have a legitimate interest in seized property have the right to assert that interest in ancillary proceedings. These claims require moving on a defined statutory timeline and presenting evidence of the claimant’s lawful ownership independent of the alleged criminal activity.
- Excessive Forfeiture Constitutional Challenges: The Eighth Amendment places limits on forfeiture that is grossly disproportionate to the gravity of the offense. Challenging forfeiture on constitutional grounds is a distinct avenue of defense that is most effective when pursued by counsel who understands both the forfeiture statute and the developing case law governing proportionality.
What to Do the Moment You Learn Federal Assets Are at Risk
Federal asset forfeiture proceedings begin generating deadlines the moment property is seized or a restraining order is served. If property was seized administratively, you typically have a narrow window to file a claim with the seizing agency before the right to contest the forfeiture in court is waived. If you have received a notice of seizure from the DEA, FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, or Homeland Security Investigations, read every date on that notice carefully. Missing the claim deadline does not just complicate things. It can extinguish your legal interest in the property entirely.
Do not assume that because you have not been charged criminally, the forfeiture action will not proceed. Civil forfeiture operates on an independent track. The government can and does complete civil forfeiture proceedings against property even when the investigation never results in criminal charges. If a federal grand jury subpoena, a search warrant, or a formal notice of seizure has appeared in your life, retaining a federal criminal forfeiture attorney in New York City immediately is the right move. Gathering documentation of how you acquired the assets at issue, records of legitimate income sources, business records, tax returns, wire transfer confirmations, and property records, all of that becomes critical to the innocent owner defense and to the broader contested forfeiture litigation.
Cases involving federal forfeiture in New York are handled in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, located at 500 Pearl Street in Manhattan, or the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, located at 225 Cadman Plaza East in Brooklyn. Administrative forfeiture proceedings before they reach federal court are processed through the seizing agency, whether that is the DEA’s asset forfeiture division, the FBI, the IRS, or U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Each has its own procedures and its own internal deadlines before a matter gets referred to the U.S. Attorney’s office for judicial proceedings. Understanding which track you are on determines what needs to happen next.
Questions About Federal Criminal Forfeiture in New York
What is the difference between criminal forfeiture and civil forfeiture?
Criminal forfeiture is part of the criminal case itself. It can only happen if the defendant is convicted, and it is handled as part of sentencing. Civil forfeiture is a separate legal action brought against the property, not the person. The government can pursue civil forfeiture without ever charging anyone with a crime, which is one of the most contested aspects of modern forfeiture law.
Can the government freeze my accounts before I am convicted of anything?
Yes. Federal prosecutors can obtain pre-trial restraining orders that freeze assets alleged to be connected to criminal activity. These orders can be entered ex parte, meaning without notice to you, and they remain in effect while the case proceeds. Challenging a pre-trial restraint requires filing a motion with the court and demonstrating grounds for releasing the funds, which may include showing that the restrained assets are needed to pay for legal defense.
What is an “innocent owner” defense in a forfeiture case?
Federal law provides that a person who owned property at the time the alleged criminal activity occurred and who did not know of the conduct, or who upon learning of it took reasonable steps to stop it, may assert an innocent owner defense. This defense applies in civil forfeiture proceedings and requires the claimant to prove their innocent status by a preponderance of the evidence.
How does forfeiture affect a co-owner of seized property?
A co-owner with a legitimate interest in seized property can intervene in the forfeiture proceeding to assert that interest. This is done through an ancillary proceeding in criminal forfeiture or by filing a verified claim in a civil forfeiture action. The co-owner must show the nature and extent of their interest and that it is not subject to forfeiture under the applicable statute.
Is there a deadline to contest federal forfeiture?
Yes, and they are strict. In administrative forfeiture, claimants generally have 35 days from the date of the first written notice to file a claim with the seizing agency. Judicial civil forfeiture complaints carry their own deadlines set out in the summons. Missing these deadlines can result in a default judgment in favor of the government, which forfeits any further right to contest the action.
Can forfeiture orders be challenged after they are entered?
Post-conviction forfeiture orders can be challenged on direct appeal and, in some circumstances, through post-conviction proceedings. Third parties who were not part of the criminal case and who have a legitimate interest in forfeited property can bring their claims in the ancillary proceeding, which occurs after the initial forfeiture order but before the property is transferred to the government.
What happens to cryptocurrency that is seized by federal agents?
Federal agencies seize cryptocurrency by transferring it to government-controlled wallets, often through seizure warrants served on exchanges. The government then values the asset and includes it in the forfeiture proceeding. Contesting the seizure of digital assets requires addressing both the tracing methodology the government used to connect the cryptocurrency to alleged criminal activity and the procedural requirements for filing a claim.
Can the government take assets I received as a gift or inheritance if someone else committed a crime?
Forfeiture law can reach assets transferred to third parties in some circumstances, particularly if the transfer was made with intent to avoid forfeiture or if the third party did not pay fair market value. However, bona fide purchasers for value and others who received property without knowledge of the criminal connection may have grounds to assert a valid interest in ancillary proceedings.
Does hiring a lawyer in a forfeiture case help me avoid using restrained funds to pay for representation?
If assets subject to a restraining order are the only funds available to pay for legal representation, there are mechanisms to petition the court to release a portion of those funds for that purpose. Whether such a motion succeeds depends on the specific facts, the scope of the restraining order, and the court’s assessment of the legitimate need. This is an argument worth making early in the case, and it requires counsel who understands the procedural posture of federal asset restraint litigation.
How long does a contested federal civil forfeiture case take to resolve in the Southern or Eastern District of New York?
Contested civil forfeiture litigation in the SDNY and EDNY can take anywhere from several months to well over a year, depending on the complexity of the asset tracing issues, the number of claimants, whether the civil case is stayed pending a parallel criminal proceeding, and the court’s docket. Staying active in the case from the moment a claim is filed is critical to protecting the claimant’s position throughout that timeline.
Representing Federal Forfeiture Clients Across New York City and the Surrounding Region
The Law Offices of Jason Goldman represents clients facing federal asset forfeiture proceedings from every borough and neighborhood in New York City. That includes clients from Manhattan’s Financial District, Midtown, the Upper East Side, and Harlem, as well as individuals and businesses in Brooklyn neighborhoods such as DUMBO, Park Slope, Crown Heights, Bushwick, and Williamsburg. The firm serves clients from Queens, including Flushing, Forest Hills, Jamaica, and Long Island City, as well as those based in the Bronx and Staten Island. The firm also works with clients whose federal cases originate in Nassau County and Suffolk County on Long Island, Westchester County communities including White Plains, Yonkers, and New Rochelle, and clients in New Jersey whose cases fall within the firm’s federal district admissions. Given the global reach of federal forfeiture investigations originating in the SDNY and EDNY, the firm also regularly works with clients who are located outside New York but whose assets or business interests are subject to proceedings in the New York federal courts. Pro hac vice admission extends the firm’s reach nationally when circumstances require it.
New York City Federal Criminal Forfeiture Attorney – Contact Jason Goldman
Federal forfeiture moves fast, and the window to protect what you own closes quickly once the government acts. Jason Goldman is a New York City federal criminal forfeiture attorney who handles these cases from the moment assets are restrained through contested litigation in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and beyond. Whether the forfeiture is tied to an active criminal prosecution, a parallel civil action, or an administrative seizure still working its way through the agency process, the right time to engage counsel is now, not after a deadline passes. Contact The Law Offices of Jason Goldman to discuss your situation and what options remain available to you.
