Central District of California

LOS ANGELES – A Ventura County man is scheduled to be arraigned today on federal charges that he abused his access to a U.S. naval base as a civilian contractor by entering restricted areas to photograph and film sensitive military equipment, airplanes, and training exercises, then sharing these images and videos with others.

Todd Jeremy Senff, 46, of Camarillo, is charged with 14 misdemeanors: 11 counts of violation of a defense property security regulation and three counts of entering military property for an unlawful purpose.

His arraignment is scheduled for this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

According to court documents, Senff worked for a Navy construction services contractor at Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC). This naval base houses a population of approximately 19,000 personnel and is comprised of three installations, including NBVC Point Mugu. Point Mugu houses several naval logistics commands and naval weapons testings commands, including unique facilities to conduct weapons research, development, and evaluation.

NBVC also provides direct access to the Point Mugu Sea Range, which is the Navy’s largest instrumented sea range and supports air, surface, and submarine operations and exercises. It also supports weapons testing, missile defense support, and multinational training exercises.

In September 2023, NBVC awarded a three-year construction contract to Senff’s employer for various projects. Senff was involved in approximately four of these projects, and he obtained a credential that granted him access to portions of the naval base.

From June 2024 to September 2024, Senff used his access to NBVC to unlawfully take photographs and videos of sensitive military equipment and military exercises. He then sent some of the unlawfully taken photographs and videos to his associates, along with messages regarding military activities.

The United States Navy strictly regulates photography on naval installations to protect and secure U.S. Department of War property against, among other things, sabotage and subversive actions. NBVC Point Mugu maintained posted signage in conspicuous and appropriate places stating that photography was prohibited.

An information merely contains allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 

If convicted, Senff would face a statutory maximum sentence of one year in federal prison for each count of violation of a defense property security regulation and a statutory maximum sentence of six months in federal prison for each count of entering military property for an unlawful purpose.

The FBI and Naval Criminal Investigative Service are investigating this matter. 

Assistant United States Attorney Joseph S. Guzman of the National Security Division is prosecuting this case.

LOS ANGELES – A Santa Clarita man was charged today in a federal criminal complaint alleging he intentionally set a wildfire in the Angeles National Forest that burned more than 1,000 acres of federally owned land, the Justice Department announced.

Rodney Ameile Saba, 70, of Santa Clarita, was charged with arson involving federal property. He is expected to make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

According to the complaint, on October 3, 2026, at approximately 2:13 p.m., Saba allegedly ignited what became known as the “Bouquet Fire” behind his residence on Bouquet Canyon Road. Moments before the fire started, Saba allegedly warned a neighbor to expect a loud sound like a shotgun blast. Witnesses then heard a powerful explosion followed by Saba yelling for help and a fire rapidly spreading up the hillside.

The complaint alleges that Saba admitted to law enforcement that he threw a cigarette from his porch onto fireworks, causing them to explode and start the fire. Investigators later recovered a lighter, cigarettes, shotgun ammunition, and an aerial mortar firework from Saba’s cabin.

Fire investigators with the U.S. Forest Service determined that the Bouquet Fire, which ultimately burned approximately 1,048 acres of federal land, was “probably caused by fireworks” after excluding lightning, campfires, debris burning, and other potential causes.

The complaint further alleges that Saba has multiple prior felony convictions, including mayhem, vandalism, possession of a controlled substance, criminal threats, manufacture or possession of a dangerous weapon, and possession of a stolen vehicle.

Saba was arrested on October 3, 2026, by local law enforcement on related state charges. Today’s federal complaint formally charges him in federal court.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, Saba would face a statutory maximum sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison.

The United States Forest Service is investigating this matter, with assistance from Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department – Arson Explosives Detail.

Assistant United States Attorneys Alexandra Sloan Kelly of the Environmental Crimes and Consumer Protection Section and Brenda N. Galván of the Transnational Organized Crime Section are prosecuting the case.

SANTA ANA – A previously removed illegal alien was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine, unlawfully possessing ammunition as a felon, and illegally reentering the United States after prior deportations. 

The case was investigated as part of Operation Guardian Angel, an initiative targeting violent offenders, narcotics trafficking, and previously removed criminal aliens operating in local communities.

Juan Jose Guerra‑Renteria, 46, a Mexican national who had been deported in 2006 and again in 2020, was sentenced on October 8, 2026, for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, being a felon in possession of ammunition, and illegal reentry.

United States District Judge Monica Ramirez Almadani sentenced him to 120 months’ imprisonment on the drug trafficking and firearms counts and 29 months on the illegal reentry count, to be served concurrently.

“Thanks to Operation Guardian Angel, criminal illegal aliens like Guerra‑Renteria are being identified and removed from our communities,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “This sentence reflects the seriousness of defendant’s conduct and his repeated disregard for federal law. My office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to safeguard our communities and ensure that dangerous criminal illegal aliens are held accountable with federal prison time.”

According to the plea agreement, on October 14, 2025, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop on Guerra‑Renteria in Orange County, during which officers located over 211.9 grams of methamphetamine and 56 rounds of .45‑caliber ammunition.

At the time he possessed the ammunition, Guerra‑Renteria had multiple prior felony convictions, making it illegal for him to possess ammunition under federal law. Following his 2020 removal, he knowingly and voluntarily reentered the United States without authorization from the Attorney General or the Department of Homeland Security.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Orange Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Y. Fu of the Orange County Office prosecuted the case.

LOS ANGELES – A North Hollywood man was sentenced today to 70 months in federal prison for his role in a series of fraud schemes that caused nearly $5 million in losses to federal COVID 19 relief and small business lending programs.

Sarkis Sarkisyan, a.k.a. “Samuel Shaw,” 38, of North Hollywood, was sentenced by United States District Judge Cynthia Valenzuela.

Sarkisyan pleaded guilty on April 29 to two counts of wire fraud and one count of transactional money laundering arising from his fraudulent application for a $786,457 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan and a subsequent $25,000 laundering transaction. In addition, the government’s investigation revealed that he also orchestrated additional fraud involving Small Business Administration (SBA) Preferred Lender Program loans totaling more than $4 million, as well as attempted to obtain two Economic Injury Disaster Loans of $500,000 each.

According to court records, Sarkisyan fabricated businesses, payrolls, IRS tax forms, and financial records to obtain federally backed loans intended to support legitimate small businesses during the COVID 19 pandemic. He and his co schemers then transferred the proceeds through shell companies and associates to conceal the origin of the illicit funds.

In total, Sarkisyan and his co-schemers received $4,866,457 in fraudulently obtained loan proceeds, most of which ultimately benefited him personally.

Sarkisyan “participated in a massive scheme to defraud multiple banks and, ultimately, taxpayers, out of almost $5 million in funds from lending programs designed to benefit small businesses and those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic,” prosecutors argued in their sentencing memorandum. His scheme “involved fabricating out of whole cloth businesses to make them appear legitimate entities whose funds taxpayers would expect to be an engine for the greater economy or in need of dire assistance during the pandemic,” and by doing so, defendant “exploited the goodwill of lenders and taxpayers.”

A deferred restitution hearing is set for December 4.

SBA-OIG, IRS Criminal Investigation, and HSI are investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Andrew M. Roach and David C. Lachman of the Major Frauds Section are prosecuting this case.

LOS ANGELES – Law enforcement today arrested 23 defendants out of a total of 28 individuals, including residents of West Covina and Studio City, charged in federal criminal complaints with trafficking drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, in and around the Skid Row neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles, an area notorious for poverty, homelessness, and drug use.

Today’s Homeland Security Task Force takedown mirrors similar takedowns earlier this year at MacArthur Park, another area of Los Angeles long known for street crime, gang activity, homelessness, and drug addiction. Prosecutors have arrested 24 individuals in those cases.

Among the defendants arrested today as part of the Skid Row action are the following individuals charged with distribution of a controlled substance:

• Rodney Thomas, 55, a.k.a. “Jamaica,” of Los Angeles
• Charles McIntyre, 65, of Los Angeles
• Dwayne Richards, 62, of Los Angeles
• Manuel Vaughns, 52, of West Covina
• Larry Pitre, 70, a.k.a. “Kat Daddy,” of Studio City
• Lionel Nelson, 57, a.k.a. “Popeye,” of Watts
• Tyzarioun Grimsley, 28, of Los Angeles
• Eric Goring, 38, of Los Angeles
• Michael Taylor, 39, of Los Angeles

During the Skid Row investigation, law enforcement searched 20 residences, most of which were outside Skid Row, as well as several tents associated with drug dealing inside Skid Row, and seized firearms and drugs, including suspected methamphetamine, cocaine, cocaine base, and pills, as well as bulk currency and luxury vehicles. 

“Today’s operation targeted drug traffickers who prey on some of the most vulnerable members of the community. They targeted the homeless in Skid Row, kept them addicted on drugs like PCP, and took their public assistance money for payment,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “We will use every lawful tool to dismantle the networks flooding Skid Row with deadly drugs. Those dealing drugs are looking at mandatory prison sentences. This operation is just the beginning. More to come.” 

“It would be simple to overlook the crimes of Skid Row and act as if it doesn’t matter… confined to a small area and confined to vulnerable populations. Make no mistake about this operation, these narcotics traffickers are the single largest driver of violent crime in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles,” said Patrick Grandy, the Assistant Director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.  “Our hope is that this effort will make a difference in the communities where these defendants operated, and the lives of law-abiding residents, including our most vulnerable.”

“We have thousands of unsheltered, many battling severe addiction and mental illness, many isolated from family and support. They are the most vulnerable among us. The criminals we arrested today are not low-level dealers,” said David Olesky, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration Los Angeles Field Division. “These traffickers did not hide in the shadows. They operated in plain sight. They used tents, tarps, and makeshift structures as storefronts – as drug distribution centers. They bet if they blended into the suffering around them, law enforcement would drive by, the public would look away, and they would go unnoticed. They bet on our apathy. Today, that bet failed.”

“Violence by local gang members against our vulnerable homeless neighbors will not be tolerated,” stated ATF Special Agent in Charge Kenny Cooper. “ATF will use its firearms and violent crime expertise to hold offenders accountable and protect all of our community members.”

“Drug trafficking organizations thrive on the illicit proceeds generated from poisoning our communities,” said Darren Lian, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation’s Los Angeles Field Office. “By following the money, IRS CI can expose the financial infrastructure that allows these criminal networks to operate in places like Skid Row, where vulnerable individuals are exploited precisely because they are easy targets for dealers seeking a profit. Today’s takedown demonstrates our commitment to working with our federal partners to disrupt the financial networks that support fentanyl and methamphetamine distribution in Los Angeles.”

According to court documents, Skid Row is a neighborhood in Los Angeles characterized by high rates of poverty, drug addiction, and homelessness. Many of the homeless in the area are drug users, and Skid Row is a known location to purchase drugs such as fentanyl, cocaine, cocaine base, methamphetamine, and phencyclidine – commonly known as “PCP.” 

Drug dealers from across the Los Angeles area travel to Skid Row to prey on the neighborhood’s homeless population and the individuals who live there. Skid Row drug dealers consist of a mixture of members of criminal street gangs and independent operators.

The tactics used by Skid Row drug dealers include dressing like members of the homeless population or social workers in order to blend in with environment and evade detection by law enforcement, using tents and makeshift structures to hide their illicit activities from public view, and stashing or storing a majority of their supply of drugs in nearby vehicles, tents, or makeshift structures, which limits their criminal liability should they encounter law enforcement.

Drug dealers also utilize single-room occupancy (SRO) units and other forms of low-income housing available in the area to store or stash their drug supply. Skid Row drug dealers often use vehicles and residences not registered in their name to elude scrutiny by law enforcement.

Skid Row has a high density of foot traffic from the homeless population that lives there. As a result of the high degree of foot traffic, street-level drug dealers often hide in plain sight and conduct hand-to-hand narcotics transactions in parks, including Gladys Park and San Julian Park. Drug users will walk up to a street-level dealer, pay them $20 or $40, and receive a small user quantity of cocaine, fentanyl, PCP or methamphetamine. 

Skid Row drug dealers occupy territory and protect or control their territory through various means, including violence. The territory held by drug dealers ranges in size from single street corners to entire city blocks.

For example, Vaughns is a documented Raymond Avenue Crip gang member who regularly sells inside Gladys Park.  Vaughns is associated with residences in Pasadena, California, and West Covina, California, as well as an SRO in Skid Row.

The complaints further allege that the intersection of Fifth and Crocker is controlled by a group of drug dealers all using tents and makeshift structures to sell drugs, including McIntyre, Grimsley, and R. Thomas.  According to the complaint, these tents are not used as housing, but instead as a location to store and distribute drugs. Specifically, R. Thomas lived in a high rise in downtown Los Angeles near the Los Angeles Convention Center, and he would drive to his tent at Fifth and Crocker in multiple different luxury vehicles, including a white 2016 Bentley and a black 2022 Mercedes Benz that was later pictured outside of his tent at 5th and Crocker.   

Nelson, a Watts-based drug dealer was observed on August 19 selling approximately 34 grams of fentanyl for $60 out of a Mercedes-Benz automobile parked in Skid Row.

Taylor, who also allegedly sold drugs in Skid Row despite living elsewhere, would disguise himself as a transient, wearing dirty clothes to appear disheveled and employing local transients to serve as lookouts for him in return for drugs. 

Additionally, the corner of Fifth and San Pedro was known to be used by members of the Pueblo Bishops Bloods gang, who would sell drugs from makeshift tents and tables.  In February 2026, LAPD arrested Dent, F. Thomas, and others, after F. Thomas sold cocaine base, and recovered over 100 grams of methamphetamine, over 400 grams of PCP, and a loaded firearm from the vicinity of the tent and F. Thomas’s vehicle, along with a digital scale.  Dent and F. Thomas were both arrested as part of today’s operation. 

A criminal complaint merely contains allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, the defendants would each face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. 

Joint Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Southern California Drug Task Force (SCDTF) High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) with significant assistance from the United States Marshals Service (USMS), the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the Housing and Urban Development Office of the Inspector General (HUD OIG), the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Pasadena Police Department, the Huntington Park Police Department, the El Segundo Police Department, the Santa Monica Police Department, the Simi Valley Police Department, the West Covina Police Department.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.

Assistant United States Attorneys Barr Benyamin, Chris Bulut, Sebastian Bellm, Max Gordon, and Logan Page of the General Crimes Section are prosecuting these cases.

SANTA ANA – A previously deported illegal alien has been charged in a federal criminal complaint alleging he attempted to smuggle illegal aliens into Southern California and unlawfully reentered the United States after removal, the Justice Department announced today.

Jose Miguel Castro‑Duenas, 44, a Mexican national who also uses the name Luis Enrique Santoyo‑Orozco, is charged with attempted transportation of illegal aliens and illegal reentry. 

He was arrested on October 3, 2026, in Newport Beach and remains in federal custody. He made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana on October 5 and was detained.  A post-indictment arraignment was set for November 9, 2026.

“This case reflects a brazen assault on the rule of law and the sovereignty of the United States, where a previously deported illegal alien smuggler unlawfully reentered our country and resumed smuggling operations in one of our coastal communities,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “We will not tolerate repeated violations of federal law or attempts to exploit our coastline as an entry point for illegal smuggling activity.”

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, Border Patrol agents had observed a white Honda Pilot near Newport Beach Harbor on multiple dates linked to maritime smuggling activity. On October 3, 2026, agents located the vehicle again and contacted the driver, who identified himself as Castro‑Duenas. Agents determined he was an illegal alien with no lawful immigration documents and detained him. 

In a post‑arrest interview, Castro‑Duenas admitted he is a Mexican citizen who unlawfully reentered the United States by boat near San Diego around September 5, 2026. He further admitted he had been previously deported in 2008 following a 2007 federal conviction for alien smuggling, for which he served approximately 13 months. He confirmed he had not received permission from federal authorities to reenter the United States. 

Castro‑Duenas also admitted he was working as a smuggler for a criminal organization. He told agents he owed the organization $18,000 for his own illegal entry and that each smuggling pickup reduced his debt by $1,000. He said the organization provided him with the Honda Pilot and a cell phone used to coordinate smuggling activity. He stated that he was at Newport Beach Harbor on the morning of October 3 because he had been instructed to pick up individuals arriving by boat that day. He also admitted he had completed at least two prior smuggling pickups at the same location. 

