The former president of Sea Star Line LLC, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based water freight carrier, was sentenced to serve five years in prison and to pay a $25,000 criminal fine for his participation in a conspiracy to fix rates and surcharges for freight transported by water between the continental United States and Puerto Rico.

The Justice Department announced today that Northrop Grumman Corp. has paid the United States $11.4 million to settle a government claim for penalties provided under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and False Claims Act allegations stemming from its failure to abide by a 2002 settlement agreement with the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA).

Thomas Windell Smith, 24, of Dothan, Ala., turned himself in and pleaded guilty in federal court on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013, to one count of conspiring to violate housing rights, the Justice Department announced today.

Bilfinger SE, an international engineering and services company based in Mannheim, Germany, has agreed to pay a $32 million penalty to resolve charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by bribing government officials of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to obtain and retain contracts

The Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today that John T. Hoang, of Woodbridge, Va., was sentenced in federal district court in Washington, D.C., for willfully aiding and assisting in the preparation of false income tax returns for the 2004 tax year.

A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison for his role in a scheme to hack into computer networks and sell access to those networks.

The Tax Division of the Department of Justice today strongly encouraged Swiss banks that want to seek non-prosecution agreements to resolve past cross-border criminal tax violations to submit letters of intent by the Dec. 31, 2013 deadline required by the Program for Non-Prosecution Agreements or Non-Target Letters for Swiss Banks.

One of the world’s most prolific cybercriminals was sentenced today to serve 18 years in prison for his role in co-founding the notorious website CarderPlanet. At the time of his arrest, Vega possessed more than half a million stolen credit card numbers

The Department of Justice announced today that it will require Gannett Co. Inc., Belo Corp. and Sander Media LLC to divest their interests in KMOV‑TV, a CBS affiliate in St. Louis, in order to proceed with Gannett’s acquisition of Belo, and Sander’s related acquisition of six Belo television stations that Gannett cannot hold under Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules.

A former repair contractor of a Florida property management company was sentenced to serve time in prison for his participation in a wire fraud scheme related to housing repairs made under a contract between Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Today, we announce significant developments in a securities fraud investigation involving the large-scale theft of client funds by a global brokerage and trading firm.

Zhifei Li, the owner of an antique business in China, pleaded guilty today to being the organizer of an illegal wildlife smuggling conspiracy in which 30 rhinoceros horns and numerous objects made from rhino horn and elephant ivory worth more than $4.5 million were smuggled from the United States to China.

The Justice Department announced today that Fort Davis State Bank, based in Fort Davis, Texas, will implement uniform pricing policies, conduct employee training and pay $159,000 as part of a settlement to resolve allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination on the basis of national origin.

The Justice Department announced today that the United States and a coalition of mental health advocacy organizations have entered into a comprehensive settlement agreement with the state of New Hampshire that will transform New Hampshire’s mental health system by significantly expanding and enhancing mental health service capacity in integrated community settings.

The Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today announced the federal government’s largest auto loan discrimination settlement in history to resolve allegations that Detroit-based Ally Financial Inc. and Ally Bank have engaged in an ongoing nationwide pattern or practice of discrimination against African-American, Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander borrowers in their auto lending since April 1, 2011.

The Justice Department secured $3.8 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving fraud against the government in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2013.

A subsidiary of Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) pleaded guilty today and has agreed to pay more than $17 million in criminal fines to resolve charges that it paid bribes through vendors to Ukrainian government officials.

An Ohio attorney and lobbyist pleaded guilty today for his role in a bribery and money laundering scheme involving the Ohio Treasurer’s Office.

The Justice Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a consent order today to resolve allegations that National City Bank engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination that increased loan prices for African-American and Hispanic borrowers who obtained residential mortgages between 2002 and 2008 from National City Bank’s retail offices and nationwide network of mortgage brokers.

The former Ohio deputy treasurer pleaded guilty today for his role in leading a bribery and money laundering scheme involving the Ohio Treasurer’s Office.

A 63-count superseding indictment charging Chatonda Khofi, Ishmael Kosh, Amadou Sangaray and Francis Saygbay in a conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was unsealed on Monday, December 23, in Minneapolis, Minn.

Abbott Laboratories has agreed to pay the United States $5.475 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to induce doctors to implant the company’s carotid, biliary and peripheral vascular products, the Justice Department announced today.

The Department of Justice today announced that it will require Heraeus Electro-Nite LLC to divest certain assets that it acquired from Midwest Instrument Company Inc. (Minco) to Keystone Sensors LLC in order to resolve the department’s competitive concerns.

The Department of Justice today announced it is proposing a regulation that will clarify who, due to mental health reasons, is prohibited under federal law from receiving, possessing, shipping or transporting firearms. In addition to providing general guidance on the federal law, this clarification will help states determine what information may be appropriately shared with the federal background check system for firearms transfers – the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) – in order to keep guns out of the hands of individuals who may be a danger to themselves or others.

A Dallas-based group of companies and their owner must either stop importing vehicles or follow a comprehensive compliance plan to settle Clean Air Act (CAA) violations stemming from the alleged illegal import of over 24,167 highway motorcycles and recreational vehicles into the United States without proper documentation.

