Larson v. United States

Appellant Duane W. Larson (“Larson”) filed this action in the district court to recover interest on funds which the federal government had seized for purposes of civil forfeiture but which were ultimately-returned to him. The district court awarded to Larson the interest actually earned on his money while it was in the government’s hands. This, however, was a fairly minimal amount since for most of the time the government held it, the money was in a non-interest bearing account.

Larson argues on appeal that he should have received the “constructively-earned” interest on his money, i.e., that…