SAN FRANCISCO—The Northern District of California collected over $46 million in civil and criminal actions from U.S. taxpayers for the 2016 fiscal year, said U.S. Attorney Brian J. Stretch.
“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.
Of the $46 million collected over $29 million was collected from criminal actions and over $16 million was collected in civil actions across Northern California.
The U.S. Attorneys’ Office is responsible for collecting and enforcing civil and criminal debut owed to the United States government and criminal debts owed to federal crime victims.
The money collected for the 2016 fiscal year helps pay restitution to victims, criminal fines, and felony assessments. The department’s Crimes Victim’s Fund distributes the money collected to state victim’s compensation and victim assistance programs.
The largest civil collections were from affirmative civil enforcement cases, according to Department of Justice.
The Northern District of California recovered government money lost to fraud, misconduct, or collected fines imposed on individuals and corporations in conjunction with violations of federal health, safety, civil rights, or environmental laws.
Civil debts were collected on behalf of several federal agencies like the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, the Internal Revenue Service, Small Business Administration and the Department of Education.
“The recovery of tens of millions of dollars from criminal and civil defendants by this Office is a testament to the hard work of our Financial Litigation Unit,” said U.S. Attorney Brian J. Stretch. “Our Office will continue to work relentlessly to recoup victims’ losses and to disgorge profits from those who enrich themselves through crime and other violations of federal law.”