That same morning, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations and the U.S. Border Patrol interdicted a boat off Newport Beach Harbor carrying 14 Mexican nationals, none of whom had lawful status to enter or remain in the United States. 

A criminal complaint merely contains allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, Castro‑Duenas would face a total statutory maximum sentence of 12 years in federal prison.

Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Border Patrol are investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Rosalind Wang of the Orange County Office is prosecuting the case.

LOS ANGELES – A ranking member of a San Fernando Valley-based wing of the transnational criminal organization Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13) was sentenced today to life in federal prison for participating in two murders of MS-13 associates who violated gang rules and were taken to remote areas of Los Angeles County, where they were killed.

Walter Chavez Larin, 27, a.k.a. “Delito,” of Panorama City, was sentenced by United States District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld, Jr. to life in prison.

At the conclusion of a nine-week trial, a jury in November 2025 found Chavez guilty of one count of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of violent crimes in aid of racketeering (VICAR) murder. Four other defendants were convicted during this trial.

According to evidence presented at trial, Chavez and his co-defendants murdered their victims who had violated MS-13 rules. The trial centered on MS-13 Los Angeles cliques that implemented gang rules that required its members to use murder to rise within its ranks.

In June 2017, a victim – identified in court documents as “E.H.” – who allegedly overstated his position in the gang. The victim was confronted by Chavez and other MS-13 gang members at an abandoned property, known as a “destroyer,” disarmed of his machete, and assaulted the victim. The victim was taken to Angeles National Forest, where he was stabbed and hacked to death. Several MS-13 members tried decapitating him but found it too difficult. They doused the body with rubbing alcohol under the belief it destroyed forensic evidence. After murdering E.H., they eventually threw the victim’s body over a ridge. 

In January 2019, another victim – identified in court documents as “O.F” – who was a teenager targeted by MS-13. Chavez put a “green light” on this victim, meaning the victim should be killed on sight for disobeying gang rules.

The victim was taken from a North Hollywood park to Santa Clarita where he was executed by MS-13 members, including Edwin Martinez and Carlos Daniel Orellana, under the direction of Chavez. 

Martinez, who was convicted at trial with Chavez of one count of racketeering conspiracy and three counts of VICAR murder, was sentenced to life in federal prison.

Orellana pleaded guilty in August 2025 to one count of racketeering conspiracy and is serving a federal prison sentence of 33 years and nine months.

Federal prosecutors have secured 34 convictions in this case.

The FBI, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys William M. Larsen and Suria M. Bahadue of the Criminal Appeals Section, Jason C. Pang of the Transnational Organized Crime Section, Sara Vargas of the General Crimes Section, and Special Assistant United States Attorney Eric W. Siddall of the Major Crimes Section prosecuted this case.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles, California, has agreed to pay $1.44 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by submitting or failing to delete false or invalid diagnosis codes in order to increase payments that it received from the Medicare Advantage program.

“The government relies on Medicare Advantage participants to submit accurate, substantiated diagnosis codes that are adequately documented in a medical record to ensure proper payment,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Justice Department will continue to protect the public fisc and hold accountable those who receive inflated payments by knowingly providing or failing to correct false information.”

“The integrity of our federal healthcare programs, including Medicare Advantage, must be preserved,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “We will not tolerate companies undermining the interests of Medicare patients for financial gain.”

“Medicare Advantage organizations have a responsibility to ensure the accuracy of diagnosis codes they submit for payment. When entities fail to correct information they know is wrong, they undermine the integrity of a program millions of seniors rely on,” said Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Miranda L. Bennett of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS‑OIG). “HHS‑OIG will continue to safeguard taxpayer funds by holding organizations accountable when their failures inflate federal payments and compromise program trust.”

Under the Medicare Advantage (MA) Program, also known as Medicare Part C, Medicare beneficiaries may opt out of traditional Medicare and enroll in private health plans offered by insurance companies known as Medicare Advantage Organizations, or MAOs. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) pays the MAOs a fixed monthly amount for each Medicare beneficiary enrolled in their plans. CMS adjusts these monthly payments to account for various “risk” factors that affect expected health expenditures for the beneficiary. In general, CMS pays MAOs more for sicker beneficiaries expected to incur higher healthcare costs and less for healthier beneficiaries expected to incur lower costs. To calculate the payment amounts, CMS uses a health-based risk adjustment model — the Hierarchical Conditions Category (HCC) model — that takes into account diagnoses reported by healthcare providers. In general, the more severe the diagnosis or costly the associated treatment, the higher the risk score and the higher the corresponding payments to the MAO. Diagnosis codes submitted to CMS must be supported by the beneficiaries’ medical records and be accurate, complete, and truthful, based on the best knowledge, information, and belief of the MAO making the submission.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) provides care and services to HIV patients in the United States and other countries. AHF’s Managed Care Division (doing business as Positive Healthcare Partners) operated special needs MA plans for Medicare beneficiaries who have HIV and lived in Florida, Georgia, or California.

The settlement announced today resolves allegations that, for payment years 2017 to 2023, AHF failed to timely investigate and delete diagnosis codes that were either inaccurate or not documented in medical records. Beginning in around 2017, AHF’s risk adjustment coders conducted chart reviews to identify inaccurate or unsupported diagnosis codes for deletion. As part of this process, AHF’s risk adjustment coders maintained “Delete Research” spreadsheets, which listed diagnosis codes they identified as potentially lacking support in the medical record but needing further research. Although AHF knew that it was required to investigate and delete inaccurate and unsupported diagnosis codes within 60 days, AHF failed to timely investigate and delete the codes. AHF did not delete most of the inaccurate or unsupported diagnosis codes in the “Delete Research” spreadsheets until 2024 or 2025 — well after AHF was on notice that the codes potentially lacked support and only after being notified of the United States’ investigation.

The United States further alleges that, for payment year 2017, AHF knowingly submitted diagnosis codes for HIV (ICD-10 B20) where the diagnosis was not documented in any medical record for a face-to-face visit, in violation of CMS requirements that all diagnosis code submissions must be documented as a result of a face-to-face visit.

The civil settlement resolves claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Donna Irons, a former risk adjustment coder at AHF. Under the qui tam provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. The qui tam case is captioned United States ex rel. Irons v. AIDS Healthcare Foundation d/b/a Positive Healthcare Partners, Civil Action No. 23-cv-2160 (C.D. Cal.). Ms. Irons will receive $259,200 as her share of the federal recovery.

AHF received credit under the Department of Justice’s guidelines for taking disclosure, cooperation, and remediation into account in False Claims Act resolutions, Justice Manual § 4-4.112. In addition to cooperating in the government’s investigation and enhancing its compliance program, AHF proactively remediated its conduct during the course of Department’s investigation by submitting deletes for diagnosis codes that, based on review of medical records, were not supported.

The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, with assistance from the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General.

The investigation and resolution of this matter illustrate the government’s emphasis on combating healthcare fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).

This year the Administration launched the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and the National Fraud Enforcement Division to enhance the Administration’s war on fraud, waste, and abuse in federal programs. When unscrupulous actors exploit these programs for their own financial gain, they defraud the government, harm the people these programs are designed to aid and protect, and undermine American businesses that play by the rules. The Civil Division’s FCA enforcement plays a critical role in combatting such fraudulent schemes, recovering billions of dollars for the American taxpayers, and holding wrongdoers accountable. FCA matters will continue to be on the forefront of the battle against fraud, and the Civil Division’s FCA work will support and advance the mission of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and the National Fraud Enforcement Division.

Trial Attorney Tiffany L. Ho of the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney S. Desmond Jui for the Central District of California handled this case.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

LOS ANGELES – A now-imprisoned fraudster was sentenced today to 78 months in federal prison for hiring several now-convicted off-duty former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputies to violate his perceived adversaries’ civil rights, stealing more than $37 million from Meta Platforms Inc. by fraudulently gaining access to its business manager accounts and their lines of credit, and for cheating on his taxes.

Adam Iza, 26, a.k.a. “The Godfather,” who formerly resided in Beverly Hills and Newport Beach, was sentenced by United States District Judge Percy Anderson, who also ordered him to pay $23,402,766 in restitution.

Iza pleaded guilty in January 2025 to one count of conspiracy against rights, one count of wire fraud, and one count of tax evasion. 

He has been in federal custody since September 2024, and today’s sentence runs concurrent to a 15-year federal prison sentence received last month in Connecticut for his involvement in an attempted robbery of Bitcoin the month prior to his arrest.

According to Iza’s plea agreement in his Los Angeles federal criminal case, from August 2021 to April 2022, he hired off-duty LASD deputies to provide him with personal security. Iza knowingly and intentionally conspired with these corrupt sheriff’s deputies to obtain confidential law enforcement information, personally identifiable information (PII) about individuals with whom Iza had financial and other disputes, and court-authorized search warrants to track down and harass his victims. While using the sobriquet “The Godfather,” Iza also enlisted the corrupt deputies to intimidate and threaten these victims.

In total, five now-former LASD deputies whom Iza employed now stand convicted of federal crimes:

• Eric Chase Saavedra, 42, of Chino, a former LASD deputy and a former federal task force officer, was sentenced on September 28 to 21 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in February 2025 to one count of conspiracy against rights and one count of making and subscribing to a false tax return. Saavedra founded a company – Saavedra & Associates LLC – that provided security to Iza and hired LASD deputies to do so. Among other crimes, Saavedra used his powers as a sworn law enforcement officer to improperly obtain court-authorized search warrants related to intimidating, threatening, and harassing Iza’s adversaries. 
• Michael David Coberg, 45, of Eastvale, is serving a 63-month federal prison sentence for helping Iza extort a rival and arranging the sham illegal drug possession arrest of another adversary in Paramount in 2021. Judge Anderson sentenced Coberg on March 16.
• Scott Allen Simpkins, 34, of Brea, was sentenced on July 13 to 18 months in federal prison for obstructing a federal investigation into Iza’s extortion of $25,000 from a party planner at Iza’s Bel Air mansion.
• David Anthony Rodriguez, 45, of La Verne, was sentenced on July 20 to one year in federal prison and who had worked for Iza as a private security guard, pleaded guilty to submitting a false search warrant application to a state court judge on behalf of a different client.

“Individuals with substantial financial resources must understand that they cannot purchase access to confidential databases, investigative tools, warrants, arrests, badges, or firearms for use in private disputes,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. 

In an unrelated scheme, from December 2020 to September 2024, Iza fraudulently gained access to Meta business manager accounts and their associated lines of credit. He then sold access to the compromised accounts and lines of credit to various advertising companies, making substantial profits in the process. 

From 2020 through 2022, Iza received approximately $37 million associated with the sale of access to the Meta advertisement accounts into his companies’ bank accounts from domestic and international payors. As a result, Meta clients were billed for, and paid for, advertising expenditures they did not incur. When Meta or Meta clients discovered the fraudulent billing, Meta refunded its clients, thereby suffering the loss.

Iza admitted in his plea agreement that from 2020 through 2023, he received at least $36,360,844 in gross income from his scheme to defraud Meta, causing a total loss to the IRS of $13,286,152. Iza knowingly failed to file corporate tax returns during this time. He further evaded the payment of federal taxes by concealing his ownership of his company, Zort, including his communications with advertising clients, getting a co-schemer to use the money to acquire personal items for Iza and himself, and by transferring his corporate income to cryptocurrency custodians.

Relatedly, Iris Rabaya Au, 37, of Irvine, was sentenced on September 21 to 18 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay $1,484,343 in restitution and to forfeit a fleet of luxury and high-performance cars, designer handbags, and three “Godfather” sculptures, among other assets.

Au pleaded guilty in March 2025 to one count of subscribing to a false tax return. She failed to report more than $2.6 million in ill-gotten gains she obtained via Iza’s criminal activities.

The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this matter. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has assisted.

Assistant United States Attorney Maxwell K. Coll of the National Security Division prosecuted this case.

LOS ANGELES – A Koreatown man pleaded guilty today to assaulting security officers assisting federal law enforcement by throwing two Molotov cocktails inside a federal building in downtown Los Angeles, and to possessing additional unregistered destructive devices.

José Francisco Jovel, 54, pleaded guilty to one count of assault on a person assisting federal officers and employees and one count of possession of unregistered or unlawfully manufactured destructive devices.

Jovel has been in federal custody since December 2025.

According to his plea agreement, on the morning of December 1, 2025, Jovel approached a federal building located in the Civic Center of downtown Los Angeles, carrying multiple bags containing a flame torch, two airsoft guns, five knives, pepper spray, and seven additional Molotov cocktails he had constructed. Each device was made using a glass Nescafe jar, ignitable liquid, and a fabric wick.

While standing outside the employee entrance, Jovel yelled at federal officers and security guards assisting them, stating that if children were not present, he would “kill them.” After waiting for an employee to exit the doorway, Jovel reached into a bag and threw a Molotov cocktail at one of the security guards. The device shattered, spreading glass and ignitable liquid toward law enforcement officers and members of the public.

Jovel then threw a second Molotov cocktail through the public entrance of the building, where individuals were waiting to go through security. That device rolled across the floor inside the building.

Jovel admitted that he intentionally threw the devices at federal officers and those assisting them, intending and attempting to inflict injury, and that his actions caused reasonable apprehension of immediate bodily harm. He also admitted that the Molotov cocktails were destructive devices that were not registered with the National Firearm Registration and Transfer Record.

United States District Judge Otis D. Wright II scheduled a sentencing hearing for January 28, 2027 at 8:00 a.m. at which time, Jovel will face a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison.

The FBI is investigating this matter with assistance from the Federal Protective Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Homeland Security Investigations, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Assistant United States Attorney Lana Morton Owens and Jenna W. Long of the National Security Division are prosecuting this case.

LOS ANGELES – An Orange County woman has been arrested on a federal criminal complaint charging her with acting in the United States as an unregistered agent of the government of the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”), including by conducting surveillance of family members of a high-ranking Taiwanese government official, the Justice Department announced today.

Wanying Zhang, 34, a.k.a. “Heather Zhang,” of Irvine, was arrested on Sunday at Los Angeles International Airport, where she planned to board a flight to China. She is expected to make her initial appearance and be arraigned this afternoon in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

“Protecting our national security means confronting foreign governments that engage in covert operations in our nation,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “Ms. Zhang acted at the direction of Chinese government officials to spy on the family of a senior Taiwanese official here in the United States. She violated our laws and will be held accountable in our courts. We will aggressively investigate and prosecute illegal foreign operations on American soil.”

“The central allegation here — that Zhang, at the behest of the People’s Republic of China, covertly surveilled relatives of a high-ranking foreign government official in the United States — is deeply troubling,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg.  “The National Security Division and U.S. Attorney’s Offices, along with the FBI and other law enforcement partners, will remain vigilant against threats like this on our soil.”

“The complaint in this case lays bare a brazen plot directed by the Chinese government to conduct a covert surveillance mission on U.S. soil targeting close relatives of a Taiwanese government official,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. “Wanying Zhang’s arrest for allegedly acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government makes clear how far China’s authoritarian regime will go to advance its goals. However, this case also demonstrates the FBI’s unwavering commitment to defending the sovereignty of our democratic allies and combating all attempts by the Chinese government — and any foreign adversary — to conduct transnational repression within our borders.”          

According to the complaint, from June 2025 to September 2025, Zhang acted as an agent of the Chinese government without prior notification to the Attorney General of the United States, as required by federal law. 

At the direction and control of Chinese government officials, Zhang coordinated with other individuals to promote the interests of China by, among other things, conducting surveillance on family members of a high-ranking Taiwanese government official at their residence in the United States.

In June 2025, Zhang traveled from Southern California to China, where she met with Chinese government officials and was tasked with conducting the surveillance in the United States.

On August 29, 2025, Zhang and another individual flew from John Wayne Airport in Orange County to Las Vegas. On September 1, 2025, they flew from Las Vegas to the state where the victim resides. On that date, she messaged a PRC government official that she was “Boarding now” and sent the PRC official a photograph of her boarding pass.

