U.S. Attorney’s Office Collects Over $1.9 Billion for Taxpayers in 2015

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA), announced today that EDVA, working together with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice, collected $1,941,532,490.62 in cases pursued jointly with these offices in Fiscal Year 2015. Of this amount, $1,803,813.635.20 was collected in criminal actions and $137,718,855.42 was collected in civil actions. 

In cases pursued exclusively by EDVA, the office collected $129,711,740.67 in criminal and civil actions for U.S. taxpayers in Fiscal Year 2015. Of the total amount, $120,332,441.23 was collected in criminal actions, and $9,379,299.34 was collected in civil actions.

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced today that the Justice Department collected $23.1 billion in civil and criminal actions in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2015.  The more than $23.1 billion in collections in FY 2015 represents more than seven and a half times the approximately $2.93 billion of the Justice Department’s combined appropriations for the 94 U.S. Attorneys’ offices and the main litigating divisions in that same period.  

"The Department of Justice is committed to upholding the rule of law, safeguarding taxpayer resources, and protecting the American people from exploitation and abuse,” said Attorney General Loretta Lynch.  “The collections we are announcing today demonstrate not only the strength of that commitment, but also the significant return on public investment that our actions deliver.  I want to thank the prosecutors and trial attorneys who made this achievement possible, and to reiterate our dedication to this ongoing work.”

“In all of our criminal and civil prosecutions, where appropriate, we strive to collect restitution for the victims of the crime, be that private citizens or the federal government” said U.S. Attorney Boente. “Asset forfeiture, fines, restitution and other means of collections are the Justice Department’s most effective and efficient tools in restoring money to victims of crime and their families.”

In Fiscal Year 2015, EDVA recovered $1.8 billion as part of the settlement in the Credit Suisse case.  As part of the plea agreement, Credit Suisse acknowledged that, for decades prior to and through 2009, it operated an illegal cross-border banking business that knowingly and willfully aided and assisted thousands of U.S. clients in opening and maintaining undeclared accounts and concealing their offshore assets and income from the IRS. Credit Suisse further agreed to cooperate in treaty requests for account information, provide detailed information as to other banks that transferred funds into secret accounts or that accepted funds when secret accounts were closed, and to close accounts of account holders who fail to come into compliance with U.S. reporting obligations.  Credit Suisse has also agreed to implement programs to ensure its compliance with U.S. laws, including its reporting obligations under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and relevant tax treaties, in all its current and future dealings with U.S. customers.  Credit Suisse pleaded guilty on May 19, 2014, and will pay a total of $2.6 billion for their crimes. 

The U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, along with the department’s litigating divisions, are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the U.S. 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 financial loss.  While restitution is paid 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 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, Small Business Administration and Department of Education.

Additionally, EDVA working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $14,233,390 in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2015.  Forfeited assets deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund are used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

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