U.S. Attorney Peter M. McCoy, Jr. announced that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina raised more than $ 56 million in criminal, civil and property forfeiture actions in fiscal 2020.
The office raised $ 53,839,927 in criminal and civil suits. Of that amount, $ 49,000,580 was raised in civil suits and $ 4,839,347 in criminal suits.
Working with partner agencies and divisions, the office also raised $ 2,544,402 in asset forfeiture actions in fiscal 2020. The forfeited assets deposited in the Department of Justice’s Asset Forfeiture Fund are used to restore funds to victims crimes and for a variety of law enforcement purposes.
“I am extremely proud of the hard work of the professionals in our United States Attorney’s Office,” said Attorney McCoy. “With the work of our team, we have been able to raise more than $ 56 million this year – money that allows us to protect the inhabitants of South Carolina, seek justice for victims of crime and seek severe punishment for criminals.”
The United States Law Offices, along with the department’s litigation divisions, are responsible for executing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the USA and criminal debts owed to victims of federal crimes. The law requires defendants to pay restitution to victims of certain federal crimes who have suffered physical injury or financial loss. While restitution is paid to the victim, criminal fines and crime assessments are paid to the department’s Crime Victims Fund, which distributes funds raised to compensate federal and state victims and victim assistance programs.
As a whole, the Department of Justice raised more than $ 15.9 billion in civil and criminal suits in fiscal 2020. This amount represents more than five times the budget of approximately $ 3.2 billion for the 94 offices of the Prosecutors and the main litigation divisions of the Justice Department combined in the same period.
The total includes all money raised through enforcement actions conducted by the Department of Justice and negotiated civil settlements. It includes more than $ 13.5 billion in payments made directly to the Department of Justice and more than $ 2.4 billion in indirect payments made to other federal agencies, states and other designated recipients.