FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                             
      AG
  TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1994                                   
  (202) 616-2777
                                                           TDD
  (202) 514-1888
  
  
        RECORD $3 BILLION COLLECTED FROM CRIMINAL AND CIVIL
  DEFENDANTS
  
  
       WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The government collected a record
  more than $3 billion from criminal and civil defendants
  during the 1994 fiscal year, the Department of Justice
  announced today.  
       The figure, nearly double the previous high, included
  almost $2 billion in cash and more than $1 billion in
  property transfers and other non-cash payments.
       Nearly $200 million will be returned to victims through
  the Crime Victims Fund, another record amount.  
      "This is money in hand, not judgments or promises of
  future payments," said Attorney General Janet Reno.  "It
  reflects the priority we have given debt collection."  
       In meetings and in memos the Attorney General had urged
  U.S. Attorneys, Justice Department litigating divisions, and
  the FBI and U.S. Marshals to step up collection efforts.  
       The figures do not include civil or criminal asset
  forfeitures, which total another $500 million.  On October
  11, the Civil Division reported a record-breaking $1.09
  billion in civil settlements and judgments in the last
  fiscal year.  The collections announced today include
  receipts from some of those civil cases.
       The 1994 collection was $3.11 billion, compared to $1.5
  billion in 1993 and $1.7 billion in 1992, the previous
  record high.  
       Cash collections totalled $1.83 billion, the first time
  that category exceeded $1 billion.  Comparable figures were
  $983 million in fiscal 1993 and $902 million in 1992.  
       Non-cash collections also exceeded $1 billion for the
  first time.  In fiscal 1994, they reached $1.283 billion. 
  Collections totalled $468 million in fiscal 1993 and $831
  million in 1992.
       Civil and criminal cash collections include fines,
  restitution, special assessments, court costs, loan
  recoveries, and False Claims Act recoveries.  Non-cash
  collections include property transfers, payments made
  directly to courts or agencies other than the Justice
  Department, and offsets in which the        government
  withheld money it otherwise would have paid. 
       Collecting money owed to the government is time well
  spent," said the Attorney General.  She noted that the Civil 
       Division recovered six-and-a-half times the cost of
  operating the Division last year.  U.S. Attorneys obtained
  more than two-and-a- half times the cost of operating their
  offices.
  
                                       
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  94-631