Justice Department says it collected nearly $25B in penalties, debts in fiscal year 2014

The Justice Department says it collected $24.7 billion in settlements and penalties in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that the amount includes both criminal penalties and civil settlements and is more than three times the $8 billion collected in the previous year, fiscal 2013.

The total includes proceeds that were actually recovered in fiscal year 2014, even if the cases that yielded the money had been legally settled in prior years.

It also includes civil debts collected on behalf of other federal agencies, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Justice Department says civil penalties paid by banks to resolve investigations arising from the mortgage crisis accounted for the largest single source of collection.