U.S. Attorney's Office Collects Over $2.8 Million in Civil and Criminal Actions for U.S. Taxpayers in Fiscal Year 2015

TULSA, Okla.—United States Attorney Danny C. Williams Sr. announced today that the Northern District of Oklahoma collected $2,836,307 in criminal and civil actions in fiscal year (FY) ending September 30, 2015. Of this amount, $1,260,991 was collected in criminal actions and $1,575,316 was collected in civil actions. Additionally, the Northern District of Oklahoma worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $500,599 in cases pursued jointly with these offices.

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced today that the Justice Department collected $23.1 billion in civil and criminal actions in FY 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 Northern District has yielded over $2.8 million in litigated matters and $1.9 million in asset forfeitures,” said U.S. Attorney Williams. “The district’s dedicated staff in the Financial Litigation Unit and Asset Forfeiture division are committed to protecting Northern District citizens, and delivering a valuable return to the taxpayer and to victims of federal crime.”

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.

Additionally, the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Northern District working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $1,908,702 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.

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