U.S. Attorney’s Office Collects Nearly $20 Million for U.S. Taxpayers in Fiscal Year 2019

U.S. Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced today that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine collected over $19.8 million in civil, criminal and asset forfeiture actions in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019.

Working with partner agencies and divisions, the office collected $15,248,809 in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2019. 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.

Additionally, the office collected $4,410,030.33 in criminal and civil actions in FY 2019. Of this amount, $2,914,099.52 was collected in criminal actions and $1,495,930.81 was collected in civil actions.

The office also worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $200,926.17 in cases pursued jointly by these offices. Collections in civil actions comprised $194,516.17 of this amount.

“I’m proud of my team’s efforts to collect funds on behalf of American taxpayers this past fiscal year,” said U.S. Attorney Frank. “We will keep working tirelessly to seek justice for crime victims and ensure that those who commit crimes do not profit from their illegal actions.”

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 collected to federal and state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.