Crime Victims Fund Award
Winners for 1997

The Attorney General recognized one individual and two teams of Federal personnel from Boston, New York City, and Kansas City, Kansas, for their efforts to collect criminal fines from Federal criminal offenders. The awardees were:

First Award:
Litigation Team in United States v. The Daiwa Bank, Limited, U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York. Reid M. Figel, Assistant United States Attorney; Andrea M. Likwornik, Assistant United States Attorney; Michael A. Simons, Assistant United States Attorney; Richard Owens, Assistant United States Attorney.

As a result of the diligence and extraordinary efforts of this dedicated group of prosecutors, Daiwa Bank, Limited, pled guilty to 16 felony counts and paid a criminal fine of $340 million—the largest criminal fine in history. This prosecution arose out of a report of an unauthorized, off-the-books trading scheme that resulted in a $1.1 billion loss to Daiwa. Although the law required Daiwa to disclose those losses immediately to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Daiwa's management and the trader responsible for those losses unlawfully conspired to conceal them from regulators for more than 2 months.

Second Award:
Judicial Enforcement Team from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts. Christopher Alberto, Assistant United States Attorney; Cathy L. Kibbey, Supervisory Paralegal; Joanne Albano, Paralegal; Anita R. Kiley, Paralegal; Brendan Murphy, Deputy U.S. Marshal; Pamela J. Lombardini, U.S. Probation Officer; John C. Siracusa Jr., Special Agent, FBI.

In 1995, the District of Massachusetts was facing a criminal debt inventory of approximately $73 million. In February 1996, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Alberto began to aggressively pursue the collection of that debt by forming a Judicial Enforcement Team—JET. Through JET, which is an innovative approach to collecting debt owed to the Federal Government, the U.S. Marshals Service provides financial investigative services and judgement enforcement to the U.S. Attorney's Financial Litigation Units. The District of Massachusetts expanded the concept to include the U.S. Probation Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and various Inspector General offices.

The JET team has successfully uncovered concealed assets through surveillance and computer searches; seized and auctioned real property; and seized bank and investment accounts. New operating procedures implemented within the District's Financial Litigation Unit have further enhanced JET's impact. First, a computer search for assets is done for all offenders who owe criminal penalties. Second, all offenders not paying their criminal penalties are required to submit to a financial examination under oath. Third, the Financial Litigation Unit shares all information uncovered with the offender's Probation Officer, and finally, all new criminal penalties are given immediate attention for recovery. These aggressive actions have generated millions of dollars for victims and the Crime Victims Fund. If the statistics tell the story, then what a great story JET is. In 1996, the District's total debt recoveries were more than $37.6 million, a clear increase in its collections.

Third Award:
Carol Holinka, Assistant Correctional Programs Manager, North Central Region, Federal Bureau of Prisons.

When the Bureau of Prisons implemented its new SENTRY computer program, Ms. Holinka worked diligently to train Correctional Programs, Financial Management, and Victim/Witness Program staff in the 16 institutions of the North Central Region. She traveled extensively throughout the year, providing highly effective training to approximately 200 NCR personnel. One measure of her effectiveness came to light when a review of contract rosters showed a significant decrease in contract errors following her training. Had these problems not been identified and corrected, collections could not have been made for those inmates with inactive accounts and input errors.

Beyond her demonstrated ability to provide effective training and technical assistance, Ms. Holinka has continued to emphasize the importance of holding inmates accountable for their financial obligations and ensuring they make payments commensurate with their ability to pay. She routinely lends her considerable technical expertise when staff call her office regarding their computer systems, and provides ready interpretations of court documents for achieving compliance with the spirit of the Inmate Financial Responsibility Program.

Crime Victims Fund Award Winners for 1998

The Attorney General recognized three individuals and seven teams of Federal personnel from seven States for their efforts to collect criminal fines from Federal criminal offenders. The awardees were:

First Award:
Antitrust Division, DOJ. James Griffin, Gary Spratling, Phil Warren, Wendy Bostwick-Norman, Andrew Hays-Gorey, and Jane Phillips.

An aggressive initiative aimed at international cartels has led to unprecedented success, bringing to justice conspirators in industries ranging from food and feed additives to marine construction and transportation to graphite electrodes. Utilizing an alternative fine provision, the Antitrust Division has been able to secure routine imposition of criminal fines in excess of the $10 million Sherman Act maximum. As a result, the average corporate fine for an antitrust offense has increased 15-fold since 1996 to $12 million. The Division's effective use of the provision has sent the message to the international business community that antitrust fines can no longer be considered a mere cost of doing business.

Second Award:
Financial Litigation Unit, United States Attorney's Office, Northern District of NY. Beverly J. Parody, William Pease, Helen Atkinson, Paul Condon, and Cheryl Jachym.

By concentrating staff on criminal fine and restitution enforcement and exercising vigorous investigative strategies, the Financial Litigation Unit in the U.S. Attorney's office for the Northern District of New York secured millions of dollars in deposits into the Crime Victims Fund last year. Diligent research of defendants' assets and steady pursuit of their holdings allowed the FLU to obtain collection of fines from both companies and individuals. With three of its five Financial Litigation Agents assigned to fine and restitution investigation and collection, the FLU was able to uncover fines in cases involving lien notices, promissory notes, pension and Individual Retirement accounts, government property, and Thrift Savings Plans.

Third Award:
Team from the United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of IL. W. Charles Grace, Gregory Holston, Janet Burris, Clinton Bigham, Gary Holst, Patrick Holtgrave, and Dana Kimbrough.

