U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Carolina Collects Over $56 Million for U.S. Taxpayers in 2020 | USAO-SC

Charleston, South Carolina — U.S. attorney Peter M. McCoy Jr. announced today that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina raised over $ 56 million in criminal, civil, and loss of property claims in fiscal 2020 .

The office raised $ 53,839,927.39 on criminal and civil lawsuits in fiscal 2020. Of that amount, $ 49,000,580.36 was raised for civil actions and $ 4,839,347.03 was raised for criminal proceedings.

Working with partner agencies and departments, the office also collected $ 2,544,402 of asset forfeiture measures in fiscal 2020. Forfeited assets deposited with the Department of Justice’s Forfeiture Fund are used to restore funds to victims of crime and for various law enforcement purposes.

“I am very proud of the hard work of the accomplished professionals in our US attorney’s office,” said US attorney McCoy. “The work of our team has raised over $ 56 million this year – money that we can use to protect South Carolinians, seek justice for crime victims and demand harsh penalties for criminals.”

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 total, the Department of Justice raised more than $ 15.9 billion in civil and criminal justice in fiscal 2020. This amount is more than five times the budget allocated to the 94 US law firms and key litigation departments of the Justice Department of approximately $ 3.2 billion combined over the same period. The total includes all funds raised through Department of Justice-led enforcement actions 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.

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