Press Release
District of Montana Collects $4.9 Million in Civil and Criminal Actions in FY 2015
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Montana
U.S. Attorney Michael W. Cotter announced today that the Montana United States Attorney’s Office collected $4.9 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 related to criminal and civil actions. In some cases, the U.S. Attorney’s Office worked in conjunction with litigating components of the U.S. Department of Justice. During the past five fiscal years, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana has collected $53.3 million in criminal and civil actions.
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced on December 3, 2015 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.”
“The collections program illustrates an important aspect of the USAO’s public service mandate that is often overlooked,” said U.S. Attorney Michael W. Cotter. “By recovering funds for victims and the federal treasury that are commensurate to our annual operating budget, we ensure that taxpayer dollars are maximized in our efforts to reduce crime, to compensate its victims, and to ensure that its perpetrators are unable to profit from their illegal activities.”
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 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.
Occasionally, assets from criminals are forfeited by court action. 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. Forfeited assets include currency or bank accounts, real property and cars purchased with illegal proceeds or used to facilitate crimes, guns held by convicted felons, and computers used for child pornography.
Those who regularly follow the news are aware of the function of the United States Attorney’s Office regarding federal criminal prosecution. Equally important, but perhaps not as well known, is the mission, function and success of the Montana USAO in recovering money for the benefit of victims of crime and the U.S. Treasury. This critical mission is accomplished in large part by the Financial Litigation Unit (FLU). The FLU collects criminal restitution, fines, and penalties ordered to be paid to federal agencies when federal programs are defrauded. In addition the FLU Unit helps federal prosecutors identify and forfeit assets that represent the proceeds of or that were used to facilitate federal crimes.
Updated December 3, 2015
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