Giant bank fines helped the US Department of Justice triple its income from the charges this year, officials revealed last night.The DoJ is just one of several major finance regulators, and its total haul of fines for the financial year ending 30 September came in at a record $24bn (£15.3bn) – up from $8bn on the previous year.Of that total, $13.7bn went straight to the DoJ, while the remainder was shared between other regulators, states and others, such as victims being compensated.It was led by a $13bn settlement with JP Morgan, as well as a $7bn deal with Citi, both over mortgage sales before the financial crisis. The DoJ works with a budget of $2.9bn.“Every day the Justice Depart­ment’s federal prosecutors and trial attorneys work hard to protect our citizens, to safeguard precious taxpayer resources and to provide a valuable return on investment to the American people,” said attorney general Eric Holder.