ALEXANDRIA, Va. - U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride announced today that the Eastern District of Virginia collected $252 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 related to criminal and civil actions.  Of this amount, $9 million was collected in criminal actions and $243 million was collected in civil actions.  Additionally, the office collected $12.9 million in criminal and civil forfeitures.

Nationwide, the U.S. Attorneys’ offices collected $13.1 billion in criminal and civil actions during FY 2012, more than doubling the $6.5 billion collected in FY 2011.  A portion of this amount, $5.3 billion, was collected in shared cases in which one or more U.S. Attorneys’ offices or department litigating divisions were also involved.  The $13.1 billion represents more than six times the appropriated budget of the combined 94 offices for FY 2012.

“This money repays those who suffer losses through crime, including private victims and the federal government,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “It’s important to hold accountable those who seek to profit from their illegal activities, and that is why we are committed to pursuing every dollar lost through fraud or overpayment.”

In October 2011, which marked the beginning of FY 2012, Oracle Corp. and Oracle America, Inc., agreed to pay $199.5 million plus interest for failing to meet their contractual obligations to the General Services Administration (GSA) in a settlement filed in the Eastern District of Virginia. This is the largest False Claims Act settlement that GSA has ever obtained. To get access to hundreds of government purchasers, companies such as Oracle who participate in the Multiple Award Schedule Program must disclose their best prices. The settlement resolved allegations that Oracle knowingly failed to comply with these contractual obligations.

            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.  Statistics indicate that the total amount collected in criminal actions totaled $3.035 billion in restitution, criminal fines, and felony assessments.  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 statistics also indicate that $10.12 billion was collected by the U.S. Attorneys’ offices in individually and jointly handled civil actions.  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, and Small Business Administration.

Additionally, the U.S. Attorneys’ offices, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $4.389 billion in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2012.  Forfeited assets are deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund and Department of Treasury Forfeiture Fund and are used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes.

The $13.16 billion collected nationwide by the U.S. Attorneys’ offices for FY 2012 nearly matches the $13.18 billion collected in FY 2010 and FY 2011 combined.

            For further information, the United States Attorneys’ Annual Statistical Reports can be found on the internet at http://www.justice.gov/usao/reading_room/foiamanuals.html.

 

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