Pay your credit card bill and get investigated as a terrorist

flavio

flavio

Banned
Hopefully they tapped this guys phone and will soon be torturing him for info about the location of the WMDs....

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Walter Soehnge is a retired Texas schoolteacher who traveled north with his wife, Deana, saw summer change to fall in Rhode Island and decided this was a place to stay for a while.

So the Soehnges live in Scituate now and Walter sometimes has breakfast at the Gentleman Farmer in Scituate Village, where he has passed the test and become a regular despite an accent that is definitely not local.

And it was there, at his usual table last week, that he told me that he was "madder than a panther with kerosene on his tail."

He says things like that. Texas does leave its mark on a man.

What got him so upset might seem trivial to some people who have learned to accept small infringements on their freedom as just part of the way things are in this age of terror-fed paranoia. It's that "everything changed after 9/11" thing.

But not Walter.

"We're a product of the '60s," he said. "We believe government should be way away from us in that regard."

He was referring to the recent decision by him and his wife to be responsible, to do the kind of thing that just about anyone would say makes good, solid financial sense.

They paid down some debt. The balance on their JCPenney Platinum MasterCard had gotten to an unhealthy level. So they sent in a large payment, a check for $6,522.

And an alarm went off. A red flag went up. The Soehnges' behavior was found questionable.

And all they did was pay down their debt. They didn't call a suspected terrorist on their cell phone. They didn't try to sneak a machine gun through customs.

They just paid a hefty chunk of their credit card balance. And they learned how frighteningly wide the net of suspicion has been cast.

After sending in the check, they checked online to see if their account had been duly credited. They learned that the check had arrived, but the amount available for credit on their account hadn't changed.

So Deana Soehnge called the credit-card company. Then Walter called.

"When you mess with my money, I want to know why," he said.

They both learned the same astounding piece of information about the little things that can set the threat sensors to beeping and blinking.

They were told, as they moved up the managerial ladder at the call center, that the amount they had sent in was much larger than their normal monthly payment. And if the increase hits a certain percentage higher than that normal payment, Homeland Security has to be notified. And the money doesn't move until the threat alert is lifted.

Walter called television stations, the American Civil Liberties Union and me. And he went on the Internet to see what he could learn. He learned about changes in something called the Bank Privacy Act.

"The more I'm on, the scarier it gets," he said. "It's scary how easily someone in Homeland Security can get permission to spy."

Eventually, his and his wife's money was freed up. The Soehnges were apparently found not to be promoting global terrorism under the guise of paying a credit-card bill. They never did learn how a large credit card payment can pose a security threat.

But the experience has been a reminder that a small piece of privacy has been surrendered. Walter Soehnge, who says he holds solid, middle-of-the-road American beliefs, worries about rights being lost.

"If it can happen to me, it can happen to others," he said.
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You can also get investigated for that for drugs, too. Any cash, or cash equivalent, transaction over $5,000 is subject to investigation by either the treasury department, or the FBI. It can also be investigated by the USPS (that's right...the Post Office) if a money order is involved. This 'law' was passed in the Reagan administration. Sorry to burst your bubble. :lloyd:
 
What bubble are you talking about?

I thought the limit was 10k. The 5/10k limit used to require a bank to send a form to the feds who stored the info.

It didn't start a terrorist investigation.
 
unclehobart said:
Is this the RICO act were talking about or some other wolf in sheeps clothing altogether?
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Yep. Although some would like to say differently.
 
flavio said:
Oh, you're saying they notified the FBI then?
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Most likely, and the FBI sent there names further on to see if they're suspected terrorists. While I don't necessarily agree with the practice, I can see how it could happen. The story is quite sketchy on detail, and rife with emotion.
 
The question that really was asking about was "they notified the FBI then?".

Under the RICO Act they would have notified the FBI, Did they call the FBI?
 
flavio said:
The question that really was asking about was "they notified the FBI then?".

Under the RICO Act they would have notified the FBI, Did they call the FBI?
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The story doesn't say. That's why I said it was sketchy. They would, by law, be required to notify the FBI. That's why I said what I did. Once the FBI is done, they would refer it to DHS...as I showed in those two links.
 
What I think you're saying is that when the article said....

"They were told, as they moved up the managerial ladder at the call center, that the amount they had sent in was much larger than their normal monthly payment. And if the increase hits a certain percentage higher than that normal payment, Homeland Security has to be notified. And the money doesn't move until the threat alert is lifted."

...that what could have happened is that was reported to the FBI (which falls under the Homeland Security umbrella) as per the Rico Act which would flag for racketeering or corruption purposes. Possibly not reported directly to Homeland Security as a terrorism flag.

Doesn't seem probable from the article but it's certainly possible and a valid question. Guess more info is needed.
 
flavio said:
What I think you're saying is that when the article said....

"They were told, as they moved up the managerial ladder at the call center, that the amount they had sent in was much larger than their normal monthly payment. And if the increase hits a certain percentage higher than that normal payment, Homeland Security has to be notified. And the money doesn't move until the threat alert is lifted."

...that what could have happened is that was reported to the FBI (which falls under the Homeland Security umbrella) as per the Rico Act which would flag for racketeering or corruption purposes. Possibly not reported directly to Homeland Security as a terrorism flag.

Doesn't seem probable from the article but it's certainly possible and a valid question. Guess more info is needed.
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That's what I can agree with 100%. Somebody did a piss-poor job of writing, or a piss-poor job of editing. I kinda figured it would work like this...

FBI Agent 1: He's not on our watch list.
FBI Agent 2: Well...send it up to Homeland, and see if they want him for something...


I can see that happening because the RICO act also deals with murder, drugs, gang activity, and a slew of other crimes under which terrorism could fall. :shrug:
 
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