Amount of Unpaid Federal Fines Up Sharply

[cynatnite]

snip:
The amount of unpaid federal fines has risen sharply in the last decade. Individuals and corporations regularly avoid large, highly publicized penalties for wrongdoing — sometimes through negotiations, sometimes because companies go bankrupt, sometimes due to officials' failure to keep close track of who owes what under a decentralized collection system.

snip:
_The government is currently owed more than $35 billion in fines and other payments from criminals and in civil cases, according to Justice Department figures. This is almost five times the amount uncollected 10 years ago — and enough to cover the annual budget of the Department of Homeland Security. A decade ago, Congress mandated that fines be imposed regardless of defendants' ability to pay, which has added tremendously to outstanding debt.

In 2004, federal authorities ordered $7.8 billion in 98,985 fines, penalties and restitution demands in criminal and civil cases, but collected less than half of that.

_White-collar crime cases account for the largest amount of uncollected debt. In a study, Government Accountability Office investigators found that just 7 percent of restitution in such cases is paid.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060318/ap_on_bi_ge/unpaid_fines

[Earth_First]

1. "White-collar crime cases account for the largest amount"

This being the amount of unpaid criminal activity that they know about...

[NanceGreggs]

2. And then there's THIS .press release about the IRS ...

"A table detailing individual return audits showed that the income groups with the HIGHEST percentage of audits were taxpayers who reported income under $25,000 ..."

Why bother trying to collect millions, when you can go after some poor slob who's working three jobs to support his family - and who probably owes a whopping $5.29?