U. S. ATTORNEYS' OFFICES CONTRIBUTED TO $6.68 BILLION
IN CIVIL & CRIMINAL COLLECTIONS IN FISCAL YEAR 2010

Recoveries Largest in History

RALEIGH - U.S. Attorney George E.B. Holding announced that financial collections by the Department of Justice in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 reached an all-time high due to the efforts of the U.S. Attorneys' offices nationwide.  The ninety-four U.S. Attorneys' offices nation-wide contributed to the collection of $6.68 billion during the government's fiscal year.  This amount is the most successful collection year by the U.S. Attorneys' offices.

According to statistics from the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina contributed to the collection of $10,844,755.62 in FY 2010.  Of this amount, $7,072,188.59 was collected in criminal actions and $3,772,567.03 was collected in civil actions.  A portion of this amount was collected in shared cases in which one or more U.S. Attorney's offices or Department litigating divisions were also involved.  Additionally, the office also collected $3,428,660 in criminal and civil forfeitures.

"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, stated U.S. Attorney George E.B. Holding.  We will continue to hold accountable those who seek to profit from their illegal activities."

The U.S. Attorneys' offices are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the United States and criminal debts owed to federal crime victims.  Statistics from the Department of Justice indicate that the total amount collected in criminal actions totaled $2.84 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.

Additionally, the U.S. Attorneys' offices contributed to the collection of $1.8 billion in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2010.  Forfeited assets are deposited into either the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund or the Department of Treasury Forfeiture Fund and are used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes.

The statistics also indicate that $3.84 billion was collected in 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, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Internal Revenue Service, and Small Business Administration.

The nationwide collection totals for FY 2010 represent nearly a 30% increase in criminal collections and 57% increase in civil collections over FY 2009.  In FY 2009, the U.S. Attorneys' offices contributed to the collection of more than $4.6 billion.  Of the amount collected, $2.23 billion was collected criminally and $2.44 billion was collected civilly.  The significant increase in collections was due to various large criminal restitution cases as well as large health care fraud cases.

For further information, the United States Attorneys Annual Statistical Reports through FY 2009 can be found on the internet at http://www.justice.gov.

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