Edin Sakoc, 54, of Burlington, Vt., was arrested today on charges that he obtained his naturalized citizenship through fraud by failing to disclose his prior acts of persecution and crimes committed during the Bosnian conflict, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Tristram J. Coffin of the District of Vermont, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge in Boston Bruce M. Foucart and Special Agent in Charge Andrew W. Vale of the FBI’s Albany, N.Y., Field Office.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has entered judgment for more than $17 million against Dr. Ishtiaq Malik and his two companies, Ishtiaq Malik M.D., P.C. and Advanced Nuclear Diagnostics, for submitting false nuclear cardiology claims to federal and state health care programs.

Two former officers with the Police of Puerto Rico and another individual were sentenced to prison late yesterday for their roles in providing security for drug transactions.

The Justice Department announced that yesterday, a federal district judge in Indianapolis permanently barred Cynthia Hawk, who operates Gain Tax Services, from preparing federal income tax returns for others.

The Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today that John T. Hoang, of Woodbridge, Va., pleaded guilty in federal district court in Washington, D.C., to willfully aiding and assisting in the preparation of false income tax returns for tax year 2004.

Barren County, Ky., Sheriff Christopher Brian Eaton, 42, of Glasgow, Ky., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr. to serve an 18-month prison term followed by two years of supervised release, after a jury convicted him on May 9, 2013, of two counts of obstructing justice during a federal criminal civil rights investigation conducted by the FBI.

Christian Fernando Borda, a major narcotics trafficker aligned with paramilitary groups in Colombia, was sentenced today to serve 25 years in prison for conspiring to import ton-quantities of cocaine into the United States, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Administrator Michele M. Leonhart of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Diana Shipping Services S.A., a Panamanian corporation headquartered in Greece, Ioannis Prokakis and Antonios Boumpoutelos, both citizens of Greece, were convicted today after an 12-day bench trial on charges related to the illegal discharge of waste oil and oil-contaminated waste water from the M/V Thetis, a cargo vessel operated by Diana Shipping Services, announced Robert G. Dreher, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, Neil H. MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Otis E. Harris, Jr., Special Agent in Charge, Coast Guard Investigative Service, Chesapeake Region, and David G. McLeod, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of EPA’s criminal enforcement program for the Middle Atlantic States.

U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky David J. Hale and Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Jocelyn Samuels announced that Steven Molen, a Sheriff’s Deputy with the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office, was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury on one count of violating the civil rights of a victim by using excessive force in August 2008.

The operator of the dragger F/V Norseman and an associated fish dealer pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Central Islip, N.Y., to federal violations stemming from their role in systematically underreporting fluke (summer flounder) that was being harvested as part of the federal Research Set-Aside Program, the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division announced.

The Justice Department announced today that it has entered into a comprehensive agreement with the Parish of St. Tammany, La., and the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff to correct conditions of confinement at the St. Tammany Parish Jail and to ensure that improvements made since the Department’s investigation will be maintained.

Shands Teaching Hospital & Clinics Inc., Shands Jacksonville Medical Center Inc. and Shands Jacksonville Healthcare Inc., which operates a network of health care providers in Florida, will pay the government and the state of Florida a total of $26 million to settle allegations that six of its health care facilities submitted false claims to Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health care programs for inpatient procedures that should have been billed as outpatient services.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced research findings showing that, on average, inmates who participated in correctional education programs had 43 percent lower odds of returning to prison than inmates who did not.

An indictment was unsealed today charging nine people in a loan sharking and illegal gambling ring allegedly run out of several Philadelphia businesses.

The Justice Department announced today that Jerry L. Wilson, a Mt. Washington, Ky., landlord has agreed to pay $22,000 to resolve allegations that he violated the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against African-American apartment seekers and making statements indicating a preference for families without children for certain available apartments.

The United States has requested the federal district court in Charleston, S.C. to permanently bar Jessica Geddis of Summerville, S.C., from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) will provide $2.5 million in funding to the Connecticut State Police, the Newtown, Conn., Police Department and their partner agencies that provided assistance in response to the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School last year.

Alexis Candelario-Santana, 42, was sentenced today to life in prison for murdering eight people and an unborn child and attempting to murder 19 others during a mass shooting at a Puerto Rico nightclub in 2009.

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division has reached a comprehensive settlement agreement with the Prince William County School District in Virginia to improve services for approximately 13,000 students who are English Language Learners (ELLs) and provide language access for Limited English Proficient (LEP) parents district-wide.

The Depatment of Justice and U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson for the District of Idaho announced today that they reached an agreement with the Jerome County, Id., Sheriff’s Office to resolve the allegations that Jerome County violated the employment rights of Idaho Army National Guard Member Mervin Jones while he was recuperating from a knee injury that he sustained while performing military service.

Gustave Drivas, M.D., 58, of Staten Island, N.Y., was sentenced to serve 151 months in prison for his role as a “no show” doctor in a $77 million Medicare fraud scheme. The State of New York revoked Dr. Drivas’s medical license earlier this year.

The Attorney General issued the following statement today in the wake of the tragedy at the Washington Navy Yard.

Michael D. Hayden Jr., 41, of Tilghman’s Island, Md., was arrested yesterday on charges of witness tampering and retaliation in connection with an investigation of felony Lacey Act violations related to the illegal harvesting of striped bass from the Chesapeake Bay.

