ed

Government Files Seven Lawsuits Nationwide to Block Alleged Scheme Involving Fraudulent Tax-Refund Claims

The federal suits – filed in Los Angeles; Panama City, Fla.; Salt Lake City; Nashville, Tenn.; and Pocatello, Idaho – allege that the defendants promote a tax fraud scheme designed to siphon hundreds of millions of dollars from the U.S. Treasury through fraudulent tax refund claims.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Bill Allen and Richard Smith, Former Officers of VECO Corporation, Sentenced for Roles in Alaska Public Corruption Scheme

Bill J. Allen and Richard L. Smith were each sentenced in separate hearings today for their participation in a corruption scheme in which they provided approximately $395,000 in corrupt payments to public officials from the state of Alaska.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

U.S. Citizen Indicted in Florida for Traveling to the Philippines for Sex Tourism

Donald Mathias, 64, has been indicted for allegedly traveling to the Philippines in 2007 and 2008 to engage in sexual conduct with minors.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Financial Products and Services Firm, Two Executives and One Former Executive Indicted for Roles in Conspiracies Involving Proceeds of Municipal Bonds

A Beverly Hills, Calif.-based financial products and services firm, two of its executives and one former executive were indicted today for their participation in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies related to contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other related municipal finance contracts.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Alabama Grease Haulers Charged with Clean Water Act Violations for Dumping into Mobile Area Sewers

A Mobile, Ala., grand jury has indicted a waste disposal company, its president and top manager for offenses involving the illegal disposal of waste into the sewage treatment systems of Mobile and of neighboring municipalities.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Former Promoter of Abusive Trusts Sentenced for Tax Evasion

Roderick Prescott, a resident of Orem, Utah, and a former principal of National Trust Services (NTS) in San Jose, Calif., and later Selma, Ore., has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for tax evasion, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Detroit Clinic Owner Pleads Guilty in Medicare Fraud Scheme

Miami resident Daisy Martinez pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Detroit to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

United States Transfers Six Uighur Detainees from Guantanamo Bay to Palau

Six detainees who are Chinese nationals of Uighur ethnicity have been transferred from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the control of the Republic of Palau.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Mexico Extradites 11 Fugitives to the United States 

The defendants are accused of various crimes, including murder, sex offenses, drug trafficking and moneylaundering in Texas, Washington, Florida, Indiana, California and Maryland.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Michigan Attorney and Client Sentenced for Tax Crimes in Connection with a Fraudulent Insurance Tax Shelter

John A. Campbell, a resident of Portage, Mich., was sentenced to 60 months in prison today by the Honorable Janet T. Neff of the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Michigan for conspiring to defraud the United States.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Former Federal Corrections Officer Indicted on Civil Rights Charges Related to Fatal Assault

Michael Kennedy was charged with one count of conspiring with others to violate the federal civil rights of inmate Richard Delano and one count of violating Delano’s civil rights by arranging for another inmate to assault Delano.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Medical Equipment Company Owner Pleads Guilty to Fraud Scheme Involving Nutritional Supplies and “Arthritis Kits”

Noel Wayne Jhagroo, 47, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore in the U.S. District Court in Houston. 



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Three Idaho Men Sentenced for Federal Hate Crime Assault

Michael Bullard, Richard Armstrong and James Whitewater were sentenced today in federal court in Boise, Idaho, for hate crime and conspiracy charges in connection with the racially-motivated assault of an African-American man outside of a Wal-Mart store in July 2008



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Former Memphis, Tennessee, Police Officer Sentenced to 27 Months in Prison for Civil Rights Violations

Judge S. Thomas Anderson sentenced Carlton Moore to 27 months in prison and one year of supervised release after Moore pleaded guilty to stealing money from motorists while acting under color of law.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

United States Intervenes in False Claims Act Suit Against Virginia Medicaid Providers

The United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia have intervened in a False Claims Act suit in the Western District of Virginia against the Medicaid providers Universal Health Services Inc., Keystone Marion LLC and Keystone Education and Youth Services LLC.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Director of Singapore Firm Sentenced for Illegally Exporting Controlled Aircraft Components to Iran

Laura Wang-Woodford, a U.S. citizen who served as a director of Monarch Aviation Pte Ltd., a Singapore company that imported and exported military and commercial aircraft components for more than 20 years, was sentenced today in federal court in Brooklyn to 46 months in prison for conspiring to violate the U.S. trade embargo by exporting controlled aircraft components to Iran.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Defendants Sentenced to Prison for Role in Counterfeit Pipe Coupling Scheme

