One of the goals of the Department of the Treasury Asset Forfeiture Program is to encourage joint operations among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, as well as foreign countries. The equitable sharing program has proved invaluable in fostering enhanced cooperation among federal, state, local, and foreign law enforcement agencies.

The Department of the Treasury and Department of Justice "Guide to Equitable Sharing for State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement Agencies" , aka the “Guide”, contains policies and procedures applicable to the sharing of assets that are seized and forfeited by law enforcement agencies participating in the Treasury Forfeiture Fund. The Guide was designed not only for the Treasury Forfeiture Fund agencies, but for any federal, state, or local law enforcement agency that files an equitable sharing request with a Treasury Forfeiture Fund law enforcement agency.

IRM 9.7.9 closely follows the format of and contains excerpts from the Guide. The Guide can be found on the U.S. Department of Treasury website.

This section will also cover reverse asset sharing requests.

See 28 USC 524(c), Availability of Appropriations, for the delegated authority relating to IRM 9.7.9, Equitable Sharing and Reverse Asset Sharing.

Federal law establishes the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to share federally forfeited property with participating federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

The Director, Asset Recovery and Investigative Services is responsible for developing, maintaining, and overseeing this IRM and ensuring compliance with current policies and procedures.

The Director, Asset Recovery and Investigative Services will:

The Director, Asset Recovery and Investigative Services will review this IRM to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations and assure their program objectives and procedures are efficiently and effectively accomplished.

The following table lists the acronyms and terms used throughout this IRM section and their definitions:

18 USC 666, Crimes and Criminal Procedure, Theft or bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.

18 USC 981(i), Crimes and Criminal Procedure, Civil forfeiture.

18 USC 1001, Fraud and False Statements, Crimes, Statements or entries generally.

21 USC 881(e)(1)(E), Control and Enforcement, Forfeitures.

28 USC 524(c), Department of Justice, Availability of appropriations, Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund.

31 USC 9705(h)(2), Money and Finance, Department of the Treasury Forfeiture Fund.

Guide to Equitable Sharing for State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement Agencies.

IRM 9.7.5, Forms, Processing, and Documentation.

International sharing is governed by 18 USC 981(i), 21 USC 881(e)(1)(E), and 31 USC 9705(h)(2).

The Attorney General and Secretary of the Treasury have sole discretion to determine sharing of any forfeited currency, sale proceeds, or property with the foreign country that participated in the seizure or forfeiture, if such transfer:

Guidance for international sharing is further discussed in DOJ Money Laundering and Asset Recovery (MLARS) Asset Forfeiture Policy Manual and should be reviewed before any sharing decisions are made.

The Office of Inspector General, US Department of Agriculture (OIG/USDA), the DOJ, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), and the Department of the Treasury entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to establish the participation of OIG/USDA in the DOJ Asset Forfeiture Program and DOJ Asset Forfeiture Fund for forfeitures after May 5, 1998. As a participant in the DOJ Asset Forfeiture Fund, OIG/USDA is eligible to file for equitable shares that correspond to their degree of participation in law enforcement investigative efforts resulting in forfeitures by TFF LEAs. OIG/USDA is also permitted, by statute, to file petitions for remission for 100 percent of the proceeds of the forfeited assets as a victim.

Pursuant to CI internal policy issued October 2013, in all cases where USDA Food and Nutritional Services (FNS) is the victim or has an ownership interest in the proceeds of forfeited assets, the USDA FNS will file a petition for remission.

The Director, ARIS, may transfer for official use, personal property valued at $25,000 or less to an agency that did not participate in the seizure or forfeiture upon request by memorandum from the Special Agent in Charge (SAC). See Exhibit 9.7.9–1. A request for transfer of property valued at more than $25,000 will be submitted by memorandum from the SAC to the Director, Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture (TEOAF), through ARIS. See Exhibit 9.7.9–2.

If the requesting agency is not a Treasury LEA, it shall pay costs incurred by the TFF in connection with the forfeiture and transfer of any property.

Joint investigations are those in which Treasury law enforcement agencies work with other federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies, or foreign countries, to enforce federal criminal laws.

Federal agencies must utilize a Federal Contribution form (FCF) to request equitable sharing for seizures in a joint investigation. See Exhibit 9.7.9-3.

After the seizure in a joint investigation, a federal, state, or local agency may request a share of the property by submitting Form TD F 92-22.46 to IRS-CI.

A separate FCF or Form TD F 92-22.46 must be completed for each seizure. When multiple assets are seized, one FCF or Form TD F 92-22.46 may be filed with an attached listing of all the assets seized, if sharing percentages are equal for each asset. If sharing percentages are different, a separate FCF or Form TD F 92-22.46 must be filed.

The Secretary of the Treasury, pursuant to statutory authority, may share forfeited currency or proceeds with countries that participated directly or indirectly in any acts that led to the seizure or forfeiture, if the sharing:

The Director, TEOAF makes the ultimate decision whether and how much to share after review and approval by the Department of State. No United States representative has the statutory authority to commit to asset sharing in any given case until an international forfeiture sharing agreement has been approved at the delegated levels of the Department of the Treasury (or Justice) and State.

A foreign country may request a share of the property by contacting the US Embassy or country attaché via a letter of request. The embassy should forward the letter of request to the appropriate field office.

