b

Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs Mary Lou Leary at the Workshop of the Forum on Global Violence Prevention Sponsored by the Institute of Medicine

"One of our top priorities is addressing youth violence. As I’m sure many of you would agree, this is one of the most complex and intractable problems in criminal justice. And because it is so complex, we’ve learned over time that tackling it involves many people – stakeholders from all sectors and from all levels of government," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Leary.




b

Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez Speaks at the University of Baltimore School of Law

"Let’s work to prevent fraud, but let’s not erect new, unnecessary requirements that have a discriminatory impact. Let’s have a debate on the merits without trying to make it harder for our perceived opponents to vote," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.




b

Assistant Attorney General Ignacia S. Moreno Delivers Remarks at the Georgetown/OAS/World Bank Roundtable

The Environment Division’s enforcement efforts over the years have achieved dramatic reductions in emissions and discharges of harmful pollutants to the Nation’s air, land and water.




b

Ohio Insurance Salesman Sentenced to 20 Months in Prison for Tax Obstruction and Currency Structuring

A federal judge in Cleveland today sentenced William R. Herder of Bellville, Ohio, to 20 months in prison for tax crimes.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Pittsburgh-based Bank to Pay U.S. for Failing to Engage in Prudent Underwriting Practices on SBA Loan Guarantees

PNC Bank N.A. has agreed to pay the United States $7.1 million to settle claims under the False Claims Act that it failed to engage in prudent underwriting practices in connection with the issuance of loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA).



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Financial Consultant Extradited to the United States for Alleged Scheme to Defraud the U.S. Export-import Bank

Manuel Ernesto Ortiz-Barraza, an independent financial consultant, was extradited to the United States today for his alleged role in a scheme to defraud the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) of over $2.5 million.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Office on Violence Against Women Acting Director Bea Hanson Speaks at the D.C. Office of Victim Services’ National Stalking Awareness Month Event

"These realities indicate that stalking is a serious issue for every community across the United States that requires a multidisciplinary approach – Fortunately, many of the agencies that are needed to appropriately address and respond to the crime of stalking are represented on this panel today," said Acting Director Hanson.




b

Permanent Injunction Entered Against Michigan-Based Manufacturer of Soy Products

U.S. District Judge David M. Lawson, of the Eastern District of Michigan, entered a consent decree of permanent injunction against Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Green Hope LLC, dba Rosewood Products, and its president, Phil G. Ye.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Justice Department Signs Agreement with the City of Memphis, Tenn., to Ensure Physical Accessibility for People with Disabilities at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium

The Justice Department has reached an agreement with the city of Memphis, Tenn., under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to improve physical accessibility for people with disabilities at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, home of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, Memphis Tigers and Southern Heritage Classic football games.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Alabama Woman Indicted for Stolen Identity Refund Fraud

A federal grand jury in Montgomery, Ala., returned an indictment charging LaQuanta Clayton with aggravated identity theft and theft of government money.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Alabama Woman Indicted for Her Role in a Million Dollar Identity Theft Scheme

A federal grand jury in Montgomery, Ala., returned an indictment charging Scottie Alice Johnson with a conspiracy to commit theft of public funds and to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and with theft of public funds.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Alabama Employee Indicted for Providing Names to a Million Dollar Identity Theft Scheme

A federal grand jury in Montgomery, Ala., returned an indictment charging Lea’Tice Phillips for conspiring to file false tax returns using stolen identities.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Former Alabama Officer Indicted for Using Excessive Force

A federal grand jury today indicted a former Town Creek, Ala., police officer for violating an individual’s civil rights during the course of an arrest.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

BP Exploration and Production Inc. Pleads Guilty, Is Sentenced to Pay Record $4 Billion for Crimes Surrounding Deepwater Horizon Incident

BP Exploration and Production Inc. pleaded guilty today to 14 criminal counts for its illegal conduct leading to and after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, and was sentenced to pay $4 billion in criminal fines and penalties, the largest criminal resolution in U.S. history.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Alabama State Employee Indicted for Identity Theft

Chequlia Motley, a resident of Montgomery, Ala., was indicted by a federal grand jury for her involvement in a conspiracy to use stolen identities to file fraudulent tax returns.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Former Executive Convicted for Role in Price-Fixing Conspiracy Involving Coastal Freight Services Between the Continental United States and Puerto Rico

Following a two-week trial, a federal jury in Puerto Rico today convicted a former executive of a Florida-based coastal water freight transportation company for his participation in a conspiracy to fix rates and surcharges for water transportation of freight between the continental United States and Puerto Rico.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer Announces Departure from Department of Justice

