28 U.S.C. § 2467 — Enforcement of foreign judgment

(a) Definitions.—This section defines two terms.

(1) “Foreign nation” means either a country that is a party to the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (called the “United Nations Convention” in this section), or a foreign jurisdiction that has a treaty or another formal international agreement with the United States that is in effect and provides for mutual help with forfeitures.

(2) “Forfeiture or confiscation judgment” means a final order from a foreign nation that requires a person or entity to do one of the following:

(A) Pay money representing the proceeds of: an offense described in Article 3, Paragraph 1, of the United Nations Convention; a violation of foreign law that would be a violation or offense for which property could be forfeited under Federal law if it happened in the United States; or a foreign offense described in section 1956(c)(7)(B) of title 18. It also includes an order requiring payment of the value of property that corresponds to those proceeds.

(B) Forfeit property that was involved in, or can be traced to, the commission of such an offense.

(b) Review by Attorney General.—

(1) In general.—A foreign nation that wants a United States district court^* to register and enforce one of these judgments must first send a request to the Attorney General or the Attorney General’s designee. The request must include:

(A) a summary of the case’s facts and a description of the proceedings that led to the judgment;

(B) a certified copy of the judgment;

(C) an affidavit or sworn declaration showing that the foreign nation took steps consistent with due process to notify every person with an interest in the property about the proceedings early enough for that person to defend against the charges, and showing that the judgment is in force and cannot be appealed; and

(D) any other information and evidence that the Attorney General or the Attorney General’s designee requires.

(2) Certification of request.—The Attorney General or the designee must decide whether certifying the request would be in the interest of justice. That decision is final. No court may review it, and it is not reviewable under subchapter II of chapter 5 or chapter 7 of title 5, commonly called the “Administrative Procedure Act.”

(c) Jurisdiction and venue.—

(1) In general.—If the Attorney General or the designee certifies the request, the United States may file an application in a United States district^* court on behalf of the foreign nation. The application may ask the court to enforce the foreign forfeiture or confiscation judgment as though a United States court had entered it.

(2) Proceedings.—In a proceeding filed under paragraph (1):

(A) the United States is the applicant. The defendant, or another person or entity affected by the judgment, is the respondent;

(B) the case may be filed in the District Court for the District of Columbia, or in any other district where the defendant or property that could be used to satisfy a judgment under this section may be found; and

(C) the district court has personal jurisdiction over a defendant who lives outside the United States if the defendant is served with process under Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

(d) Entry and enforcement of judgment.—

(1) In general.—The district court must enter the orders needed to enforce the judgment on behalf of the foreign nation unless it finds one of these exceptions:

(A) the judgment came from a system whose tribunals or procedures do not meet the requirements of due process of law;

(B) the foreign court did not have personal jurisdiction over the defendant;

(C) the foreign court did not have jurisdiction over the subject matter;

(D) the foreign nation did not take steps consistent with due process to notify a person with an interest in the property about the proceedings early enough for that person to defend; or

(E) the judgment was obtained by fraud.

(2) Process.—The process used to enforce a judgment under this section must follow Rule 69(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

(3) Preservation of property.—

(A) Restraining orders.—

(i) In general.—To keep property available for civil or criminal forfeiture under foreign law, the Government may apply for a restraining order, and the court may issue one, at any time before or after a foreign nation begins forfeiture proceedings.

(ii) Procedures.—

(I) In general.—A restraining order under this subparagraph must be issued in a way consistent with subparagraphs (A), (C), and (E) of paragraph (1), as well as the procedural due-process protections for a restraining order under section 983(j) of title 18.

(II) Application.—When applying section 983(j):

(aa) references in that section to civil forfeiture or filing a complaint are treated as references to the applicable foreign criminal or forfeiture proceedings; and

(bb) the reference in section 983(j)(1)(B)(i) to the United States is treated as a reference to the foreign nation.

(B) Evidence.—When issuing a restraining order under subparagraph (A), the court may do either of the following:

(i) rely on information in an affidavit that describes the proceeding or investigation taking place in the foreign country and gives a reasonable basis for believing that the property to be restrained will be named in a forfeiture judgment when that proceeding ends; or

(ii) register and enforce a restraining order issued by a court with proper jurisdiction in the foreign country if the Attorney General certified it under subsection (b)(2).

(C) Limit on grounds for objection.—A person may not object to a restraining order under subparagraph (A) on a ground that is the subject of parallel litigation about the same property that is pending in a foreign court.

(e) Finality of foreign findings.—When entering orders to enforce the judgment, the court must accept the foreign court’s findings of fact to the extent the foreign forfeiture or confiscation judgment states those findings.

(f) Currency conversion.—To calculate the amount stated in a forfeiture or confiscation judgment that requires payment of money and is submitted for registration, the court must use the exchange rate in effect when the suit to enforce the judgment is filed by the foreign nation.

This section does not define the terms “due process,” “personal jurisdiction,” “jurisdiction over the subject matter,” “fraud,” “restraining order,” “process,” “parallel litigation,” “findings of fact,” or “rate of exchange.”