Upon their arrival, Zhang and the other individual rented a car and drove to the victim’s residence, where they conducted surveillance. Zhang sent the same PRC official the following message: “Saw him, young male, it’s the young one.” When this official asked her to join an audio call, she replied, “I am videorecording.” 

Zhang also sent the same official the license plate numbers for the two vehicles parked in front of the victim’s home.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, Zhang would face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

The FBI is investigating this matter. 

Assistant United States Attorneys Amanda B. Elbogen and Colin S. Scott of the National Security Division and Justice Department Senior Counsel Scott M. Lara of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting this case.

Wanying Zhang, 34, also known as Heather Zhang, of Irvine, California, was arrested Sunday on a one count complaint charging her with acting in the United States as an unregistered agent of the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), including by conducting surveillance on family members of a high-ranking Taiwanese government official.

“The central allegation here — that Zhang, at the behest of the People’s Republic of China, covertly surveilled relatives of a high-ranking foreign government official in the United States — is deeply troubling,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg.  “The National Security Division and U.S. Attorney’s Offices, along with the FBI and other law enforcement partners, will remain vigilant against threats like this on our soil.”

“Protecting our national security means confronting foreign governments that engage in covert operations in our nation,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “Ms. Zhang is charged with acting at the direction of Chinese government officials to spy on the family of a senior Taiwanese official here in the United States. She violated our laws and will be held accountable in our courts. We will aggressively investigate and prosecute illegal foreign operations on American soil.”

“The complaint in this case lays bare a brazen plot directed by the Chinese government to conduct a covert surveillance mission on U.S. soil targeting close relatives of a Taiwanese government official,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. “Wanying Zhang’s arrest for allegedly acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government makes clear how far China’s authoritarian regime will go to advance its goals. However, this case also demonstrates the FBI’s unwavering commitment to defending the sovereignty of our democratic allies and combating all attempts by the Chinese government — and any foreign adversary — to conduct transnational repression within our borders.”

Zhang was arrested prior to her planned departure from Los Angeles International Airport, where she planned to board a flight to China. She is expected to make her initial appearance and be arraigned this afternoon in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

According to the complaint, from June 2025 to September 2025, Zhang acted as an agent of the PRC without prior notification to the Attorney General of the United States, as required by federal law.

At the direction and control of PRC officials, Zhang coordinated with other individuals to promote the interests of China by, among other things, conducting surveillance on family members of a high-ranking Taiwanese government official at their residence in the United States.

In June 2025, Zhang traveled from Southern California to China, where she met with PRC officials and was tasked with conducting surveillance in the United States.

On Aug. 29, 2025, Zhang and another individual flew from John Wayne Airport in Orange County to Las Vegas. On Sept. 1, 2025, they flew from Las Vegas to the Pacific Northwest, where the victims reside. On that date, Zhang messaged a PRC official that she was “Boarding now” and sent a photograph of her boarding pass.

Upon their arrival, Zhang and the other individual traveled to the victims’ residence and conducted surveillance. Zhang sent the same PRC official the following message: “Saw him, young male, it’s the young one.” When this official asked her to join an audio call, she replied, “I am videorecording.” 

Zhang also sent the same official the license plate numbers for the two vehicles parked in front of the victims’ home.

If convicted, Zhang would face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

The FBI Los Angeles Field Office is investigating the case.

Senior Counsel Scott M. Lara of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda B. Elbogen and Colin S. Scott for the Central District of California are prosecuting the case.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

LOS ANGELES – An illegal alien from Guatemala was sentenced today to 262 months in federal prison for leading one of the nation’s largest human smuggling organizations, a ring that smuggled approximately 20,000 illegal immigrants from Guatemala to the United States over a five-year span, held some of them hostage, and was responsible for a car accident that killed seven migrants, two of them young children.

Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul, 53, a.k.a. “Turko,” “El Jefe,” “Patrón,” and “El Gallo,” who most recently lived in the Westlake neighborhood near downtown Los Angeles, was sentenced by United States District Judge Cynthia Valenzuela, who also ordered him to pay $64,945 in restitution in connection with a November 2023 car accident resulting in the deaths of seven illegal immigrants – including two children ages 4 and 6 years old. An additional restitution hearing related to Renoj-Matul’s kidnapping victims will be scheduled at a later date.

Renoj-Matul pleaded guilty on March 6 to one count of conspiracy to bring aliens to the United States, transport aliens in the United States, and harbor aliens in the United States for private financial gain and one count of hostage taking. He has been in federal custody since February 2025.

“This criminal built an illicit money-making machine off the desperation of illegal immigrants,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “This case, which involved hostage taking, sexual assault, and children killed in a car accident, proves that smuggling aliens into our country is not a harmless crime. It is for the safety of our citizens and immigrants themselves that we zealously police and protect our borders.”

According to court documents, Renoj-Matul first worked for then acted as a leader in the smuggling organization and specialized in the smuggling of illegal aliens from Guatemala to the United States, the transportation and movement of those illegal aliens within the United States, and the harboring, concealing, and shielding of illegal aliens within the United States. This organization moved approximately 20,000 illegal aliens from 2019 through July 2024.

Associates in Guatemala who solicited illegal aliens to come to the United States accepted payment of between $15,000 and $18,000 for each illegal alien to be smuggled into the United States and coordinated the journey of the illegal aliens from Guatemala to the United States.

Mexican smuggling organizations who accepted Guatemalan illegal aliens in southern Mexico transported them through Mexico and then smuggled those illegal aliens across the U.S.-Mexico border.

In the United States, co-conspirators within the organization oversaw smuggling cells, teams of drivers who transported illegal aliens, and operators of stash houses where illegal aliens were held while they were within the United States.

Co-conspirators operated an illegal alien stash house located on James M. Wood Boulevard in the Westlake district of Los Angeles. Illegal aliens smuggled by the organization were brought to this house. After an illegal alien’s smuggling fee was paid, the illegal alien was transported by co-conspirators to another destination within the United States. If an illegal alien’s smuggling fees were not paid, Renoj-Matul and other co-conspirators would hold that person against their will at the Westlake house until their fee was paid.

In retaliation for one victim who had not paid her smuggling fees, Renoj-Matul held her against her will, “sexually assaulted her, forced her to work demeaning jobs, mistreated her, and threatened her family in an effort to extract payment of the smuggling debt,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. 

Other co-conspirators transported and coordinated the transport of illegal aliens for Renoj-Matul from Guatemala, through Mexico, to the United States and then throughout various destinations within the United States. Within the United States, co-conspirators drove illegal aliens to other destinations in vehicles provided by Renoj-Matul and others for a fee paid by the aliens.

Renoj-Matul directed that the transportation of proceeds from human smuggling be transported from Los Angeles to Phoenix to be given to the Mexican smuggling organization and pay the smuggling organization’s expenses.

Renoj-Matul arranging for co-conspirators to transport illegal immigrants to Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, New York, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

He admitted in his plea agreement that at all relevant times, he acted for the purpose of private financial gain.

In 2024, after a third party reneged on paying a victim’s smuggling fees, co-conspirators in Guatemala and Renoj-Matul called the victim’s mother and threatened to harm the victim, including by warning the victim “would come home in a box” if her smuggling fees were not paid, according to court documents. For a two-month period from May 2024 to July 2024, the victim was held hostage at the house in the Westlake area of Los Angeles.

Renoj-Matul also held hostage another victim – an illegal immigrant from Guatemala –from April 2024 to July 2024. He knowingly and intentionally seized and detained, and threatened to kill, injure, and continue to detain the victim to compel third persons to pay smuggling fees to the hostage takers as an explicit condition for the victim’s release. 

Relatedly, Cristóbal Mejia-Chaj, 51, of Westlake, was sentenced today by Judge Valenzuela to 33 months in federal prison. He pleaded guilty on March 25 to one count of conspiracy to bring aliens to the United States, transport aliens in the United States, and harbor aliens in the United States for private financial gain. His restitution hearing is scheduled for December 11.

José Paxtor-Oxlaj, 46, a co-defendant, was sentenced by Judge Valenzuela on July 31 to 78 months in federal prison and ordered him to pay $64,945 in restitution in connection with the fatal November 2023 car accident. Paxtor-Oxlaj is incarcerated in Oklahoma state prison in connection with that fatal crash. He pleaded guilty on April 13 to one count of conspiracy to bring aliens to the United States, transport aliens in the United States, and harbor aliens in the United States for private financial fain and resulting in death.

Helmer Obispo-Hernández, 43, a.k.a. “Xavi,” a lieutenant in the criminal organization, faces federal criminal charges in this case and is a fugitive.

Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) El Camino Real Financial Crimes Task Force, HSI’s Figueroa Initiative Gang and Human Trafficking Task Force, United States Border Patrol, and the Inglewood Police Department investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Kelly Larocque of the Transnational Organized Crime Section and Lana Morton Owens of the National Security Division prosecuted this case.

LOS ANGELES – The owner of a San Gabriel Valley-based technology company was arrested today on a three-count federal indictment charging him with smuggling to China more than $300 million worth of export-controlled high-end computer servers containing U.S.-manufactured graphics processing units (GPUs) commonly used for Super Intelligence (SI) applications.

Greg Lui, 38, a.k.a. “Yiu Kong Lui,” of San Gabriel, is expected to make his initial appearance and be arraigned on Friday in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

Lui is charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act and the Export Administration Regulations, one count of outbound smuggling, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

“Protecting America’s national security means keeping our advanced Super Intelligence technology from being used to strengthen our adversaries’ military capabilities,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “This defendant allegedly used false paperwork and shipments through third countries to smuggle more than $300 million in export-controlled computer servers to China. We will aggressively prosecute those who put our national security at risk for profit.” 

“The indictment unsealed today details alleged efforts to evade U.S. export laws through false documents, staged dummy servers to mislead inspectors, and convoluted transshipment schemes, in order to obfuscate the true destination of restricted SI technology — China,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “These chips are the product of American ingenuity, and The National Security Division will continue to enforce our export-control laws to protect that advantage.”  

“The Bureau of Industry and Security is committed to using all lawful means to protect national security and hold violators accountable,” said David A. Peters, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement. 

“Preventing the illegal export of controlled technology is critical to protecting our national security,” said Special Agent in Charge John E. Helsing of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Western Field Office. “These technologies provide core advantages to U.S. forces, and ensuring they remain safeguarded prevents adversaries from exploiting them. Today’s action underscores our commitment to protecting advanced defense capabilities and enforcing the laws that keep them out of the hands of those who may threaten the United States.”

“The FBI’s investigation revealed that Lui allegedly sold the Chinese government hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of American Super Intelligence technology, in clear violation of U.S. export control laws,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. “Controlling the export of advanced S.I. technology is critical to safeguarding our national security and defending the homeland, and the FBI will keep fighting for America’s businesses and economic security. We’re grateful to our partners across the U.S. government and private sector for their assistance, and we’ll continue holding accountable anyone who violates U.S. export laws to enrich themselves and help our adversaries.”

According to the indictment that a federal grand jury returned on September 29, Lui owns Earthmade Computer Inc., a City of Industry-based technology company and closely held corporation. 

From 2023 to 2024, Lui and his co-conspirators used Earthmade to buy and send export-controlled items to China without the required licenses issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Instead, they shipped these items to countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, where no such license is required, then illegally re-exported them to China.

The items in question were high-end computer servers containing GPUs manufactured by companies that specialize in SI computing. Lui did so despite knowing that the true end user of the servers he purchased were in China.

As part of the scheme, Lui and his co-conspirators provided false documentation to U.S.-based manufacturers that misrepresented that the items would be going to permissible end users and end destinations that did not require an export license.

After placing these orders, Lui employed various freight forwarding companies to ship the export-controlled servers to countries such as Malaysia and Singapore. Once the servers arrived in these locations, Lui worked with his co-conspirators to reship the items to China.

From January 2024 to October 2024, Earthmade received more than $176 million from two Malaysia-based shipment companies as part of the scheme.

According to the indictment, Lui executed this scheme knowing that U.S. government regulations barred the export of such high-end technology to China to protect the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States. According to U.S. government regulations, such high-end GPUs could make significant contributions to the military potential of other nations. 

For example, in January 2024, Lui emailed a conspirator indicating that a Malaysian transshipment company wished to purchase 70 servers with export-restricted GPUs. In that email correspondence, Lui attached an export compliance form that indicated that the Malaysian company was aware of U.S. export laws that restricted the sale, transshipment, or export of these specific servers.

Later that month, Lui submitted a purchase order to a U.S. manufacturer for 27 of these servers for approximately $7,614,000. He and a co-conspirator then caused the servers to be shipped from Los Angeles to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The packing list for this shipment indicated that the shipment contained 27 servers with GPUs, which were export controlled and could not be sent to China without a license.

In March 2024, a co-conspirator emailed a Malaysian government official that 27 servers had, in fact, been transshipped to a China-based buyer.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted of all charges, Lui would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison on the conspiracy count, 20 years in federal prison on the money laundering count, and 10 years in federal prison on the smuggling count.

The United States Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security Office of Export Enforcement, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division are investigating this matter. 

Assistant United States Attorneys Colin S. Scott and Joseph S. Guzman of the National Security Division and Justice Department Trial Attorney Eli Ross of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.  Assistant United States Attorney Alexander Su of the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section is handling the civil and criminal forfeitures of the seized property.

The owner of a San Gabriel Valley-based technology company was arrested today on a three-count federal indictment charging him with smuggling more than $300 million worth of export-controlled high-end computer servers containing U.S.-manufactured graphics processing units (GPUs) commonly used for Super Intelligence (SI) applications to China.

“SI is the defining technology of the era,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “The National Security Division will protect the American advantage in the chips that power this technology, a product of our unparalleled innovation and hard work, from illegal diversion by our economic and military adversaries.”

“Protecting America’s national security means keeping our advanced Super Intelligence technology from being used to strengthen our adversaries’ military capabilities,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “This defendant allegedly used false paperwork and shipments through third countries to smuggle more than $300 million in export-controlled computer servers to China. We will aggressively prosecute those who put our national security at risk for profit.”

“The FBI’s investigation revealed that Lui allegedly sold the Chinese government hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of American Super Intelligence technology, in clear violation of U.S. export control laws,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. “Controlling the export of advanced SI technology is critical to safeguarding our national security and defending the homeland, and the FBI will keep fighting for America’s businesses and economic security. We’re grateful to our partners across the U.S. government and private sector for their assistance, and we’ll continue holding accountable anyone who violates U.S. export laws to enrich themselves and help our adversaries.”

“Preventing the illegal export of controlled technology is critical to protecting our national security,” said Special Agent in Charge John E. Helsing of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Western Field Office. “These technologies provide core advantages to U.S. forces, and ensuring they remain safeguarded prevents adversaries from exploiting them. Today’s action underscores our commitment to protecting advanced defense capabilities and enforcing the laws that keep them out of the hands of those who may threaten the United States.”

“The Bureau of Industry and Security is committed to using all lawful means to protect national security and hold violators accountable,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement David A. Peters of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security Office of Export Enforcement.

Greg Lui, 38, also known as “Yiu Kong Lui,” of San Gabriel, California, is expected to make his initial appearance and be arraigned this afternoon.

Lui is charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act and the Export Administration Regulations, one count of outbound smuggling, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

According to the indictment returned on Sept. 29, Lui owns Earthmade Computer Inc., a City of Industry-based technology company and closely held corporation. 

From 2023 to 2024, Lui and his co-conspirators used Earthmade to buy and send export-controlled items to China without the required licenses issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Instead, they shipped these items to countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, where no such license is required, then illegally re-exported them to China.

The items in question were high-end computer servers containing GPUs manufactured by companies that specialize in SI computing. Lui did so despite knowing that the true end users of the servers he purchased were in China. As part of the scheme, Lui and his co-conspirators provided false documentation to U.S.-based manufacturers that misrepresented that the items would be going to permissible end users and end destinations that did not require an export license. After placing these orders, Lui employed various freight forwarding companies to ship the export-controlled servers to countries such as Malaysia and Singapore. Once the servers arrived in these locations, Lui worked with his coconspirators to reship the items to China. From January 2024 to October 2024, Earthmade received more than $176 million from two Malaysia-based shipment companies as part of the scheme.

