Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein announced that financial collections in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 in the District of Maryland reached $155,566,462.75. The U.S. Department of Justice keeps statistics on a fiscal year basis, closing the books each September 30.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced today 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 billion in collections in FY 2015 represents nearly seven and a half times the appropriated $2.93 billion budget for the 94 U.S. Attorney’s 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."
“Thanks to the hard work and dedication of employees of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our partner agencies, funds recovered far exceed the cost of operating the office," said Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “We will continue to hold accountable anyone who seeks to profit from illegal activities."
According to statistics from the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland in FY 2015 collected $136,419,084.26 in criminal debts owed to the U.S. government and to federal crime victims, including restitution, criminal fines and felony assessments.
The statistics show that the $19,147,378.49 collected in civil actions in Maryland, include affirmative civil enforcement cases, in which the United States recovered government money lost to fraud or other misconduct or collected penalties imposed on individuals and/or corporations for violations of federal health, safety, civil rights or environmental laws, and debts collected on behalf of several federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Education, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Internal Revenue Service, and Small Business Administration.
Additionally, the District of Maryland worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $14,429,540.47 in cases pursued jointly with these offices. Of this amount $429,088.54 was collected in criminal actions and $14,000,451.93 was collected in civil actions, including cases resolved under the False Claims Act on behalf of victim agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Defense and the Department of Education. These cases include the successful resolution of United States ex rel. Roman v. Education Affiliates, Inc., United States ex rel Stoneham v. Pole Zero, Inc. and investigations of DRS Technical Services, Inc. and Foundation Health Services, Inc. Additionally, the District of Maryland collected civil penalties under the Controlled Substances Act on behalf of the Drug Enforcement Administration from its investigation of Value Drug, Inc.
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 directly 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, labor and controlled substance 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.
In addition, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $16,708,177 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.
For more information, the Department’s Annual Statistical Reports on prior fiscal years can be found on the internet at: http://www.justice.gov/usao/reading_room/foiamanuals.html.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
