U.S. Attorney’s Office Collects $3,419,913 In Civil And Criminal Actions For U.s. Taxpayers In Fiscal Year 2014

Indianapolis, IN – Acting U.S. Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced today that the Southern District of Indiana collected $3,419,913 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2014. Of this amount, $1,668,871 was collected in criminal actions and $1,751,041 was collected in civil actions.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that the Justice Department collected $24.7 billion in civil and criminal actions in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2014. The more than $24 billion in collections in FY 2014 represents nearly eight and a half times the appropriated $2.91 billion budget for the 94 U.S. Attorney’s offices and the main litigating divisions in that same period.

“Every day, the Justice Department’s federal prosecutors and trial attorneys work hard to protect our citizens, to safeguard precious taxpayer resources, and to provide a valuable return on investment to the American people,” said Attorney General Holder. “Their diligent efforts are enabling us to achieve justice and recoup losses in virtually every sector of the U.S. economy. And this result shows the fruits of the Justice Department’s tireless work in enforcing federal laws; in protecting the American people from violent crime, national security threats, discrimination, exploitation, and abuse; and in holding financial institutions accountable for their roles in causing the 2008 financial crisis.”

“Collecting money owed to ‘the people’ of our district is a commitment I take very seriously,” said Minkler. “Those who steal and fraudulently take money from victims will be held accountable and my office will do everything humanly possible to return the money to its rightful owner.”

This fiscal year the U. S. Attorney’s Office collected the final payment of $285,000 from North American Green for an EPA violation involving pesticide use in its Evansville and Poseyville Indiana plants. The total fine was $910,000.

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.

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.

Additionally, the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Southern District of Indiana, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $1,115,556 in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2014. 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.