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Employee and Contractor of Florida Property Management Company Plead Guilty to Wire Fraud

A former residential sales manager and a former contractor at a Florida property management company pleaded guilty today to wire fraud in connection with housing repair contracts for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.



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Former Executive of Miami-Based Ocean Bank Pleads Guilty to Participating in Bribery Scheme and to Filing False Tax Returns

A former executive of Miami-based Ocean Bank pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Miami to participating in a scheme to accept bribes and to failing to report the income on federal income tax returns.



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Six Charged in Scheme to Use Identities of Deceased People to Get Tax Refunds

A 10-count indictment was unsealed today charging six people with various offenses related to a scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of at least $1.7 million in fraudulently obtained tax returns, often filed in the names of recently deceased taxpayers, the Justice Department and IRS announced today.



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Massachusetts Financial Advisor Convicted of Tax Crimes and Contempt

A jury convicted Attleboro, Mass., licensed stockbroker, insurance agent and financial advisor Kevin P. Mahoney today on tax and contempt of court charges, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.



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Two Shipping Corporations Plead Guilty and Are Sentenced in Maryland for Obstruction of Justice and Environmental Crimes

Two corporations pleaded guilty today in separate hearings in Baltimore for their role in managing and owning a ship engaged in deliberate discharges of waste oil and plastic garbage.



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Justice Department Obtains Comprehensive ADA Agreement Regarding the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Developmental Disabilities System

The Justice Department today announced that it has entered into a comprehensive settlement agreement that will transform the Commonwealth of Virginia’s system for serving people with developmental disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, and will resolve violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.



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Former Prince George’s County, Maryland, Detention Officer Indicted for Death of Ronnie White

The Justice Department announced today that a federal grand jury in Greenbelt, Md., has indicted Anthony McIntosh, 48, a former corrections officer at the Prince George’s County Detention Center, in Upper Marlboro, Md., on three charges related to the in-custody death of a pretrial detainee, Ronnie White, on June 29, 2008, and McIntosh’s subsequent attempts to cover-up his involvement in White’s death.



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American Samoa Department of Education Official Convicted by Federal Jury in District of Columbia of Witness Tampering and Obstruction of Justice

The director of the school lunch program for the government of the U.S. Territory of American Samoa was convicted today in relation to his efforts to obstruct a federal grand jury and law enforcement investigation into a bribery scheme.



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Owner and Employee of Miami Home Health Company Plead Guilty in $22 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme

The owner and an employee of a Miami health care agency pleaded guilty for their participation in a $22 million home health Medicare fraud scheme.



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Attorney General Holder Speaks at the National Officer Safety and Wellness Group Meeting

"This marks the third time that this extraordinary group of leaders, researchers, front-line practitioners, and federal partners has come together to exchange insights, to share expertise, and to strengthen the essential work that has become not just our shared priority – but our common cause," said Attorney General Holder.




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U.S. Attorney General Holder, State and Federal Officials Announce Collaboration to Investigate Residential Mortgage-backed Securities Market

At the direction of the President, this Working Group brings together the Department of Justice (DOJ), several state attorneys general and other federal entities to investigate those responsible for misconduct contributing to the financial crisis through the pooling and sale of residential mortgage-backed securities.



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Former Owner of Florida-Based Airline Services Company Sentenced to Prison for Conspiring to Defraud Illinois-Based Ryan International Airlines

A former owner and operator of a Florida-based airline services company was sentenced today to serve 24 months in prison and to pay restitution for conspiring to commit wire fraud and honest services fraud in a kickback scheme to defraud Ryan International Airlines.



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Arkansas Man Sentenced for His Role in the Firebombing of Interracial Couple’s Home

Barnwell, 37, of Evening Shade, Ark., was sentenced in Little Rock, Ark., for his involvement in firebombing the residence of an interracial couple.



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Attorney General Holder Speaks at the Announcement of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force’s New Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group

"I am confident that this new effort will improve our ability to ensure justice for victims; help restore faith in our financial markets and institutions; and allow us to answer the call that President Obama issued earlier this week, in his State of the Union address," said Attorney General Holder.




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Justice Department Settles Case Against One of Nation’s Largest Debt Buyers

Asset Acceptance LLC, a Michigan-based debt buyer, has agreed to a consent decree to settle a civil lawsuit regarding its debt collection activities.



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Memphis Man Sentenced for Interstate Transportation for Purpose of Prostitution in Connection with Sex Trafficking Scheme

Charles Kizer, 53, from Memphis, Tenn., was sentenced late Friday by U.S. District Judge Samuel H. Mays, Jr. to 10 years in prison for violating the Mann Act.



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Three Men and Company Convicted of Conspiracy to Violate the Clean Air Act During Demolition of Tennessee Factory

Three men and a demolition company were convicted by a federal jury in Chattanooga, Tenn., of environmental crimes and obstruction of justice charges related to the illegal demolition of a Chattanooga factory containing large amounts of the toxic air pollutant asbestos.



