USAO collects $4.13M in civil, criminal actions in FY 2011

HAGATÑA, Guam-The U.S. Attorney Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands collected $4,130,707.13 in fiscal year 2011 related to criminal and civil actions, according to U.S. Attorney Alicia A.G. Limtiaco yesterday. Of this amount, $218,275.64 was collected in criminal actions and $3,912,431.49 was collected in civil actions. Additionally, the office collected $4,454 in criminal and civil forfeitures.

Nationwide, the U.S. Attorneys’ offices collected $6.5 billion in criminal and civil actions during the same fiscal year, surpassing $6 billion for the second consecutive year. A portion of this amount, $1.3 billion, was collected in shared cases in which one or more U.S. Attorneys’ offices or department litigating divisions were also involved. The $6.5 billion represents more than three times the appropriated budget of the combined 94 offices for fiscal year 2011.

“During this time of economic recovery, these collections are more important than ever,” said Limtiaco. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is dedicated to protecting the public and recovering funds for the federal treasury and for victims of federal crime. We will continue to hold accountable those who seek to profit from their illegal activities.”

This July, the District of Guam recovered an $836,000 civil penalty as part of a consent decree in the Mariana Acquisition Corp. case for violation of the Clean Air Act. Also in July, the District of Guam recovered a lump sum restitution payment of $46,166.46 from Andreas Fischer who was charged with giving a false statement to a federal government agency.

The U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, along with the department’s litigating divisions, are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed the U.S. and criminal debts owed federal crime victims. Statistics indicate that the total amount collected in criminal actions totaled $2.66 billion in restitution, criminal fines, and felony assessments. The law requires defendants to pay restitution to victims of certain federal crimes who have suffered a physical injury or financial loss. While restitution is paid directly to the victim, criminal fines and felony assessments are paid to the department’s Crime Victims’ Fund, which distributes the funds to state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.

The statistics also indicate that $3.83 billion was collected by the U.S. Attorneys’ offices in individually and jointly handled civil actions. The largest civil collections were from affirmative civil enforcement cases, in which the United States recovered government money lost to fraud or other misconduct or collected fines imposed on individuals and/or corporations for violations of federal health, safety, civil rights, or environmental laws. In addition, civil debts were collected on behalf of several federal agencies.

Additionally, the U.S. Attorneys’ offices, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $1.68 billion in asset forfeiture actions in fiscal year 2011. Forfeited assets are used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes.

The nationwide collection totals for the U.S. Attorneys’ offices for fiscal years 2010 and 2011 combined is $13.18 billion, which represents nearly a 52-percent increase over the fiscal years 2008 and 2009 combined total of $8.55 billion. (USAO)

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ON THE NET
US. Attorneys’ Annual Statistical Reports: http://www.justice.gov/usao/reading_room/foiamanuals.html