Mohammad Khan, 62, of Houston, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Sim Lake in the Southern District of Texas to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive illegal health care kickbacks, and five counts of paying or offering to pay health care kickbacks.

"Throughout this month, Americans of all races and backgrounds are called upon to reconnect with one another – and to rededicate ourselves to the principles that lie at the core of everything that we must stand for – and, in particular, all that we fight for here at the Department of Justice," said Attorney General Holder.

Two financial investors pleaded guilty today for conspiring to rig bids for the sale of tax liens auctioned by municipalities throughout New Jersey.

Seven people have been arrested on charges of trafficking in endangered black rhinoceros horn over the past week in Los Angeles, Newark, N.J., and New York.

The department’s complaint, filed today along with the consent decree, alleges that Susan Peterson, a female correctional officer at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Tucson, Ariz., was regularly subjected to verbal and physical sexual harassment by several of her male supervisors and coworkers from early 2005 through November 2008.

" Here on this campus, my interest in the law, my understanding of its remarkable power for good, and my desire to serve our nation’s justice system first took hold. And although more than 35 years have passed since I completed my law degree – and started my “dream job” as a prosecutor in the United States Department of Justice – my time at Columbia shaped and enriched my life in ways that I am still realizing, and continue to appreciate," said Attorney General Holder.

The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against the state of Alabama and its chief election official seeking relief to help ensure that military servicemembers, their family members and U.S. citizens living overseas have the opportunity to participate fully in Alabama’s March 13, 2012, federal primary election.

"Your commitment to this work – and to our nation’s young people – is clear. Your efforts are making a difference across Atlanta. And your guidance is helping young people seize the chance to determine the course of their own lives and to fulfill their potential," said Attorney General Holder.

“Tony and Stuart have served the department with professionalism, integrity and dedication, and both bring a wealth of experience to their new positions,” said Attorney General Holder. “I’m confident they will provide invaluable leadership and will play a critical role in furthering the department’s key priorities and fulfilling its traditional missions.”

A physician and the office manager of his medical practice, along with five owners of home health agencies, were arrested today on charges related to their alleged participation in a nearly $375 million health care fraud scheme involving fraudulent claims for home health services.

The United States has intervened in a whistleblower suit pending under the False Claims Act against American Commercial College Inc. (ACC), a chain of for-profit colleges located in west Texas.

"“In response to my call to identify savings across the department, almost $700 million in savings have been developed – funds that are being reinvested in critical mission areas. I also want to note that, in the department’s FY 2013 budget of $27.1 billion, proposed spending increases have been exceeded by proposed cuts," said Attorney General Holder.

"This announcement underscores the bold, innovative and coordinated ways in which we are working alongside authorities at every level to prevent, identify and prosecute health care fraud throughout the country," said Deputy Attorney General Cole.

"In Dallas, and the eight other Strike Force cities, the Criminal Division and our partners in the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices will continue to crack down on Medicare fraud and hold accountable those stealing from the public fisc," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.

The Justice Department announced today that Ross Hack, 40, Leland Jones, 31, and Melissa Hack, 37, have been charged with first degree murder and firearms offenses in relation to the 1998 deaths of Lin Newborn and Daniel Shersty.

An Australian man and his company have been indicted today by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia for conspiring to export sensitive military and other technology from the United States to Iran, including components with applications in missiles, drones, torpedoes and helicopters.

Stephen Michael Kirkpatrick, 47, was indicted on two counts of violating the victim’s rights to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and the use of unreasonable force by a person acting under color of law and one count of obstruction of justice.

Odyssey HealthCare, a subsidiary of Gentiva, has agreed to pay $25 million to resolve civil liability under the federal False Claims Act arising from its billing of claims for certain hospice services, the Justice Department announced today. Odyssey Healthcare currently provides hospice services in approximately 27 states, including Wisconsin. Odyssey was purchased by Gentiva Healthcare in 2010.

"It is a distinct pleasure to be in Mexico City at today’s Hemispheric Meeting and to have the unique opportunity to speak with you – our shared partners in the Americas and Spain – about transnational organized crime, undoubtedly a global menace that we must work together to defeat. Organized criminals have adapted rapidly to the new, globalized world. They are, in fact, helping to shape that world, and not in a good direction," said Deputy Attorney General Cole.

Ryan Harris, 26, was the owner of TCNISO, a company that distributed products enabling users to steal Internet service.

The United States has filed a complaint under the False Claims Act against the Florida-based Technological Research and Development Authority (TRDA), the Justice Department announced today.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today visited Ottawa, Canada to participate in the Cross-Border Crime Forum with Canadian Minister of Justice and Attorney General Rob Nicholson, and Canadian Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews. Secretary Napolitano, Attorney General Holder and Minister Toews also signed a memorandum of understanding to better prevent and combat human smuggling and trafficking.

Edy Oliverez-Jiminez, aka “Daniel,” Erasmo,” “Ulysses” and “Jesus,” 25, of Virginia Beach, Va., was sentenced today to two consecutive life terms on prison, after having been convicted by a jury for racketeering, murder, kidnapping, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to produce and transfer false identification documents.

Alexey Li, 21, a citizen of Kazakhstan who entered the United States on a student visa, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein, Jr. to aiding and abetting money laundering.

