Nevada U.S. Attorney's Office Collects $26.8 Million For U.S. Taxpayers In 2016

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – United States Attorney Daniel G. Bogden announced today that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada collected approximately $26,800,380 in criminal, civil and asset forfeiture actions in Fiscal Year (FY) 2016. Of this amount, approximately $­­­­­11,542,574 was collected in criminal actions, approximately $9,507,631 was collected in civil actions, and $5,750,175 was collected in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2016.

The District of Nevada also worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $62,234 in cases pursued jointly with these offices.

“Our office is committed to enforcing the recovery of civil and criminal debts owed to the United States and to victims of federal crime. These collections are used to help crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes,” said U.S. Attorney Bogden. “Our work has produced a significant return on investment. Our FY 2016 collections substantially exceeded the total appropriated budget for our office for the year. Since FY 2013, our office has collected a total of approximately $78.2 million in criminal, civil and asset forfeiture actions. I commend our attorneys and especially our staff in the Financial Litigation Unit and Asset Forfeiture Section for their remarkable work in recovering many, many millions in funds for the federal treasury and for victims of federal crime.”

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch also announced today that the Justice Department collected nearly $15.4 billion in civil and criminal actions in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2016. The $15,380,130,434 in collections in FY 2016 represents more than five times the appropriated $2.93 billion budget for the 94 U.S. Attorneys’ offices and the main litigating divisions of the Justice Department combined in that same period.

“Every day, the men and women of the Department of Justice work tirelessly to enforce our laws, ensuring that taxpayer dollars are used properly and that the American people are protected from exploitation and abuse,” said Attorney General Lynch.  “Today’s announcement is a testament to that work, and it makes clear that our actions deliver a significant return on public investment.  I want to thank the prosecutors and trial attorneys who made this year's collections possible, and I want to emphasize that the department remains committed to the well-being of our people and our nation.”

Below is a summary of a case in which the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada collected a significant amount of money during FY 2016.

In June 2016, Renown Health, a non-profit corporation which operates Renown Regional Medical Center and Renown South Meadows Medical Center in Reno, paid $5.9 million to the Department of Justice to resolve civil allegations of health care fraud to the Medicare system. The civil lawsuit alleged that Renown submitted false claims to the Medicare program for inpatient hospital services from June 1, 2006, through June 30, 2014.

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. 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.

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.

###