Yes, business owners can file a fraud remission claim when the business itself lost money to the crime behind the forfeiture. Remission is the federal process that returns forfeited funds to qualifying victims.
Eligibility turns on the business loss, not the owner personal loss. The business must link a specific dollar loss to the offense and show it has not recovered elsewhere. Case rules can add tighter limits.
Official resources:
- Check eligibility on Forfeiture’s official study page — Use this page to check the study’s participation requirements.
- Check eligibility on Justice’s official study page — Use this page to check the study’s participation requirements.
Table of Contents
- Who counts as a victim?
- What loss must the business prove?
- Where do you file?
- When do case programs narrow eligibility?
- How should a business prepare its petition?
Who counts as a victim?
Federal rules define person to include a corporation, partnership, or other legal entity that can own property. The Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute publishes that definition in its text of 28 CFR § 9.2. That means a shop, contractor, or small corporation can petition if company funds were taken.
DOJ Forfeiture.gov defines a victim as a person with direct money loss from the underlying offense. For a business owner, the loss must belong to the business. File in the name that suffered the loss.
What loss must the business prove?
The business must prove a specific dollar loss directly caused by the offense. FindLaw notes that proof needs documents such as invoices and receipts in its summary of 28 CFR § 9.8. That summary is current as of Jan.
2, 2025. The Justice Department also requires the victim to show clean hands and no double recovery. That means no knowing part in the offense, no benefit from it, and no willful blindness. It also means no prior payment and no other ready recourse, as the Justice Department's Terraform Labs victim page explains.
Where do you file?
Victims without a superior ownership claim use the victim remission track under 28 CFR § 9.8. FindLaw's restatement says they file with the deciding official for the administrative or judicial forfeiture.
A victim may also petition as an owner at the same time. Owner-victim claims receive priority. For example, a retailer defrauded of inventory would file as a victim, while a lender with title to seized property would assert ownership too.
When do case programs narrow eligibility?
A general right to petition does not guarantee payment in a specific case. Programs can limit who qualifies, what transfers count, and when petitions are due. The Justice Department's Office of Public Affairs describes one such limit for Western Union Phase Three in its Phase Three compensation announcement. It covers only fraud victims who sent a Western Union transfer from Jan.
1, 2004 through Mar. 9, 2020, with petitions due Dec. 31. A business that paid by another method would fall outside that program.
How should a business prepare its petition?
Put the petition in the exact name that suffered the loss. Match the petitioner name to bank and contract records.
DOJ Forfeiture.gov points petitioners to the case-specific process rather than general eligibility. Gather these items before you file: Use the case portal listed in the case notice and keep copies of every upload.
- transfer records showing date, amount, and recipient
- contracts, invoices, and receipts tying payment to the fraud
- proof you have not been repaid and lack other recourse
- case administrator or portal instructions for that forfeiture