Treasury Forfeiture Fund 

Program Summary by Budget Activity 

Dollars in Thousands 

Treasury Forfeiture Fund FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022 FY 2021 to FY 2022 

Budgetary Resources Actual Estimated Estimated $ Change % Change 

 FTE 1 AMOUNT FTE AMOUNT FTE AMOUNT FTE AMOUNT FTE AMOUNT 

Revenue/Offsetting Collections 

Interest $18,565 $25,000 $25,000 $0 NA 0.00% 

Restored Prior Year 

Sequestration Reduction $54,340 $30,294 $32,609 $2,315 NA 7.64% 

Forfeited Revenue $494,893 $547,096 $547,096 $0 NA 0.00% 

Recovery from Prior Years $32,358 $12,000 $12,000 $0 NA 0.00% 

Unobligated Balances from 

Prior Years $609,632 $691,453 $717,902 $26,449 NA 3.83% 

Total Revenue/Offsetting 

Collections $1,209,788 $1,305,843 $1,334,607 0 $28,764 NA 2.20% 

Expenses/Obligations 

Mandatory Obligations 27 ($465,205) 27 ($445,332) 27 ($445,332) 0 $0 0.00% 0.00% 

Secretary's Enforcement ($22,836) ($35,000) ($35,700) ($700) NA 2.00% 

Strategic Support 2 $0 TBD TBD NA NA NA 

Total Expenses/Obligations 27 ($488,041) 27 ($480,332) 27 ($481,032) 0 ($700) 0.00% 0.15% 

Rescissions/Cancellations 

Sequestration Reduction ($30,294) ($32,609) ($32,609) NA NA NA 

Permanent Cancellation $0 ($75,000) $0 $75,000 NA -100.00% 

Total Rescission/Cancellations ($30,294) ($107,609) ($32,609) $75,000 NA -69.69% 

Net Results 27 $691,453 27 $717,902 27 $820,966 0 $103,064 0.0% 14.36% 

 

Contingent Liabilities ($512,764) ($465,000) ($465,000) $0 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 2021 and FY 2022, 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. 

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 Department of the Treasury and 

Department of Homeland Security agencies. The Fund was established in 1992. 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. 

TEOAF allocates significant resources to supporting seizure cases in which the seized assets 

represent the proceeds of fraud schemes. The resulting forfeiture deposits are used to compensate 

the victims (entities or individuals) defrauded by the violators. Prioritizing support of these cases 

is particularly important now due to the volume of COVID-19 related financial fraud, network 

intrusion, phishing and sales of counterfeit vaccines and COVID treatments online and via 

Darknet marketplaces. TEOAF provides funding to allow its participating agencies to meet 

unanticipated needs created by COVID-19 related crimes, to ensure that the agencies have the 

resources to target and intercept these massive schemes and return the money to the defrauded 

government agencies, private entities and individuals. 

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 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 ($465,000,000 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 consideration of contingent liabilities provides a more accurate representation of 

the financial position of the Fund. 

Legislative Proposals 

TEOAF has no legislative proposals. 
Performance Highlights 

 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022 

Budget Activity Performance Measure Actual Actual Actual Target Target 

Asset Forfeiture 

Fund 

Percent of Forfeited Cash Proceeds Resulting 

from High-Impact Cases 94.19 90.8 82.87 80 80 

Description of Performance 

($481,032,000 in obligations from revenue/offsetting collections): 

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 cases 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 2021 and FY 2022, 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.