MADISON, WIS. – U.S. Attorney Timothy M. O’Shea announced today that the Western District of Wisconsin collected $8,180,721.32 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2022. Of this amount, $5,505,236.06 was collected in criminal actions and $2,675,485.26 was collected in civil actions. Fiscal Year 2022 is the period beginning October 1, 2021 and ending September 30, 2022.
“Collecting money owed to crime victims and to the United States in criminal and civil cases is a priority of our office,” said U.S. Attorney O’Shea. “Our collections program is committed to holding defendants financially accountable for their illegal activities and ensuring that their debts, particularly to victims, are paid.”
In 2022, the United State Attorney’s office collected over $2.45 million in restitution in a case involving kickbacks. The co-defendants created a scheme to submit inflated invoices to a health care institution for marketing work, and then once the Vice President approved the marketing invoices, her co-defendant provided her money in exchange for the continued use of the marketing company’s services. The prosecutor brought in the financial litigation unit team early in the case to ensure that assets were identified and liquidated promptly to pay the victim’s restitution, which resulted in the victim receiving most of its restitution shortly after sentencing.
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 collected to federal and state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.
Additionally, the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Western District of Wisconsin, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $1,020,678 in asset forfeiture United States Attorney Timothy M. O’Shea Western District of Wisconsin actions in FY 2022. 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.
