This article deals with the first goal, namely
how the civil forfeiture statutes can be used to
reach the proceeds or property used to commit
federal crimes.
Those involved in federal civil (or criminal)
forfeiture cases know that some sort of
preforfeiture planning, including a determination
of whether the assets targeted meet Department
equity thresholds, is required in all but the most
extraordinary cases. This process is described in
detail in Chapter 1 of the Department's Asset
Forfeiture Policy Manual, which is available from
the publications unit of the Asset Forfeiture And
Money Laundering Section (AFMLS). ASSET
FORFEITURE AND MONEY LAUNDERING SECTION,
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, ASSET FORFEITURE
POLICY MANUAL (2007).
There is no single, all-encompassing federal
forfeiture statute. The volume of existing statutes,
however, covers an extraordinarily broad range of
activities.