Eight California real estate investors have agreed to plead guilty for their roles in two separate conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California.

“We expect that physicians who participate in federal health care programs will bill for their services accurately and honestly,” said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Department’s Civil Division.

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) in Washington, D.C., has agreed to settle allegations that the company submitted false claims to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in connection with two cooperative agreements under which AED provided foreign assistance in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Freedman Farms, Inc. and its president, William B. Freedman, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in New Bern, N.C., to violating the Clean Water Act when they discharged hog waste into a stream that leads to the Waccamaw River.

Armor Group North America Inc. (AGNA) and its affiliates have paid the United States $7.5 million to resolve allegations that AGNA submitted false claims for payment on a State Department contract to provide armed guard services at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan.

PRIDE Industries, and its subsidiary, PRIDE Industries One, has agreed to pay the United States $400,000 to resolve allegations that it knowingly submitted false claims relating to a contract to provide maintenance services at the Department of the Army’s Ft. Bliss Army Base in El Paso, Texas.

A founder and president of a Washington-area design firm was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for her role in a conspiracy to defraud the United States in the award of a government contract for U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

A settlement between the United States and the Jersey City, N.J. Municipal Utilities Authority (JCMUA) will resolve Clean Water Act violations by JCMUA for failing to properly operate and maintain its combined sewer system.

Gabriel Henson, a supervisor for Integrated Production Services, Inc., a Houston-based natural gas and oil drilling contractor, pleaded guilty to a negligent violation of the Clean Water Act in federal court in Muskogee, Okla.

The United States has intervened in a lawsuit against Nurses’ Registry and Home Health Corporation in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

Caterpillar Inc. has agreed to pay a $2.55 million civil penalty to settle alleged Clean Air Act violations for shipping more than 590,000 highway and non-road engines without the correct emissions controls.

Robert E. Greeley, a resident of San Francisco, pleaded guilty today to charges of filing a false federal income tax return.

Nicholas J. Faranso of Farmington Hills, Mich., was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge John Corbett O’Meara in the Eastern District of Michigan to one year and one day in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States.

The United States has intervened and filed a complaint in a whistleblower suit pending under the False Claims Act against Education Management Corp. (EDMC) and several affiliated entities.

Under the terms of a settlement filed today in federal court, the city of Newport has agreed to eliminate illegal discharges of sewage into Narragansett Bay from its wastewater treatment plant and wastewater collection system.

The United States has reached agreement with the owners and a former operator of an inks and paint products manufacturing facility in Danvers, Mass., that exploded and burned in 2006 the day before Thanksgiving.

Taleo Corp. has agreed to pay the United States $6.49 million to resolve allegations that it knowingly caused false claims to be submitted to the Transportation Security Administration of the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department announced today.

Minnesota Transit Constructors Inc. (MnTC), a joint venture comprised of Granite Construction, C.S. McCrossan Inc. and Parsons Transportation Group, as well as a number of subcontractors, have agreed to pay the United States $4.6 million to resolve allegations that they knowingly submitted false claims related to a federally-funded transit construction project in Minneapolis.

Jose Rosario, 54, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen in the Eastern District of Michigan.

Melinda M. Lambert, a resident of Montgomery County, Ala., pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting the filing of a false tax return.

Janzen, Johnston &s Medicaid program.

TriWest Healthcare Alliance Corporation, a contractor to TRICARE Management Activity, has agreed to pay $10 million to resolve civil false claims allegations.

The United States has partially intervened in a lawsuit under the False Claims Act against Halifax Hospital Medical Center and Halifax Staffing Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Accenture LLP has agreed to pay the United States $63.675 million to resolve a whistleblower lawsuit.

Veniamin Gonikman, 56, who became a fugitive in 2005, was apprehended in Ukraine in January 2011.

April Rampton, formerly a resident of Heber City, Utah, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Salt Lake City with 15 counts of presenting false claims to the United States.

Two Mobile, Ala., real estate investors and one real estate investment company have agreed to plead guilty today for their roles in a conspiracy to rig bids for the purchase of real estate at public foreclosure auctions in southern Alabama.

