NCJ Number
112056
Date Published
1988
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Reviews of the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Customs Service asset forfeiture programs, conducted by the General Accounting Office in 19876 and 1987, identified numerous problems.
Abstract
Millions of dollars were being held in agency vaults rather than being deposited in U.S. Treasury accounts. Justice was holding real properties for long periods although no economic return would be realized, and sales of properties often were delayed or cancelled. In addition, surplus money was accumulating in Justice's forfeiture fund to be used at its discretion. Custom's forfeiture fund accounting and reporting were below standards. While the agencies have revised or established improved cash management policies, case backlogs have been reduced, and other improvements have been made for better oversight, some problems still have not been resolved. Customs needs to assure that its field officers understand and are complying with the newly established procedures and policies for expeditious deposit of cash. In addition, because Customs' accounting procedures were established prior to the forfeiture fund, the agency must propose to Congress statutory amendments to bring fund accounting into compliance with Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act standards. Justice needs to identify and monitor defendants' equity in forfeited real property to minimize the number of unprofitable properties forfeited. Also, greater effort is needed to resolve problems associated with title insurance of forfeited properties. List of prior reports and financial data are appended. (Author abstract modified)