Detroit, MI - U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade announced today that the Eastern District of Michigan collected $140,568,099.71 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2016. Of this amount, $134,081,710.61 was collected in criminal actions and $6,486,389.10 was collected in civil actions.
Additionally, the Eastern District of Michigan worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $137,338,109.30 in cases pursued jointly with these offices. Of this amount, $136,489,477.62 was collected in criminal actions and $848,631.68 was collected in civil actions.
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced on Dec. 14, 2016 that the Justice Department collected nearly $15.4 billion in civil and criminal actions in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2016. The $15,380,130,434 in collections in FY 2016 represents more than five times the appropriated $2.93 billion budget for the 94 U.S. Attorneys’ offices and the main litigating divisions of the Justice Department combined in that same period.
“Every day, the men and women of the Department of Justice work tirelessly to enforce our laws, ensuring that taxpayer dollars are used properly and that the American people are protected from exploitation and abuse," said Attorney General Lynch. “Today’s announcement is a testament to that work, and it makes clear that our actions deliver a significant return on public investment. I want to thank the prosecutors and trial attorneys who made this year's collections possible, and I want to emphasize that the department remains committed to the well-being of our people and our nation."
“The attorneys and support professionals in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan recovered more than five times the amount of money spent in our annual budget of $26 million," McQuade said. “Those funds will be returned to victims and taxpayers."
This past year, the Eastern District of Michigan seized approximately $11.9 million in the case of U.S. v. Farid Fata. The government seized Fata's assets to create a restitution fund for the benefit of Fata's victims and their heirs. In addition, the government seized approximately $1.6 million in assets from Norman Shy, a former vendor doing business with Detroit Public Schools (DPS). Those funds will be paid back to DPS through the restoration process.
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 Eastern District of Michigan, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $26,602,309.00 in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2016. 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
