The Justice Department is missing out on collecting $10 billion from convicted criminals to go to crime victims, according to federal prosecutors. 

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, led a letter with four other Republican senators telling Attorney General Pam Bondi that “there appears to be billions of dollars right at the DOJ’s finger tips that could be collected.”  

Congress created the Crime Victims Fund in 1984 as a resource for survivors of crime. The fund is intended to be self-sustaining through collecting criminal penalties and fines from federal convictions.

The theory, as noted in the senators’ letter, was “criminals, not innocent taxpayers, will pick up the tab for the havoc they force on victim’s lives.”  

The senators’ primary concern is the 2024 United States Attorneys’ Annual Statistical Report, the most recent published, noting that $10 billion in outstanding fines remained uncollected.  

The Government Accountability Office opened an inquiry into the fund after senators found in 2024 that the Biden administration was using money collected from criminal penalties to offset more than $1 billion in spending rather than directing it to the victims fund, according to the letter.

The Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General also opened a review into the fund. 

“In addition to holding criminals accountable, the collection of outstanding fines and penalties would allow DOJ to provide critical resources to support victims and survivors of crime nationwide, as these funds are statutorily required to be deposited into the CVF, with very limited exceptions,” the senators state.  

Joining Grassley in the letter were Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine; Joni Ernst of Iowa; and Mike Crapo and Jim Risch of Idaho.  

Grassley launched oversight efforts of the Crime Victims Fund in 2023, and the fund’s balance increased from $1 billion to $3.5 billion.  

“While the CVF balance sits at $3.5 billion and appears trending in the right direction, DOJ still has a lot of work to do,” the senators say in the letter.

“Specifically, there appears to be billions of dollars in outstanding criminal fines and penalties that are available for deposit into the CVF that DOJ has yet to collect.” 

“According to reports, victim advocacy groups have been in search of additional funds to help shore up the CVF and to stave off potential cuts to the services they provide in our hometowns,” the letter states.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to inquiries for this story.  

The senators gave a deadline of Feb. 25 to respond with “rolling updates” on the status of collecting criminal fines.  

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