A New Jersey industrial pipe supply company and its owner pleaded guilty today to participating in a conspiracy to commit fraud and pay bribes to a purchasing manager at Consolidated Edison of New York (Con Edison) in return for the manager’s efforts to steer contracts to the company.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius visited Detroit today to participate in the fifth regional health care fraud prevention summit.

The owner of the Equitable Building in Des Moines, Iowa, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Des Moines to conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act and to violating the Clean Air Act’s work practice standards related to asbestos removal.

A second New Jersey industrial pipe supply company and its owner pleaded guilty today to participating in a conspiracy to commit fraud and pay bribes to a purchasing manager at Consolidated Edison of New York (Con Edison) in return for the manager’s efforts to steer contracts to the company.

A federal court has permanently barred Gerald A. Poynter II of Kansas City, Mo., from preparing federal tax returns for others and from promoting a fraudulent tax scam.

A former owner of an Illinois-based technology company has pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the federal E-Rate program.

A federal court has permanently barred John Lewis, Artels James and Perry Wright from preparing federal tax returns for others.

A Laurel Springs, N.J., wastewater treatment and chemical supply company and its owner were sentenced today for participating in a fraud conspiracy in connection with sub-contracts for wastewater treatment supplies and services at two Superfund sites in New Jersey.

The United States is seeking an order from a federal court in San Francisco authorizing the IRS to request information from HSBC Bank USA, N.A. about U.S. residents who may be using accounts at The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in India (HSBC India) to evade federal income taxes.

The Justice Department today announced that it has reached a settlement agreement with LF Staffing Services Inc., located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to resolve allegations that LF Staffing Services engaged in employment discrimination by improperly pre-screening job applicants and rejecting valid work authorization documents presented by certain groups of immigrant workers.

Today, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, reached a settlement agreement with Independent School District #761 in Owatonna, Minn., to resolve an investigation into race and national origin harassment and disproportionate discipline of Somali-American students at Owatonna High School.

Two Miami-area residents and owners of a mental health care corporation, American Therapeutic Corporation (ATC), pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Miami for orchestrating a fraud scheme that resulted in the submission of more than $200 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare.

A federal court has barred a Philadelphia tax preparation firm and its owner from preparing federal tax returns claiming first-time-homebuyer tax credits and tax deductions for certain expenses.

Terra Industries Inc., one of the nation’s largest producers of nitric acid and nitrogen fertilizers, has agreed to pay $625,000 in civil penalties to settle alleged violations of the federal Clean Air Act at nine of its plants in Iowa, Mississippi and Oklahoma.

The United States has asked a federal court to bar Dennis Giroud of Victorville, Calif., from preparing federal tax returns for others.

A Las Vegas man was arrested yesterday on charges that he defrauded distressed homeowners in Las Vegas who were attempting to refinance or adjust their home mortgages.

An Oakland, Calif., woman was sentenced today to 57 months in prison for her role in a scam to bill Medicare for more than $1.2 million in claims for expensive, high-end power wheelchairs and other durable medical equipment (DME) that were not medically necessary.

The Justice Department has reached a settlement agreement today with Restwend LLC, the corporate owner of several Wendy’s restaurants in Maine, to resolve allegations that at least one of its restaurants engaged in employment discrimination by refusing to hire individuals believed to be non-U.S. citizens.

A federal jury this week found that the Clean Water Act applied to the filling of wetlands and other waters at two properties in Carver, Mass., owned by Charles Johnson, Genelda Johnson, Francis Vaner Johnson, and Johnson Cranberries Limited Partnership.

The United States has sued Dorthea Alexander of Leola, Pa., seeking to bar her from preparing federal tax returns for others.

John Walter Kaber, a resident of Bloomfield, Mich., pleaded guilty to tax evasion.

Karen L. Blyth and David H. M. Phelps were sentenced yesterday in federal court in Mobile, Ala., to 33 months and 24 months in prison, respectively. The pair was also fined $5,000 each, and barred for three years from working in the seafood industry or owning any seafood related business.

