U.S. Attorney's Office collected nearly $30 million last year

U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman announced today that the Northern District of Ohio collected nearly $30 million in fiscal year 2017.

Of this amount, $10.3 was collected in criminal actions, $4.7 was collected in civil actions and $14.5 million was collected in asset forfeitures. 

The office’s total overall budget for the fiscal year was approximately $13.8 million.

“In addition to seeking long prison sentences for those who commit violent crimes, trying to stem the flow of opioids into our neighborhoods and other efforts to keep our community safe, the men and women of the U.S. Attorney’s Office brought in more than twice as much as our annual budget,” Herdman said. “This money helps victims of crime, restores public trust, and protects the treasury.”

The Northern District of Ohio worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $3.6 million in cases pursued jointly with these offices.

Overall, the Justice Department collected just over $15 billion in civil and criminal actions in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2017. 

Among the significant collections this year:

U.S. v. Xin Fan: Xin Fan paid $1.2 million last year after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud for defrauding Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Fan, Yu and others caused Goodyear to purchase natural rubber from shell companies they incorporated. They also required Goodyear suppliers to use loading companies in which they had a financial interest. Both were sentenced to more than two years in prison.

U.S. v. Joseph Satava: Satava, the manager of credit and collections for insurance giant Medical Mutual, paid $334,000 last year as part of his criminal case. Satava used sophisticated means and vulnerabilities in accounting procedures to embezzle nearly $3 million from his employer over a decade. Satava is serving nearly six years in prison.

U.S. v. Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings et. al.: Companies paid more than $1 million last year as part of a consent decree to resolve allegations that they violated the Clean Water Act by polluting the Ottawa River. The corporations agreed to pay for a restoration project at a 175-acre property for natural resources and reimbursements for assessment of injuries at the lower portion of the Ottawa River.

U.S. v. Delores Knight et. al: Knight was the owner of Just Like Familee, a home health agency that served Medicare, Medicaid and Veteran’s Affairs patients. The majority of its insurance claims were submitted for skilled nursing services provided by a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse, and for home health aide services, such as cooking, cleaning, hygiene care, and daily living services. Knight submitted millions of dollars in home health care billings to Medicare, Medicaid and the VA for patient visits that were not made and for services based upon falsified patient medical records. Knight used proceeds from the fraudulent scheme to purchase homes in Macedonia and Twinsburg which had a combined appraised value of approximately $800,000. Knight was sentenced to 10 years in prison and her son Isaac Knight was sentenced to seven years in prison after being convicted at trial last year. The jury also returned a verdict of forfeiture against the two homes.

U.S. v. Cannon Design: The Buffalo-based company paid $500,000 of a $12 million penalty to resolve the company’s criminal liability for the conduct of more than a dozen employees, including paying bribes and kickbacks to obtain confidential information related to Veterans Affairs construction projects. Cannon Design also agreed to implement a series of corporate reforms and divest itself from a large project in California as part of the settlement.

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.

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.

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.