[Video report
follows excerpts]

George Reby
was driving down Interstate 40, heading west through Putnam County,
when he was stopped for speeding.

A Monterey
police officer wanted to know if he was carrying any large amounts
of cash.

“I said,
‘Around $20,000,’” he recalled. “Then,
at the point, he said, ‘Do you mind if I search your vehicle?’
I said, ‘No, I don’t mind.’ I certainly didn’t
feel I was doing anything wrong. It was my money.”

ThatÂ’s
when Officer Larry Bates confiscated the cash based on his suspicion
that it was drug money.

Â…

Bates said
the amount of money and the way it was packed gave him reason
to be suspicious.

“The
safest place to put your money if itÂ’s legitimate is in a
bank account,” he explained. “He stated he had two.
I would put it in a bank account. It draws interest and itÂ’s
safer.”

“But
it’s not illegal to carry cash,” we noted.

“No,
it’s not illegal to carry cash,” Bates said. “Again,
itÂ’s what the cash is being used for to facilitate or what
it is being utilized for.”

NewsChannel
5 Investigates noted, “But you had no proof that money
was being used for drug trafficking, correct? No proof?”

“And
he couldn’t prove it was legitimate,” Bates insisted.

Â…

In fact,
Reby had proof on his computer. [The ebay evidence he showed
the officer was not sufficient]