about TEOAF & TFF
The Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture (TEOAF) administers the Treasury Forfeiture Fund (TFF). The TFF was established in 1992 as the successor to what was then the Customs Forfeiture Fund. It is the receipt account for the deposit of non-tax forfeitures made by the following member agencies:
- Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI), U.S. Department of the Treasury;
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (U.S. ICE), Department of Homeland Security;
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (U.S. CBP);
- Department of Homeland Security;
- U.S. Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security;
- U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security
The creation of the TFF brought together all then-Treasury law enforcement agencies. Although some bureaus were subsequently transferred to the Department of Homeland Security by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law No. 107-296), they remain participants of the Treasury Forfeiture Fund.
Effective law enforcement actions against criminal enterprises, from drug cartels to terrorist organizations, require depriving them of their enabling assets and profits that support or stem from their existence. The TFF is derived from the forfeited assets of criminal enterprises. The TFF is a “special receipt account”, i.e., a resource account that provides funding to the participating law enforcement agencies to enhance their capabilities to conduct successful investigations and forfeitures.
The Mission of The Treasury Forfeiture Fund is to Affirmatively Influence the Consistent and Strategic use of Asset Forfeiture by Participating Agencies to Disrupt and Dismantle Criminal Enterprises.
The Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture (TEOAF), through the provision of leadership, guidance, and stewardship, works to maximize the impact of forfeitures performed by the participating agencies.
As the administrator of the Treasury Forfeiture Fund, TEOAF performs the following functions:
- promotes the use of proceeds from asset forfeitures to fund programs and activities aimed at disruption and dismantling criminal infrastructures, in particular major case initiatives and activities enhancing forfeiture capabilities;
- manages TFF revenues to cover the costs of seizure and forfeiture;
- trains law enforcement personnel of the participating agencies in various aspects of asset forfeiture;
- promotes cooperation among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies through funding of expenses including equitable sharing, as well as the development of task forces;
- promotes financial stability and vitality of the TFF;
- coordinates TFF policy among the participating agencies;
- through the precepts of risk management, identifies and initiates action to address program risks.
The TFF’s enabling legislation was first published in Public law 102-393, enacted October 6, 1992, 106 Stat. 1729, and is codified under Title 31 U.S.C. § 9703.
The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Asset Forfeiture Program administers a separate and distinct forfeiture fund. For information, visit the
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