25 U.S.C. § 201 — Penalties; how recovered

This section covers penalties that come due under title 28 of the Revised Statutes — an older federal law. Anyone who owes such a penalty must be sued for it, and the money recovered, through a lawsuit that works like a debt collection case, brought in the name of the United States. This lawsuit can be filed in any court that has jurisdiction, in whatever state or territory the defendant is arrested or found. Normally, half of the money recovered goes to the "informer" — the person who reported the violation — and the other half goes to the United States. There is an exception: if the case was started by the United States itself, rather than by a private informer, then the United States keeps the entire amount.