Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 20, 1994 TAG: 9410200083
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
U.S. Attorney Robert Crouch said that total wasn't the result of any large recoveries but came from more than 1,200 cases involving relatively small amounts of money.
The cases included that of Christiansburg lawyer Keith Neely, who was convicted of money laundering and aiding and abetting cocaine deals. The government seized his 50-acre Claytor Lake property and sold it for $50,000.
A federal law allowing the government to seize assets that criminals have bought using illegally obtained money often is enforced in drug and money laundering cases.
Rich Lloret, an assistant U.S. attorney in the civil division, explained that because the assets are bought with bad money, "in the eyes of the law, that property never belongs" to the criminal.
Crouch said his office seized assets valued at $1.48million in the past fiscal year, which ended in September.
Most of the money collected by the office came from criminal fines and civil judgments levied by the court.
The money recovered in civil cases included defaulted student loans, Veterans Affairs loans and other federal loans. It often takes several years for the U.S. Attorney's Office to collect such debts.
For instance, Anthony Remson applied for a scholarship through the Public Health and National Service Corps in 1976 to help pay for medical school. He was awarded the scholarship, which required him to work after graduation in a rural area that needed a doctor.
After he graduated from medical school, though, Remson failed to fulfill that requirement. In March 1987, after agreeing to repay the loan, he disappeared.
He was found in Kentucky after his picture appeared in a newspaper, and the U.S. Attorney's Office now garnishees his salary. The government has collected more than $37,862 to apply toward his debt.
Crouch said his 10-person financial litigation unit collected $1.82million in criminal and civil debts in the 1993-94 fiscal year.
Criminal fines - which judges impose as part of sentencing - are deposited into the federal Crime Victims Fund, which is distributed to victims as restitution.
Crouch said the remainder of the $3.3million collected will be deposited into the federal Treasury.
Last year, the local U.S. Attorney's Office collected $3.5million. Crouch said that figure included one case in which $1.5million was recovered after an apartment complex owner decided to withdraw from a federal loan program.
And while he's pleased with the amount his office has collected, Crouch said the government still is owed a lot of money that it can't get its hands on - nearly $18.7million.
"It's always been a priority of this office to collect that money, and it will continue to be one," Crouch said.
by CNB