U. S. attorney collects record $3B in forfeitures

$3B in forfeitures

in criminal cases in '12

The U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District, which has jurisdiction over Manhattan, in 2012 collected nearly $3 billion in forfeiture funds from criminal cases -- an amount equal to 68 percent of such seizures nationwide, the office said yesterday.

The federal prosecutor last year also collected another $526.7 million in civil actions, and $76.8 million in restitution, criminal fines and special assessments.

The 2012 forfeitures represent "the largest amount collected in a given year by any office since the United States' asset forfeiture funds were established in the 1980s," Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for Manhattan, said in a statement.

The office collected more than $2.2 billion in funds related to the Madoff investment fraud, most of it in clawbacks from the estate of one of Madoff's major investors, Jeffry Picower, and the remainder from another Madoff investor, Carl Shapiro.

"Monies collected by the office in connection with the Madoff cases will be distributed to victims in accordance with the Department of Justice remission process . . . and we expect the victim claims process to begin shortly," Bharara's office said.

---- JOSEPH MALLIA

Cops: 1 of 2 nabbed

in harassment cases

Police nabbed one of two men yesterday who they say sexually harassed female straphangers in Queens.

Andres Lara, 25, of Corona, was charged with forcible touching for an incident that took place at the Queensboro Plaza No. 7 train stop Wednesday morning.

Lara allegedly grabbed a 27-year-old subway rider's buttocks and fled the station, but not before the victim snapped a picture of him on her cellphone.

At the same time on Wednesday, at the 71st Avenue station in Forest Hills, police say Dimitrius Senior, 48, exposed himself to an E train rider before fleeing.

Senior, who is described as 5 feet 11 inches tall and 185 pounds, was still on the loose last night, police said.

Man gets 7 years

for gun on subway

A Brooklyn man was sentenced to 7 years behind bars yesterday for carrying a loaded weapon onto the subway.

Rahmeek Younger, 23, pleaded guilty Dec. 6 to criminal possession of a weapon for taking a .38-caliber revolver onto the C train last April, and he was sentenced yesterday in Manhattan Criminal Court.

Cops nabbed Younger after seeing a bulge in his jacket pocket while he was riding a southbound C train. When the train stopped at Canal Street, the officers removed Younger from the train and tried to question him, after which he pushed them away, according to officials.

Younger then tried to run from the officers, officials said, but they apprehended him and found the loaded gun inside his jacket.Albanese says he's running for mayor

Former New York City Councilman Sal Albanese is running for mayor.

The Democrat said yesterday that he's filed his official paperwork.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg ends his third term at the end of the year. He's a Democrat-turned-Republican-turnedindependent.

Several Democratic veterans of city politics are expected to run in the September primary.

They include City Comptroller John Liu; Public Advocate Bill de Blasio; council Speaker Christine Quinn; and former Comptroller Bill Thompson.

Last month, Republican Joseph Lhota said he's resigning his post as MTA chairman to explore running for mayor.

Former Bronx Borough president Adolfo Carrion recently left the Democratic Party to become unaffiliated. He might run as an independent on the Republican and Independence Party lines.

Compiled with

wire service reports