The Justice Department announced today that Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division will leave the department on March 1, 2013.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Federal Court Preliminarily Bars Indianapolis Instant Tax Service Franchisee from Preparing Federal Tax Returns

A federal court in Indianapolis has barred David Ray Franklin and his company, Instant Refund Tax Service (IRTS) – which does business as Instant Tax Service—from preparing tax returns and from operating a tax-preparation business.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

California Man Pleads Guilty to Failure to Report Foreign Bank Accounts at UBS

Christopher B. Berg of Portola Valley, Calif., entered a plea of guilty today before the U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., to an information charging him with willful failure to file the required report of foreign bank account (FBAR) for an account he controlled at UBS in Switzerland in the year 2005.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Former Maryland Correctional Officer Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice

Ryan Lohr, 26, a former correctional officer at the Roxbury Correctional Institution (RCI) in Hagerstown, Md., pleaded guilty today to conspiring to obstruct justice and destroy evidence from a March 9, 2008, assault of an inmate by RCI officers.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Justice Department Files Antitrust Lawsuit Challenging Anheuser-Busch Inbev’s Proposed Acquisition of Grupo Modelo

The Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit today challenging Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (ABI) proposed acquisition of total ownership and control of Grupo Modelo.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

District Court Enters Permanent Injunction Against Ohio-Based Drug Manufacturer and Company’s Senior Executives

U.S. District Court Judge Lesley Wells entered a consent decree of permanent injunction against Ben Venue Laboratories Inc., a Bedford, Ohio-based drug manufacturer.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Two Aryan Brotherhood of Texas Gang Members Plead Guilty to Federal Racketeering Charges

Two members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas gang (ABT) pleaded guilty to racketeering charges related to their membership in the ABT’s criminal enterprise.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

High-Ranking Member of Mexican “Los Zetas” Cartel Pleads Guilty to Drug Conspiracy Charges

Jesus Enrique Rejon Aguilar, aka “Mamito” and “Caballero,” a high ranking member of the “Los Zetas” drug cartel, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to import multi-ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana into the United States.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Federal Court Bars Kansas Instant Tax Service Franchisee from Operating and Preparing Tax Returns, Orders Payment of $100,000 in Penalties

A Kansas City, Kan., federal court permanently barred an Instant Tax Service franchisee, A&S Tax Services LLC, from further operating or preparing federal tax returns for others.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Alabama Woman Pleads Guilty in a Stolen Identity Refund Fraud Scheme

Larreka Jackson pleaded guilty today in the Middle District of Alabama to her role in a multi-million dollar conspiracy to use stolen identities to obtain tax refunds.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Family Members Sentenced in Alabama in $1.9 Million Stolen Identity Refund Fraud Scheme

Several family members were sentenced Friday in the Middle District of Alabama for their involvement in a $1.9 million dollar stolen identity refund fraud scheme.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Virginia Charter Fishing Boat Captain Pleads Guilty to Lacey Act Violation

William W. Lowery IV, 44, of Tappahannock, Va., pleaded guilty today to trafficking in illegally-harvested striped bass, in violation of the Lacey Act.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Department of Justice Sues Standard &s for Fraud in Rating Mortgage-Backed Securities in the Years Leading Up to the Financial Crisis

Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that the Department of Justice has filed a civil lawsuit against the credit rating agency Standard &s Ratings Services alleging that S&P engaged in a scheme to defraud investors in structured financial products known as Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities and Collateralized Debt Obligations.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Northern California Real Estate Investor Agrees to Plead Guilty to Bid Rigging at Public Foreclosure Auctions

A Northern California real estate investor has agreed to plead guilty for his role in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California today.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Former Title Agent and Broker Convicted in Miami for Role in Reverse Mortgage Scheme

A Miami title agent and former mortgage broker was found guilty late yesterday, Feb. 4, 2013, for her role in a “reverse mortgage” fraud scheme in connection with a loan worth more than $400,000.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

RBS Securities Japan Limited Agrees to Plead Guilty in Connection with Long-Running Manipulation of Libor Benchmark Interest Rates

RBS Securities Japan Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS), has agreed to plead guilty to felony wire fraud and admit its role in manipulating the Japanese Yen London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), a leading benchmark used in financial products and transactions around the world.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Four Charged with Internet Sales of Industrial Bleach as Miracle Cure

