U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE COLLECTS $105,483,842.21 IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL ACTIONS IN FISCAL YEAR 2020 | USAO-VT

U.S. attorney Christina E. Nolan announced today that the Vermont district raised $ 105,483,842.21 in criminal and civil lawsuits in fiscal 2020. Of that amount, $ 27,111,668.98 was collected in criminal lawsuits and $ 78,372,173.23 in civil lawsuits. The collections include amounts confiscated in matters handled by the District of Vermont with its federal partners in the Department of Justice and other United States law firms.

“Vermont District Attorneys and Attorneys at Law work tirelessly to protect our citizens, offset financial losses they suffer from criminal behavior, and protect valuable taxpayer resources,” said US attorney Christina E. Nolan. “Your efforts have enabled us to achieve equity in fiscal 2020 and recover a significant amount of taxpayers’ money.”

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 ministry’s Crime Victims Fund, which distributes the funds raised to federal and state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.

In addition to civil and criminal law collections, the Vermont District Attorney’s Office in association with partner agencies and departments has forfeited actions for $ 905,520.00 in fiscal 2020. Forfeited assets deposited with the Department of Justice’s Property Forfeiture Fund are used to restore funds for victims of crime and for a variety of law enforcement purposes.

2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Ministry of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years