Northern District of Iowa U.S. Attorney’s Office Collects over $14,000,000 in Civil and Criminal Actions for U.S. Taxpayers in Fiscal Year 2020 | USAO-NDIA

By On Dec 23, 2020

U.S. attorney Peter E. Deegan Jr. announced today that the Northern District of Iowa has had civil and criminal penalties totaling $ 14,652,603.88 in fiscal 2020. Of this amount, civil action was levied for $ 13,388,019.63 and criminal action was taken in an amount of $ 1,264,584.25.

The Department of Justice raised more than $ 15.9 billion in civil and criminal law actions in fiscal 2020, which ends September 30, 2020. Fiscal 2020 collections of $ 15,988,516,670 are more than five times the roughly $ 3.2 billion budget allocated to the 94 US attorneys. During the same period, the Justice Department offices and key litigation departments were merged. 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. “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.