Louis Daniel Smith, 42, and Karis Delong, 38, both of Ashland, Ore., were charged with defrauding regulators and suppliers in a scheme to manufacture and sell industrial bleach as a cure for numerous illnesses, including arthritis, cancer and the seasonal flu.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Court Approves Consent Decree to Desegregate Tucson Public Schools

The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona today approved a consent decree filed by the Department of Justice, together with private plaintiffs and the Tucson Unified School District.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Former Jewelry Company Executive Sentenced in U.s.v.i. to Pay $1.1 Million in Fines and Community Service for Illegal Trade of Protected Black Coral

Ashu Bhandari, the former president and CEO of GEM Manufacturing LLC, a U.S. Virgin Islands-based company, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I., for felony customs violations for his role in a scheme to illegally import protected black coral into the United States.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Justice Department Reaches Settlement with Macmillan in E-Books Case

The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement with Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC, which does business as Macmillan, and will continue to litigate against Apple Inc. for conspiring with Macmillan and four of the other largest U.S. book publishers to raise e-book prices to consumers.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

California-Based Granite Construction Company to Pay U.S. $367,500 to Resolve False Claims Allegations

Granite Construction Company, a California-based construction company specializing in roads, tunnels, bridges, airports and other infrastructure-related projects, reached a settlement with the United States following an investigation of alleged false claims in connection with federal construction projects across the country.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Court Bars South Carolina Tax Return Preparers from Preparing Returns for Others

A federal district judge in Florence, S.C., permanently barred Rachel D. Watson, of Florence, and Susann Allen of Darlington, S.C., from preparing federal income tax returns for others.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

South Florida Brothers Sentenced for Tax Evasion

Michael Farnell and James Farnell, residents of Boca Raton, Fla., were sentenced to prison terms today for income tax evasion.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Alabama Woman Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Running Sophisticated Million Dollar Identity Theft Tax Scheme

Antoinette Djonret was sentenced today to 144 months in prison for her involvement in two separate tax fraud schemes.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Statement by Attorney General Eric Holder on the Senate Passage of the Violence Against Women Act

Attorney General Eric Holder issued the following statement today on the Senate passage of the Violence Against Women Act.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Former Department of Defense Contractor Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Smuggling Kickback Proceeds from Afghanistan to the United States

A former employee of a Department of Defense contracting company at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, was sentenced today to serve 30 months in prison for attempting to smuggle $150,000 in kickback proceeds he received for steering U.S. government subcontracts to an Afghan company.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Ohio Federal Court Bars Appraiser of Historic-Preservation Easements

A federal court in Cleveland has barred MAI-designated real estate appraiser Michael Ehrmann and his firm, Jefferson & Lee Appraisals Inc., from preparing property appraisals for federal tax purposes.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Members of Rhino Smuggling Ring Arrested and Charged

Three people have been charged this week in Newark, Miami and New York City with wildlife smuggling and related charges for their alleged roles in an international rhino horn smuggling ring.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Georgia Man Admits Taking Bribes to Allow $1 Million Theft of Government Equipment from Marine Base

A retired employee of the Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany (MCLB-Albany) pleaded guilty today to receiving bribes in exchange for allowing heavy equipment to be stolen from the base for resale.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Colorado Big Game Outfitter Sentenced to Prison for Six Lacey Act Felonies

Big game hunting outfitter Dennis Eugene Rodebaugh, 72, of Meeker, Colo., was sentenced in Denver today to 41 months in prison to be followed by three years supervised release for six felony counts of violating the Lacey Act.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Former Muskogee, Oklahoma, Detention Officer Indicted for Making False Statements to the FBI

A federal grand jury in Muskogee, Okla., has indicted Dennis Frisbie Jr., 32, a former detention officer at the Muskogee County Jail (MCJ), on one count of making material false statements to the FBI.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole Speaks at the Administration Event to Highlight Priorities for Cybersecurity Policy

"One of the most important aspects of the Executive Order is its emphasis on improving government mechanisms for providing timely cyber threat information to the private sector," said Deputy Attorney General Cole.




b

Georgia Woman Admits to Taking Bribes for the Award of Government Contracts

A former employee at the Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany pleaded guilty today to receiving bribes related to the award of contracts for machine products.



  • OPA Press Releases

b

Florida Woman Sentenced to Prison for Obstruction of Justice in Relation to Her Husband’s Disappearance

A Gainesville, Fla., woman was sentenced today to serve one year and one day in prison for her role in the obstruction of a multinational investigation into the disappearance of her husband, then an employee in the U.S. Consulate in Curacao.



  • OPA Press Releases