## Facts

- BCCI operated a worldwide banking enterprise with hundreds of branches across dozens of countries and maintained a deliberately limited official presence in the United States.
- U.S. authorities alleged BCCI engaged in racketeering-related conduct, including concealment and regulatory deception tied to a U.S. bank acquisition, large-scale fraud, and money laundering.
- In July 1991, regulators in multiple countries seized and shut down BCCI operations amid evidence of insolvency and criminal activity.
- The United States prosecuted the BCCI corporate entities and pursued criminal forfeiture under RICO targeting U.S.-based assets; the defendants entered guilty pleas and the court issued multiple forfeiture orders over time.
- Courts in Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands appointed fiduciaries to marshal BCCI’s global assets and distribute recoveries to depositors and creditors through liquidation proceedings.
- The U.S. forfeiture process recovered more than $1.2 billion in U.S. assets, with most funds forwarded for distribution to victims through the broader liquidation framework.
- By the time of the final order, the fiduciaries had distributed roughly $4 billion worldwide to innocent depositors and creditors and had paid approximately 46% on admitted claims, with additional distributions anticipated.
- After years of litigation, including disputes over third-party interests in forfeited property and coordination with foreign liquidation, the district court moved to conclude the U.S. forfeiture proceeding.

## Issues

1. Whether the court should enter a final order of criminal forfeiture under RICO and terminate the long-running forfeiture proceeding.
2. Whether the forfeiture distribution approach—coordinated with international liquidation and aimed at compensating victims—was consistent with the purposes and requirements of criminal forfeiture in light of competing stakeholder interests.

## Decision

- The court entered a Final Order of Forfeiture and terminated the criminal case and related forfeiture proceeding against the BCCI corporate defendants.
- The court found the principal objectives of RICO forfeiture had been achieved through conviction, recovery of substantial U.S. assets, and distribution of funds largely toward victim compensation within a coordinated global liquidation process.
- The court concluded there was no remaining legal or equitable reason to delay finality and continued supervision would not materially advance forfeiture’s statutory purposes.

## Legal Principles

- Criminal forfeiture under RICO serves remedial and punitive purposes, including divesting a racketeering enterprise of property connected to its criminal activity and directing recoveries toward remediation of harm where appropriate.
- When forfeiture’s objectives have been satisfied and distribution mechanisms are in place to compensate victims (including through coordinated liquidation proceedings), a district court may enter a final forfeiture order and close the forfeiture docket.
- Third-party efforts to obtain forfeited assets outside the statutory forfeiture framework may be limited; unresolved creditor-distribution disputes generally belong in the liquidation process rather than perpetuating an open-ended criminal forfeiture proceeding.

## Conclusion

The district court concluded the RICO forfeiture program against the BCCI corporate defendants had accomplished its intended aims—substantial recovery of U.S. assets and victim-focused distribution coordinated with global liquidation—and entered a final forfeiture order to end the criminal case and related forfeiture proceedings.


United States v. BCCI Holdings (Lux.), S.A., 69 F. Supp. 2d 36 (D.D.C. 1999)