Northern District of Iowa U.S. Attorney’s Office collects over $14,000,000 in civil and criminal actions in 2020

By On Dec 27, 2020

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – U.S. attorney Peter E. Deegan Jr. announced this week that the Northern District of Iowa has collected $ 14,652,603.88 in civil and criminal litigation in fiscal 2020.

Of that amount, $ 13,388,019.63 was raised in civil lawsuits and $ 1,264,584.25 in criminal proceedings.

The Department of Justice raised more than $ 15.9 billion in civil and criminal law actions in fiscal 2020 (including the period between October 1, 2019 and September 30, 2020). The $ 15,988,516,670 collections are more than five times the total budget of approximately $ 3.2 billion for the 94 US law firms and key Justice Department litigation departments over the same period.

The total includes all funds raised as a result of Justice Department-led enforcement efforts and negotiated civil settlements. It includes payments of more than $ 13.5 billion made directly to the Department of Justice and indirect payments of more than $ 2.4 billion to other federal agencies, states, and other designated recipients.

“Raising money on behalf of taxpayers and crime victims is an integral part of the US attorney’s mission,” said US attorney Peter E. Deegan Jr. in the statement. “Each year these collections far exceed our total office budget and result from the hard work of many individuals in our office.”

The U.S. law firms, along with the Department’s litigation departments, are responsible for the enforcement and recovery of civil and criminal debts to the United States and criminal debts to victims of federal crimes.

The law requires defendants to pay compensation to victims of certain federal crimes who have suffered personal injury or financial loss. While a refund is being paid to the victim, fines and offenses are paid to the department’s Crime Victims’ Fund, which distributes funds to government victim compensation and victim assistance programs.

The largest civil law collections came from affirmative law enforcement cases in which the United States was recovering government funds lost through fraud or other misconduct, or fined individuals and / or companies for violating federal health, safety, civil rights, or environmental laws.

In addition, civil debt was collected on behalf of several federal agencies, including the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Social Services, Internal Revenue Service, Small Business Administration, and the Department of Education.