11th Circuit Court of Appeals Decision Regarding “Act of Production” Doctrine Has Implication for Bank Secrecy Act and Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) Cases
On February 23, 2012, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an order of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida holding in contempt the target of a grand jury (“John Doe) who had asserted his Fifth Amendment privilege after receiving a grand jury subpoena.
The relevant facts are as follows. On April 7, 2011, John Doe was served with a subpoena duces tecum requiring him to appear before a Northern District of Florida grand jury and produce the unencrypted contents located on the hard drives of his laptop computers and five external hard drives. Doe informed the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida that, when he appeared before the grand jury, he would invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and refuse to comply with the subpoena. Because the Government considered Does compliance with the subpoena necessary to the public interest, the Attorney General, exercising his authority under 18 U.S.C. § 6003, authorized the U.S. Attorney to apply to the district court, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 6002 and 6003, for an order that would grant Doe immunity and require him to respond to the subpoena.
18 U.S.C. section 6002 can be found here. 18 U.S.C. section 6003 can be found here.
On April 19, 2011, the U.S. Attorney and Doe appeared before the district court. The U.S. Attorney requested that the court grant Doe immunity limited to “the use [of Does] act of production of the unencrypted contents” of the hard drives. Thus, Does immunity would not extend to the Governments derivative use of contents of the drives as evidence against him in a criminal prosecution. The court accepted the U.S. Attorneys position regarding the scope of the immunity to give Doe and granted the requested order. The order “convey[ed] immunity for the act of production of the unencrypted drives, but [did] not convey immunity regarding the United States [derivative] use” of the decrypted contents of the drives.
After the hearing adjourned, Doe appeared before the grand jury and refused to decrypt the hard drives. The U.S. Attorney immediately moved the district court for an order requiring Doe to show cause why Doe should not be held in civil contempt. The court issued the requested order, requiring Doe to show cause for his refusal to decrypt the hard drives. In response, Doe explained that he invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination because the Governments use of the decrypted contents of the hard drives would constitute derivative use of his immunized testimony which was not protected by the district courts grant of immunity. An alternative reason Doe gave as to why the court should not hold him in contempt was his inability to decrypt the drives. The court rejected Does alternative explanations, adjudged him in contempt of court, and ordered him incarcerated.
The 11th Circuit held that Does decryption and production of the hard drives contents would trigger Fifth Amendment protection because it would be testimonial, and that such protection would extend to the Governments use of the drives contents. According to the 11th Circuit, the district court therefore erred in two respects. First, it erred in concluding that Does act of decryption and production would not constitute testimony. Second, in granting Doe immunity, it erred in limiting his immunity under 18 U.S.C. §§ 6002 and 6003 to the Governments use of his act of decryption and production, but allowing the Government derivative use of the evidence such act disclosed.
This ruling is significant to those individuals who are currently under IRS and/or U.S. Department of Justice Investigation for failure to comply with the Bank Secrecy Acts requirement that U.S. Taxpayers who have foreign bank accounts with more than $10,000.00 must file Form TD 90.22-1, commonly referred to as an FBAR. A copy of an FBAR can be found here.
The 11th Circuits decision appears to support Taxpayers position that a grand jury subpoena requiring them to identify (and produce bank statements of) foreign bank accounts in which they have signatory authority over or a financial interest in, is in violation of the 5th Amendment. As the 11th Circuit put it: “What is at issue is whether the act of production may have some testimonial quality sufficient to trigger Fifth Amendment protection when the production explicitly or implicitly conveys some statement of fact.” Slip op. at 13. “An act of production can be testimonial when that act conveys some explicit or implicit statement of fact that certain materials exist, are in the subpoenaed individuals possession or control, or are authentic.” Slip op. at 20.
A full copy of the decision can be found here.
In respect to FBAR cases, the act of production of the foreign bank account statements conveys an explicit statement that the taxpayer has a financial interest in, or signatory authority over, an undisclosed foreign bank account; the bank statements are within the taxpayers possession or control; and that the bank statements (and the information contained therein) is authentic. This case present a potential arrow in the quiver of taxpayers that are currently (or may be soon to be) litigating against the government. However, a timely challenge to a grand jury subpoena is crucial, as a failure to timely assert the 5th Amendment may result in waiving this valuable constitutional right.
The attorneys at Fuerst Ittleman, PL have experience contesting grand jury subpoenas issued to taxpayers for their foreign bank account information. Senior Tax Associate, Joseph A. DiRuzzo, III, is currently counsel of record in one case in Florida where the government has sought foreign bank records of taxpayers through the use of a grand jury subpoena. You can contact an attorney by calling us at 305.350.5690 or by email at contact@fidjlaw.com.