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Former Suburban Massage Parlor Operator Convicted of Human Trafficking of Four Women in Illinois

A federal jury today convicted Alex Campbell, 45, a northwest Chicago suburban massage parlor owner, of various federal crimes including sex-trafficking, forced labor, harboring illegal aliens, confiscating passports to further forced labor and extortion involving four foreign women whom he mentally and physically abused while forcing them to work for him between July 2008 and January 2010.



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South Florida Corrections Officers Sentenced on Federal Civil Rights and Obstruction Charges

Two corrections officers were sentenced to prison today for civil rights and obstruction charges stemming from prisoner abuse that took place at the South Florida Reception Center (SFRC), a state prison in Doral, Fla.



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Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez Speaks at the National Association of Secretaries of State 2012 Conference

"Whether ensuring that our military voters and civilians serving overseas have the right to register and vote absentee, ensuring individuals are not denied the franchise because of their race or the language they speak, or ensuring that covered states are following federal requirements for providing opportunities to register to vote at designated offices and administering voter lists, our work to protect voting rights is among our most important," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.




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Justice Department Celebrates 25th Anniversary of False Claims Act Amendments of 1986

The Justice Department today celebrated the 25th anniversary of the 1986 amendments to the False Claims Act. The False Claims Act has been called the single most important tool that American taxpayers have to recover funds when false claims are made to the federal government, including health care fraud, mortgage fraud, and procurement fraud.



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Alabama Man Pleads Guilty to Production of Child Pornography

Michael Wayne Wooten, 60, of Alabaster, Ala., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Inge P. Johnson in the Northern District of Alabama.



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Assistant Attorney General Laurie Robinson Speaks at the International Conference of Community Courts

"And I want to thank all of you for your commitment to the ideals and principles represented by community courts. These principles – engaging the community, addressing offender behaviors, reducing crime, and ensuring fairness – these have become cardinal tenets of an effective system of justice," said Assistant Attorney General Robinson.




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Attorney General Eric Holder Speaks at the 25th Anniversary of the False Claims Act Amendments of 1986

"For nearly 150 years – since its initial passage during the Lincoln Administration – the False Claims Act has provided ordinary Americans with essential tools to combat fraud, to help recover damages, and to bring accountability to those who would take advantage of the United States government – and of American taxpayers," said Attorney General Holder.




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Assistant Attorney General Tony West Speaks at the 25th Anniversary of the False Claims Act Amendments of 1986

"Our primary weapon for deterring and redressing fraud is the False Claims Act, which makes it illegal to submit fraudulent claims to the government," said Assistant Attorney General West.




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Department of Justice Reaches Settlement with Mercer County School District in West Virginia to Ensure Equal Opportunities for ELL Students

The three-year settlement agreement will ensure that this rural district takes appropriate action to serve its small but growing and widely dispersed ELL population.



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Principal of Offshore Brokerage Firm and Las Vegas Stock Promoter Convicted in Miami for $7 Million Stock Manipulation Scam

Jonathan Curshen, 47, the principal of Red Sea Management and Sentry Global Securities, two companies located in San Jose, Costa Rica, that provided offshore accounts and facilitated trading in penny stocks, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud; two counts of mail fraud; and conspiracy to commit international money laundering.



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Missouri Woman Pleads Guilty for Role in the Vandalism and Arson of a Mobile Home

Teresa Witthar, 43, of Independence, Mo., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Kansas City to federal hate crime charges in connection with the vandalism and arson of a bi-racial man’s mobile home in 2006.



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Justice Department Announces Luke J. McCormack as New Chief Information Officer

The Department of Justice today announced that Luke J. McCormack will become its new chief information officer (CIO), arriving in late March.



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California Seafood Corporation Sentenced to Pay $1 Million for False Labeling of Seafood Products

Seafood Solutions Inc., a California corporation, was sentenced in federal court in Los Angeles today to pay $1 million in fines and community service payments for its role in the false labeling of frozen fish fillets.



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Dover Chemical Corporation in Ohio to Pay $1.4 Million for Unauthorized Production of Chemical Substances

Dover Chemical Corporation has agreed to pay $1.4 million in civil penalties for the unauthorized manufacture of chemical substances at facilities in Dover, Ohio, and Hammond, Ind.



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U.S. and Chinese Defendants Charged with Economic Espionage and Theft of Trade Secrets in Connection with Conspiracy to Sell Trade Secrets to Chinese Companies

A federal grand jury in San Francisco has charged five individuals and five companies with economic espionage and theft of trade secrets for their roles in a long-running effort to obtain U.S. trade secrets for the benefit of companies controlled by the government of the People’s Republic of China.



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Assistant Administrator of Houston Hospital Indicted for Alleged Role in $116 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme

An indictment filed in the Southern District of Texas and unsealed today charges Mohammed Khan, 62, of Houston, with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay and receive illegal health care kickbacks and five counts of paying or offering to pay health care kickbacks.



