Criminal Division
Asset Forfeiture Unit
The forfeiture of assets derived from drug trafficking and other unlawful activity has traditionally been an important part of the government's arsenal of legal actions against criminal defendants. Since the passage of the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000, there has been an increase in the forfeiture of assets derived from fraud, including mail, wire and health care fraud.
In the Eastern District of Louisiana, the increase in the volume and complexity of forfeiture cases has been dramatic. In 2001, our Asset Forfeiture Unit criminally charged assets valued at $20,022,694 for forfeiture. (This figure does not include the amounts which our client agencies seize and forfeit administratively through the support of the Asset Forfeiture Unit.)