According to the indictment, Lui executed this scheme knowing that U.S. government regulations barred the export of such high-end technology to China to protect the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States. According to U.S. government regulations, such high-end GPUs could make significant contributions to the military potential of other nations. 

In January 2024, Lui emailed a conspirator indicating that a Malaysian transshipment company wished to purchase 70 servers with export-restricted GPUs. In that email correspondence, Lui attached an export compliance form that indicated that the Malaysian company was aware of U.S. export laws that restricted the sale, transshipment, or export of these specific servers.

Later that month, Lui submitted a purchase order to a U.S. manufacturer for 27 of these servers for approximately $7,614,000. He and a co-conspirator then caused the servers to be shipped from Los Angeles to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The packing list for this shipment indicated that the shipment contained 27 servers with GPUs, which were export controlled and could not be sent to China without a license.

In March 2024, a co-conspirator emailed a Malaysian government official that 27 servers had, in fact, been transshipped to a China-based buyer.

If convicted of all charges, Lui could face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the conspiracy count, a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the money laundering count, and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the smuggling count.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security Office of Export Enforcement, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the FBI are investigating this matter. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Colin S. Scott and Joseph S. Guzman for the Central District of California and Trial Attorney Eli Ross of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Su for the Central District of California is handling the civil and criminal forfeitures of the seized property.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SANTA ANA, California – Four illegal aliens were arrested today out of five total charged in separate federal criminal complaints charging them with using other people’s Social Security numbers to obtain credit, mostly from retailers, then running up tens of thousands of dollars in debt which they sought to erase by filing for bankruptcy.

The following defendants were arrested today and are expected to make their initial appearances this afternoon in United States District Court in Santa Ana and Los Angeles:

• Abel Ávila Martínez, 48, of Buena Park, who previously was removed from the U.S. in 1999;
• Walter Anastacio Castellanos-Pérez, 53, of Rancho Dominguez;
• José Alfredo Chávez-Cabello, 54, of Long Beach; and
• Verónica Espinosa-Cortés, 54, of Bell Gardens, whom an immigration judge ordered removed from the U.S. in 1996.

Law enforcement continues to search for the following defendant:

• Moisés Ortuño-Claras, 47, of Anaheim. 

Each defendant is charged with fraud in connection with access devices over $1,000. Ávila, Chávez, Espinosa, and Ortuño are Mexican nationals. Castellanos is a Guatemalan national.

“This sweep resulted in the arrest of five illegal aliens charged with stealing Americans’ Social Security numbers to obtain credit, run up debt, and then seek to erase over $140,000 through bankruptcy,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “These defendants allegedly exploited both our financial system and the bankruptcy process and face up to 15 years in federal prison if convicted.” 

“As the watchdog of the bankruptcy system, the United States Trustee Program is committed to addressing fraudulent and abusive conduct,” said Peter Anderson, U.S. Trustee for Region 16, which covers the Central District of California. “We appreciate the commitment of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners to ensuring that bankruptcy is not a safe haven for fraudsters.” 

“Today’s arrests highlight the very real harm caused when individuals misuse Social Security numbers to obtain credit. These schemes leave innocent people to deal with the fallout of fraud and financial damage,” said Christian Assaad, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, San Francisco Field Division. “We will continue working with our federal partners to hold accountable those who exploit others and compromise the integrity of our financial system.”

“Identity theft inflicts severe and lasting damage on the financial well-being of hardworking Americans,” said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles acting Special Agent in Charge Erin Burke. “These arrests send the clear message that HSI and our partners are dedicated to rooting out financial fraud and protecting the public from those who lie and steal to illegally enrich themselves at the expense of innocent people.”

According to affidavits filed with the complaints, from February 2025 to May  2025, the defendants each filed for bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. Each bankruptcy filing included a signed, sworn declaration from each defendant stating under penalty of perjury that he or she used a Social Security number (SSN) not assigned to them to obtain credit. 

In each case, the defendants used the credit to accumulate items of value and running up credit card debt, mostly from retailers, and the true SSN holders did not authorize the defendants to use their SSN for any purpose.

Espinosa reported incurring a total of $10,982 in debts including from furniture retailers and a jewelry store. Ortuño reported $63,974 in debts from retailers such as Old Navy, Macy’s, Lowe’s, The Home Depot, and Sam’s Club. Ávila reported incurring $15,964 in debt while Castellanos and Chávez reported debts of $32,961 and $19,153, respectively, mostly from credit cards obtained from retailers.

For example, in November 2021, Espinosa was approved for Daniel’s Jewelers credit lines with a total limit of $3,717, obtained through a misused SSN and in June 2024 made a $1,000 purchase at that jewelry store in Culver City. 

From May 2022 to May 2023, Chávez used a MyPremier credit card with a credit limit of $1,000 to accrue purchase charges and cash withdrawals totaling $1,238, obtained through the misused SSN, with the transactions predominantly occurring in Long Beach.

In February 2023, Ortuño was approved for a Bass Pro Shop credit card with a credit limit of $6,000, obtained through the misused Social Security number (SSN) issued by Capital One Bank. He made the application online and in December 2024 used that credit card to make multiple purchases in Orange County for the total amount of $3,522.

In March 2023, Castellanos was approved for a Best Buy credit card with a $2,000 credit limit, obtained through the misused SSN issued by Citi Bank. In May 2023, he used that store credit card to purchase an appliance at a Best Buy store in Compton for approximately $1,206. 

In November 2024, Ávila used the internet to apply for a PayPal credit card through the misused SSN and was approved for one with a $6,250 credit limit. In January 2025, he used that credit card to make a $1,185 purchase at a Guitar Center store.

A criminal complaint merely contains allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, each defendant would face a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison.

Special agents with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California are investigating these matters with assistance from the Office of the United States Trustee, the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG), Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Special Assistant United States Attorney Yi-Fan C. Everett is prosecuting these cases.

LOS ANGELES – Two Indian nationals were found guilty by a jury today of conspiring to steal cargo from warehouses across Southern California by buying or fraudulently using legitimate trucking companies to bid on authentic shipping contracts, picking up the cargo loads, and never delivering the loads to the agreed upon destinations.   

Arshpreet Singh, 28, of Sacramento, and Vikramjeet Singh, 31, of Fontana, were found guilty of one count conspiracy to commit theft from interstate or foreign shipments. Arshpreet Singh also was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

According to evidence presented at a seven-day trial, from March 2024 to June 2025, Arshpreet Singh and his co-conspirators purchased or fraudulently used real trucking companies to bid on authentic shipping contracts. After winning the bids, the defendants and others took possession of the cargo but stole it rather than deliver it to the correct destination. 

The stolen cargo was often high value electronics such as televisions and laptops, appliances and other high-value consumer goods. Other items stolen during the conspiracy included vacuums, LED lights, shoes and tires, with an estimated loss of at least $2 million.

The thefts occurred across Southern California, including in Fontana, Vernon, Santa Fe Springs, Perris, City of Industry, Long Beach, Compton, Commerce, Pico Rivera, Chino, and Moreno Valley, as well as in Grand Prairie, Texas. 

The defendants purchased established trucking companies to further their scheme. For example, in March 2024, Arshpreet Singh met with the owner of a Texas-based carrier company named Z&F Transportation LLC to purchase the company for approximately $22,000. Later that month, a co-conspirator, on behalf of Z&F Transportation LLC, picked up a load of televisions in Fontana and never delivered it to its intended destination in Florida.

In May 2024, co-conspirators purchased a carrier company named Skyways Trucking LLC and then used it to steal laptops, televisions, solar panels and other items. Co-conspirators booked loads through brokers such as Uber Freight, picked up loads, then did not deliver the loads to their intended destinations. 

Vikramjeet Singh was acquitted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

United States District Judge Anne Hwang scheduled sentencings hearings for January 20, 2027, at which time Arshpreet Singh will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, and Vikramjeet Singh will face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

The FBI’s Inland Violent Crime Suppression Task Force, IRS Criminal Investigation, the Fontana Police Department, the San Bernardino County Sheriff Department, the Riverside County Sheriff Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department, and the Fort Worth (Texas) Police Department investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Stephen Chang of the Transnational Organized Crime Section and Lloyd Masson of the General Crimes Section are prosecuting this case.

SANTA ANA, California – Two Chinese nationals have been charged in a federal criminal complaint alleging they presented United States passports belonging to other people when they tried to enter the U.S. from Mexico last month at Orange County’s John Wayne Airport, the Justice Department announced today.

Jin Fu Wei, 44 of Guangxi Province, China, and Xiaodan Lei, 47, of Henan Province, China, are charged with misuse of passport.

They have been in federal custody since their arrest last month and are expected to make their initial appearances today in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

“Thanks to the diligent work of customs officers, two Chinese nationals attempting to use U.S. passports belonging to real American citizens were detained and now face federal felony charges,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “This case is not only a criminal matter. It also raises serious national security concerns when foreign citizens are able to enter the United States under false identities. We have a right to know exactly who is crossing our borders and what their intentions are.” 

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, on August 26, Wei and Lei – both citizens of China – traveled by commercial airliner from Los Cabos International Airport in Mexico to the U.S. port of entry at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana. Upon arrival, the defendants presented to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers U.S. passports of actual U.S. citizens for inspection and admission into the United States.

CBP officers determined that the biometric identifiers associated with the U.S. passports did not match those of Wei and Lei, namely that there was a mismatch between the facial recognition scans of the defendants and the scanned U.S. passports they presented. Neither of the defendants’ names appeared on the flight manifest, an official document that lists all the passengers and crew on board an aircraft.

Law enforcement detained the defendants for further review of their admissibility into the U.S. 

On his person, Wei had one Chinese credit card and one Chinese bank card, both of which were in his name – not the name of the individual whose U.S. passport he used. Wei also had in his possession an expired Texas driver’s license for the rightful passport holder.

A criminal complaint merely contains allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, each defendant would face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

The FBI is investigating this matter with assistance from CBP. 

Assistant United States Attorney Kent M. Walters of the General Crimes Section is prosecuting this case.

LOS ANGELES – Two twin brothers and MRI technicians pleaded guilty today to deliberately failing to report to the IRS more than $1.3 million in income, including money they made from running a golf tee-time brokering business as a side hustle.

 Se Youn “Steve” Kim, 42, of Buena Park, pleaded guilty to one count of subscribing to a false tax return.

Hee Youn “Ted” Kim, 42, of Pomona, pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion.

According to their plea agreements, beginning in 2021, the Kim brothers operated a golf tee-time brokering business in which they reserved thousands of golf tee times at numerous golf courses in Los Angeles and Orange counties and resold them for a fee to members of the public.

Kim brothers directed reservation fees from their tee time business to be deposited into their personal financial accounts even after they formed a corporate entity for the venture, assigned an Employer Identification Number, and opened a business account. 

Neither brother ever reported to the IRS any income from their tee time business, and both admitted to using some of the funds in this corporate account to pay for personal expenses and make cash withdrawals.

For the tax years 2021 through 2023, Steve Kim received approximately $810,919 in income. For the tax years 2022 and 2023 Ted Kim received in income approximately $496,998.

Steve Kim admitted that his 2021 federal income tax return omitted approximately $27,510 in income he earned from the tee-time brokering business he ran with his brother. His tax return that year further omitted income from capital gains, unemployment compensation, and early retirement distribution in the amounts of approximately $4,747; $8,723; and $8,635, respectively.

Both Steve and Ted Kim falsely claimed to their employers, who hired them as MRI technicians, that they were exempt from federal income tax withholdings, resulting in their employers ceasing any federal tax withholding for them. 

For the tax years 2022 and 2023, Steve Kim willfully evaded the assessment of income tax in the amount of $155,021 while Ted Kim willfully evaded the assessment of income tax in the amount of $97,354.

Steve Kim further admitted to willfully failing to pay income tax due for the tax years 2012 through 2021, resulting in at least $221,004 in payments, interest, and penalties owed to the IRS. Rather than using available funds to pay his outstanding tax balance, Steve Kim spent his money on various other purchases and services. He caused a tax loss in the amount of at least $387,221 for tax years 2012 through 2023.

Ted Kim admitted to willfully failing to pay approximately $97,041 owed in payments, interest, and penalties for the tax years 2016 through 2021, and instead spent that money on other purchases and services. He caused a tax loss in the amount of $194,395 for tax years 2016 through 2023.

United States District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld, Jr., scheduled January 12, 2027, sentencing hearings, at which time Steve Kim will face a statutory maximum sentence of three years in federal prison and Ted Kim will face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this matter.

Special Assistant United States Attorney Yervant P. Hagopian of the Major Frauds Section and Assistant United States Attorney Sebastian Bellm of the General Crimes Section are prosecuting this case.

LOS ANGELES – A South Bay family therapist was sentenced today to 200 months in federal prison for installing a hidden camera in the stall of a women’s bathroom located at his place of work where he provided therapy services to, among others, young girls.

Joseph Toews, 31, of Manhattan Beach, was sentenced by United States District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld, Jr., who also fined him $50,000, ordered him to pay a special assessment of $55,000, and ordered him placed on supervised release for a term of 25 years once Toews eventually is released from prison.

Toews pleaded guilty on June 23 to one count of production of child pornography. He has been in federal custody since April 14.

According to court documents, in January 2023, Toews installed a video-recording device in the bathroom stall of a women’s bathroom, located at his place of work. Toews, while providing therapy services, affixed a video recording device in the publicly available women’s bathroom in the same building as his office. His video recording included the minor victims, some of whom received therapy services from him, including, among other methods, play therapy.

While the recording device was active, Toews captured at least 11 separate videos of the minor victims. 

Toews further admitted in his plea agreement that, from January 2023 to December 2025, he knowingly received child sexual abuse material (CSAM), including purchasing sexually explicit videos of children via darknet online video stores. 

“His conduct was not a spur of the moment happening,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “[Toews] had been stockpiling CSAM prior to his decision to create CSAM of his own.”

The FBI investigated this matter. 

Assistant United States Attorney Clifford D. Mpare of the Major Crimes Section prosecuted this case.

LOS ANGELES – An illegal alien from El Salvador was sentenced today to 63 months in federal prison for committing seven armed robberies of convenience stores in Southern California in 2024 – a crime spree interrupted by his deportation to El Salvador but which he resumed when he illegally reentered the United States.

Jesus Soto-Parada, 28, of South Los Angeles, was sentenced by United States District Judge Dolly M. Gee, who also ordered him to pay $17,815 in restitution.

Soto-Parada pleaded guilty in December 2025 to one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act) and seven counts of Hobbs Act robbery. He has been in federal custody since July 2024.

“After committing a string of armed robberies and being deported, this defendant illegally returned to our country and went right back to terrorizing our community,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “No one should have to fear for their life while earning a living. Today’s sentence holds this criminal illegal alien accountable with several years behind bars in federal prison.” 

From January 2024 until his deportation in April 2024, Soto-Parada committed at least six robberies in Buena Park, Cypress, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Newport Beach, and Agoura Hills. During two separate robberies on January 11, 2024, Soto-Parada’s co-conspirators pointed what appeared to be a handgun at the store clerk and asked, “Where’s the money?” 

On January 18, 2024, during an armed robbery in Fullerton, one of Soto-Parada’s co-conspirators brandished what appeared to be a handgun, racked the slide, pointed the handgun at the store clerk, and demanded money.

In a robbery that occurred on February 13, 2024, in Newport Beach, one of Soto-Parada’s co-conspirators brandished what appeared to be a black pistol, racked the slide of the pistol while pointing it at the store clerk, and demanded money. 

Soto-Parada returned illegally to the United States in 2024 and then robbed a 7-Eleven in Gardena with co-defendant, Daniel Pavon, 22, of Gardena, on June 13, 2024. During that robbery, Pavon pointed a replica firearm at an employee while Soto-Parada stole cash from a register. Soto-Parada and Pavon then fled with approximately $250 from the 7-Eleven. Law enforcement soon afterward arrested them.

In each of the seven robberies that Soto-Parada committed, a co-conspirator had a firearm or replica firearm that was used to threaten the employee’s life, typically by pointing the firearm at the employee while demanding money. 

