Civil asset forfeiture used to confiscate Buddhist monk's donations in Colorado

A Colorado Springs Buddhist monk, Venerable Pho Kay, was recently returned $19 in seized funds after a four-month legal struggle. The ordeal began when Venerable Pho Kay, returning from a trip across the United States, was stopped by a highway patrol officer in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and subjected to a search and arrest. extensive interrogation by Homeland Security personnel.

Venerable Pho Kay's difficulties began after he provided mutual aid to a friend who was recovering from an injury suffered in a fall. Venerable Pho Khai made the decision to drive the man to a friend's house in Sugarland, Texas.

The monk explained his decision: “I had known him for 10 years. I brought him over from his home in Oklahoma and he stayed until November. » He added: “Then I took him to his family. » (Colorado Springs Independent)

As a thank you, the family members gave the monk US$2 as a gift, which he added to other temple funds he was carrying with him at the time.

On his return trip to Colorado Springs, Venerable Pho Kay stopped along the way to visit his friend and Dharma brother Ivan Mayerhofer in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He stayed in Ann Arbor for two days before starting the 1-mile drive home.

It was during this stage of his journey that the monk was stopped by the traffic police in an unmarked vehicle. During the arrest, the officer searched the car that Venerable Pho Kay was driving and asked him if he had any money, drugs or weapons in the car. Venerable Pho Kay told the officer he had “several thousand” dollars in the car. The agent counted the funds, noting a total of US$19, then impounded the monk's rental car and took him to the Homeland Security office in Sioux Falls.

“I felt like trash. I felt like a criminal,” said Venerable Pho Khai when asked to describe his feelings about the experience.Colorado Springs Independent)

At the Homeland Security office, the monk was interrogated for four hours, during which he was accused of lying and told that a dog had smelled drugs at the scene of his traffic stop.

Eventually, Venerable Pho Khai was released and allowed to return home; but not before temple money, a green gym bag, an iPhone, an iPad and a wallet were confiscated.

Following his request, the iPhone, iPad and wallet were returned to the monk, but he was forced to give up the temple money and the green sports bag. Thus began a four-month ordeal during which Venerable Pho Khai had to prove that the money legally belonged to him and was not the result of criminal activity. His first move was to secure legal representation through Sioux Falls attorney Ryan Kolbeck.

A letter to Kolbeck from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, dated December 21, 2023, cited laws relating to civil asset forfeiture – laws that the U.S. government says are “designed to deprive criminals of the proceeds of their crimes, to break the financial backbone of organized crime syndicates and drug cartels, and to recover assets that can be used to compensate victims and deter crime.”Colorado Springs Independent)

According to the Civil Asset Forfeiture Act, the seizure of temple money did not require a criminal conviction or, in the case of Venerable Pho Khai, even an arrest or indictment. His options, the letter explained, were to initiate legal proceedings to recover his property or to file a claim for seized property along with relevant documents within a specific time frame. He was also informed of the possibility of confiscating his property for the benefit of the police.

Venerable Pho Khai and Kolbert decided to file a lawsuit, costing the monk $2 in legal fees.

Venerable Pho Khai then had to obtain numerous character references from friends and fellow Dharma teachers to corroborate that he was a Buddhist monk and that it was normal for monks to carry the funds with them given when they return to their temples. He also showed documents attesting to his ordination as a Buddhist monk and his temple's nonprofit status.

Last April 4, Kolbeck received a letter from U.S. Customs and Border Protection informing him that a decision had been made to return Pho Khai's property seized on December 3 of the previous year. However, the venerable Pho Khai is still angry at the way he was treated by American law enforcement.

“I am a monk, but I am human,” he said. “Don’t think that someone who wears the robes of a monk is some kind of saint. I have feelings. I have emotions. » He continued: “If I had not followed the advice of the Buddha and all the teachers who taught me, I might not be here. » (Colorado Springs Independent)

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A Colorado Springs Buddhist monk faces the dark side of the law (Colorado Springs Independent)

Civil asset forfeiture used to confiscate Buddhist monk's donations in Colorado

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