Hayden B. Greene, 32, of Tulsa, Okla., and James Robert Roy, 42, of Tomball, Texas, were sentenced today to 30 months and 15 months in prison, respectively, for conspiring to manufacture and sell counterfeit pipe couplings.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Justice Department Settles Lawsuit Against Knight Protective Services to Enforce the Employment Rights of Retired Army Service Member

The United States has reached a settlement that will resolve its suit filed on behalf of retired Army service member King A. Gatten against Knight Protective Service Inc.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Former Military Officer Sentenced to 97 Months in Prison for Participating in Scheme to Steal Fuel from U.S. Army in Iraq

Robert Young, 57, a former captain in the U.S. Army, was sentenced today to 97 months in prison for his participation in a scheme to steal approximately 10 million gallons of fuel from the U.S. Army in Iraq, announced Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil H. MacBride.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Court Bars Milwaukee Heating Contractor from Making Disbursements Before Paying Federal Payroll Taxes

A federal court in Milwaukee, Wis., today issued a preliminary injunction ordering a Milwaukee heating contractor and its owner and president to comply with federal employment tax payment requirements.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Arkansas Man Sentenced on Civil Rights Charges in Cross Burning Conspiracy

Dustin Nix of Donaldson, Ark, was sentenced today in federal court in Fort Smith, Ark, on federal civil rights charges related to a conspiracy to drive a woman and her children from their home because they associated with African-Americans.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

United States Sues Kaman Dayron, Inc., Under False Claims Act

“I take seriously the Department of Justice’s obligation to pursue allegations that a defense contractor is creating a safety risk to our military,” said Assistant Attorney General Tony West, in charge of the Department’s Civil Division.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Justice Department Resolves Lawsuit Alleging Disability-Based Housing Discrimination at 11 Multifamily Housing Complexes in Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama and Texas

Under the settlement, which must still be approved by the court, 11 defendants will pay all costs related to making the complexes for which they were responsible accessible to persons with disabilities.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Statement of Attorney General Eric Holder on the Death of Dr. Eduardo Caraveo

"My thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the family of Dr. Eduardo Caraveo, a Bureau of Prisons psychologist who was killed Thursday at Ft. Hood, as well as to all those who are grieving the loss of loved ones in this tragic event. No words can ease the pain they are feeling today."



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Federal Court Permanently Enjoins Iowa Tax Preparation Firm

A federal judge in Sioux City, Iowa, today barred a Humboldt, Iowa, woman, Gayle Lemmon, and her tax preparation business from claiming improper deductions on federal income tax returns.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Antitrust Division Issues Statement on the European Commission’s Decision Regarding the Proposed Transaction Between Oracle and Sun

After conducting a careful investigation of the proposed transaction between Oracle and Sun, the Department’s Antitrust Division concluded that the merger is unlikely to be anticompetitive.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Alleged International Hacking Ring Caught in $9 Million Fraud

Sergei Tsurikov, 25, of Tallinn, Estonia; Viktor Pleshchuk, 28, of St. Petersburg, Russia; Oleg Covelin, 28, of Chisinau, Moldova; and a person known only as "Hacker 3;" have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Atlanta, Ga., on charges of hacking into a computer network operated by the Atlanta-based credit card processing company RBS WorldPay, which is part of the Royal Bank of Scotland.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Settlement Reached to Clean up Idaho’s St. Maries Creosote Superfund Site

Two companies and the city of St. Maries, Idaho, have agreed to clean up a superfund site in St. Maries at a cost estimated more than $12 million.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Korean Businessman Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Role in $206 Million Contract Fraud Scheme

A South Korean businessman was sentenced today to five years in prison for his role in a bribery conspiracy involving a $206 million telecommunications contract and employees of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES).



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Connecticut Investor Frederic Bourke Sentenced to Prison for Scheme to Bribe Government Officials in Azerbaijan

Frederic A. Bourke Jr., of Greenwich, Conn., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to one year and one day in prison.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Former Missouri Sheriff’s Deputy Pleads Guilty to Sexually Abusing a Teenage Girl While She Was Detained

Steven W. Burgess, a former Jackson County, Mo., sheriff’s deputy, pleaded guilty in federal court today to violating the civil rights of a teenage girl whom he sexually assaulted in his patrol car.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Justice Department Files Fair Housing Lawsuit in Missouri Against Owner and Managers of Federally-Subsidized Property for Race and Sex Discrimination

The department filed a lawsuit today in federal court for the Eastern District of Missouri alleging a pattern or practice of violations of the Fair Housing Act by the owner and managers of Forum Manor Apartments for refusing to rent to African-Americans and males, refusing to allow tenants to have African-American visitors, sexually harassing female tenants and retaliating against tenants who complained about such discrimination.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Two Individuals Sentenced to Prison for Offering to Bribe U.S. Army Contracting Official in Afghanistan

