Though section 881 is not quite as broad as its
criminal counterpart, 21 U.S.C. § 853, in reaching
facilitating property, it nevertheless covers the
forfeiture of proceeds of all Title 21 crimes,
conveyances used to commit such crimes, and all
real property involved in felony violations of Title
21.
The other most-commonly used civil
forfeiture statute is 18 U.S.C. § 981, which
likewise provides a wide spectrum of forfeiture
authority. The following property is subject to
forfeiture pursuant to § 981(a):
• Any property, real or personal, involved in a
transaction or attempted transaction, in
violation of the federal money laundering and
illegal money transmitting business statutes
(§§1956, 1957, or 1960 of this title), or any
property traceable to such property.
• Any property, real or personal, within the
jurisdiction of the United States, constituting,
derived from, or traceable to, any proceeds
obtained directly or indirectly from specific
offenses against a foreign nation, or any
property used to facilitate such an offense.
• Any property, real or personal, which
constitutes, or is derived from proceeds
traceable to a violation of such Title 18
crimes as section 215 (receipt of commissions
or gifts for procuring loans), numerous
counterfeiting offenses in Chapter 25, section
542 (entry of goods by means of false
statements), section 545 (smuggling goods
into the United States), section 656 (theft,
embezzlement, or misapplication by bank
officer or employee), section 657 (lending,
credit, and insurance institutions), certain
Chapter 40 offenses (related to explosive
materials), various Chapter 47 fraud and false
statement crimes, or any offense constituting
a "specified unlawful activity," as defined in
62 UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS' BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2007
18 U.S.C. § 1956(c)(7), or a conspiracy to
commit such offense.
• Any property, real or personal, which
represents, or is traceable to, the gross
receipts obtained, directly or indirectly, from
specific crimes involving the sale of assets
acquired or held by the Resolution Trust
Corporation, the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation, as conservator or receiver for a
financial institution, or any other conservator
for a financial institution appointed by the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency or
the Office of Thrift Supervision or the
National Credit Union Administration, as
conservator or liquidating agent for a
financial institution.
• Any property, real or personal, which
represents, or is traceable to, the gross
proceeds obtained, directly or indirectly, from
a violation of specific motor vehicle offenses.
• Almost any conceivable asset held by, or used
by, any individual, entity, or organization,
engaged in planning, supporting, perpetrating,
or concealing any federal crime of terrorism
(as statutorily defined in 18 U.S.C.
§ 2332b(g)(5)) against the United States,
citizens or residents of the United States, or
their property, and all assets, foreign or
domestic, and the proceeds of such a crime, as
well as all assets of certain persons engaged
in international terrorism.