FBI and San Bernardino County sheriff illegally seized marijuana cash belonging to licensed dispensaries, lawsuit claimsPosted by MMP News AuthorOn February 1, 2022

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Federal agents and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department engaged in “highway robberies” after seizing more than a million dollars in cash from vehicles transporting funds from marijuana dispensaries to financial institutions during a series of traffic stops last year, a new lawsuit claims.

In the civil suit filed in federal district court, lawyers for Empyreal, a Pennsylvania-based company that transports money on behalf of institutions that include cannabis dispensaries, accuse the FBI and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department of scheming to illegally pull over company vehicles and seize money from its clients.

The lawsuit claims that Empyreal vehicles have been stopped by local law enforcement five times between Kansas and California since May 2021, twice resulting in the seizure of cash totaling more than a million dollars, which was then turned over to the FBI.

“These repeated, ongoing stops, searches, and seizures are costly to Empyreal and extremely disruptive to its business. Empyreal has been forced to suspend business operations in the largest county in the United States, San Bernardino County, and has stopped driving through Kansas,” the lawsuit says, adding the company has lost customers because of these incidents, and hasn’t rolled out new services in multiple states because of similar concerns.

“If these incidents continue to occur — and there is every indication they will — it will threaten Empyreal’s business model…

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Federal agents and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department engaged in “highway robberies” after seizing more than a million dollars in cash from vehicles transporting funds from marijuana dispensaries to financial institutions during a series of traffic stops last year, a new lawsuit claims.

In the civil suit filed in federal district court, lawyers for Empyreal, a Pennsylvania-based company that transports money on behalf of institutions that include cannabis dispensaries, accuse the FBI and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department of scheming to illegally pull over company vehicles and seize money from its clients.

The lawsuit claims that Empyreal vehicles have been stopped by local law enforcement five times between Kansas and California since May 2021, twice resulting in the seizure of cash totaling more than a million dollars, which was then turned over to the FBI.

“These repeated, ongoing stops, searches, and seizures are costly to Empyreal and extremely disruptive to its business. Empyreal has been forced to suspend business operations in the largest county in the United States, San Bernardino County, and has stopped driving through Kansas,” the lawsuit says, adding the company has lost customers because of these incidents, and hasn’t rolled out new services in multiple states because of similar concerns.

“If these incidents continue to occur — and there is every indication they will — it will threaten Empyreal’s business model…