The exigent circumstances exception to the Fourth Amendment's requirement for warrants does not support seizing a defendant's property indefinitely while awaiting forfeiture proceedings, a federal appeals court has ruled.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, saying it was “troubled” that the government held William Cosme's property for two years, remanded the case for a lower court to determine whether there was probable cause to seize his assets in the first place in United States v. Cosme, 14-1625-cr.

Cosme was arrested in December 2012 on charges he stole $5.5 million from an international school in Korea. Agents seized three luxury cars from his driveway and, from one of the cars, a bag containing $634,894 in cash. They also sent letters to Scottrade and Sterling National Bank requesting a freeze on Cosme's accounts, saying the government had probable cause to believe the accounts contained proceeds of unlawful activity and were subject to civil forfeiture.