I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 270
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide civil and criminal
forfeitures for certain offenses.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 5, 1993
Mr. MCCOLLUM introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide civil
and criminal forfeitures for certain offenses.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Asset Forfeiture Act
of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. CHAPTER 63 AMENDMENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 63 of title 18, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow-
ing:
‘‘§ 1347. Criminal forfeiture
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A person convicted of a violation
of section 1341 or 1343 of this title shall, notwithstanding
any provision of State law, forfeit to the United States
any property constituting or derived from any proceeds
which the person obtained directly or indirectly from a
scheme in violation of either of such sections.
‘‘(b) PROCEDURES
OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES
ACT APPLICABLE.—With respect to a forfeiture under
this section for a violation of this chapter, the provisions
of subsections (b), (c), (e), (f), (g), (i), (k), (l), (m), (n),
and (o) of section 413 of the Controlled Substances Act
apply as they would to a forfeiture under that section for
a violation of the Controlled Substances Act.
‘‘(c) DISPOSITION OF PROPERTY.—After a seizure of
property ordered forfeited under this section, the Attorney
General shall dispose of the property under section 1349
of this title. The Postal Service shall turn any such seized
property over to the Attorney General for disposal under
such section.
‘‘(d) SUBSTITUTE ASSETS.—If any of the property
subject to forfeiture under this section, as a result of con-
duct of the defendant—
‘‘(1) cannot be located upon the exercise of due
diligence;
‘‘(2) has been transferred or sold to, or depos-
ited with, a third party;
‘‘(3) has been placed beyond the jurisdiction of
the court;
‘‘(4) has been substantially diminished in value;
or
‘‘(5) has been commingled with other property
which cannot be divided without difficulty;
the court shall order the forfeiture of any other property
of the defendant up to the value of any property described
in paragraphs (1) through (5) of this subsection.
‘‘§ 1348. Civil forfeiture
‘‘(a) PROPERTY SUBJECT TO CIVIL FORFEITURE.—
Any property, as defined by subsection (b) of section 413
of the Controlled Substances Act, constituting or derived
from any proceeds of a scheme in violation of section 1341
or 1343 of this title shall be subject to forfeiture to the
United States.
‘‘(b) SEIZURE.—(1) Except as provided in paragraph
(2), any property subject to forfeiture to the United States
under this section may be seized by the Attorney General
or the Postal Service upon process issued pursuant to the
Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime
Claims by any district court of the United States having
jurisdiction over the property.
‘‘(2) The Attorney General or the Postal Service may
seize such property without such process when—
‘‘(A) the seizure is incident to a lawful arrest
or search; or
‘‘(B) such property has been the subject of a
prior judgment in favor of the United States in a
criminal injunction or forfeiture proceeding under
section 1347 of this title.
‘‘(3) The Government may seek the issuance of a
warrant authorizing the seizure of property subject to for-
feiture under this section in the same manner as provided
for a search warrant under the Federal Rules of Criminal
Procedure.
‘‘(c) PROCEDURAL MATTERS.—(1) With respect to a
forfeiture of property under this section, the provisions of
subsections (c), (d), (h), and (j) of section 511 of the Con-
trolled Substances Act apply as they would to a forfeiture
of property under that section, and the Postal Service may
also perform any of the functions the Attorney General
may perform under such subsections.
‘‘(2) The filing of an indictment or information alleg-
ing a violation of section 1341 or 1343 of this title which
is also related to a civil forfeiture proceeding under either
section shall, upon motion of the United States and for
good cause shown, stay the civil forfeiture proceeding.
‘‘(d) DISPOSITION OF PROPERTY.—After a seizure of
property ordered forfeited under this section, the Attorney
General or the Postal Service shall dispose of the property
under section 1349 of this title.
‘‘§ 1349. Disposition of forfeited property
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—After making due provision for
the rights of any innocent persons, the Attorney General,
after deducting the costs incurred by the United States
in conducting the seizure, forfeiture, and identification of
victims, shall deposit the property forfeited or the proceeds
from the sale of property forfeited under section 1347 or
1348 of this title in the Department of Justice Assets For-
feiture Fund established by section 524(c) of title 28. The
Postal Service may exercise the authority of the Attorney
General in conducting administrative forfeitures and shall
deposit the property forfeited or the proceeds of the prop-
erty forfeited in the Postal Service Fund under section
2003(b)(7) of title 39. Any property right or interest not
exercisable by, or transferable for value to, the United
States shall expire and shall not revert to the defendant.
Neither the defendant nor any person acting in concert
with the defendant or on the defendant’s behalf is eligible
to purchase forfeited property sold by the United States.
‘‘(b) RESTRAINT PENDING APPEAL.—Upon applica-
tion of a person other than the defendant or a person act-
ing in concert with the defendant or on the defendant’s
behalf, the court may restrain or stay the sale or disposi-
tion of the property pending the conclusion of any appeal
in the case giving rise to the forfeiture, if the applicant
demonstrates that proceeding with the sale or disposition
will result in irreparable harm to the applicant.
‘‘(c) RULES FOR DISPOSITION.—The Attorney Gen-
eral and the Postal Service shall make rules providing for
the disposition of such property and proceeds. Such rules
shall provide that the Attorney General or the Postal Serv-
ice may—
‘‘(1) retain the property for official use;
‘‘(2) transfer the property to Federal, State, or
local law enforcement agencies so as to reflect gen-
erally the contribution of such agencies to the sei-
zure or forfeiture of such property;
‘‘(3) sell any forfeited property which is not re-
quired to be destroyed by law and which is not
harmful to the public;
‘‘(4) require that the General Services Adminis-
tration take custody of the property and dispose of
it in accordance with law;
‘‘(5) restore forfeited property to victims of an
offense described in subsection (a);