Greensboro, NC - U.S. Attorney Ripley Rand announced today that the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina collected $9,082,850.56 in criminal and civil actions during Fiscal Year 2015. Of this amount, $1,338,633.11 was collected in criminal actions and $7,744,217.45 was collected in civil actions.
The Middle District of North Carolina also worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $58,749,483.17 in cases pursued jointly with these offices. Of this amount, $58,724,483.17 was collected in criminal actions and $25,000.00 was collected in civil actions.
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced on Dec. 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 billion in collections in FY2015 represents more than seven and a half times the approximately $2.93 billion of the Justice Department’s combined appropriations for the 93 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 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."
“Our office is dedicated to recovering ill-gotten gains from fraud, drug offenses, and other crimes, and returning these funds and assets to victims and to the treasury," said United States Attorney Rand. “In FY2015, our office collected more than three times its annual budget through criminal and civil actions and forfeiture, which is a significant benefit to taxpayers."
As examples, this past year the Middle District of North Carolina reached settlements in the following cases:
USA v. Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC:
Under a plea agreement with the United States (through the Department of Justice Environmental Crimes Section and USAOs for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of North Carolina) Duke Energy was ordered to pay $102,000,000.00 as a result of the February 2014 coal ash spill into the Dan River near Eden, NC. On May 14, 2015, $58.7 million of the total was paid to the Middle District of NC.
USA v. Renegade Holdings and Alternative Brands, Inc.:
Settlement of USDA’s claim in bankruptcy netted $4,670,194.92.
Civil Health Care Fraud Recovery:
The United States alleged that Dr. John Shen, owner of Albemarle Women’s Clinic, submitted claims for unnecessary ultrasounds. Shen paid $975,000 to settle the case in January 2015.
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 Middle District of North Carolina working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $4,705,670 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.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
