Treasury Forfeiture Fund

Program Summary by Budget Activity

Dollars in Thousands

Treasury Forfeiture Fund FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2020 to FY 2021

Budgetary Resources Actual Estimate Estimate % Change

Revenue/Offsetting Collections FTE AMOUNT FTE AMOUNT FTE AMOUNT FTE AMOUNT

Interest 0 $70,395 0 $50,000 0 $50,000 0.00% 0.00%

Restored Prior Year Sequestration 

Reduction 0 $84,405 0 $54,340 0 $35,229 0.00% -35.00%

Restored Prior Year Sequestration of 

Restored Rescission 0 $65,208 0 $0 0 $0 0.00% 0.00%

Forfeited Revenue 0 $806,049 0 $547,096 0 $547,096 0.00% 0.00%

Recovery from Prior Years Obligation 0 $35,427 0 $15,000 0 $15,000 0.00% 0.00%

Unobligated Balances from Prior Years 0 $825,172 0 $609,632 0 $769,239 0.00% 26.00%

Total Revenue/Offsetting Collections $1,886,656 $1,276,068 $1,416,564 0.00% 11.00%

Expenses/Obligations

Mandatory Obligations 1 27 $394,628 27 $436,600 27 $445,332 0.00% 2.00%

Secretary's Enforcement 0 $24,614 0 $35,000 0 $35,700 0.00% 2.00%

Strategic Support 2 0 $603,442 0 TBD 0 TBD 0.00% 0.00%

Total Expenses/Obligations 27 $1,022,684 27 $471,600 27 $481,032 0.00% 2.00%

Rescissions/Cancellations

Sequestration Reduction 3 ($54,340) ($35,229) TBD 0.00% 0.00%

Permanent Cancellation ($200,000) $0 $0 0.00% 0.00%

Total Rescission/Cancellations ($254,340) ($35,229) $0 0.00% -100%

Net Results $609,632 $769,239 $935,532 0.00% 22.00%

Contingent Liabilities $473,316 $385,000 $385,000 NA 0.00%

1/ The Treasury Forfeiture Fund is staffed by Departmental Offices employees and positions are funded via reimbursable agreement. 

The FTE are shown here for clarity, but are also reflected in the Departmental Offices chapter in the reimbursable FTE total.

2/ For FY 2020 and FY 2021, Treasury will revise Strategic Support based on enacted appropriations and may submit a plan to Congress if 

funding is available, once more is known about collections and expenses.

3/ Treasury will compute the FY 2021 sequestration reduction once the OMB Report to Congress on the Joint Committee Sequestration for 

Fiscal Year 2021 is released.

Summary

The Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture (TEOAF) administers the Treasury 

Forfeiture Fund (the Fund), which is the receipt account for deposit of non-tax forfeitures made 

pursuant to laws enforced or administered by participating Treasury and Department of 

Homeland Security agencies. The Fund was established in 1992 as the successor to what was 

then the Customs Forfeiture Fund. The enabling legislation for the Fund (Title 31 U.S.C. 9705) 

defines the purposes for which Treasury forfeiture revenue may be used.

Explanation of TEOAF Spending Categories

Mandatory Obligations ($445,332,000 from revenue/offsetting collections)

Mandatory Obligations are incurred to meet the operating costs of the Fund, including expenses 

of storing and maintaining seized and forfeited assets, valid liens and mortgages, investigative 

expenses incurred in pursuing a seizure, information and inventory systems, remissions, victim 

restoration, and certain costs of local police agencies incurred in joint law enforcement 
operations. Following seizure, equitable shares may be paid to state and local law enforcement 

agencies that contributed to the seizure activity at a level proportionate to their involvement.

Secretary's Enforcement Fund ($35,700,000 from revenue/offsetting collections)

Secretary's Enforcement Fund (SEF) represents revenue from equitable shares received from 

Department of Justice (DOJ) or U.S. Postal Service (USPS) forfeitures. These shares are 

proportional to Treasury’s participation in the overall investigative effort that led to a DOJ or 

USPS forfeiture. SEF revenue is available for federal law enforcement related purposes of any 

law enforcement organization participating in the Fund.

Strategic Support (TBD from revenue/offsetting collections)

Strategic Support authority, established by Congress in 31 U.S.C. 9705(g)(4)(B), allows TEOAF 

to fund priority federal law enforcement initiatives with remaining unobligated balances at the 

close of the fiscal year, after an amount is reserved for the next fiscal year’s operations. 

Contingent Liabilities ($385,000,000 revenue/offsetting collections)

Contingent liabilities represent the known future equitable sharing, remission, refund, and 

mitigation payments. TEOAF tracks future remission payments to third parties as contingent 

liabilities. However, these amounts are not recorded as obligations from the Fund until the 

Department of Justice grants the petition for remission. The third parties are predominantly

victims of crimes that triggered the forfeiture (e.g., Ponzi scheme or kleptocracy victims). 

Amounts recorded are significant because remission payments from multiple years are recorded 

and carried forward. The amounts change constantly as payments are made and amounts for new 

remission cases are added. TEOAF considers the amounts recorded as contingent liabilities as 

unavailable and believes that consideration of contingent liabilities provides a more accurate 

representation of the financial position of the Fund.

Legislative Proposals

TEOAF has no legislative proposal.

Performance Highlights 

Budget Activity Performance Measure FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021

Actual Actual Actual Target Target

Asset Forfeiture Fund Percent of Forfeited Cash Proceeds 

Resulting from High-Impact Cases 80 94.19 90.8 80 80

Description of Performance

The TEOAF continues to measure the performance of the participating law enforcement bureaus 

through the percent of forfeited cash proceeds resulting from high impact cases, which are cases 

resulting in a cash forfeiture deposit equal to or greater than $100,000.

The high-impact cases are the ones that pursue major criminal targets and their financial networks, 

and therefore are central to the mission of disrupting and dismantling criminal enterprises. At the 

same time, these cases are heavily dependent on TEOAF’s funding due to their high operational 

costs and reliance on sophisticated technologies and analytical tools that are not adequately 
covered by the funds appropriated for operations. The dominant share of high-impact forfeitures 

reflects TEOAF’s effectiveness in supporting such major investigations. 

While the specific numbers shown in the chart fluctuate due to the unusually big forfeitures, the 

consistently dominant (80 percent or more) share of major forfeiture year after year demonstrates 

TEOAF’s consistent commitment to supporting high-impact cases. Member law enforcement 

bureaus participating in the Fund have met or exceeded the performance target since FY 2014.

For FY 2020 and FY 2021, the target will remain at 80 percent. The Fund maintains a target of 80 

percent as an appropriate measure of the effectiveness of the Fund support of the participating law 

enforcement agencies efforts to meet TEOAF’s mission to disrupt and dismantle criminal 

enterprises.