WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - The United States Department of Justice collected more than $24 billion during the 2014 fiscal year, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Wednesday.
In this fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, the U.S. Attorneys' office collected money mostly from actions under the False Claims Act, which helps the government recoup money allegedly lost from fraud. It includes money from corporations that violated federal health, safety, civil rights, tax or environmental law.
“Every day, the Justice Department’s federal prosecutors and trial attorneys work hard to protect our citizens, to safeguard precious taxpayer resources and to provide a valuable return on investment to the American people,” Holder said.
“Their diligent efforts are enabling us to achieve justice and recoup losses in virtually every sector of the U.S. economy. And it shows the fruits of the Justice Department’s tireless work in enforcing federal laws; in protecting the American people from violent crime, national security threats, discrimination, exploitation and abuse; and in holding financial institutions accountable for their roles in causing the 2008 financial crisis.”
Money listed in the fiscal year can include payments determined by the previous year’s cases but collected this year. The largest source of collections in FY 2014 was penalties paid by financial institutions as a result of the 2008 financial crisis.