U.S. DOJ VI District Collects Over $11 Million From Criminal Cases In Fiscal Year 2015

ST. THOMAS — U.S. Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced today that the District of the Virgin Islands collected $11,466,944.35 in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015. Of this amount, $11,242,164.77 was collected in criminal cases and $224,779.58 was collected in civil cases.

Additionally, the District of the Virgin Islands worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $1,172,157.03 in civil cases pursued jointly with those offices.

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced on December 3, 2015, that the Justice Department collected $23.1 billion in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015. This amount represents more than seven and a half times the approximately $2.93 billion appropriated for the 94 U.S. Attorney’s offices and the main litigating divisions in that same period.

In measuring collections recovered in FY 2015, this figure necessarily includes some cases that were resolved in previous years but the proceeds of which were collected in FY 2015.

“The Department of Justice is committed to upholding the rule of law, safeguarding taxpayer resources, and protecting the American people from exploitation and abuse,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said. “The collections we are announcing today demonstrate not only the strength of that commitment, but also the significant return on public investment that our actions deliver. I want to thank the prosecutors and trial attorneys who made this achievement possible, and to reiterate our dedication to this ongoing work.”

United States Attorney Sharpe said: “The recoveries announced today demonstrate that the U.S. Attorney’s Office will utilize all means at its disposal to disgorge criminals and fraudsters of illegal and dishonest profits. My office is committed to upholding our laws and ensuring that residents of the Virgin Islands who are the unfortunate victims of crime and other misconduct are made whole.”

The District of the Virgin Islands’ largest civil collections were from affirmative civil enforcement cases, in which the United States recovered government money lost to fraud, including Food Stamp fraud, or collected fines imposed on individuals and/or the territory 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 Agriculture, Internal Revenue Service, Small Business Administration and Department of Education. The largest criminal collection resulted from a tax fraud case.

The U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, along with the department’s litigating divisions, are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the United States 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.

Feature Image: Ronald W. Sharpe.

Image Credit: VIC.