The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington announced significant financial recoveries in Fiscal Year 2024, totaling over $1.5 billion from criminal and civil actions. This amount includes $1,509,282,780 collected from criminal cases and $8,862,362 from civil cases.
A notable portion of these collections came from a collaboration with the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and the National Security Division to secure a substantial payment from cryptocurrency exchange Binance. "Our office worked closely with Department of Justice components on the criminal case against Binance, in which Binance pleaded guilty to failing to register as a money transmitting business, willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act and willfully causing violations of U.S. sanctions," said U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. She noted that the $1.5 billion obtained through this effort is part of a larger $4.3 billion fine and forfeiture.
In addition to these efforts, the office independently collected $3.8 million in criminal restitution payments and an additional $8.8 million in civil collections. These included payments related to tax fraud cases where individuals failed to pay their income taxes intentionally.
Significant individual payments were made by local business owners for tax-related offenses: a coffee stand owner paid $96,000 in restitution for underreporting income; a Snohomish County restaurant owner settled over $511,000 for tax fraud; and a Tukwila restaurant owner completed a payment of $376,000 toward their tax fraud debt.
On the civil side, collections included $217,000 following the sale of Dr. Frank Li’s Spokane medical office building related to health care fraud settlements and $1.23 million from Yakima Products Inc., resolving duty payment issues on imported aluminum components.
The U.S. Attorneys’ Offices play a crucial role in enforcing and collecting debts owed to federal crime victims or arising from federal crimes that result in physical injury or financial loss to victims.
Additionally, asset forfeiture actions brought in approximately $2,864,850 during FY 2024 within the Western District of Washington. These funds contribute both to restoring victims' losses and supporting law enforcement activities.