United States, Fraud, West Virginia 2016

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – The United States Attorney's Office collected $3,149,500 in criminal and civil actions in fiscal year 2016, U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced today.

According to Ihlenfeld, $1,001,768 was collected in criminal actions and $2,147,731 was collected in civil actions, and his office worked with other U.S. Attorney's Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $155,650.00 in cases pursued jointly with those offices.

U.S. Attorneys' Offices throughout the country are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the U.S. and criminal debts owed to federal crime victims. The law requires defendants to pay restitution to victims of certain federal crimes who have suffered a physical injury or financial loss. While restitution is paid to the victim, criminal fines and felony assessments are paid to the department’s Crime Victims' Fund, which distributes the funds to state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.

The largest civil collections were from affirmative civil enforcement cases, in which the United States recovered government money lost to fraud or other misconduct or collected fines imposed on individuals and/or corporations for violations of federal health, safety, civil rights or environmental laws. In addition, civil debts were collected on behalf of several federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Internal Revenue Service, Small Business Administration and Department of Education.

The United States Attorney's Office in West Virginia successfully recovered $3,149,500 in fiscal year 2016. This amount includes $1,001,768 collected in criminal actions and $2,147,731 collected in civil actions. Additionally, the office worked with other U.S. Attorney's Offices to collect an extra $155,650 in jointly pursued cases.

As mandated by law, defendants who have committed federal crimes must pay restitution to victims who have suffered physical injuries or financial losses. The collected fines and felony assessments are paid to the Crime Victims' Fund, which distributes the funds to state victim compensation and assistance programs.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in West Virginia, the majority of civil collections were from affirmative civil enforcement cases. In these cases, the United States recovered government money lost to fraud or other misconduct or collected fines imposed on individuals and/or corporations for violating federal laws.

U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced the success of the United States Attorney's Office in recovering $3,149,500 in fiscal year 2016. This recovery is comprised of $1,001,768 in criminal actions and $2,147,731 in civil actions. Additional recovery of $155,650 was achieved through joint efforts with other U.S. Attorney's Offices.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndwv/pr/us-attorney-s-office-collects-31-million-fiscal-year-2016