 “[Soto-Parada] and his co-conspirators committed these robberies by threatening the lives of the various victim-employees, causing those employees to think they would be killed and their children without their parent if they did not comply with [Soto-Parada’s] and his co-conspirators’ demands for money,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum.

Pavon is serving a four-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty on March 11 to four counts of misprision of a felony. Judge Gee ordered him to pay $250 in restitution.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Orange County Violent Crime Task Force (OCVCTF), which is comprised of federal and local law enforcement agencies, including the ATF, the Brea Police Department, the Santa Ana Police Department, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the Newport Beach Police Department, and the Fullerton Police Department, is investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Jena MacCabe of the Major Crimes Section and Caitlin Campbell of the Orange County Office prosecuted this matter.

LOS ANGELES – A former deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) was sentenced today to 21 months in federal prison for abusing his law enforcement powers to threaten and intimidate a now-imprisoned, self-styled cryptocurrency businessman’s perceived adversaries, to advance that criminal’s interests, and for concealing from the IRS more than $373,000 in income he obtained from that criminal.

Eric Chase Saavedra, 42, of Chino, who once served as an LASD detective and federal task-force officer, was sentenced by United States District Judge Percy Anderson, who also ordered him to pay $90,984 in restitution.

Saavedra pleaded guilty in February 2025 to one count of conspiracy against rights and one count of false subscription to a tax return. 

As part of his plea agreement, Saavedra agreed to forfeit several items he purchased as part of the conspiracy, including 32 Louis Vuitton bags, 27 pairs of Gucci shoes, five Louis Vuitton wallets, and a money-counting machine.

According to court documents, Adam Iza, 26, who resided in Beverly Hills and Newport Beach, was a self-styled cryptocurrency businessman who hired off-duty LASD deputies to act as his personal enforcers against his enemies. As part of the conspiracy to violate civil rights, Iza had the deputies assist him in carrying out extortion, intimidation, setting people up for arrest, and abuse of legal process. 

One of the deputies Iza employed was Saavedra, who was assigned to LASD’s Operation Safe Streets Bureau and served as a federal task force officer assigned to the United States Marshals Service’s Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force.

Saavedra founded a private security company, Saavedra & Associates LLC, which provided private security for its clients and often employed active LASD deputies and other law enforcement officers. 

From August 2021 to March 2022, Iza – who then lived in a Bel Air mansion – hired Saavedra & Associates to provide him round-the-clock private security at a typical cost of $100,000 per month. Iza hired the company again from July 2024 until Iza’s arrest in September 2024.

Starting in the fall of 2021, Saavedra illegally and regularly used his LASD credentials to access sensitive law enforcement databases to obtain personal identifiable information (PII) for Iza, including PII for people with whom Iza had personal or business disputes, their associates, and their family members. 

Saavedra knew he was not authorized under LASD rules to access this information for non-law enforcement matters or to share it with private clients. He did so because he wanted to impress Iza with his access to law enforcement information and to continue to receive lucrative business from Iza, according to court documents.

Saavedra used his powers as a sworn law enforcement officer to improperly obtain court-authorized search warrants related to individuals with whom Iza had disputes, including a warrant to search an individual’s residence that Saavedra helped facilitate and a warrant to obtain location information associated with another individual that Saavedra directly obtained.

Iza, Saavedra and others used confidential information that the LASD deputies obtained in their official capacities to locate, intimidate, harass, threaten and extort individuals with whom Iza had disputes and their associates, according to court documents. They also used Telegram and other encrypted communications apps to avoid law enforcement detection.

For example, in late 2021 or early 2022, Iza – believing a victim possessed a laptop computer containing more than $100 million in cryptocurrency – discussed and agreed that Saavedra would obtain a search warrant for GPS location associated with that victim’s telephone number. In January 2022, Saavedra applied for and obtained a search warrant under false pretenses from a Los Angeles Superior Court judge. In an affidavit supporting the search warrant application, Saavedra falsely stated that the victim’s telephone number was associated with a suspect in a firearms investigation.

After securing the illegal warrant, Saavedra tracked down the victim and provided the victim’s address to Iza. In March 2022, Iza caused three armed individuals to try to force entry into the victim’s home to steal the laptop. The individuals fled after the victim fired a gunshot in their direction. Afterward, Iza sent the victim a video of the attempted home invasion robbery.

Saavedra further admitted to receiving approximately $373,146 in unreported income and subscribed to a false tax return for 2021.

Iza, who has been in federal custody since September 2024, pleaded guilty in January 2025 to one count of conspiracy against rights, one count of wire fraud, and one count of tax evasion. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 5 before Judge Anderson.

Iza is serving a 15-year federal prison sentence for his involvement in an attempted robbery of Bitcoin and a kidnapping in Connecticut in August 2024.

Saavedra is the fifth former LASD deputy to be sentenced in this matter. The other four former LASD deputies are:

• Michael David Coberg, 45, of Eastvale, is serving a 63-month federal prison sentence for helping Iza extort a rival and arranging the sham illegal drug possession arrest of another adversary in Paramount in 2021. Judge Anderson sentenced Coberg on March 16.
• Scott Allen Simpkins, 34, of Brea, was sentenced on July 13 to 18 months in federal prison for obstructing a federal investigation into Iza’s extortion of $25,000 from a party planner at Iza’s Bel Air mansion.
• David Anthony Rodriguez, 45, of La Verne, was sentenced on July 20 to one year in federal prison and who had worked for Iza as a private security guard, pleaded guilty to submitting a false search warrant application to a state court judge on behalf of a different client.
• Christopher Michael Cadman, 34, of Fullerton, was sentenced on September 14 to 21 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay $25,000 in restitution for abusing his status as a law enforcement officer to threaten and intimidate adversaries of a now-imprisoned, self-proclaimed cryptocurrency businessman, and for cheating on his taxes.

Relatedly, Judge Anderson on September 21 sentenced Iris Rabaya Au, 37, of Irvine, to 18 months in federal prison and ordered her to pay $1,484,343 in restitution for failing to report more than $2.6 million in ill-gotten gains she obtained via the criminal activities of Iza, her former boyfriend.

The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this matter. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department provided assistance.

Assistant United States Attorney Maxwell K. Coll of the National Security Division prosecuted this case.

SANTA ANA, California – The CEO of a wearable technology company has been found guilty by a jury of running a near-$2 million Ponzi scheme by duping investors through lies that she owned “smart rings” patents that rightfully belonged to her former employer, and of fraudulently obtaining $150,000 in COVID-19 pandemic business-relief loans, the Justice Department announced today.

Michelle Bisnoff, 59, a.k.a. “Michelle Angeline Silverstein” and “Shelly Silverstein,” of Boca Raton, Florida, and who formerly resided in Pacific Palisades and Santa Barbara, was found guilty late Thursday of six counts of securities fraud, six counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering, one count of wire fraud in connection with a COVID-relief loan, and one count of aggravated identity theft.

According to evidence presented at a seven-day trial, Bisnoff had been hired by McLear Ltd., a United Kingdom-based company, to develop a United States market for McLear’s patented near-field communication (NFC) payment rings. These products were designed to embed credit card information inside a wearable ring. 

By no later than early 2017, Bisnoff falsely claimed she owned the key patent, including by using a falsified patent assignment, and formed Esos Rings Inc. to market “smart rings” based on that patent.

Among Bisnoff’s lies to investors was that Esos was profitable, used investors’ money to increase its manufacturing capabilities and inventory to meet demands from retailers such as Target and Walmart, and was receiving large infusions of capital from companies such as Apple Inc. and Roc Nation. She also falsely claimed to be on the cusp of a licensing arrangement with Middle Earth Enterprises (MEE), which controls The Lord of the Rings brand.

She further lied that Esos would fund buybacks of the investors’ shares at prices above what they paid for those shares, resulting in substantial profits. 

In fact, Esos had little business revenue, no agreements with Target, had sold just six rings on Walmart.com, three of which were returned, never received any investment from Apple or Roc Nation, and never finalized any licensing agreement with MEE.

Bisnoff also knew the financial statements, a corporate tax return purportedly filed by Esos, and a patent valuation she provided to investors were neither prepared nor signed by the professionals who supposedly prepared the documents. 

She used most of the victims’ investments to pay her personal expenses, including rent for her personal residence, and to make Ponzi-type payments to further her scheme. 

When Bisnoff failed to provide the promised investment returns, she offered a series of bogus explanations described by one victim who testified at trial as “dog-ate-my-homework” excuses, attempted to embezzle approximately $550,000 from an employer to send to investors, and then sent checks that bounced.

In total, Bisnoff fraudulently obtained nearly $2 million from investors and caused her victims to lose approximately $1.4 million.

In addition, in March 2020, Bisnoff fraudulently applied for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) through a federal program designed to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering economic harm from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Using the name “Michelle Silverstein” and identifying herself as the chief operating officer of Esos, Bisnoff lied about the company’s gross revenue and the cost of goods it purportedly sold during the 12-month period preceding the pandemic. 

She also certified that she would only use the EIDL loan proceeds for business expenses, but instead she used some of the $150,000 she received for personal expenses, including monthly rent of approximately $15,600 on a large house she leased in Pacific Palisades.

United States District Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani scheduled a January 21, 2027, sentencing hearing, at which time Bisnoff will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each count of securities fraud and wire fraud, a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for each money laundering count, and a mandatory two-year consecutive federal prison sentence for the aggravated identity theft counts.

Relatedly, in 2023, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Bisnoff and Esos for fraudulently raising $1.95 million from Esos investors. A September 2023 judgment held Bisnoff and Esos jointly and severally liable for disgorgement of $566,483, representing net profits from the fraud, as well as $46,836 in pre-judgment interest and a civil penalty of $223,229, with the total amount due – $836,548 – to be paid to the SEC within 30 days. According to court documents, Bisnoff’s criminal case, to date neither Bisnoff nor Esos has paid any of the amounts due.

The FBI and the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG) investigated this matter. Substantial assistance was provided by the SEC and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.

Assistant United States Attorneys Ranee A. Katzenstein, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division, Alexandra Sloan Kelly of the Environmental Crimes and Consumer Protection Section, and Diane Roldán of the Major Crimes Section are prosecuting this case.

RIVERSIDE, California – A Riverside County man pleaded guilty today – making him the third defendant in his case to plead guilty this week – to fraudulently obtaining from COVID-19 business-relief loans then helping others fraudulently obtain COVID business loans in exchange for a cut of the illicit proceeds, causing a total loss to taxpayers of approximately $3.5 million.

Daryl D. Knighten, Jr., 34, of Perris, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. 

Two co-defendants pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of wire fraud for their roles in the scheme: Vanessa M. Williams, 37, of Corona, and Denise Mata, 36, of Moreno Valley. Their sentencing hearings are scheduled for January 14, 2027.

According to the defendants’ plea agreements, from March 2021 to August 2021, Knighten, Williams, and Mata submitted fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for themselves, family members, close associates, and individuals they recruited. Congress created the program in 2020 to assist businesses dealing with COVID-19’s severe economic impact.

The defendants lied to the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) and banks in connection with the fraudulent PPP loan applications. Each application falsely stated that the PPP loan applicant was self-employed and falsely certified that each loan would be used for permissible business purposes. Each loan application also contained fraudulent tax forms to deceive the SBA and PPP participating lenders into disbursing loan funds.

Lenders approved PPP loans for the defendants and more than 100 co-schemers. The lenders then disbursed the PPP loan funds into bank accounts belonging to the defendants and their co-schemers. Co-schemers paid kickbacks to the defendants within days of receiving the fraudulently obtained PPP loan funds.

Knighten, Williams, Mata, and their co-schemers used the illicitly obtained money for their own personal benefit and not for expenses allowable under the PPP. The defendants also submitted fraudulent documents to the SBA and lenders to obtain loan forgiveness for the illegally obtained PPP loans.

Knighten admitted to causing at least $145,550 in losses to the PPP loan program. Williams and Mata admitted to causing losses of at least $187,497 and $201,642, respectively. 

Federal prosecutors believe the total loss resulting from this scheme is approximately $3.5 million.

United States District Judge Kenly Kiya Kato scheduled a January 14, 2027, sentencing hearing for Knighten, who like Williams and Mata, at that time will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

Co-defendant Mikhail G. Hoalim, 35, of Moreno Valley, has pleaded not guilty to nine counts of wire fraud and is scheduled to go to trial on November 9 for his alleged role in this scheme.

As part of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) Task Force, this investigation was conducted by Amtrak Office of Inspector General with support from Homeland Security Investigations. The PRAC was established to promote transparency and facilitate coordinated oversight of the federal government’s COVID-19 pandemic response. This case was also supported by the PRAC’s Pandemic Analytics Center of Excellence, which applies the latest advances in analytic and forensic technologies to help offices of inspectors general and law enforcement pursue data-driven pandemic relief fraud investigations.

Assistant United States Attorney Eric L. Mackie of the Major Crimes Section and Senior Litigation Counsel Gary Bell and Trial Attorneys Andrew Schupanitz and Phil Huynh from the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division are prosecuting this case.

LOS ANGELES – The CEO of a Virginia-based software company and a Russian national have been arrested on a federal criminal complaint charging them with concealing from U.S. government agencies that their company was owned and controlled by Russian nationals and that its software was developed in Russia, the Justice Department announced today. 

Lee Reiber, 55, of Boise, Idaho, was arrested in Idaho on Sunday, made his initial appearance on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Idaho, and was ordered released on bond. He is expected to be arraigned in Los Angeles federal court in the coming weeks.

Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov, 52, of Moscow, Russia, was arrested on Sunday at London Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom prior to boarding a flight to Istanbul. The United States expects to seek Davydov’s extradition.

The defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. 

Reiber allegedly represented to the government that the company had no foreign ownership or control and that its software was developed in the United States, when in fact five Russian nationals, including Davydov, owned and controlled the company and its software was developed in Russia.

The complaint does not allege that the software contained malicious code or that it was used to gain unauthorized access to any customer’s computer systems or data. 

In a separate proceeding, a federal magistrate judge in the Central District of California on September 19 issued a warrant authorizing the seizure of corporate bank accounts, approximately 57 domains, and other cyberinfrastructure used in furtherance of the alleged acts. The domains and related infrastructure were seized on September 20.   

According to an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint, from March 2022 to the present, Reiber, Davydov, and others conspired to obtain contracts from federal agencies through Oxygen Forensics Inc., a digital forensics company based in Alexandria, Virginia. 

Digital forensic software is used to recover, preserve, and analyze electronic data from digital devices while keeping the original files unchanged.

The affidavit identifies the affected agencies as the U.S. Department of War and three components of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). These components include the U.S. Secret Service and its National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI); Homeland Security Investigations; and the DHS Office of Inspector General. 

According to the affidavit, Oxygen Forensics held itself out to the U.S. government as being an independent, U.S.-based company. In fact, Davydov and four other Russian nationals owned and controlled the company through a holding company based in Cyprus. 

The same five individuals also owned a Russian company, known until September 2022 as Oxygen Software LLC and now as MKO Systems LLC, which Davydov co-founded in 2000. The developers who wrote the software worked in Russia, and MKO sold the software in Russia under different product names to customers that reportedly included the Russian Federal Security Service (known as the FSB), the Russian Investigative Committee, and the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. 

Davydov was the Russian company’s chief technology officer and was responsible for the development of its software. He helped establish Oxygen Forensics in Virginia in 2013. Reiber joined the company in August 2015.

After the United States imposed expanded sanctions on Russia in early 2022 in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Davydov, Reiber, and the Russian co-conspirators agreed to conceal Oxygen Forensics’ true ownership and the development of its software in Russia. Reiber was installed as the company’s CEO, president, and chairman of the board in March 2022. The Russian owners were then removed from the company’s public corporate filings. 

The company’s Russian owners continued to make significant decisions and set Reiber’s compensation, overruled him on payments, and held signatory authority over the company’s bank accounts.  

