Middle District of North Carolina U.S. Attorney’s Office Collects More Than $2.2 Million in Civil and Criminal Actions for U.S. Taxpayers in Fiscal Year 2018

Greensboro, NC - U.S. Attorney Matthew G.T. Martin announced today that the Middle District of North Carolina collected $2,235,279.81 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2018. Of this amount, $1,719,336.45 was collected in criminal actions and $515,943.36 was collected in civil actions.

Additionally, the Middle District of North Carolina worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $48,379.33 in cases pursued jointly by these offices. Of this amount, $1,250.21 was collected in criminal actions and $47,129.12 was collected in civil actions.

As a whole, the Justice Department collected nearly $15 billion in civil and criminal actions in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2018. The $14,839,821,650 in collections in FY 2018 represents nearly seven times the appropriated $2.13 billion ($2,136,750,000) budget for the 94 U.S. Attorneys’ offices.

“The men and women of the U.S. Attorneys’ offices across the country work diligently, day in and day out, to see that the citizens of our nation receive justice. The money that we are able to recover for victims and this country as a whole is a direct result of their hard work,” Director James A. Crowell, IV, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys.

“Our office is dedicated to protecting our citizens, safeguarding taxpayer resources, and recovering ill-gotten gains from fraud, drug offenses, and other crimes and returning those funds to victims and to the treasury,” said United States Attorney Martin. “In FY2018, our office honored its ongoing commitment to seek justice for victims of crime and hold to account those who seek profit from illegal activities.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of North Carolina, working with partner agencies and divisions, also collected $2,860,479.00 in asset forfeiture actions during FY 2018. Forfeited assets deposited into the Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Fund are used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes.

In May, the Middle District of North Carolina collected $55,267.16 from an account in the name of Kimberly Russell Hobson. Hobson, a former accounting and finance employee at High Point Regional Hospital, diverted almost $4 million of hospital funds to her own benefit over a period of approximately ten years. Hobson was sentenced to 102 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution in the full amount of the loss. In addition to the post-judgment collection from Hobson, investigators seized and forfeited cash, numerous vehicles, and other assets she purchased with proceeds of her schemes. All collections and monies recovered through forfeiture will be applied towards restitution in the case.

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 collected to federal and 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, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Internal Revenue Service, the Small Business Administration and the Department of Education.

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