PITTSBURGH White-collar crime increases forfeitures

Resort homes are among property seized by federal authorities.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Property and cash forfeited to federal authorities in western Pennsylvania have jumped in recent years, much of the money coming not from drug busts, but from crackdowns on white-collar crime.
"White-collar criminals appear to do a better job of preserving the proceeds of their criminal activity than drug dealers," said U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan.
Between 1999 and this year, the government has collected $15.5 million from cars, properties and other assets, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. That's nearly double the $8.5 million seized between 1995 and 1998.
"What used to be a very effective tool in the narcotics underworld is now being utilized very effectively with the white-collar criminal who is engaged in all types of fraud," said Special Agent Andrew Hromoko Jr., a spokesman for the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service in Pittsburgh.
The money is used to reimburse crime victims or to fund police initiatives.
High takes
Recent seizures illustrate what sets white-collar forfeitures apart from those stemming from drug busts.
In what is considered the largest drug ring ever prosecuted in western Pennsylvania, federal authorities say a rundown brick building worth about $35,000 was the epicenter of the drug operations for Oliver Beasley and his family. In addition to that property and about $300,000 in cash, authorities plan to sell off a handful of cars and about a dozen homes on the city's North Side owned by people convicted in the case.
Compared with recent white-collar forfeitures, it's a relatively small take.
The former owner of an armored car company, Barry Chesla, of Ligonier, was sentenced in 2002 to six years in prison for skimming money from a common account used to stock automated teller machines.
The government seized about $4.5 million in assets, including a $600,000 waterfront property in New Jersey and a $225,000 home in Ligonier.
"When you work a case like that, you're not only working to prosecute the guy, you're working for the victims," said IRS Special Agent Tom Fornataro. "You want to be able to give them something back."
Cracking down
In another case, federal authorities seized $3.2 million from a Coraopolis couple who ran the Central Ambulance Service. The couple admitted in 1999 that they had submitted false claims to federal health insurance programs.
Among the assets forfeited was an $870,000 home on Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Seizing assets was once an afterthought in federal investigations, but most offices now have a person assigned to orchestrate the asset side of prosecutions, Hromoko said.
White-collar criminals can no longer expect to return to large homes or fine cars after serving prison sentences, he said.
"If you think they're going to still be there, guess again," Hromoko said.