Two owners of a fraudulent Detroit-area medical clinic, Martin and Joaquin Tasis, and a man who helped them launder the proceeds of the fraud, Leoncio Alayon, were convicted today by a federal jury in Detroit for their roles in a $9.1 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Lindsey Manufacturing Company, an Azusa, Calif., company, two of its executives and a Mexican intermediary today were convicted by a federal jury on all counts for their alleged roles in a scheme to pay bribes to Mexican government officials at the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), a state-owned utility company.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement with Iflowsoft LLC, a computer programming services provider in Iselin, N.J., to settle allegations that Iflowsoft engaged in a pattern or practice of citizenship status discrimination by preferring to hire temporary visa holders over U.S. citizens.

"It is an honor to join with each of you – and with all of our distinguished guests – as we commemorate the 57th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision. It is especially meaningful for me to be here in Topeka – in the community where this landmark case took shape, among many of the people who helped to ensure that – after so many promising attempts and small steps forward – our country’s long struggle to end segregation in our schools and in our nation, finally, resulted in historic success."

The owner of a Houston-area durable medical equipment (DME) company was sentenced to 84 months in prison for her role in a Medicare fraud scheme.

The principal and co-owner of Integra Capital Management LLC, a North Carolina company, was arrested in Denton, N.C., today for defrauding commodities trading investors of more than $3.2 million, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Anne M. Tompkins of the Western District of North Carolina.

An Iowa ready-mix concrete company pleaded guilty to participating in three separate conspiracies to fix prices and/or rig bids for the sales of ready-mix concrete.

VeriFone Systems Inc., Hypercom Corp. and Ingenico S.A. have abandoned plans for Hypercom to divest its U.S. point-of-sale business to Ingenico.

The United States has asked a federal court to permanently bar two Broward County, Fla., tax preparers and their business from preparing federal tax returns for others.

"Today, a 50-count superseding indictment was unsealed charging 13 leaders, members and associates of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra Family with crimes that spanned more than a decade."

Two Miami-area residents who were owners and operators of a durable medical equipment (DME) company, pleaded guilty today for their roles in a scheme to defraud Medicare.

Marion Beverly Metoyer, a patient recruiter for a Houston durable medical equipment (DME) company, was convicted today by a Houston federal jury of health care fraud related to a power wheelchair fraud scheme.

A federal court has permanently barred two women from preparing federal income tax returns for others and from operating their tax preparation business.

A former owner of two Illinois-based technology companies has pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the federal E-Rate program by providing bribes and kickbacks to school officials in Arkansas, Illinois and Louisiana.

The owner of a New Jersey solid waste management company and three of his associates were arrested today on federal charges that they conspired to transport and dump thousands of tons of asbestos contaminated debris at an upstate New York farm containing wetlands.

Friday James, who according to the government complaint is from Landsdowne, Pa., and his business agreed to the permanent injunction order without admitting the allegations against them.

David R. Bostic, of Bloomington, Ind., pleaded guilty today to multiple charges of sexual exploitation of children relating to his participation in an international conspiracy to sexually exploit children through the trading of child pornography.

Midtown Imaging LLC, a radiology clinic, and its former owners Midtown Imaging P.A. and PBC Medical Imaging have agreed to pay $3 million to resolve allegations that the clinic violated the False Claims Act.

An owner of an Illinois-based technology company was sentenced today to serve one year and a day in prison for his participation in a conspiracy to defraud the federal E-Rate program.

The United States has filed a complaint under the False Claims Act (FCA) against Bay Area Sleep Associates LLC, dba SomnoMedics LLC, and its owner, Edward Killmer Jr.

An Iowa ready-mix concrete company pleaded guilty to participating in a price-fixing conspiracy for the sales of ready-mix concrete.

An owner of a Houston health care company pleaded guilty today in connection with a $654,227 Medicare fraud scheme.

A former co-owner of an Illinois-based technology company, Global Networking Technologies Inc. (GNT), was sentenced today to serve one year and a day in prison for his participation in a conspiracy to defraud the federal E-Rate program.

An owner of a Detroit-area medical clinic was sentenced today to 15 months in prison for her role in a $1.12 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Bobby Joe Knapp, the former owner and operator of the Equitable Building in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge James E. Gritzner to 41 months in prison for conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act and the Clean Air Act’s asbestos work practice standards for his role during the renovation of more than 10 floors of the building between 2005 and 2008.

An owner of a Houston health care company pleaded guilty today to committing health care fraud and making false statements relating to health care matters.

Two owners of a Houston health care company pleaded guilty for their roles in a scheme to defraud Medicare of more than $800,000.

Robert Nicol was sentenced this week in connection with a series of Utah-based business opportunity fraud ventures.