Equitable sharing requests should be submitted no later than 45 days after forfeiture. The 45–day rule may be waived by the Director, ARIS, upon a written request stating the reasons that justify a waiver for the late submission of the equitable sharing request. The request for a waiver must accompany the Form TD F 92-22.46.

The date of seizure is generally the date the property is physically seized and taken into custody by CI. This is also true for criminal forfeitures where property is not seized until the court enters a preliminary order of forfeiture. In the case of a civil judicial forfeiture involving real property or other property not seized until a final judgment or order of forfeiture is entered, the date of seizure is the "post and walk" date or the date the warrants of arrest in rem are executed.

For property that is seized as evidence, the date of seizure for forfeiture is generally the evidence seizure date or the initial date when action is taken to commence forfeiture proceedings against the property.

In civil or criminal judicial forfeitures, an agency may amend its Form TD F 92-22.46 within 45 days after forfeiture to reflect any continued participation in the case.

No equitable sharing request will be considered after two years from the date the forfeited property is disbursed, deposited into the TFF, or otherwise disposed of.

IRS-CI should keep partner agencies apprised of the status of their equitable sharing request at key points in the equitable sharing process.

Forfeiture, like all legal proceedings, takes time. Equitable sharing may occur only after the federal forfeiture has been completed, the United States has taken clear title to the property, and a final sharing decision has been made by the appropriate official. Common causes of delay are listed in the EQSH Guide.

In cases where only a single item of tangible property (e.g., a vehicle) is forfeited and a federal agency or foreign country requests that item rather than proceeds from the sale of the property, the TFF must recover its costs and its equitable share. If the requesting agency is unable to pay the costs and equitable share, the property shall be sold, and the proceeds equitably distributed according to the formula in the previous paragraph. Exceptions to this requirement will be conservatively granted by ARIS upon written assurances that:

Federal law mandates that sharing in joint investigations reflects the degree of direct participation of the requesting agency in the law enforcement effort resulting in the forfeiture. Normally, this is determined by comparing the number of investigative hours expended by the requesting agencies. The hours worked include all hours worked by investigators or professional analysts and technicians through the completion of the forfeiture directly attributed to the forfeiture action. Support staff time may not be used in an agency's determination of investigative hours. The final determination of sharing percentages will not be done until after the property has been forfeited and all of the participating agency's total contributions to the seizure/forfeiture have been determined.

The following additional factors will be considered where the hours devoted do not adequately reflect the degree of participation of the requesting agency:

For examples of situations that may apply to the questions listed above, refer to the EQSH Guide.

Many task forces involving federal, state, and local law enforcement have pre-agreed equitable sharing arrangements based upon relative numbers of personnel and other contributions to the task force operation. These pre-agreed percentages will be honored when:

Refer to the EQSH Guide for more information regarding a formal chartered task force, multi-agency cases, and task force agreements.

Sharing in adoptive seizures is prohibited.

The authority to approve equitable sharing of assets forfeited in a single forfeiture proceeding where the appraised value of the assets is less than $1,000,000 has been delegated to the Director, ARIS. Exceptions are those involving foreign sharing windfall situations or the transfer of real property, which requires approval from the Director, TEOAF.

Where the forfeited assets are valued at $1,000,000 or more, and in all cases involving the transfer of real property, the Director, TEOAF, must approve the amount of the equitable share.

The Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) will be offered the opportunity for input before final sharing decisions are made when the forfeiture is a civil judicial or criminal forfeiture.

All forfeiture cases involving foreign equitable sharing requests must be approved by the Director, TEOAF, and the Department of State.

It is the responsibility of IRS-CI to file a request for an equitable share of forfeited property when IRS-CI participated in investigations with DOJ LEA.

Reverse asset sharing requests must be submitted to the DOJ seizing agency within 45 calendar days of the forfeiture on eShare. The 45-day rule can only be waived upon a request. The waiver request must be submitted via the electronic FCF to the DOJ seizing agency, stating the reasons for the late submission of the request and/or providing justification for the waiver. Failure to adhere to these rules may result in delayed or lost shares to the TFF.

The SAC must approve seizure investigative activities in CIMIS for any investigation where IRS-CI participates in the seizure and forfeiture with a DOJ LEA. A pdf copy of the FCF, containing the information must be signed by the SAC and maintained in the field office’s files. All RASR’s must be submitted in eShare and simultaneously recorded in the Asset Forfeiture Tracking and Retrieval System (AFTRAK). See IRM 9.7.5, Forms, Processing, and Documentation.

The AFC should use AFTRAK to monitor open reverse asset sharing requests. It is the responsibility of the AFC to obtain status updates by contacting the seizing agency. Status updates can also be found by checking on eShare.

If IRS-CI is denied the ability to apply for equitable sharing by a DOJ LEA or fails to receive an equitable share in return for their participation, the responsible Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) or SAC is encouraged to attempt resolution at the field office level. If resolution cannot be achieved, the issue should be forwarded to ARIS for resolution at the TEOAF and/or DOJ level.

Tangible property received from a federal agency through reverse asset sharing may be placed into official use in accordance with IRS-CI guidelines. Forfeited cash and proceeds from the sale of forfeited property must be deposited to the TFF.

RASR payments are disbursed using the Intra-Governmental Payment and Collection System (IPAC). For payments disbursed via a check, the check must be immediately sent to ARIS with a completed TEOAF Form #6, found on the ARIS SharePoint site. See Exhibit 9.7.9-4, TEOAF Form #6, Deposit Information.