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.

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.

The Justice Department today announced a settlement with the city of Lomita, Calif., resolving allegations that the city violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 when it denied the Islamic Center of the South Bay’s application to build a new mosque on its property.

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.

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.

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.

"Yesterday, the Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit against Standard &s Financial Services – as well as its parent company, McGraw-Hill – alleging that the credit rating agency S&P engaged in a scheme to defraud investors in financial products known as Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities, or RMBS, and Collateralized Debt Obligations, or CDOs," said Attorney General Holder.

"Even though the banks and other institutions hired S&P to rate these financial products, and even though S&P earned millions as a result of issuing those ratings, S&P promised that its ratings would be unaffected by their concerns about market share, revenue or profits," said Acting Associate Attorney General West.

"As a result of these provisions, FIRREA is a powerful weapon for combatting financial fraud, and it will continue to play a key role in the Department's efforts to hold accountable those who violated the law," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Delery.

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.

St. Joseph’s Medical Center, a hospital located in Towson, Md., has reached a settlement with the United States to pay $4.9 million in connection with its submission of false claims to Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs.

Today the United States filed a civil action against ATP Oil &s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The complaint addresses the defendants’ alleged unlawful discharges of oil and unpermitted chemical dispersants from the defendants’ floating oil and gas production platform, the ATP Innovator, into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Justice Department today moved to intervene in Murphy-Taylor v. State of Maryland, et al., a private lawsuit alleging sex discrimination by the state of Maryland, Queen Anne’s County and the Queen Anne’s County Sheriff.

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

Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS), a publicly traded mortgage servicing company based in Jacksonville, Fla., has agreed to pay $35 million in criminal penalties and forfeiture to address its participation in a six-year scheme to prepare and file more than 1 million fraudulently signed and notarized mortgage-related documents with property recorders’ offices throughout the United States.

The Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut announced today, together with the town of East Haven, Conn., and the East Haven Board of Police Commissioners, they have selected Kathleen O’Toole as the Joint Compliance Expert to assess and report on the implementation of a comprehensive settlement agreement to reform the East Haven Police Department.

The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department announced today the launch of its first Spanish-language educational video. The video was developed by the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices to assist employers in avoiding charges of discrimination in the Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 process and to assist employees to be aware of their legal rights.

"Consumer advocates like NCL are the front line for so many consumers who have been defrauded and just don’t know where to turn. Like its predecessor, the Fraud Center, the new site will make it easier for consumers to report potential fraud or misrepresentation, and for law enforcement organizations, like the Civil Division, to do something about it," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Delery.

The Justice Department today reached an agreement with The Agency Staffing located in West Dundee, Ill., resolving claims that the staffing company violated the anti-discrimination provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

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

A settlement agreement was filed in U.S. District Court in Denver resolving a complaint alleging that two employers, Delaware Resource Group of Oklahoma LLC and FlightSafety Services Corporation, violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) by not paying money into two U.S. Air Force veterans’ 401(k) plans.

New Jersey-based Par Pharmaceutical Companies Inc. pleaded guilty in federal court today and agreed to pay $45 million to resolve its criminal and civil liability in the company’s promotion of its prescription drug Megace ES for uses not approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration and not covered by federal health care programs.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey School under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Colorado-based CH2M Hill Hanford Group Inc. (CHG) and its parent company, CH2M Hill Companies Ltd. (CH2M Hill) have agreed that CHG committed federal criminal violations, defrauding the public by engaging in years of widespread time card fraud.

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

Two Japanese air freight forwarding companies have agreed to plead guilty and to pay criminal fines totaling $18.9 million for their roles in a conspiracy to fix certain fees in connection with the provision of air freight forwarding services for air cargo shipments from Japan to the United States.

"We cannot rest as long as crime rates in many tribal communities remain far above the national average. We cannot rest as long as tribal members suffer disproportionately from violence, property offenses, and other criminal acts," said Acting Associate Attorney General West.

Executives at two Arlington, Va.-based businesses have pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining more than $31 million in government contract payments that should have gone to disadvantaged small businesses.

