United Development Funding (“UDF”) files this motion pursuant to Rule 41(g) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure seeking the return of all property seized during the execution of a search warrant at UDF’s Grapevine, Texas headquarters on February 18, 2016. The FBI’s unconstitutionally overbroad search resulted in the seizure of virtually every paper and electronic document at UDF’s headquarters. UDF now seeks the return of the seized materials, including its privileged documents, in accordance with the Fifth Circuit’s recent ruling in Harbor Healthcare System, L.P. v. United States, No. 19-20624, 2021 WL 3009732 (5th Cir. July 15, 2021). In Harbor Healthcare, the Fifth Circuit confirmed that a company—like UDF — “remains injured as long as the government retains its privileged documents” due to the “ongoing intrusion into its privacy and the continued possession [by DOJ] of attorney-client privileged documents.” That is precisely the unabated injury sustained here.
A complete list of filings on the 41(g) motion can be found on Pacer https://pacer.uscourts.gov/, a subscription based service providing Public Access to Court Electronic Records, using case #3:21-mc-284-B.