A 4-year investigation led by the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of Illinois and a team of six Federal investigators uncovered fraudulent Medicare practices that resulted in $4 million in criminal fines and $140 million in civil damages and penalties, the largest settlement against a Medicare carrier in the country. Through diligent claims tracking, scrupulous examination of financial resources, thorough inspection of payments and bonuses, and close scrutiny of processing practices, investigators revealed an intricate scheme on the part of key personnel at Health Care Service Corporation to defraud Medicare and conceal illegal activities.

Fourth Award:
Team Nominated by the United States Attorney's Office, Northern District of IA. James Mitzelfeld, William Cleary, and Kevin Oetinger.

As a result of close collaboration, meticulous planning, and extraordinary tenacity, this team made sure one defendant was held fully accountable for his crime. On June 1996, a Canadian citizen was committed to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine. At the time of sentencing, Jim Mitzelfeld, anticipating an attempt to default on payment of the fine, obtained the court's agreement to consider a motion to resentence should Mr. Doidge fail to pay the full amount. On December 31, Mr. Mitzelfeld discovered that the defendant had been released from incarceration and was being transported by the INS to the Canadian border for deportation. Despite the fact that Mr. Doidge had paid only half of his fine, Mr. Mitzelfeld immediately filed an emergency motion for resentencing and contacted Messrs. Cleary and Oetinger of the INS-Buffalo to ask their help in delaying the defendant's deportation. The defendant's family produced the funds and the balance of the fine was paid.

Fifth Award:
Team from the United States District Court, Middle District of GA. Gregory Leonard, Wanda Misinco, and Artis Carner.

This team of three developed a unique system to institutionalize criminal restitution payments on all cases in the district's inventory. By streamlining and facilitating communication between the courts, the U.S. Probation Office, and the U.S. Attorney's office, the system now employed by the Middle District of Georgia allows staff to be advised of any discrepancies or problems in the processing of criminal payments. The team also created a computer program that tracks balances and imposes interests and penalties on applicable criminal fines and restitution. The members of this team have taken their 46 years of dedicated experience and used it to ensure that all criminal payments are processed in a prompt and efficient manner.

Sixth Award:
Financial Litigation Unit, United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of FL. Elizabeth Ruf Stein, Mary Dooley, Karen Thompson, Ann Woodruff, Cathy Joseph, Gerald Thompson, Rolando Leon, Colleen Perez, Sandra Williams, and Catrina Bryant.

The extraordinary commitment of this team to holding offenders accountable is responsible for tripling the collections of the U.S. Attorney's office last year. A renewed focus on collectability provided by a restructuring of the Financial Litigation Unit and a pilot project of shared computer access among the U.S. Attorney's Office, the U.S. Probation Office, and the Clerk of the Court were largely responsible for a dramatic $12 million increase in their deposits into the Crime Victims Fund over the past year.

Seventh Award:
Financial Litigation Unit, United States Attorney's Office, Western District of TX. Johnnie L. Ross, Jr., Hal Atkinson, Patsy Ybarra, Diane Webb, Cindy Merrill, Martha Fowler, Mildred Alexander, and Michael McVay.

This Financial Litigation Unit has created a system that ensures financial accountability to individual victims of crime in multiple-victim cases. Through a special database developed to track victims and handle disbursements, the FLU has found a way to deliver restitution in large-scale white-collar crime cases, which often involve hundreds or even thousands of victims. In a recent case, a judgment was entered against 13 defendants who were ordered to pay various amounts in restitution to 4,000 elderly victims in a telemarketing scam. To date, the FLU has seen to the collection of over $100,000 in restitution and the disbursement of $80,000.

Eighth Award:
Peter R. Galenda, Criminal Debt Collection Paralegal, U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of NY.

Peter Galenda has devoted his time and energy to devising pioneering innovations in meeting his office's obligation to victims. A combination of resourcefulness garnered from his 25 years of experience and inventiveness derived from his dedication to seeing justice served is responsible for the success of his office in recovering criminal debts. Due to his efforts, the Western District of New York collected over $1.8 million in fiscal year 98, almost $800,000 of which went for deposit into the Crime Victims Fund.

Ninth Award:
Eric J. Klumb, Assistant United States Attorney, Eastern District of WI.

In 1996, Eric Klumb was successful in obtaining convictions against Vitek Supply Corp., a Dutch manufacturer of animal feed, for conspiring to defraud, smuggling, and distributing adulterated animal drugs with the intent to mislead, resulting in Vitek being placed on probation and ordered to pay both a $350,000 fine and restitution totaling over $730,000. Through 1997, however, the company made no payments, claiming to be essentially out of business without any appreciable assets. Mr. Klumb investigated Vitek's claim and established that it had shifted its assets and operations to other related corporations for the purpose of avoiding payment. He then filed a separate civil suit alleging fraudulent conveyance. The judge accepted Mr. Klumb's evidentiary and legal theories, ordering Vitek and four related corporations to pay the fine and restitution within 90 days.

Tenth Award:
Gerald M. Rhodes, Correctional Counselor, United States Bureau of Prisons.

Through diligent and responsible commitment, Mr. Rhodes has exemplified the important role corrections agencies can play in serving crime victims. His work with inmates in the Bureau of Prison's Inmate Financial Responsibility Program has resulted in extraordinary cooperation in meeting victims' needs. While serving in a temporary assignment as a Correctional Counselor, Mr. Rhodes was instrumental in collecting almost half of a $10 million restitution ordered from one defendant. Mr. Rhodes was responsible for first winning the inmate's agreement to participate in the Inmate Financial Responsibility Program and then for using monies collected from the sale of seized assets to satisfy a significant portion of his restitution obligation.