Asset Forfeiture

Need for Stronger Marshals Service Oversight of Commercial Real Property Gao ID: GGD-91-82 May 31, 1991

GAO reported on various aspects of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) and the U.S. Customs Service's asset forfeiture programs.

GAO found that: (1) the failure of U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) districts to follow policy in performing such key program activities as those relating to high-value commercial real properties resulted in a weakened internal control environment; (2) the lack of Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) documentation of title information resulted in uninformed seizure decisions; (3) the lack of timely and accurate property information inhibited effective management and oversight by property managers; (4) USMS districts failed to prepare decision documents on significant properties; (5) the lack of professional appraisals inhibited effective disposal decisions; (6) uneven oversight left the program vulnerable to mismanagement; (7) USMS did not implement such important control techniques as review and reconciliation of invoices; (8) the USMS National Asset Seizure and Forfeiture (NASAF) program was understaffed and employees were undertrained; (9) USMS districts lacked adequate policy and procedural guidance regarding roles and responsibilities for seizure and management of commercial real property; and (10) regional oversight was inadequate to ensure districts' compliance with USMS policies.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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