The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia has made significant strides in its pursuit of financial justice in the fiscal year 2025 reporting over $77 million in collections and forfeitures according to an announcement on their website. U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg highlighted this achievement, stating, "These collections and forfeitures underscore my office’s dedication to securing financial justice for victims and the public."
Over $35 million was collected through civil and criminal penalties, and nearly $8 million in assets were forfeited — a testament to the office's rigorous efforts in holding wrongdoers accountable for their actions, compensating crime victims, Hertzberg emphasized the aggressive use of legal tools in pursuit of these objectives. The office's Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section notably used civil and criminal forfeiture tools to strip offenders of over $4.5 million in criminal cases and more than $1.5 million in civil forfeiture cases, dealing a substantial blow to criminal activities.
Contributing to the Justice Department's Crime Victims Fund, the Northern District of Georgia's U.S. Attorney's Office collected over $17 million in criminal cases supporting federal and state victim compensation and assistance programs. Additionally, affirmative civil enforcement cases yielded collections of over $18 million, indicating a strong offensive against government fraud and other forms of misconduct. Beyond its own efforts, the office also collaborated with other Department of Justice components to jointly collect an added $34 million in civil and criminal cases demonstrating the broad scope and cooperative nature of these endeavors, according to the same press release.
Forfeited property is utilized extensively by the Department of Justice for compensating crime victims, and in sharing resources with federal, state, local law enforcement agencies to support various enforcement initiatives in Fiscal Year 2025 alone more than $3 million was returned to victims of crime while over $5 million was shared with law enforcement partners. Further inquiries can be directed to the U.S. Attorney's Public Affairs Office via email at [email protected] or by phone at (404) 581-6016, offering channels for the public and media to obtain additional information on these impactful financial recoveries.
