Civil Division
The Civil Division for the Northern District of Iowa represents the interests of the United States in a wide variety of defensive and affirmative civil lawsuits. It defends United States government agencies and personnel in various civil suits under the Bivens alleging a constitutional tort claims. The Division also represents the government in tort (personal injury) actions, employment discrimination cases, judicial appeals of administrative decisions denying applications for Social Security disability benefits, and foreclosure actions. The Division also protects the interests of federal agencies which are owed money in handling federal and state foreclosures and bankruptcies.
The Civil Division has an Affirmative Civil Enforcement (ACE) Unit, which pursues fraud cases on behalf of the United States; a Financial Litigation Unit (FLU), which is responsible for collecting debts owed to the United States; and an Asset Forfeiture Unit which recovers proceeds gained from illegal activity.
Affirmative Civil Enforcement (ACE) Unit
Affirmative Civil Enforcement (ACE) is a priority of the United States Attorney's Office and is a major factor in the amount of civil recoveries (which have been in the billions) since its inception in 1995.
The ACE Attorney pursues the civil aspect of cases in which there has been a false claim or statement made to the United States or where the public's health, welfare or safety has been compromised. ACE enhances the criminal statutes, ensuring that those who submit false claims to the government, or who otherwise improperly obtain federal funds, do not keep their ill-gotten gains. Most of the dollars recovered are returned to the defrauded agencies.
The ACE unit also deals with the civil aspects of violations of the various environmental statues. The ACE unit works with DOJ's environmental division and collect civil penalties and fines.
Publicity about ACE has helped deter future misconduct when criminal sanctions were not always appropriate. ACE settlements can be written to require corporate defendants to create internal controls, alter their corporate structure, or submit periodic reports to federal agencies. In some health care cases, physicians or pharmacists agree to surrender their licenses or improve their accounting practices.
Iowa's Northern District has no dollar thresholds for taking civil fraud cases. If you would like to report any fraud against the federal government, please call our office at (319) 363-6333.
Financial Litigation Unit (FLU)
The Financial Litigation Unit has the primary responsibility for collecting debts, fines, forfeitures, restitution awards and special assessments. Some of these debts include:
- Fines, special assessments, costs and penalties owed by criminal defendants
- Defaults on government loans, such as education and Small Business Administration
- Debts owed to the United States by debtors in bankruptcy
- Money owed to the United States as a result of judgments in civil fraud cases
- Interest, costs and surcharges, when appropriate
The FLU works closely with the Criminal, ACE and Asset Forfeiture Sections to accomplish its mission. They also cooperate with the Court Clerk's Office and the United States Probation Office to assist in its collection of debts owed to the federal government.
Asset Forfeiture Unit
The Asset Forfeiture Unit is responsible for the prosecution of all civil and criminal forfeiture cases. It is one of the most effective tools in dismantling criminal networks and attacking drug traffickers by taking away the very reason they exist - money. The Asset Forfeiture Attorney is a key member of the prosecution team and gets involved early in the investigation stage. By going after a criminal's ill-gotten gains with court-ordered forfeiture, the profits are taken out of crime.
Money taken in asset forfeiture cases is shared back with state and local investigators who participate in the criminal investigation. These law enforcement units are able to use the money to further other criminal investigations through the purchase of additional equipment, training and manpower that their normal budgets would not ordinarily allow. This unit has distributed several million dollars in forfeited money back to state and local law enforcement, providing additional resources that tax dollars could not provide. Asset Forfeiture also benefits the victims of crime by taking the seized assets and distributing them for the benefit of those who have been victimized.