Lydia Demski, the owner of Deerpath Corp., has agreed to pay the United States $800,000 to resolve allegations that she and her companies knowingly caused false claims to be submitted relating to a contract to provide re-furbishment of equipment at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Plumbrook facility in Sandusky, Ohio.

Future Research Corp., located in Huntsville, Ala., and its president, Jesse Nunn, have agreed to pay the United States $200,000 to settle claims that they inappropriately obtained contracts from the Navy.

– Alan James Watson, 46, of Clinton Township, Mich., pleaded guilty today to fraudulently soliciting and accepting $40 million from more than 750 members of his investment club and losing nearly all of it through non-disclosed, high-risk investments.

CH2M Hill Hanford Group Inc. has agreed to pay the United States $1.5 million to resolve allegations that it knowingly submitted false claims and paid kickbacks relating to a contract to operate and manage mixed radioactive waste at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Nuclear Site in the state of Washington.

The Justice Department today resolved claims made by U.S. Army Reserve member Kyle A. Sharp against ServiceMaster 24-Hour and Gregory Tullar, ServiceMaster’s owner and operator, alleging that they violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994.

Guidant LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Boston Scientific Corp. of Natick, Mass., has agreed to pay the United States $9.25 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations.

Louisville, Ky., physician Dr. Steven H. Stern and his practice, Kentuckiana Center for Better Bone and Joint Health PLLC have agreed to pay $349,860 to settle allegations of overbilling Medicare.

Nearly 40 members and associates of the Bandido Outlaw Motorcycle Gang (BOMG) were arrested yesterday and today on various firearms and drug-related charges in three judicial districts as part of a coordinated law enforcement effort.

A superseding indictment was returned today in Milwaukee against Dr. Arvind Ahuja of Greendale, Wis., adding a charge of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service.

Trident Seafoods Corp., one of the world’s largest seafood processors, has agreed to pay a $2.5 million civil penalty and invest millions in seafood processing waste controls to settle alleged violations of the Clean Water Act.

Science Applications International Inc. (SAIC); its subcontractor, Applied Enterprise Solutions LLC (AES); AES CEO Dale Galloway; and former government employees Stephen Adamec and Robert Knesel will pay the United States $22,676,000 to resolve allegations of false claims in a whistleblower suit.

A settlement agreement has been reached for the cleanup of the Midnite Mine Superfund Site, located on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Northeastern Washington.

Two California real estate investors have agreed to plead guilty today for their roles in a conspiracy to rig bids and to commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California.

Osman Norales, Genaro De La Fuente, Francisco Ramirez and Ulises Linares were indicted on charges of conspiring to defraud the United States.

LHC Group Inc. has agreed to pay $65 million, plus interest, to the federal government to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act for false home healthcare billings to the Medicare, TRICARE and Federal Employees Health Benefits programs.

Oracle Corp. and Oracle America Inc. have agreed to pay $199.5 million plus interest for failing to meet their contractual obligations to the General Services Administration.

The Ryland Group Inc. will pay a civil penalty of $625,000 to resolve alleged Clean Water Act violations at its construction sites, including sites located in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Martin Tasis was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for his leading role in a $9.1 million Detroit-area Medicare fraud scheme.

Integrated Production Services, LLC, (IPS), a Houston-based natural gas and oil drilling contractor, pleaded guilty today to a negligent violation of the Clean Water Act in federal court in Muskogee, Okla.

Pelican Refining Company LLC, pleaded guilty today to felony violations of the Clean Air Act and to obstruction of justice charges in federal court in Lafayette, La.

John R. Brock, 52, of Crofton, Md., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Court Judge Robert L. Wilkins in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to a criminal information charging him with one count of making a false claim against the United States.

DFine Inc. of San Jose, Calif., has agreed to pay the United States $2.39 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that the company paid kickbacks to induce physicians to use certain of the company’s devices that are used in treating spinal fractures.

Eight Northern California real estate investors have agreed to plead guilty today for their roles in two separate conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California.