In December 2022 and October 2023, Reiber falsely certified to the U.S. government that Oxygen Forensics had no immediate or highest-level owner. According to the affidavit, in November 2023, a reporter asked Reiber about Oxygen Forensics’ ownership and its connection to the Russian company. Reiber then wrote to Davydov and two other Russian owners that public reporting on the connection “could destroy this entire opportunity,” referring to a pending contract with the National Computer Forensics Institute, and that the “current existence of this company hangs in the balance.”

In September 2024, the NCFI awarded a five-year contract for the software. The award file included Reiber’s October 2023 certification that the company had no immediate or highest-level owner.

In July 2024, at Reiber’s direction, Oxygen Forensics certified to the Department of War that no foreign person had the power to control the appointment of the company's directors or managers or to direct its other decisions or activities. As Reiber then knew, the company’s Russian owners were foreign persons who controlled its decisions and one of them had recently been appointed to its board under a Turkish identity.

Reiber and the Russian owners also concealed that the software was developed in Russia. In March 2026, Reiber told DHS personnel that no Russian was involved in developing the software and that no one in Russia had access to the environment in which it was built. Days later, Reiber authored a statement, published on the company's website, declaring that the company had no development presence in any restricted jurisdiction. According to the complaint, the software was written and managed by a team in Russia under Davydov’s direction, in a cloud environment administered by one of the Russian owners.          

A criminal complaint merely contains allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, each defendant would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

The United States Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security is investigating this matter with assistance from the Department of War Office of Inspector General Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Cyber Field Office. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs is assisting in the provisional arrest and anticipated extradition of Davydov.

Assistant United States Attorneys David C. Lachman of the Major Frauds Section and Joshua O. Mausner of the National Security Division are prosecuting this case. Assistant United States Attorney James E. Dochterman of the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section is handling the civil and criminal forfeitures of the seized property. 

LOS ANGELES – An Orange County woman who is the former girlfriend of a cryptocurrency fraudster who called himself “The Godfather” was sentenced today to 18 months in federal prison for failing to report more than $2.6 million in ill-gotten gains she obtained via her then-boyfriend’s criminal activities.

Iris Rabaya Au, 37, of Irvine, was sentenced by United States District Judge Percy Anderson, who also ordered her to pay $1,484,343 in restitution and to forfeit a fleet of luxury and high-performance cars, designer handbags, and three “Godfather” sculptures, among other assets. 

Au pleaded guilty in March 2025 to one count of subscribing to a false tax return.

According to Au’s plea agreement, from 2020 to 2024, once dated Adam Iza, 26, who resided in Beverly Hills and Newport Beach, and was a self-styled cryptocurrency businessman who has been in federal custody since September 2024. 

Iza committed a series of crimes, including fraudulently obtaining access to advertising accounts and lines of credit provided by Facebook Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. and selling access to those accounts. Iza obtained millions of dollars of unreported income because of these schemes. 

Separately, Iza engaged active Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputies to provide private security for him and caused the deputies, among other things, to obtain court-authorized search warrants and confidential law enforcement information targeting people with whom Iza had financial and personal disputes.

At Iza’s direction, Au created shell corporations and opened bank accounts in the names of those entities. She then used the illicit funds placed into those accounts to pay approximately $1 million to the deputies, mostly in cash, purchase or lease luxury real estate, cars, jewelry, and clothing, pay for recreational activity for Iza and herself valued at nearly $10 million, and acquire approximately $16 million in cryptocurrency for Iza.

Au transferred more than $2.6 million from these various accounts to her personal bank accounts during the period 2020 through 2023, income that she willfully failed to report to the IRS on her federal tax returns.

“[Au] set up the financial infrastructure that enabled Adam Iza to move, spend, and conceal millions of dollars in fraud proceeds while she personally benefited from the wealth,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “Au concealed entities and income from her tax preparer and filed returns reporting only a small fraction of what she had actually received. Those were affirmative acts designed to prevent the IRS from learning the true extent of her income.”

Iza pleaded guilty in January 2025 in Los Angeles federal court to one count of conspiracy against rights, one count of wire fraud, and one count of tax evasion. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 5 before Judge Anderson.

Iza is serving a 15-year federal prison sentence for his involvement in an attempted robbery of Bitcoin and a kidnapping in Connecticut in August 2024. 

IRS Criminal Investigation and the FBI investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Maxwell K. Coll of the National Security Division prosecuted this case.

LOS ANGELES – A Long Beach man was sentenced today to 30 years in federal prison for his primary role in the March 2021 murder of a victim who was shot to death in Inglewood during a marijuana deal.

Mateo Paul, 24, a.k.a. “Infant Bix,” was sentenced by United States District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha, who also ordered him to pay $1,842,927 in restitution.

Paul pleaded guilty in February 2025 to one count of interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act) and one count of brandishing and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. He has been in custody since November 2023.

According to court documents, in March 2021, Paul and co-defendants Leandrew Raglin, 24, of Lancaster, and Iysis Elanore Smith, 24, of Inglewood, agreed to rob a marijuana dealer at gunpoint. They devised a plan to lure the dealer via a social media application to a meeting location, where they would ambush him at gunpoint and steal his marijuana.

On March 15, 2021, Smith approached the vehicle occupied by the victim. While Smith distracted the victim, Paul and Raglin parked behind the victim’s vehicle. Raglin then exited the vehicle Paul was driving, approached the passenger side of the victim’s car and opened fire, repeatedly wounding the victim in the passenger seat. Raglin then walked around to the driver’s side of the vehicle and opened fire, fatally wounding the victim in the driver’s seat of the vehicle.

Paul admitted in his plea agreement that Raglin’s brandishing and discharge of the firearm fell within the scope of Paul’s criminal agreement and could reasonably have been foreseen to be a necessary or natural consequence of the unlawful agreement.

“[Paul] played a vital role in this senseless and selfish crime,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “He proposed the robbery to his co-conspirators, chose the target, asked his co-conspirator to set up the ruse luring the victims to the scene, told his other co-conspirator they would use a gun if necessary to complete the robbery, and drove the getaway car. Simply put, [the victim] would be alive today, if not for…Paul.”

Relatedly, at the conclusion of an eight-day trial, a jury in September 2025 found Raglin guilty of one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act), one count of Hobbs Act robbery, and one count of possessing, using, carrying, brandishing, and discharging a firearm in furtherance of, and one count of use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, resulting in death constituting murder. 

Raglin’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 8, 2027, at which time he will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison.

Smith has pleaded guilty to felony robbery charges in this case and awaits sentencing.

The FBI and the Inglewood Police Department investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Chelsea Norell of the Major Crimes Section prosecuted this case.

LOS ANGELES – A Riverside County man was sentenced today to 262 months in federal prison for sex trafficking two minors throughout Los Angeles County, including on the Figueroa Corridor in South Los Angeles, an area of the city notorious for sex trafficking, including of minors.

Christian Brandon O’Neal Scurlock, 23, of Moreno Valley, was sentenced by United States District Judge Wesley L. Hsu, who also ordered him to pay $159,246 in restitution and placed him on lifetime supervised release.

Scurlock has been in federal custody since August 2024. He pleaded guilty in July 2025 to one count of sex trafficking of a minor. 

According to his plea agreement, Scurlock recruited two minor victims (ages 13 and 16) to engage in commercial sex work, including on the Figueroa Corridor in South Los Angeles – a 3.5-mile stretch of Figueroa Street spanning from Gage Avenue down to Imperial Highway, which Scurlock knew was patronized by commercial sex workers and customers.

Among other steps taken to maintain the victims in commercial sex work, Scurlock told them how much to charge for commercial sex acts, bought them clothes to wear when soliciting customers, brought the minor victims to popular areas for soliciting customers, collected and controlled the victims’ money, and provided the victims with smartphones to communicate with him. Scurlock exerted undue influence over his victims by controlling their finances, housing, transportation, and food and by supplying them with marijuana and alcohol. 

Scurlock recruited one of the minor victims when she was 13 years old after she ran away from a group home. In addition to maintaining her for commercial sex work, Scurlock also admitted to having illicit sexual intercourse with her. 

In April 2024, Scurlock transported the minor victims from Los Angeles County to a motel in Las Vegas so that they could engage in commercial sex work. He was found and arrested by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department with the two minor victims in his car, as well as $985 in cash and condoms.

The FBI, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Kelsey A. Stimson of the General Crimes Section and Danbee C. Kim of the Environmental Crimes and Consumer Protection Section prosecuted this case.

RIVERSIDE, California – An illegal immigrant from Mexico and his girlfriend whose four children were seized by Riverside County officials with judicial approval due to allegations of parental neglect, drug use, and failure to address mental health issues have been arrested on a federal criminal complaint charging them with forging a judge’s signature on a court document related to their federal lawsuit over the seizure, the Justice Department announced today.

Alan David Cadena, 43, and LayCee Shyann Sprouse, 34, both of Riverside, are charged with misuse of federal judicial signatures.

Both defendants, who were arrested late Thursday, are expected to make their initial appearances this afternoon in United States District Court in Riverside. No pleas will be taken today.

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, in August 2025, the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) received a referral regarding allegations of child neglect by Cadena and Sprouse. DPSS agents investigated and eventually filed warrants requesting the removal of all four children from the defendants’ custody due to unsanitary living conditions, recent drug use by the defendants, general neglect, and Sprouse’s failure to address mental health issues. DPSS took the four children into custody.

Cadena and Sprouse challenged DPSS’s actions in Riverside County Superior Court, seeking the return of their children, but that court ruled in DPSS’s favor. 

In February 2026, Cadena and Sprouse – representing themselves – filed a civil rights lawsuit in United States District Court challenging the child custody proceedings in state court and requested injunctive relief in the form of an order requiring the immediate return of their children.

On April 21, 2026, Cadena and Sprouse filed an order containing a federal judge’s forged signature ordering the return of their children from DPSS. On April 23, 2026, the victim judge confirmed she had not issued the order and the signature found on the document was a forgery.

A criminal complaint merely contains allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, each defendant would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

Special Agents of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Criminal Investigative Division are investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Kyle W. Kahan and Kent M. Walters of the General Crimes Section are prosecuting this case.

LOS ANGELES – A Mexican national who decades ago was ordered removed from the United States was arrested today on an eight-count federal grand jury indictment charging her with securing her employment at a South Bay aerospace manufacturer and U.S. military contractor by lying on an employment authorization form that she was a U.S. citizen and by submitting someone else’s legitimate certificate of naturalization number.

Alma Patricia Contreras Villafana, 54, of South Los Angeles, is expected to make her initial appearance and be arraigned on Monday in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

Villafana is charged with five counts of wire fraud, one count of use of a false and forged certificate of naturalization, one count of aggravated identity theft, and one count of false claim to United States citizenship.

According to an indictment that a federal grand jury returned on Wednesday, in December 1996, Villafana secured employment at a Torrance-based business identified in court documents as “Company-2,” in part, by attesting on her Form I-9 that she was a U.S. citizen. A Form I-9 is used by U.S. employers to verify the identity and employment authorization of new employees. 

In fact, Villafana is an illegal alien from Mexico who in 2003 was ordered by an immigration judge to be removed from the United States. 

In January 2026, Villafana again knowingly submitted a Form I-9 falsely attesting under penalty of perjury that she was a U.S. citizen to maintain her employment at a business identified in court documents as “Company-1.”. As part of the Form I-9, she also knowingly provided a certificate of naturalization number that belonged to another person. 

From December 1996 to September 2026, Villafana obtained at least $1,402,459 in payment for her employment at Company-2 and Company-1, included by direct deposit wired to her bank account.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, Villafana would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each wire fraud count, a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for the use of a false and forged certificate of naturalization count, up to three years in federal prison for falsely claiming to have U.S. citizenship, and a mandatory two-year consecutive prison sentence for aggravated identity theft.

Homeland Security Investigations is investigating this matter. 

Assistant United States Attorney Kyle W. Kahan of the General Crimes Section is prosecuting this case.

Samir Ousman Alsheikh, 74, a former Syrian prison warden and provincial governor, was sentenced today to 60 years in prison for torturing prisoners and lying to U.S. immigration officials to gain entry to the United States.

A jury found Alsheikh guilty in March 2026 of one count of conspiracy to commit torture, three counts of torture, one count of visa fraud, and one count of attempted naturalization fraud. Evidence presented during the trial showed that Alsheikh ordered and participated in the torture of prisoners while he was the head of Adra Prison, also known as Damascus Central Prison, outside of Damascus, Syria, from approximately 2005 to 2008. He committed human rights atrocities in Syria, including to silence political dissent, and he lied about his past to gain entry to the United States in 2020. 

“Samir Alsheikh is the highest-ranking former member of the Assad regime to be tried and convicted in person outside of Syria,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “He now answers to the United States justice system. The message is clear: human rights violators who come to the United States will receive no safe harbor here. We will find them, and they will be prosecuted and punished for their heinous crimes. The conviction in this case is a testament to the courage of his victims; the tenacity of our prosecutors, agents, and historians; and to the extraordinary cooperation and professionalism of Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office in arranging for us to meet with many witnesses in Germany.” 

“Criminals who inflict the type of savage brutality that this defendant did on his victims must never be granted refuge in our country,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “We hope today’s sentence gives some semblance of healing and closure to this defendant’s victims.” 

“This conviction stands as a powerful reminder that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) will relentlessly pursue those who believe they can escape the consequences of their atrocities by hiding within our borders,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Erin Burke of the HSI Los Angeles Field Office. “While the defendant may have thought his actions in Syria’s Adra Prison were forgotten by time, our agents and partners ensured they were not. Through the tireless work of HSI’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center and our collaborative efforts with the FBI and international partners, we have ensured that justice was served. The United States will never be a safe haven for human rights abusers, and we will continue to hold them accountable, no matter how much time has passed.”

“If you engage in torture and come to the United States, the FBI and its partners are going to ensure that you face the consequences for your illegal disregard for human rights,” said Assistant Director Heith Janke of the FBI Criminal Division. “The acts Alsheikh ordered and directly participated in are gruesome and disturbing. We would like to offer our gratitude to the brave victims who testified leading to today’s sentencing. We hope that they are able to find some solace in the fact that it will now be their former prison warden who is incarcerated.”

Three of Alsheikh’s victims testified at trial about being tortured themselves and seeing and hearing the torture of other prisoners. The victims were fastened to a device, known as the “Flying Carpet,” that forcibly folded their bodies in half at the waist, manacled to the ceiling and suspended for days or hours, savagely beaten while immobilized inside tires, and packed into tiny, filthy, cold, wet cells that were infested with insects and other vermin.

According to evidence presented at trial, when two prisoners refused Alsheikh’s orders to harm political prisoners who were also housed at Adra Prison, and after a third prisoner’s letter of support to a political prisoner was intercepted by prison guards, Alsheikh ordered the prisoners to be sent to an underground section of the prison known as Wing 13, where they were held in tiny cells and tortured.

Evidence presented during the trial also established that Alsheikh lied to U.S. immigration authorities about his background to obtain a green card and on an application to naturalize as a U.S. citizen. Alsheikh entered the United States in 2020 and has been in custody since his arrest in July 2024.

Trial Attorney Patrick Jasperse of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua O. Mausner for the Central District of California prosecuted the case, with assistance from HRSP Historian/Analyst Philip Hoffman and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.

In addition to HSI Los Angeles and FBI Chicago, HSI’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center (HRVWCC) also significantly supported the case, along with the FBI’s International Human Rights Unit (IHRU). Established in 2009, the HRVWCC furthers the government’s efforts to identify, locate, and prosecute human rights abusers in the United States, including those who are known or suspected to have participated in persecution, war crimes, genocide, torture, extrajudicial killings, female genital mutilation, and the use or recruitment of child soldiers. 

Members of the public who have information about former human rights violators in the United States are urged to contact U.S. law enforcement through the HSI tip line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE (1-866-347-2423) or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also email [email protected] or complete its online tip form at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp.

LOS ANGELES – A former Syrian government official who was the head of one of that nation’s major prisons was sentenced today to 60 years in federal prison for torturing inmates, then later lying about it to United States immigration officials to fraudulently obtain a green card and attempt to naturalize as a U.S. citizen.

Samir Ousman Alsheikh, 74, formerly of Lexington, South Carolina, was sentenced by United States District Judge Hernán D. Vera, who will schedule a victim restitution hearing at a later date.