A Florida-based physician, Dr. Ravi Sharma, has agreed to pay $400,000 to resolve allegations that he and his clinics violated the False Claims Act by knowingly billing Medicare for vein injections and physician office visits performed by unqualified personnel.

ArthroCare Corporation, a medical device manufacturer based in Austin, Texas, and that trades on the NASDAQ stock exchange, has agreed to pay a $30 million monetary penalty to resolve charges that senior executives at the company engaged in a securities fraud scheme that resulted in more than $400 million in shareholder losses.

Christopher W. Loncarich, 55, of Mack, Colo., and Nicholaus J. Rodgers, 30, of Medford, Or., were charged yesterday in the District of Colorado with conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act.

A Florida man was sentenced to serve 15 months in prison, and his wife was sentenced to 24 months of probation, for their roles in a bribery and fraud scheme.

The Justice Department announced today that it has closed its investigation of State Correctional Institution – Pittsburgh after the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PDOC) significantly improved security policies and practices at the prison and throughout the Pennsylvania prison system.

CareFusion Corp. has agreed to pay the government $40.1 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks and promoting its products for uses that were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

"We are pleased that the court, after carefully weighing all of the evidence, agreed with the Justice Department that Bazaarvoice’s acquisition of PowerReviews was likely to extinguish price competition and substantially diminish the pace of innovation in the market for product ratings and reviews platforms," said Assistant Attorney General Baer.

The government has intervened in eight False Claims Act lawsuits against Health Management Associates Inc. (HMA) alleging that HMA billed federal health care programs for medically unnecessary inpatient admissions from the emergency departments at HMA hospitals and paid remuneration to physicians in exchange for patient referrals.

Koito Manufacturing Co. Ltd., a Tokyo-based company, has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a total of $56.6 million in criminal fines for its roles in separate price-fixing conspiracies involving automobile lighting fixtures and lamp ballasts installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere.

A former sergeant of the Portsmouth Sheriff’s Office (PSO) was sentenced to serve 15 months in prison today for accepting bribes in exchange for favors and referrals. Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia made the announcement.

Contract therapy providers RehabCare Group Inc., RehabCare Group East Inc. and Rehab Systems of Missouri and management company Health Systems Inc. have agreed to pay $30 million to resolve claims that they violated the False Claims Act by engaging in a kickback scheme related to the referral of nursing home business, the Justice Department announced today.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday urged Congress to pass the bipartisan Smarter Sentencing Act, introduced by Senators Dick Durbin and Mike Lee.

The Justice Department announced today that General Electric Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC (GE Hitachi) has agreed to pay $2.7 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that it made false statements and claims to the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) concerning an advanced nuclear reactor design.

The government has filed a complaint against Kellogg, Brown &s contract with the Army to provide logistical support in Iraq.

The Boeing Company, General Dynamics Corporation, and the United States have formally asked the United States Court of Federal Claims to dismiss, as part of a settlement, their 23-year old dispute involving the Department of the Navy's 1991 default termination of a $4.8 billion contract awarded to Boeing's predecessor, McDonnell Douglas Corporation, and General Dynamics, to develop the A-12 carrier-based stealth aircraft.

The Justice Department reached an agreement today with SD Staffing LLC (SD Staffing), aka Atwork Personnel Services Inc., a company based in Methuen, Mass., resolving claims that the staffing company engaged in citizenship status discrimination in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels for the Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Tammy Dickinson for the Western District of Missouri announced that a man and a woman, both from Independence, Mo., were sentenced in federal court today for violating the civil rights of an African-American family by setting fire to their residence.

Four individuals have been charged in the Northern District of Georgia for their alleged roles in piracy groups engaged in the illegal distribution of copies of copyrighted Android mobile device applications, or “apps.”

The Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service announced that John Cote, formerly of Danielson, Conn., was convicted today of four counts of tax evasion along with conspiracy to defraud the IRS following a jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.

A former Puerto Rico Department of Corrections officer was sentenced today to serve 811 months in prison for his role in providing armed security for three drug transactions.

The recent revelations about the massive thefts of financial information from large retail stores have served as a stark reminder to all of us about how vulnerable we are to cyber criminals who are determined to steal our personal information.

Saint Joseph Health System Inc. has agreed to pay $16.5 million to resolve allegations that Saint Joseph Hospital violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to the Medicare and Kentucky Medicaid programs for a variety of medically unnecessary cardiac procedures, the Justice Department announced today.

A Utah man was sentenced to serve 24 months in prison for his role in a bribery and fraud scheme involving federal procurement contracts, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney David B. Barlow of the District of Utah.

"Why is health care enforcement so important? A major reason is the importance of the health care industry itself. From compliance officers to physicians, from corporate executives to nurses and researchers, you contribute to producing the drugs and medical devices on which we and our loved ones rely. Your efforts help to ensure that, when we are sick, the medicines we take will heal us effectively; that when we are in pain, we can obtain relief safely," said Assistant Attorney General Delery

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached an agreement with the city of Waterloo, Iowa, resolving allegations that the city violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).