The Justice Department announced that it has reached an agreement with the city of Wheatland, Calif., that, if approved by the court, will allow it to bail out from its status as a “covered jurisdiction” under the special provisions of the Voting Rights Act, and thereby exempt the city from the preclearance requirements of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a cooperative settlement agreement with the Arapahoe, Colo., County Sheriff’s Office under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This agreement is a companion to one reached on March 8, 2013, with the city of Englewood, Colo.

The Unified Government of Wyandotte Co. and Kansas City, Kan., has agreed to a settlement to address unauthorized overflows of untreated raw sewage and to reduce pollution levels in urban stormwater.

The Department of Justice today filed a motion to dismiss its antitrust lawsuit against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan after the state of Michigan passed a law that prohibits health insurers from using most favored nation clauses in contracts with health care providers.

The Justice Department announced today that Alabama-based Caddell Construction has agreed to pay to the United States $1,150,000 to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by falsely reporting to the Army Corps of Engineers that it hired and mentored a Native American-owned company to work on construction projects at Fort Bragg, N.C., and Fort Campbell, Ky.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has entered into a consent decree with Summit County, Ohio, and related parties, which if approved by the court, will resolve a sex discrimination lawsuit in which the United States intervened in June 2012.

An indictment against former Jefferson Parish, La., Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Hebert, 48, was announced today by Roy L. Austin Jr., Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division; Dana J. Boente, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana; Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI New Orleans Field Office; and Sheriff Newell Normand from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.

The United States announced today that the Orange County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) has successfully implemented an agreement on the use of electronic control weapons, commonly referred to as Tasers.

A federal jury in Detroit today convicted a home health agency owner and a physical therapist for their participation in a $2.3 million Medicare fraud scheme.

The Justice Department announced today that Fluor Hanford LLC has agreed to pay $1.1 million to settle allegations that Fluor violated the False Claims Act by using federal funds for lobbying.

The Justice Department announced today that, as part of its Barrier-Free Health Care Initiative, over the past year it has reached seven settlements with eight health care providers from across the United States to ensure that they are providing effective communication to people who are deaf or have hearing disabilities.

U.S. District Court Judge Melinda Harmon entered an order of permanent injunction against Chung’s Products LP, a Houston-based producer of egg rolls and other foods, Charlie A. Kujawa, Chung’s president of operations, and Gregory S. Birdsell, Chung’s former director of quality assurance.

U.S. District Court Judge Joseph F. Bianco entered a consent decree of permanent injunction between the United States, Kabco Pharmaceuticals Inc. and its CEO and President Abu Kabir.

The Justice Department today reached an agreement with Milestone Management Company, a nationwide residential property management firm headquartered in Dallas, resolving claims that the staffing company violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

A former U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS-OIG) special agent in charge and another special agent were indicted in the Southern District of Texas late yesterday for their roles in a scheme to falsify records and to obstruct an internal field office inspection.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement with Lee County, Fla. that, if approved by the district court, will resolve allegations that the county discriminated against three Hispanic employees on the basis of race and national origin in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.

A member of the Internet piracy group “IMAGiNE” was sentenced today to serve 23 months in prison.

"The prosecution of SIRF crimes is a national priority, and, together with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to look for the most effective ways to bring this conduct to an end and to punish these wrongdoers," said Assistant Attorney General Keneally.

Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division issued the following statement today on changes to the division’s carve-out practice regarding corporate plea agreements.

A jury convicted Stephen M. Kerr and Michael Quiel yesterday on federal tax charges stemming from their failure to disclose secret offshore bank accounts in Switzerland.

Guity Kashfi of Los Angeles, was charged today in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California with conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Parker Drilling Company, a publicly listed drilling-services company, headquartered in Houston, has agreed to pay an $11.76 million penalty to resolve charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for authorizing payment to an intermediary, knowing that the payment would be used to corruptly influence the decisions of a Nigerian government panel reviewing Parker Drilling’s adherence to Nigerian customs and tax laws.