Statement of William J. Anderson, Director, General Government Division, Before the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Senate Judiciary Committee, on Taking the Profit Out of Crime

• NCJ Number: 155034
• Author(s): W J Anderson
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 24 pages
• Sale Source: US Government Accountability Office
• Publication Type: Presentation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC

Annotation

This statement addresses Federal statutes providing forfeiture authority in drug offense-related cases, the extent to which law enforcement agencies have used these statutes, and some of the reasons why they are not used more often.

Abstract

The U.S. General Accounting Office prepared this statement as part of the Congressional effort to improve the ability of law enforcement agencies to take illicitly acquired profits and assets from organized crime groups, particularly those involved in drug trafficking. According to this statement, most forfeitures consist primarily of the vehicles used to smuggle drugs and the cash used in transactions. The illicit profits and the assets acquired with them have remained virtually untouched, despite the passage of Federal legislation targeting those assets for forfeiture. Forfeiture efforts have been hampered by the lack of incentive for prosecutors to go beyond incarcerating offenders, the lack of investigator expertise in tracing laundered funds, and domestic and foreign laws and administrative procedures that have hindered the disclosure of financial information to Federal law enforcement agencies. 2 appendixes