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Justice Department Signs Agreement with the City of Humboldt, Kansas, to Ensure Civic Access for People with Disabilities

The Justice Department today announced an agreement with the city of Humboldt, Kan., to improve access to all aspects of civic life for individuals with disabilities.



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Former Owner of Illinois Technology Company Sentenced to Serve 30 Months in Prison for Role in Multi-State Scheme to Defraud Federal E-Rate Program

A former owner of two Illinois-based technology companies was sentenced today to serve 30 months in prison for her participation in a conspiracy to defraud the federal E-Rate program.



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Department of Justice Reaches Agreement to Compensate Servicemembers for Wrongful Foreclosures

The settlement agreement with the nation’s five largest servicers announced today by Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice’s federal and state partners includes substantial financial compensation to homeowners who are servicemembers and establishes significant new protections for servicemembers in the future.



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Former IRS Employee from Texas Sentenced to Nearly Nine Years in Prison on Theft of Government Property and Aggravated Identity Theft Convictions

Thomas W. Richardson was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle in Dallas to 105 months in prison and ordered to pay $30,649 in restitution, following his guilty plea in August 2011 to one count of theft of government property and one count of aggravated identity theft, the Justice Department announced today.



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Justice Department Requires Mill Divestitures in International Paper’s Acquisition of Temple-Inland

The Department of Justice announced today that it will require International Paper Company and Temple-Inland Inc. to divest three containerboard mills in order to proceed with their $4.3 billion merger.



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Justice Department Settles Allegations of Employment Discrimination at the Massachusetts Department of Correction

The Department of Justice announced today that it has entered into a settlement that, if approved by the court, will resolve the department’s allegations that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Department of Correction violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against female applicants for entry-level correction officer and correction program officer positions at the Massachusetts Department of Correction.



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Justice Department Settles with City of Highland Park, Michigan, to Enforce Employment Rights of U.S. Army Reservist

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement with the city of Highland Park, Mich., to resolve allegations that the city willfully violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act by failing to properly reemploy firefighter and U.S. Army reservist Paul A. Baetz in July 2009 when he returned from military service in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.



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Department of Justice FY 2013 Budget Request

Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that President Obama’s FY 2013 Budget proposal totaling $27.1 billion for the Department of Justice identifies over $1 billion in efficiencies, savings and rescissions while providing resources to sustain critical national security programs, uphold the department’s traditional missions with an increased focus on financial and mortgage fraud and civil rights enforcement, invest in prisons and detention capacity, and assist our state, local and tribal law enforcement partners.



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Co-Owner of Two Los Angeles-Area Health Care Companies Sentenced to 96 Months in Prison for Health Care Fraud

The co-owner of two Los Angeles-area health care companies was sentenced today to 96 months in prison for his conviction stemming from a nine-year scheme to defraud Medicare.



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Statement of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division on Its Decision to Close Its Investigations of Google Inc.’s Acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. and the Acquisitions of Certain Patents by Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Research in

The Antitrust Division closed its investigations into Google Inc.’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., the acquisitions by Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM) of certain Nortel Networks Corporation patents, and the acquisition by Apple of certain Novell Inc. patents.



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U.S. Army Reserves Sergeant Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Defraud the United States Related to Contracting in Support of Iraq War

Sergeant Amasha M. King, 33, of Forsyth, Ga., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Marc T. Treadwell in Macon, Ga., to criminal information charging her with one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Department of Defense.



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Pennsylvania Dairy Farmer Operator Found in Violation of Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania awarded summary judgment to the government on a finding that Daniel Allgyer, dba Rainbow Acres Farm and Rainbow Valley Farms, violated the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and the Public Health Services Act, the Justice Department announced today.



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Justice Department Settlement Requires Gunnison Energy and SG Interests to Pay the United States a Total of $550,000 for Antitrust and False Claims Act Violations

The department reached a settlement with Gunnison Energy Corporation, SG Interests I Ltd. and SG Interests VII Ltd. that requires the companies to pay a total of $550,000 to the United States for antitrust and False Claims Act violations related to natural gas leases sold at auction by the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management.



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Justice Department Resolves Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections

The Department of Justice announced today the filing of a consent decree with the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections (LDPSC) that resolves allegations of sexual harassment of an office administrator in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (Title VII).



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Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab Sentenced to Life in Prison for Attempted Bombing of Flight 253 on Christmas Day 2009

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called “underwear bomber,” was sentenced today to life in prison as a result of his guilty plea to all eight counts of a federal indictment charging him for his role in the attempted Christmas Day 2009 bombing of Northwest Airlines flight 253.



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Moex Offshore Agrees to $90 Million Partial Settlement of Liability in Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC has agreed to settle its liability in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in a settlement with the United States valued at $90 million, announced the Department of Justice, the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today.



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Virginia Man Accused of Attempting to Bomb U.S. Capitol in Suicide Attack

Amine El Khalifi, an immigrant from Morocco who is illegally present in the United States, was charged today by criminal complaint with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against property that is owned and used by the United States.



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