The United States Attorneys' offices, with the Department of Justice, are responsible for enforcing and recovering civil and criminal debts owed to the United States and criminal debts owed to victims of federal crimes.
Loretta E. Lynch, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, recently announced that the office collected $75,540,770.04 in civil and criminal actions during fiscal year 2011. Of this amount, $49,418,991.52 was collected in criminal actions, and $26,121,778.52 in civil actions. The office also collected $177,959,332 in criminal and civil forfeitures.
In one case, the Eastern District of New York recovered over $50 million as part of the settlement of a civil forfeiture action involving two brokerage accounts belonging to Jacob "Kobi" Alexander, who is alleged to have orchestrated a massive stock option backdating fraud. The money collected was returned to the victim, Comverse Technology, Inc., which, in turn, used the funds to settle investor and shareholder lawsuits.
In the announcement, Lynch emphasized the importance of these collections during the economic downturn. "The U.S. Attorney's Office is dedicated to protecting the public and recovering funds for the federal treasury and for victims of federal crime. We continue to hold accountable those who seek to profit from their illegal activities."
Nationwide, the 94 U.S. Attorneys' offices collected a total of $6.5 billion in criminal and civil actions this year. Of the $6.5 billion total, $1.3 billion was collected in shared cases in which multiple U.S. Attorneys' offices or Department of Justice divisions were involved in the recovery. This marks the second straight year that over $6 billion has been collected. The $6.5 billion represents over three times the appropriated budget of the 94 U.S. Attorneys' offices for 2011.
To read the press release, click here.
In jointly handled civil actions, the U.S. Attorneys' offices recovered $3.83 billion. The largest civil collections were from affirmative civil enforcement cases, in which the United States recovered government money lost to fraud and penalties for violations of federal health, safety, civil rights, and environmental laws. Civil penalties were also collected on behalf of several federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Internal Revenue Service, Small Business Administration, and Housing and Urban Development.
Whistleblowers play an invaluable role in uncovering and reporting fraud to the government, and assisting the U.S. Attorneys' offices recover moneys owed to the government and victims of fraud. The False Claims Act provides substantial monetary incentives for whistleblowers who come forward and report fraud in government programs. Contact Andrew M. Beato, an experienced whistleblower attorney with the law firm of Stein, Mitchell & Muse, LLP in Washington, D.C., to understand your rights.
