U. S. Attorney’s Office Collects $4,613,846 Through Civil and Criminal Actions in FY 2013

            SALT LAKE CITY - U.S. Attorney David B. Barlow announced Thursday that the District of Utah collected $4,613,846 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 related to criminal and civil actions. Of this amount, $2,321,772 was collected in criminal actions and $2,292,074 was collected in civil actions. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the United States and restitution owed to federal crime victims.

            The District of Utah also worked with other U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $212,138,108 in civil cases pursued jointly with these offices.

            The U.S. Attorney’s Office, working with partner agencies, deposited an additional $3,277,685 in asset forfeiture funds into the Department of Justice’s Asset Forfeiture Fund, which is used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes. The office also paid $253,498 in forfeited funds to crime victims for restitution and shared $645,447 with local law enforcement agencies who participated in the prosecution of federal cases. Asset forfeiture is an effective deterrent to crime and is used to disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations that attempt to profit from their unlawful activity and to restore property to crime victims.

            “We take our responsibility to recover funds for the federal treasury and for victims of federal crime very seriously. We will also continue to hold accountable those who seek to profit from their illegal activities,” U.S. Attorney Barlow said today.

            Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Thursday that the Justice Department collected approximately $8.1 billion in civil and criminal actions in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2013. The more than $8 billion in collections in FY 2013 represents nearly three times the appropriated $2.76 billion budget for the 94 U.S. Attorney’s offices and its main litigating divisions.

            “The Department’s enforcement actions help to not only ensure justice is served, but also deliver a valuable return to the taxpayer,” said Attorney General Holder. “It is critical that Congress provide the resources necessary to match the Department’s mounting caseload. As these figures show, supporting our federal prosecutors is a sound investment.

            U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, along with Department of Justice litigating divisions, are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the United States and criminal debts owed to federal crime victims. The law requires defendants to pay restitution to victims of certain federal crimes who have suffered a physical injury or a 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 largest civil collections come from affirmative civil enforcements cases, in which the United States recovered government money lost to fraud, fire recovery, or other misconduct or collected fines imposed on individuals or corporations for violations of federal health, safety, civil rights or environmental laws. In addition, civil debts are collected on behalf of federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Internal Revenue Service, Small Business Administration, and Department of Education.