oversight in the asset valuation and disposition process caused an Assistant
U.S.Attorney (AUSA) from the Southern District of New York to lose
confidence in the Complex Asset Team’sability to sell two assets derived
from the Bernard Madoff criminal case.
3
To ensure transparency and
oversight in asset disposal and valuation functions, these duties should be
segregated so that appropriate asset valuation and solicitation procedures
are not compromised for the sakeof an expedient sale.
Given the deficiencies our audit identified in Complex Asset Team
operations, we reviewed the Asset Forfeiture Division’s overall management
of the Team. We found that Briskman’sdirect supervisor, Assistant Director
of the Asset Forfeiture Division EbenMorales, did not implement formal
approval structures for decisions involving complex assets, which afforded
Briskman the final authority to make significant asset decisions with little or
no oversight.
We also determined that Complex Asset Team decisions and
operations – specifically those regarding assets restrained instead of
formally seized – were not subject to internal or external reviews. Although
Morales told us he was aware of this oversight deficiency, he had not
addressed it at the time of our audit.
Additionally, we found that the limited staff and resources of the
Complex Asset Team were disproportionate to its responsibilities. From
2005 to 2009, the number of staff varied between two and four individuals.
Although Morales took steps to increase accounting and valuation expertise
within the Asset Forfeiture Division at-large by requesting and hiring
additional employees and contractors,including 14 forfeiture financial
specialist contractors beginning in 2009, these efforts were primarily
designed to ensure financial compliance in USMS district offices rather than
to improve the capabilities of the Complex Asset Team. Further, because
complex assets require legal counsel, the burden of identifying legal issues
fell upon the Complex Asset Team without any proactive review by the USMS
Office of General Counsel.
In our report, we make 20 recommendations to assist the USMS and
Justice Management Division (JMD) in improving Asset Forfeiture Division
operations with specific attention to ensuring the transparency of Complex
Asset Team operations.