Thirteen individuals, including an alleged member and an associate of the Lucchese organized crime family, are charged with racketeering and related offenses in an indictment unsealed this morning in conjunction with arrests in the case.

Tierra Environmental, owner Ronald Holmes and manager Stewart J. Roth have been charged with illegally discharging wastewater into the sewers of the Hammond Sanitary District from a closed facility.

A federal jury in Montgomery, Ala., today convicted Monty Ervin and Patricia Ervin of conspiracy to defraud the United States and three counts of tax evasion.

A federal grand jury in San Jose, Calif., Wednesday indicted Ashvin Desai of San Jose on three counts of tax evasion, two counts of willfully aiding the preparation of materially false tax returns and three counts of failing to file Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts.

Marion Beverly Metoyer, 57, of Dayton, Texas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gray Miller in the Southern District of Texas. Metoyer was convicted by a jury on May 26, 2011, of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, three counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to receive health care kickbacks and two counts of receiving kickbacks.

The 15-count third superseding indictment returned by the federal grand jury on Nov. 16, 2011, and unsealed today in Hammond includes 15 new defendants who are charged with conspiracy to engage in racketeering activity from August 1989 until the date of the third superseding indictment.

The United States filed a complaint against BestCare Laboratories, Inc. and its founder and principal, Karim A. Maghareh, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

The violations include unpermitted discharges of stormwater and failure to comply with stormwater permits at 21 stone, gravel, sand, asphalt and ready-mix concrete facilities in Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland and New York.

The Antitrust Division obtained extensive information from Google, Admeld and a wide range of market participants in connection with its merger investigation of the proposed transaction. After a thorough review of the evidence, the division concluded that the transaction is not likely to substantially lessen competition in the sale of display advertising.

A Mobile, Ala., real estate investor has agreed to plead guilty today for his role in a conspiracy to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in southern Alabama.

Joaquin Tasis was sentenced today to 78 months in prison for his role in a $9.1 million Detroit-area Medicare fraud scheme, announced the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

KV Pharmaceutical Company, which was the St. Louis-based parent company of now-defunct Ethex Corporation, will pay $17 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations that Ethex failed to advise the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that two unapproved products did not qualify for coverage under federal health care programs, the Justice Department announced today.

Dora Binimelis, 53, of Miami, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Tarnow in the Eastern District of Michigan to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. At sentencing, Binimelis faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

A federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has returned an indictment charging Amir Zavieh of San Francisco with conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service.

Richard Jaensch, a self-employed plumber residing from Annandale, Va., was found guilty today by a federal jury sitting in Alexandria, Va., of one count of corruptly endeavoring to impede the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), one count of filing a false claim for a refund, and four counts of failing to file tax returns for 2004 through 2007.

Lisa Wright, 46, and Cathy Saffer, 52, of Pompano Beach, Fla., were charged today with a conspiracy to defraud homeowners and banks in a foreclosure rescue scheme.

Russell Hawley and Hawley Insurance Inc. of Vail, Iowa, have agreed to pay the United States $834,897.50 to settle allegations that they caused false claims to be submitted to the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation.

Wright Brothers Construction Co., of Charleston, Tenn., and the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) have agreed to pay a $1.5 million penalty and spend more than $1.3 million to offset environmental damages to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Water Act.

Medtronic Inc. of Fridley, Minn., has agreed to pay the United States $23.5 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claim Act by using physician payments related to post-market studies and device registries as kickbacks to induce doctors to implant the company’s pacemakers and defibrillators.

The Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office today announced a Clean Water Act (CWA) settlement with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) to resolve claims that untreated sewer discharges were released into Chicago area waterways during flood and wet weather events.

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that CalPortland Company (CPC), a major producer of Portland cement and building materials in the United States, has agreed to pay a $1.425 million penalty to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act at its cement plant in Mojave, Calif.