Italian-based shipping company Giuseppe Bottiglieri Shipping Company S.P.A., owner and operator of the Motor Vessel Bottiglieri Challenger, and Vito La Forgia, the vessel’s chief engineer, have been charged in a four-count indictment with the illegal dumping of waste oil and oil-contaminated waste water in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, conspiracy and two counts of obstruction of justice.

The Departments of Justice and Education, together with six private student plaintiffs and the Anoka-Hennepin School District, filed a proposed consent decree today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, resolving complaints of sex-based harassment of middle and high school students in the school district.

"Since this country’s earliest days, the American people have risen to this challenge – and all that it demands. But, as we have seen – and as President John F. Kennedy may have described best – 'In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger,'" said Attorney General Holder.

A federal court has permanently barred Tracy L. Sunderlage, Linda Sunderlage and four companies from operating an alleged scheme to help high-income individuals attempt to avoid income taxes by funneling money through purported employee benefit plans, the Justice Department announced today.

Coffeyville Resources Refining & Marketing (CRRM) has agreed to pay a civil penalty of more than $970,000 and invest more than $4.25 million in new pollution controls and $6.5 million in operating costs to resolve alleged violations of air, Superfund and community right-to-know laws at its Coffeyville, Kan., refinery.

A Houston federal jury today convicted Robert Allen Stanford, the former Board of Directors Chairman of Stanford International Bank (SIB), for orchestrating a 20-year investment fraud scheme in which he misappropriated $7 billion from SIB to finance his personal businesses.

"Today’s most urgent challenges continue to bring us together. Some of us are collaborating on critical public safety and consumer protection initiatives. Some of us are working together to strengthen our courts and corrections systems – and to find ways to cut costs and share resources," said Attorney General Holder.

"The consent decree is a comprehensive blueprint for sustainable reform that will enhance the district’s policies, training and other efforts to ensure that every student in the district is free from sex-based harassment," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

The former associate director of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy in Hines, Ill., his wife and their temporary staffing company were sentenced today for their participation in a conspiracy to defraud the VA and the Small Business Administration.

Michael George Rutecki, 33, of North Pole, Alaska, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Beistline in the District of Alaska to a criminal information charging him with one count of accepting illegal gratuities.

"As the 2011 enforcement record illustrates, the Division’s Fair Lending Unit uses every possible tool to address the range of abuses seen in the market, in both mortgage and non-mortgage lending," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

"Then – and now – he stands as a model of what it means to be a true advocate for, and defender of, justice," said Attorney General Holder.

Suspected fraudulent activity pertaining to relief efforts associated with the recent series of tornadoes in the Midwest and South should be reported to the NCDF hotline at 866-720-5721.

The Justice Department announced today that Charles Wilhelm, 23, of Independence, Mo., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., to federal hate crime charges in connection with the vandalism and arson of a bi-racial man’s home in 2006.

The Justice Department announced today the launch of an educational video reminding employers that Salvadorans with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) may continue working beyond the March 9, 2012, expiration date of their Employment Authorization Documents.

"Despite the significant fiscal constraints the federal government has faced in recent years, the 116,000 dedicated employees who serve in Department offices around the world have made significant – and, in many cases, historic – progress in safeguarding our citizens from terrorism, violent crime, financial fraud, and a range of threats that often disproportionately threaten the most vulnerable members of society," said Attorney General Holder.

Akinsunbo Akinbile, 44, of Richmond, Texas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison in Houston.

Barry Nash, 69, was also sentenced by U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King in Miami to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.

"For me, and for today’s Department of Justice, protecting American consumers is a top priority. And, as we’ve rededicated ourselves to this work in recent years, we’ve also learned some essential lessons," said Attorney General Holder.

The Justice Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and 49 state attorneys general announced today the filing of their landmark $25 billion agreement with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers to address mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses.

The Justice Department announced today that a federal grand jury has charged Michael Smith, 37, Matthew Davidson, 43, and Joseph Sanders, 31 – former corrections officers of the Alabama Department of Corrections – in a 17-count indictment.

A federal court announced last week that it had determined the aggregate amount of back pay damages owed to African-American and Hispanic applicants who were discriminated against by the city of New York in the hiring of entry-level firefighters for the Fire Department of New York (FDNY).

Devon Energy Corporation and its affiliates have agreed to pay the United States $3,492,463 to resolve claims that PennzEnergy, a predecessor to Devon, violated the False Claims Act by knowingly underpaying royalties owed on natural gas produced from federal and Indian lands, the Justice Department announced today.

"Today and throughout the week, we have an important opportunity to showcase and celebrate the progress that’s been made here at the Department – and all across the federal government – in realizing the promise of the Freedom of Information Act," said Attorney General Holder.

Jean Rene Duperval, a former director of international relations for Telecommunications D’Haiti S.A.M. (Haiti Teleco), a Haitian state-owned telecommunications company, has been convicted by a federal jury on all counts for his role in a scheme to launder bribes paid to him by two Miami-based telecommunications companies.

United Kingdom citizen Ahmed Sarchil Kazzaz and his company, Leadstay Company, were charged in an indictment unsealed today in the Northern District of Alabama for their roles in a conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay kickbacks in exchange for receiving subcontracts for a Department of Defense program in Iraq.