United States v. Currency

16 F.3d 344 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. $20,193.39 U.S. CURRENCY; 14K Yellow Gold Rings 83 Un-Mounted 99.6 DWT; Numerous Other Pieces of Gold Jewelry & Precious Stones, Defendants, and Zareh Berberian, Claimant-Appellant. No. 92-56000. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Submitted Feb. 1, 1994. * Decided Feb. 9, 1994. Duncan T. Moran, Graysen & Kaplan, Los Angeles, California, for the claimant-appellant. Marc A. Feldman, Assistant United States Attorney, Los Angeles, California, for the plaintiff-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before: SNEED, THOMPSON, and RYMER, Circuit Judges. RYMER, Circuit Judge: 1 Claimant Zareh Berberian appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the United States in the government's civil forfeiture action pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Sec. 981 (a)(1)(A). The district court held that as an unsecured creditor, Berberian lacked standing to challenge the forfeiture of the defendant property. We have jurisdiction, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291 , and we affirm. 2 * In February 1989, a grand jury issued a 27-count indictment against Vahe Andonian, Nazareth…