Pelican Refining Company LLC, was sentenced today to pay $12 million for felony violations of the Clean Air Act and obstruction of justice charges in federal court in Lafayette, La.

Lisa A. Dean, 38, of Alexandria, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Bruce Lee in the Eastern District of Virginia to a criminal information charging her with two counts of making a false claim against the United States.

The $3 billion total for fiscal year 2011 includes a record $2.8 billion in recoveries under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, which is the government’s primary civil remedy to redress false claims for federal money or property, such as Medicare benefits, payments on military contracts, and federal subsidies and loans.

The Justice Department announced today that a federal grand jury in Cleveland returned a seven-count indictment charging 10 men and two women, all residents of Ohio, with federal crimes arising out of a series of religiously-motivated assaults on practitioners of the Amish religion.

The settlement will protect Americans’ health by reducing more than 7,000 tons of harmful nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide pollution each year that can lead to childhood asthma, acid rain and smog.

GE Healthcare Inc. has paid the United States $30 million, plus interest, to settle allegations that a company it acquired in 2004, Amersham Health Inc., had violated the False Claims Act by causing Medicare to overpay for Myoview, a radiopharmaceutical used in certain cardiac diagnostic imaging procedures, the Justice Department announced.

The United States has intervened and filed a complaint in a whistleblower suit against AseraCare Hospice, the Justice Department announced today.

Maersk Line Limited has agreed to pay the government $31.9 million to resolve allegations that it submitted false claims to the United States in connection with contracts to transport cargo in shipping containers to support U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

John R. Brock, 52, of Crofton, Md., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert L. Wilkins in the District of Columbia.

Frederic Alan Gladle, 53, was charged on Dec. 9, 2011, in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles with one count of bankruptcy fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

Triad Mining Inc., the owner and operator of 31 surface mines in Appalachia and Indiana, has agreed to pay a penalty and to restore affected waterways for failing to obtain the required Clean Water Act (CWA) permit for stream impacts caused by its surface mining operation in Indiana.

The Access to Justice Initiative today released Foreclosure Mediation: Emerging Research and Evaluation Practices, a report resulting from a March 7, 2011, workshop with dozens of foreclosure mediation program stakeholders and researchers.

The U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington announced today that they are closing the federal criminal civil rights investigation of a former Seattle Police Department Officer for the fatal shooting of the late Native American woodcarver John T. Williams, and that charges will not be filed.

Philip Butcher pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz in Miami to filing a false claim for a tax refund, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

A former CIA officer, John Kiriakou, was charged today with repeatedly disclosing classified information to journalists, including the name of a covert CIA officer and information revealing the role of another CIA employee in classified activities.

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.

Phoenix-area businessmen Stephen M. Kerr and Michael Quiel and former San Diego attorney Christopher M. Rusch were charged in Phoenix with conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for concealing millions of dollars in assets in numerous secret Swiss bank accounts held at UBS and elsewhere, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

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.

"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.

"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.

Fourteen hospitals located in New York, Mississippi, North Carolina, Washington, Indiana, Missouri and Florida have agreed to pay the United States a total of more than $12 million to settle allegations that the health care facilities submitted false claims to Medicare, the Justice Department announced today.

Eduard Aslanyan, 38, of Sherman Oaks, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall in the Central District of California.

Dava Pharmaceuticals Inc. has agreed to pay the United States $11 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by misreporting drug prices in order to reduce its Medicaid Drug Rebate obligations, the Justice Department announced today.

The federal government and 49 state attorneys general today have reached a landmark $25 billion agreement with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers to address mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses.

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

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.

Capmark Finance LLC in Horsham, Pa., has agreed to pay the United States $3.9 million, to settle a False Claims Act lawsuit, the Justice Department announced today.

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.

Freedman Farms Inc. was sentenced today in federal court to five years probation and ordered to pay $1.5 million in fines, restitution and community service payments for violating the Clean Water Act when they discharged hog waste into a stream that leads to the Waccamaw River.