August 18, 2024
Memphis, TN (Highpoint Digest) – U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Ritz announced today that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee collected $2,959,254.54 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2023. Of this amount, $2,846,173.69 was collected in criminal actions and $113,080.85 was collected in civil actions.
Additionally, Tennessee’s Western District worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $70,742.42 in cases pursued jointly by these offices. Of this amount, $28,492.42 was collected in criminal actions and $42,250 was collected in civil actions.
“Protection of taxpayer resources in the United States Treasury is a core value and critical mission for this office and the Department of Justice,” said U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Ritz. “Equally important is the federal government’s responsibility to collect restitution for victims of crime so that offenders are held accountable, and victims can receive justice. I commend our Criminal Division, Civil Division, and Financial Litigation Unit for outstanding work in pursuing and collecting these funds on behalf of victims of crime and the United States.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tennessee’s Western District, working with partner agencies and divisions, also collected $1,689,156 in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2023. Forfeited assets deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund are used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes.
Several cases generated significant collection efforts in fiscal year 2023:
- For example, a $10 million international fraud conspiracy case generated significant collection efforts this past fiscal year. The case involved eleven people who used compromised email accounts to steal from businesses and conduct romance scams on the internet. In U.S. v. Babatunde Martins, the defendant owed restitution and agreed to pay $300,000 as part of the judgment. However, the funds were frozen in a bank in West Africa pending legal process. After working with the U.S. Department of Justice civil division of foreign litigation, our office secured $299,972 in criminal fines related to this case in fiscal year 2023. A related case, U.S. v. Marie Theresa Zamora and Allianz, generated $72,653 in June 2023.
- Another case involving several former federal employees who defrauded COVID-19 relief programs, yielded $68,817 for taxpayers and crime victims. In U.S. v. Tina Rochelle Hume, the defendant pled guilty to submitting fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funds. Within two months of her guilty plea, our office filed a criminal restitution order and obtained a garnishment that resulted in a large, fast collection of taxpayer dollars.
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 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 collected to federal and state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.
Source: United States Attorney’s Office – Western District of Tennessee
Image Credit: United States Attorney’s Office – Western District of Tennessee