A federal jury convicted Alsheikh on March 16 of one count of conspiracy to commit torture, three counts of torture, one count of fraud in possession and use of an immigration document, and one count of attempted naturalization fraud. Alsheikh has been in federal custody since July 2024.

“Criminals who inflict the type of savage brutality that this defendant did on his victims must never be granted refuge in our country,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “We hope today’s sentence gives some semblance of healing and closure to this defendant’s victims.” 

“Samir Alsheikh is the highest-ranking former member of the Assad regime to be tried and convicted in person outside of Syria,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “He now answers to the United States justice system. The message is clear: human rights violators who come to the United States will receive no safe harbor here. We will find them, and they will be prosecuted and punished for their heinous crimes. The conviction in this case is a testament to the courage of his victims; the tenacity of our prosecutors, agents, and historians; and to the extraordinary cooperation and professionalism of Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office in arranging for us to meet with many witnesses in Germany.” 

“This conviction stands as a powerful reminder that Homeland Security Investigations will relentlessly pursue those who believe they can escape the consequences of their atrocities by hiding within our borders,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Erin Burke of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles Field Office. “While the defendant may have thought his actions in Syria’s Adra Prison were forgotten by time, our agents and partners ensured they were not. Through the tireless work of HSI’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center and our collaborative efforts with the FBI and international partners, we have ensured that justice was served. The United States will never be a safe haven for human rights abusers, and we will continue to hold them accountable, no matter how much time has passed.” 

“If you engage in torture and come to the United States, the FBI and its partners are going to ensure that you face the consequences for your illegal disregard for human rights,” said Assistant Director Heith Janke of the FBI Criminal Division. “The acts Alsheikh ordered and directly participated in are gruesome and disturbing. We would like to offer our gratitude to the brave victims who testified leading to today’s sentencing. We hope that they are able to find some solace in the fact that it will now be their former prison warden who is incarcerated.”

According to evidence presented at a two‑week trial, Alsheikh was a brigadier general in charge of Damascus Central Prison, commonly known as Adra Prison, from approximately 2005 through 2008, under the regime of then-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Alsheikh inflicted and ordered subordinates to inflict severe physical and mental pain and suffering on prisoners.

Alsheikh ordered certain prisoners to be sent to a section of the prison known as Wing 13, where they were held in tiny isolation cells and tortured. Victims who refused to harm or kill political dissidents imprisoned with them or who otherwise showed support for those dissidents testified at trial that they witnessed and suffered various forms of torture. 

For example, guards used manacles to suspend prisoners by their wrists from pipes on the ceiling for extended periods of time and beat them with fists or cables. One victim testified that he felt like his limbs would be torn from his body when they suspended him for days.

Witnesses also testified that they were placed on a torture device known as the “Flying Carpet” or “Magic Carpet,” which consisted of two large wooden panels with hinges in the middle. Guards strapped the victims to the device on their backs, positioning their waists at the hinges, and then forcing the lower panel together with the upper, folding the upper and lower halves of the victims’ bodies together and causing excruciating pain and serious injury.

One victim recalled that Alsheikh himself stomped on the Flying Carpet with his foot while the victim was restrained in the device. One victim testified that as part of his punishment for writing a letter of support to a political prisoner, he was subjected to the Flying Carpet and then forced to wear a red jumpsuit solely assigned to those designated for execution. He testified that he thought he was going to die. Witnesses also testified to being folded into a car tire, restrained, and beaten by guards.

Alsheikh personally ordered these and other horrific acts of torture and brutality against the three named victims in the indictment. Following his time at Adra Prison, Alsheikh was appointed governor of the Syrian province of Deir Ez-Zour in 2011. In 2018, he applied for a visa to enter the U.S. and became a Lawful Permanent Resident. While completing his visa application, he concealed the acts of torture and violence he committed at Adra prison. Alsheikh entered the United States in 2020 and continued to lie about and conceal his past conduct in his 2023 application to become a United States citizen.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles and FBI Chicago investigated this matter with assistance from HSI and FBI legal attachés in Germany, the HSI-led Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center, and the FBI’s International Human Rights Unit. The Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany also provided substantial support.

Assistant United States Attorney Joshua O. Mausner of the National Security Division and Department of Justice Trial Attorney Patrick Jasperse of the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions (HRSP) Section prosecuted the case, with significant assistance from HRSP Historian/Analyst Philip Hoffman and HRSP Trial Attorney Alexandra Skinnion. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided critical support.

Members of the public who have information about former human rights violators in the United States are urged to contact U.S. law enforcement through the HSI tip line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE (1-866-347-2423) or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also email [email protected] or complete its online tip form at https://www.ice.gov/webform/ice-tip-form.  

Law enforcement today arrested two defendants, out of three total, who have been charged in separate federal homelessness corruption and fraud cases, including a founder of a Culver City, California,-based nonprofit who allegedly misappropriated more than $7.5 million in taxpayer funds, and used this money for commercial real estate and to finance the construction of a nightclub and adjacent bingo hall.

Today’s enforcement action is the latest effort by the Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force to investigate, combat, and prosecute fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption involving funds allocated toward the eradication of homelessness within the seven-county jurisdiction of the Central District of California: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura.

“Today the Department of Justice, with the full force of the federal government, is announcing charges in a major fraud takedown targeting schemes that stole millions from programs meant to house California’s homeless,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. “As alleged, Michael Young, through Home at Last, received more than $100 million in taxpayer funds and misappropriated more than $12 million, diverting that money into shell companies, real estate, and even a nightclub and bingo hall. That scheme is now halted in its tracks. My message to every fraudster who steals from the vulnerable is clear: We will track you down, bring charges where the evidence leads, and work relentlessly to reclaim every taxpayer dollar you stole.”

“These defendants are accused of systematically diverting over $12 million in taxpayer funds for personal gain – robbing hardworking American citizens and directly hurting the people those funds are intended to support,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and our interagency partners, fraud no longer has a safe haven in America. This FBI will act to hold those responsible accountable for their fraud – and today’s arrests demonstrate our continued commitment to protecting every dollar of taxpayer resources and ensuring that public funds are used exactly as intended.”

“Today’s arrests mark a major success for our Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force and this Administration’s commitment to protecting taxpayers,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “The scale and brazenness of these fraudsters expose a profound failure by the State of California and Los Angeles County to safeguard public funds. Millions intended to house the homeless allegedly financed private real estate, a nightclub, a bingo hall, and personal expenses. Taxpayers deserve accountability. We will follow the money, expose the corruption, and prosecute those who exploit the American people for personal gain.”    

“Today’s actions reflect our commitment to protecting taxpayer dollars and ensuring accountability of public funds,” said Special Agent in Charge Darren Lian of the IRS Criminal Investigation’s Los Angeles Field Office. “The evidence uncovered by IRS Criminal Investigation and our law enforcement partners reveals a deliberate scheme to defraud government programs designed to support vulnerable community members who are experiencing homelessness. We will continue to pursue those who steal from the public and hold them accountable.”  

“Stealing from programs meant to feed, shelter, and support people experiencing homelessness isn’t just a financial crime – it’s an attack on the most vulnerable communities provided for by HUD programs,” said Acting Inspector General Brian D. Harrison of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG). “HUD-OIG is steadfast in pursuing those who exploit federal housing programs, and this case underscores the strength of our partnerships with law enforcement and prosecutors. Together, we protect taxpayer dollars and deliver justice for victims.”

The two defendants arrested today are expected to make their initial appearances this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

The three new criminal cases being announced today are described below, as well as a guilty plea in a previously charged case:

United States v. Young

Michael Young, 46, of Baldwin Hills, a founder of the Culver City-based nonprofit Home At Last (HAL), was arrested today on a federal criminal complaint alleging he engaged in a years-long, complex scheme to defraud taxpayers and public entities providing funding for homeless housing. Some of the affected programs were administered by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), the lead agency that coordinates housing and social services for the homeless in Los Angeles County.

Young is charged with wire fraud, a felony that carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.

According to the complaint, Young used a web of shell corporations and fraudulent billing practices to misappropriate millions of dollars in taxpayer funds earmarked for homeless housing, including through programs administered by LAHSA.

Among other gross misuses of taxpayer money, Young spent more than $1 million to open and operate a high-end restaurant and nightclub in Inglewood called Six Seven Five Lounge. 

Through numerous contracts with LAHSA and other public entities, Young received more than $118 million in public funds from LAHSA, the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. LAHSA alone paid HAL over $75 million for homeless housing services. Young allegedly used a sham vendor fraud to misappropriate more than $7.5 million of these funds.

Young lied repeatedly during the fraud, according to allegations in the complaint, claiming funds would be used for homeless housing or for vendors providing services for homeless housing, when he diverted large amounts of taxpayer money for personal use and unrelated businesses. He created sham vendors to hide self-dealing transactions, submitting fake bids, forged signatures, and fraudulent invoices to make it appear the sham vendors were legitimate, third-party companies, offering fair market services, when in reality, the vendors had no employees, no locations, no legitimate operations, and existed only to funnel public money back to Young.

Young allegedly controlled the sham vendors’ bank accounts and used millions in taxpayer funds for his personal enrichment, including spending millions for his lounge, luxury vacations, vintage car restorations, and commercial properties unrelated to homeless housing.      

In June 2026, LAHSA cancelled its contracts with HAL.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kerry L. Quinn, Sarah E. Spielberger, and James C. Hughes (Major Frauds Section), and Tara Vavere (Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section) for the Central District of California are prosecuting this case.

United States v. Mitchell

Donye Mitchell, 55, also known as “Danya Mitchell,” of Orange, the CEO of a Los Angeles-based homelessness nonprofit, is charged in a federal criminal complaint alleging he was fraudulently awarded more than $1.2 million in grant money from a Los Angeles County-funded nonprofit.

Mitchell is charged with wire fraud, which carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. He is considered a fugitive.

According to the complaint, Mitchell is the CEO and executive director of The Big Blue Umbrella (BBU), a Los Angeles-based nonprofit. In January 2024, Mitchell allegedly applied for over $9 million in grant money – and several months later was awarded over $1.2 million – from a separate nonprofit funded by the County of Los Angeles called Epidaurus, which does business as Amity Foundation, to provide housing and mental health services to vulnerable people.

The complaint alleges that Mitchell falsely claimed to Amity that BBU was a major homeless housing provider and misrepresented its work with Special Service for Groups (SSG), through its HOPICS division, a nonprofit administering large amounts of LAHSA funds, despite having no contract and previously displacing SSG clients by failing to pay rent.

After receiving grant funds from Amity Foundation, Mitchell allegedly lied about staffing and spending, instead using the money for personal expenses including inflated salary payments, paying his own bail bond costs, credit card debt, family transfers, rent, and PlayStation charges.

In May 2025, after Amity had disbursed approximately $315,000, it terminated BBU’s contract over concerns that Mitchell was misrepresenting his spending and failing to meet agreed-upon milestones.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah E. Spielberger and Kerry L. Quinn (Major Frauds Section) and Juan M. Rodriguez (Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section) for the Central District of California are prosecuting this case.

United States v. Malone

Lakiya Malone, 48, of South Los Angeles and an employee of SSG, was arrested on a 21-count federal indictment accusing her of taking more than $180,000 in bribes and kickbacks from Alexander Soofer, the executive director of the nonprofit Abundant Blessings, who is separately charged and has agreed to plead guilty.

In exchange for the bribes and kickbacks, Malone allegedly provided priority referrals of homeless housing participants, including “ghost” participants who never lived at the sites.

Malone’s role at SSG involved referring homeless individuals to housing sites funded by HUD, LAHSA, and the City and County of Los Angeles. According to the indictment, Soofer paid her through checks made out to her and an entity she controlled, Grateful Hearts Realty & Consulting, disguising the payments as consulting fees. In reality, the payments were tied to the number of referrals Malone sent and to “ghost clients” whose files she helped fabricate with fake welcome letters, forged sign in sheets, and falsified eligibility forms.

Soofer allegedly received more than $17 million from SSG during the scheme, inflated substantially by these fraudulent referrals. Malone faces up to 20 years in prison per wire fraud count, 10 years per bribery count, and five years on the conspiracy charge.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kerry L. Quinn (Major Frauds Section) and Juan M. Rodriguez (Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section) for the Central District of California are prosecuting this case.

United States v. Soofer – Guilty Plea

Relatedly, Soofer has agreed to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Soofer admitted in a plea agreement filed today to his role in the bribery scheme with Malone.

He further admitted that he obtained $23 million in public money intended to combat homelessness, at least some of which he admits he obtained through fraud, pocketing at least $2 million in taxpayer money for his own personal enrichment and for businesses unrelated to homeless housing.

Soofer has agreed to forfeit his ill-gotten gains to the U.S. government and is expected to plead guilty to the felony charges in the coming weeks.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kerry L. Quinn (Major Frauds Section), Juan M. Rodriguez (Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section), and Mariam Kaloustian and Thi Ho (Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section) for the Central District of California are prosecuting this case.

The FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, and HUD-OIG are investigating these cases.

An indictment or complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

LOS ANGELES – A San Gabriel Valley man pleaded guilty today to robbing two United States Postal Service (USPS) mail carriers, later using stolen keys to enter apartment complexes and steal mail in Baldwin Park, and assaulting federal officers who arrested him, injuring one of them.

Ruben Baca Lopez, 34, a.k.a. “Monster” and “Loony,” of Baldwin Park, pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery of mail, money, or other property of the United States by use of a dangerous weapon, and one count of being a felon and prohibited person in possession of ammunition. 

Baca Lopez has been in federal custody since April 22. 

According to his plea agreement, in April 2024, Baca Lopez approached a victim, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of his USPS mail delivery truck in front of a residence in Baldwin Park while carrying out his duties delivering mail on USPS’s behalf. Baca Lopez instructed the victim to “give him everything,” and lifted his shirt to reveal a gun in his right waistband. 

Baca Lopez demanded and took from the victim a smartphone, the keys to the USPS vehicle, a USPS-issued key, and keys to access apartment complexes in the area. In the following weeks, Baca Lopez used the keys he stole from this victim to access mailboxes and steal mail in the Baldwin Park area.

In May 2024, Baca Lopez robbed a second USPS letter carrier as the victim was placing mail inside a mailbox at an apartment complex. Baca Lopez accessed the area where this victim was standing by using an apartment key he stole from the previous month’s victim during that earlier robbery. Baca Lopez forcibly took from this victim his cellphone, wallet, smartwatch, a USPS-issued badge and two USPS-issued keys.

Two weeks after the second robbery, Baca Lopez forcibly assaulted two U.S. Postal Inspection Service inspectors who were arresting him. He refused to comply with their verbal commands, assaulted both inspectors and injured one of them.

On the day of his arrest, Baca Lopez knowingly possessed ammunition that was loaded inside of the chamber and magazine of a ghost gun – a privately manufactured firearm lacking a serial number – that he carried on his person. 

Baca Lopez is legally barred from possessing ammunition because his criminal history includes felony convictions, including in April 2020 in Los Angeles Superior Court for domestic violence and false imprisonment, and another assault-related conviction in Los Angeles Superior Court in November 2021. Baca Lopez also was convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence charge in Los Angeles Superior Court in February 2016.

United States District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett scheduled a December 16 sentencing hearing, at which time Baca Lopez will face a statutory maximum sentence of 25 years in federal prison on each robbery count and a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison on the ammunition possession count.

United States Postal Inspection Service investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Sebastian Bellm of the General Crimes Section is prosecuting this case.

LOS ANGELES – Law enforcement today arrested two defendants out of three total charged in separate federal homelessness corruption and fraud cases, including a founder of a Culver City-based nonprofit who allegedly misappropriated more than $7.5 million in taxpayer funds, and used this money for commercial real estate and to finance the construction of a nightclub and adjacent bingo hall.

Today’s enforcement action is the latest effort by the Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force to investigate, combat, and prosecute fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption involving funds allocated toward the eradication of homelessness within the seven-county jurisdiction of the Central District of California: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura.

