United States Attorney’s Office for Western District of Pennsylvania Collects Approximately $56 Million in Civil, Criminal, and Forfeiture Actions in Fiscal Year 2023

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today that the Western District of Pennsylvania collected $36.8 million in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2023. Of this amount, $23.7 million was collected in criminal actions and $13.1 million was collected in civil actions.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, working closely with partner law enforcement agencies, also collected an additional $19.1 million in asset forfeiture actions in 2023. Forfeiture is a process by which criminal defendants are stripped of their criminal proceeds and the property used to facilitate criminal activity. Forfeited assets deposited into the Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Fund are used for a variety of law enforcement purposes and, where appropriate, restored to crime victims.

“Last year, this office recovered and forfeited over $50 million, demonstrating our commitment to holding criminal defendants financially accountable, assisting victims of crime, and protecting the federal treasury,” said U.S. Attorney Olshan. “I want to recognize and commend the tireless efforts of our financial litigation and asset forfeiture teams, who use all available resources to recover funds in our cases.”

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 victims, criminal fines and felony assessments are paid to the department’s Crime Victims Fund, which distributes the funds collected to federal and state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.