Oregon U.S. Attorney's Office Collects $9,015,581.57 in Civil and Criminal Actions for U.S. Taxpayers in Fiscal Year 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. - Acting U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams announced today that the District of Oregon collected $8,495,950.20 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2015. This includes work that Oregon conducted with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect $2,401,688.23 in cases pursued jointly with these offices.  

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 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 work done by the Asset Recovery and Money Laundering Division of the Oregon U.S. Attorney’s Office is critically important to the mission of the Department of Justice,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Billy Williams.  “It handles thousands of cases annually, and through persistent investigations uncovers leads to hidden assets, successfully garnishes wages, and works out payment plans with cooperative civil and criminal debtors.  This dedication results in the collection of millions of dollars for crime victims and protects scarce taxpayer resources each year.”

One of the larger recoveries in the District of Oregon last year was in United States v. Rachel Lee, a “sweetheart swindle” case in which a family of swindlers executed a complex, decade-long $15.5 million fraud and money laundering scheme against a vulnerable timber heir.  After gaining his confidence (and access to his financial accounts), the defendants callously spent the victim’s assets on a luxury lifestyle.  Over $1.9 million was recovered for the victim during the last fiscal year, and rigorous recovery efforts in the case continue. 

Another large recovery came in United States v. Schrader, a case in which the defendant, a senior vice president at his company, submitted over $1.4 million in fraudulent expense reports to his accounting department.  To date, over $701,000 has been recovered for the victim, largely from the sale of rental properties the defendant owned.  This recovery came despite the defendant’s attempts to thwart the government’s ability to sell and distribute certain property proceeds to his victim.  The day after defendant’s sentencing, his attorneys contacted prosecutors to inform them that one of the properties was owned equally by the defendant and an associate, and to request that only fifty percent of the sale proceeds be applied to the defendant’s restitution obligation.  After confirming that the defendant’s associate was not listed in county property records, prosecutors refused the request, and later learned from the defendant’s associate that the defendant had approached him just days earlier to ask him to sign and backdate an “ownership contract.”  The U.S. Attorney’s Office was ultimately able to return the full proceeds from the sale of the property to the defendant’s victim.

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 United States 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 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, the U.S. Attorney’s office in the District of Oregon, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $3,012,629.00 in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2015.  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.  During FY 2015, $2,492,997.63 was returned to victims through the Asset Forfeiture Fund.