A Maine resident pleaded guilty today in federal court to engaging in a type of cyberstalking known as “sextortion.”

It’s a pleasure to stand with you – and to help welcome so many colleagues and distinguished guests to the Great Hall – as we recognize the achievements, and celebrate the contributions, of the 39 accomplished LEAP graduates who make up our Class of 2013.

On Friday, the Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., ruled that a subsidiary of the BB&T Corporation was not entitled to $660 million in tax benefits that BB&T claimed based on its participation in an abusive tax shelter known as Structured Trust Advantaged Repackaged Securities (STARS). Judge Thomas C. Wheeler, who delivered the opinion of the Court, imposed $112 million in penalties.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement with Huber Nurseries, based in Manheim, Pa., resolving allegations that Huber engaged in citizenship status discrimination by preferring to hire temporary visa holders over recent lawful permanent residents from Nepal.

The Justice Department announced today that it reached an agreement yesterday with International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) resolving allegations that the company violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) when it placed online job postings for application and software developers that contained citizenship status preferences for F-1 and H-1B temporary visa holders.

David Kalai and Nadav Kalai face additional charges after a federal grand jury in the Central District of California returned a second superseding indictment yesterday.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached an agreement with the Arapahoe County, Colo. Office of the Sheriff resolving allegations that the Office of the Sheriff violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act(INA).

The United States has requested that the federal district court in Jackson, Miss., permanently bar Danee Aikens from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

A federal court in Columbus, Ohio, has permanently barred Tobias Elsass and his companies, “Fraud Recovery Group Inc.” and “Sensible Tax Services Inc.,” from preparing federal tax returns, promoting the availability of theft loss deductions, or engaging in any other tax-related business in the future.

Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole and Panamanian Attorney General Ana Belfon today signed an agreement in Panama City, Panama, to share more than $36 million in forfeited criminal assets with the Government of Panama.

David Oquendo-Rivas, 29, was sentenced today to life in prison for his role in the murder of eight people and an unborn child during a mass shooting at a Puerto Rico nightclub in 2009.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement with All Battery Sales and Service (ABS) of Everett, Wash., to resolve a lawsuit it filed on behalf of Curtis Kirk, a U.S. Army reservist.

Nolan L. Agner, the last of five Virginia Beach charter fishing boat captains convicted of poaching Atlantic striped bass was sentenced today in federal court in Norfolk, Va. All five captains – including Agner, Jeffery S. Adams, Raymond Carroll Webb, David Dwayne Scott, and William W. “Duby” Lowery IV – were sentenced for violating the Lacey Act by selling illegally-harvested striped bass, the Justice Department announced.

The United States has sued Eric Hardaway, aka Eric Brittenum, and Yvonne Hardaway, seeking to bar them and their business, Hardaway Taxx, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

The United States has filed a lawsuit asking a federal district court in McAllen, Texas, to permanently bar Hector Rangel Jr. from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

The Justice Department announced that on Nov. 1, 2013, it asked a federal court to bar Sergio Fernando Sosa and his company, Sergio Centro Latino, from preparing tax returns for others.

Belair Payroll Services Inc. (Belair), a multi-branch check cashing company in Flushing, N.Y., and its owner, Craig Panzera, 47, pleaded guilty today for failing to follow reporting and anti-money laundering requirements for more than $19 million in transactions, in violation of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).

Michael Slattery Jr., 25, an Irish national, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., to conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act in relation to illegal rhinoceros horn trafficking, announced Robert G. Dreher, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice, and Loretta E. Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

A third senior U.S. Navy official has been charged in a complaint unsealed today with accepting prostitutes, luxury travel and $100,000 cash from a foreign defense contractor in exchange for classified and internal U.S. Navy information, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy of the Southern District of California.

Ari B. Goldenberg, 46, of Milton, N.H., was charged today with trafficking in and making a false record for illegally selling a black rhinoceros head mount to an undercover U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) special agent.

Judge Finds that Instant Tax Service Franchisor Defrauded Customers, Obstructed the IRS and Violated Court Orders on Lending Practices

Five Banks Directed to Produce Records for Accounts at Zurcher Kantonalbank, The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited and Affiliates

The city of Shreveport, La., has agreed to make significant upgrades to reduce overflows from its sanitary sewer system and pay a $650,000 civil penalty to resolve Clean Water Act (CWA) violations stemming from illegal discharges of raw sewage, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. The state of Louisiana, a co-plaintiff in this case, will receive half of the civil penalty.

As all of you know, banking and financial services play a vital role in our country. They spawn growth, spread risk, facilitate the creation of jobs, and generally drive our economy. Without it, much of the prosperity that allows for our freedoms and our power in the world would not exist.

FreshPoint Inc., a Houston, Texas-based food distribution company and wholly owned subsidiary of Sysco Corp., has agreed to pay $4.2 million to resolve allegations that it overcharged the Department of Defense for fresh fruit and vegetables purchased under 15 separate contracts.

Former Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Hebert, 48, pled guilty today to one civil rights violation, five bank fraud violations and one aggravated identity theft violation, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels for the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite Jr. for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Anderson of the FBI New Orleans Field Office and Sheriff Newell Normand from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Four commercial fishermen and one company were indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury in Baltimore for a criminal conspiracy involving the illegal harvesting and interstate sale of striped bass on the Chesapeake Bay.