Rohullah Farooqi Lodin and Hashmatullah Farooqi were each sentenced today in Alexandria, Va., to four years in prison for their roles in a scheme to offer $1 million in bribes to a U.S. Army contracting official in Afghanistan.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Florida Man Sentenced to 87 Months for Receiving Child Pornography

Jeffrey Robert Libman, 42, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was sentenced to 87 months in prison today for receiving child pornography.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Former Congressman William J. Jefferson Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison for Bribery and Other Charges

Former U.S. Congressman William J. Jefferson, 62, of New Orleans, La., was sentenced today to 13 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for using his office to corruptly solicit bribes.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

U.S. Joins False Claims Act Lawsuit Against Kuwait-Based Companies That Supplied Food to U.S. Troops in Middle East

The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, alleges that since 2003, defendants have violated the False Claims Act.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

New Jersey Man Sentenced on International Sex Tourism and Child Pornography Charges

Wayne Nelson Corliss, 60, of Union City, N.J., was sentenced to 235 months in prison today in Newark, N.J., on three charges of traveling in foreign commerce with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and a single count each of producing and possessing child pornography.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Arizona Man Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Travel with Intent to Engage in Sex with Minors

Richard Hendryx, 79, of Morristown, Ariz., was sentenced today to two years in prison and lifetime supervised release to follow his prison term for travel with intent to engage in sex with minors.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Bexar County, Texas, Corrections Officer Indicted on Civil Rights Charges

Daniel Melgoza, a Bexar County, Texas, Corrections Officer, was charged today in a four-count federal indictment with violating the civil rights of two detainees and obstructing justice.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Mexican Citizen Sentenced to 121 Months in Prison for Her Participation in an Organization That Forced Young Mexican Women into Sexual Slavery in New York

Consuelo Carreto Valencia, a member of the Carreto family sex trafficking ring that operated between Mexico and Queens, N.Y., was sentenced to 121 months in prison for benefitting financially from her participation in the organization, which transported young Mexican women to the United States and forced them into prostitution.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

New Jersey Hospital to Pay $3 Million to Resolve Allegations of Medicare Fraud

The United States has entered into a settlement with a New Jersey hospital and filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit against a New York hospital involving allegations that the hospitals defrauded Medicare.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Former Kentucky Jail Supervisor Sentenced on Charges Related to Abuse of Detainees

Kristine Lafoe was sentenced to serve one year in prison and two years of supervised release for her role in covering up systematic detainee abuse.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Rhode Island Couple Sentenced to Prison for Tax Evasion

Chief Judge Mary M. Lisi sentenced Albert Martin to 51 months in prison and Lorraine Martin to one year and one day in prison.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Occupational Therapist and Patient Recruiter Plead Guilty in Detroit-Based Medicare Fraud Schemes

Detroit resident Jaquita Lovelace and Miami resident Timothy Pierce have pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Detroit to participating in conspiracies to defraud the Medicare program.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Nineteen Alleged Latin Kings Gang Members Indicted on Federal Racketeering Conspiracy Charge

A federal grand jury in Greenbelt, Md., has indicted 19 alleged members of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (Latin Kings) for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Statoil ASA Satisfies Obligations Under Deferred Prosecution Agreement and Foreign Bribery Charges Are Dismissed

After three years of satisfying obligations under a deferred prosecution agreement, the charges against Statoil ASA for violating the anti-bribery and accounting provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) have been dismissed with prejudice.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Twenty-six Charged in Nationwide Scheme to Defraud the FCC’s Video Relay Service Program

“The individuals charged in connection with today’s operation are alleged to have stolen tens of millions of dollars from an important government program that is intended to help deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans communicate with hearing persons,” said Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Tennessee Woman Barred from Preparing Federal Tax Returns for Others; Judge Issues Preliminary Injunction

A federal court today issued a preliminary injunction barring Karen Liane Miller of Nashville, Tenn., from preparing federal income tax returns for others.



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Federal Court Shuts Down Los Angeles Area Tax Preparer

A federal court in Los Angeles has issued permanent injunctions barring a Torrance, Calif., tax preparer, Susan Guan and her company, SRN Financial Services Inc., from preparing tax returns for others



  • OPA Press Releases

ed

Former Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Depriving Motorist of Civil Rights by Kidnapping

“This officer abandoned his law enforcement role and engaged in a bizarre scheme to target innocent victims for his own personal gain. Officers who abuse their power in this way will be prosecuted to the fullest extent the law allows,” said Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez of the Civil Rights Division.



  • OPA Press Releases