“Today the Department of Justice, with the full force of the federal government, is announcing charges in a major fraud takedown targeting schemes that stole millions from programs meant to house California’s homeless,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. “As alleged, Michael Young, through Home at Last, received more than $100 million in taxpayer funds and misappropriated more than $12 million, diverting that money into shell companies, real estate, and even a nightclub and bingo hall. That scheme is now halted in its tracks. My message to every fraudster who steals from the vulnerable is clear: We will track you down, bring charges where the evidence leads, and work relentlessly to reclaim every taxpayer dollar you stole.”

“Today’s arrests mark a major success for our Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force and this Administration’s commitment to protecting taxpayers,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “The scale and brazenness of these fraudsters expose a profound failure by the State of California and Los Angeles County to safeguard public funds. Millions intended to house the homeless allegedly financed private real estate, a nightclub, a bingo hall, and personal expenses. Taxpayers deserve accountability. We will follow the money, expose the corruption, and prosecute those who exploit the American people for personal gain.”

“When taxpayer-funded programs are exploited for personal gain, it undermines public trust and diverts critical resources away from the people who need them most,” said Robert Molvar, the Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Our work does not stop with these arrests. We remain committed to identifying fraud, protecting taxpayer dollars and safeguarding programs designed to help those experiencing homelessness.”       

“Today’s actions reflect our commitment to protecting taxpayer dollars and ensuring accountability of public funds,” said Darren Lian, Special Agent in Charge with IRS Criminal Investigation’s Los Angeles Field Office. “The evidence uncovered by IRS Criminal Investigation and our law enforcement partners reveals a deliberate scheme to defraud government programs designed to support vulnerable community members who are experiencing homelessness. We will continue to pursue those who steal from the public and hold them accountable.”        

“Stealing from programs meant to feed, shelter, and support people experiencing homelessness isn’t just a financial crime – it’s an attack on the most vulnerable communities provided for by HUD programs,” said Brian D. Harrison, Acting Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG). “HUD-OIG is steadfast in pursuing those who exploit federal housing programs, and this case underscores the strength of our partnerships with law enforcement and prosecutors. Together, we protect taxpayer dollars and deliver justice for victims.”

“Fraudsters like Alexander Soofer, who steal money meant to assist the homeless, are despicable, greedy, and shameless,” said Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman. “Their actions are nothing short of a slap in the face to taxpayers who have generously and compassionately funded efforts to help the unhoused put a meal in their stomachs and a roof over their heads. These fraudsters who have stolen millions of dollars of homeless funds should know that they will be arrested, prosecuted and punished. The only question that should be going through their minds is when. My office’s Public Integrity Division stands with our federal partners to ensure that those who steal from our most vulnerable community members face justice.”

The two defendants arrested today are expected to make their initial appearances this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles. 

The three new criminal cases being announced today are described below:

United States v. Young

Michael Young, 46, of Baldwin Hills, a founder of the Culver City-based nonprofit Home At Last (HAL), was arrested today on a federal criminal complaint alleging he engaged in a years-long, complex scheme to defraud taxpayers and public entities providing funding for homeless housing. Some of the affected programs were administered by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), the lead agency that coordinates housing and social services for the homeless in Los Angeles County. 

Young is charged with wire fraud, a felony that carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

According to the complaint, Young used a web of shell corporations and fraudulent billing practices to misappropriate millions of dollars in taxpayer funds earmarked for homeless housing, including through programs administered by LAHSA. 

Among other gross misuses of taxpayer money, Young spent more than $1 million to open and operate a high-end restaurant and nightclub in Inglewood called Six Seven Five Lounge. 

Through numerous contracts with LAHSA and other public entities, Young received more than $118 million in public funds from LAHSA, the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. LAHSA alone paid HAL over $75 million for homeless housing services. Young allegedly used a sham vendor fraud to misappropriate more than $7.5 million of these funds.

Young lied repeatedly during the fraud, according to allegations in the complaint, claiming funds would be used for homeless housing or for vendors providing services for homeless housing, when he diverted large amounts of taxpayer money for personal use and unrelated businesses. He created sham vendors to hide self-dealing transactions, submitting fake bids, forged signatures, and fraudulent invoices to make it appear the sham vendors were legitimate, third-party companies, offering fair market services, when in reality, the vendors had no employees, no locations, no legitimate operations, and existed only to funnel public money back to Young.

Young allegedly controlled the sham vendors’ bank accounts and used millions in taxpayer funds for his personal enrichment, including spending millions for his lounge, luxury vacations, vintage car restorations, and commercial properties unrelated to homeless housing.          

In June 2026, LAHSA cancelled its contracts with HAL.

Assistant United States Attorneys Kerry L. Quinn, Sarah E. Spielberger, and James C. Hughes of the Major Frauds Section, and Tara Vavere of the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section are prosecuting this case.

United States v. Mitchell

Donye Mitchell, 55, a.k.a. “Danya Mitchell,” of Orange, the CEO of a Los Angeles-based homelessness nonprofit, is charged in a federal criminal complaint alleging he was fraudulently awarded more than $1.2 million in grant money from a Los Angeles County-funded nonprofit.

Mitchell is charged with wire fraud, which carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. He is considered a fugitive.

According to the complaint, Mitchell is the CEO and executive director of The Big Blue Umbrella (BBU), a Los Angeles-based nonprofit. In January 2024, Mitchell allegedly applied for over $9 million in grant money – and several months later was awarded over $1.2 million – from a separate nonprofit funded by the County of Los Angeles called Epidaurus, which does business as Amity Foundation, to provide housing and mental health services to vulnerable people.

The complaint alleges that Mitchell falsely claimed to Amity that BBU was a major homeless housing provider and misrepresented its work with Special Service for Groups (SSG), through its HOPICS division, a nonprofit administering large amounts of LAHSA funds, despite having no contract and previously displacing SSG clients by failing to pay rent.

After receiving grant funds from Amity Foundation, Mitchell allegedly lied about staffing and spending, instead using the money for personal expenses including inflated salary payments, paying his own bail bond costs, credit card debt, family transfers, rent, and PlayStation charges.

In May 2025, after Amity had disbursed approximately $315,000, it terminated BBU’s contract over concerns that Mitchell was misrepresenting his spending and failing to meet agreed-upon milestones. 

Assistant United States Attorneys Sarah E. Spielberger and Kerry L. Quinn of the Major Frauds Section and Juan M. Rodriguez of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section are prosecuting this case.

United States v. Malone

Lakiya Malone, 48, of South Los Angeles and an employee of SSG, was arrested on a 21-count federal indictment accusing her of taking more than $180,000 in bribes and kickbacks from Alexander Soofer, the executive director of the nonprofit Abundant Blessings, who is separately charged and has agreed to plead guilty. 

In exchange for the bribes and kickbacks, Malone allegedly provided priority referrals of homeless housing participants, including “ghost” participants who never lived at the sites.

Malone’s role at SSG involved referring homeless individuals to housing sites funded by HUD, LAHSA, and the City and County of Los Angeles. According to the indictment, Soofer paid her through checks made out to her and an entity she controlled, Grateful Hearts Realty & Consulting, disguising the payments as consulting fees. In reality, the payments were tied to the number of referrals Malone sent and to “ghost clients” whose files she helped fabricate with fake welcome letters, forged sign in sheets, and falsified eligibility forms.

Soofer allegedly received more than $17 million from SSG during the scheme, inflated substantially by these fraudulent referrals. Malone faces up to 20 years per wire fraud count, 10 years per bribery count, and five years on the conspiracy charge.      

Assistant United States Attorneys Kerry L. Quinn of the Major Frauds Section and Juan M. Rodriguez of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section are prosecuting this case.

Indictments and complaints merely contain allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

United States v. Soofer    

Relatedly, Soofer has agreed to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Soofer admitted in a plea agreement filed today to his role in the bribery scheme with Malone. 

He further admitted that he obtained $23 million in public money intended to combat homelessness, at least some of which he admits he obtained through fraud, pocketing at least $2 million in taxpayer money for his own personal enrichment and for businesses unrelated to homeless housing.

Soofer has agreed to forfeit his ill-gotten gains to the U.S. government and is expected to plead guilty to the felony charges in the coming weeks.

Assistant United States Attorneys Kerry L. Quinn of the Major Frauds Section, Juan M. Rodriguez of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section, and Mariam Kaloustian and Thi Ho of the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section are prosecuting this case.

The FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, and HUD-OIG are investigating these cases.

LOS ANGELES – A man and woman living in a luxury downtown Los Angeles apartment that law enforcement believes was a stash house have been arrested for allegedly possessing more than 42 kilograms of fentanyl, more than seven kilograms of cocaine, firearms, drug-making materials, and a small alligator, the Justice Department announced today.

Marvin Angelito, 27, and Susan Gonzalez, 26, were arrested on September 10 and are charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.

Both defendants made their initial appearances on Monday in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles. United States Magistrate Judge Karen L. Stevenson ordered Angelito detained and ordered Gonzalez released on $15,000 bond. Angelito’s arraignment is scheduled for October 2, and Gonzalez’s arraignment is scheduled for October 9. No pleas were taken on Monday. 

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, the apartment was a known drug trafficking location. On September 10, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Angelito and Gonzalez’s apartment. The search resulted in the seizure of approximately 42.6 kilograms (93.9 pounds) of fentanyl pills and powder, approximately one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of heroin, 7.2 kilograms (15.9 pounds) of cocaine, laboratory equipment such as beakers, mixers, stirrers, and torches, and a hydraulic press.

Law enforcement also seized an AR-15 rifle with ammunition located in a hallway closet, a gold-plated Desert Eagle .50-caliber pistol with ammunition located on the kitchen counter, a police radio, and a small alligator, which U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents seized.

A criminal complaint merely contains allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison.

FBI New Haven Homeland Security Task Force, FBI Los Angeles Regional Narcotics Suppression Program, and the Drug Enforcement Administration are investigating this matter.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. 

Assistant United States Attorney Lloyd Masson of the General Crimes Section is prosecuting this case.

Last week, an individual in California was arrested and two others were charged for paying people on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles to sign petitions using stolen identities of registered voters to qualify initiatives on ballots in California elections. Two aliens living in Kansas, and Louisiana were charged for illegally voting. And an individual in Louisiana was charged with fraudulently registering to vote an ineligible voter.

“If you are gaming the election system, voting illegally, or committing voter fraud, you are breaking the law, and the Department will ensure such individuals cannot corrupt future elections,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche. “The integrity of our elections is fundamental to our democracy, and those who seek to undermine it will be charged accordingly.”

“Protecting election integrity for the American people is one of the top priorities for this FBI,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Every American citizen has a right to free and fair elections — and we will not hesitate to use all available resources to investigate every credible allegation of election fraud and illegal voting.”

“Two aliens in Kansas and Louisiana are charged with illegally voting,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin. “Voter fraud is already a serious problem, but non-citizens voting is even worse. Every time a non-citizen casts a ballot, it steals a vote from an American citizen. Thanks to our partners at the Department of Justice, these aliens and other suspects accused of voter fraud will face justice and can no longer poison our election processes. Only Americans should be allowed to decide America’s future and elect America’s leaders.”

“These defendants are charged with using stolen identities of registered voters to manufacture signatures on ballot petitions used to shape California law,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “They allegedly used people, including members of Skid Row’s vulnerable homeless population, to try to cover up their tracks. The charged conduct undermines the confidence voters have in our election systems, and we will vigorously investigate and charge anyone involved.” 

“The Department of Justice remains committed to protecting election integrity and is actively investigating and prosecuting these cases,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser for the District of Kansas. “With another election looming, the Department’s effort serves as a stark reminder to individuals who are not legally authorized to vote not to engage in this conduct. Should individuals be determined by a court of law to have illegally claimed U.S. citizenship and voted or attempted to vote in federal elections, they will face serious criminal consequences.” 

“Protecting the integrity of Louisiana’s elections — and our national elections — is essential to protecting our constitutional republic,” said U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Keller for the Western District of Louisiana. “The right to vote is sacred. When individuals undermine that process through fraud or abuse, they threaten the public’s confidence in a fair and lawful election system. Our Office will continue to safeguard the sanctity of the vote and hold accountable those who violate our laws.”

Central District of California

James Brass, 47, also known as “Lord,” of Victorville, California, was arrested last week on a federal grand jury indictment charging him and two other defendants with paying people on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles to sign petitions using stolen identities of registered voters to qualify initiatives on ballots in California elections. 

Also charged in the two-count indictment were two petition circulators who worked for Brass: Courtney Price, 49, of Jacksonville, Florida, and Jateisha Herron, 33, of Boron, California. 

All three defendants were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony. Brass and Price were charged with an additional count of identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony.

According to court documents, California’s constitution contains a process for direct democracy in which state voters can bypass the California State Legislature and enact laws or constitutional amendments directly through the ballot initiative process.

To qualify an initiative for inclusion on a ballot in 2026, an initiative’s proponent was required to submit 546,651 signatures to place a proposed statute on the ballot, and 874,641 signatures to place a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot. An initiative’s proponent had up to 180 days to gather these signatures and needed to submit them no later than 130 days before the date of an election.

Given the large number of signatures required in such a short period of time, proponents of initiatives typically hired petition management companies to gather the signatures. These companies charge significant fees and set a price for each signature gathered, contracting with outside individuals to collect signatures.

According to the indictment that a federal grand jury returned yesterday, Brass managed a team of signature collectors and collected signatures himself while Price and Herron were signature collectors who worked for Brass. From February to August, the defendants used a database to identify registered California voters.  On Skid Row, Brass and Price handed out these voters’ stolen identities and paid petition signers to copy the voters’ personal information onto ballot initiative petitions and fraudulently sign the petitions in those voters’ names.

After the petitions were signed, Brass and Herron signed declarations at the bottom of the petitions, falsely declaring under penalty of perjury that they personally witnessed the named registered voters sign the petitions and that each signature was, to the best of their knowledge, “the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be.”

Brass and Herron then turned in the bogus petitions to several petition coordinators, knowing the false representations regarding the signatures’ authenticity would result in false and fraudulent signatures being counted in connection with the effort to place the initiative at issue on the ballot.

Brass further knew the false representations about the signatures’ authenticity would result in payments to him from a petition management company. 

In total, Brass received approximately $41,600 from coordinators working with one such petition management company.

If convicted, Brass, Price, and Herron each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each count.

The FBI is investigating this matter with assistance from special agents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nandor F.R. Kiss and Michael G. Wheat for the Central District of California are prosecuting this case.

District of Kansas

A federal grand jury in Wichita, Kansas, returned an indictment charging Mariana Alexandra Dewey, 24, a Peruvian national and permanent resident of the United States, with multiple criminal offenses arising from allegedly voting in a federal election despite not being a U.S. citizen.

According to court documents, Dewey was charged with one count of false claim of citizenship, one count of false claim of United States citizenship in order to vote, one count of fraudulent election conduct, and one count of voting by an alien in a federal election.

In November 2024, Dewey allegedly falsely represented herself to be a U.S. citizen to register to vote in an election that included federal, state, and local offices. She is further accused of casting a ballot that included candidates for U.S. President, Vice President, Senate, and House of Representatives after falsely certifying that she was a U.S. citizen and eligible to vote. 

Dewey’s initial court appearance is scheduled for today. 

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Fadler for the District of Kansas is prosecuting the case.

Western District of Louisiana

Last week, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Bridget Johnson, 53, of Cotton Valley, Louisiana, with Fraudulent Voter Registration and Voting by an Alien, and Michael Wedderburn, 52, of Jamaica, with Voting by an Alien. 

According to court documents, Johnson was a resident of Webster Parish and a candidate in the 2024 election for mayor of Cotton Valley. Wedderburn is a non‑citizen alien in the United States and was ineligible to vote in Louisiana elections.

On July 14, 2024, Johnson allegedly completed and electronically submitted a Louisiana voter registration application in Wedderburn’s name, falsely stating that he was a U.S. citizen. The indictment also alleges that Wedderburn subsequently voted illegally in the Nov. 5, 2024, election for a federal office, and in the Cotton Valley mayoral race.

U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Keller for the Western District of Louisiana made the announcement.

The FBI investigated this case with assistance from the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth D. Reeg and Alexandra Porubsky are prosecuting the case with assistance from Legal Assistant Ginger Green.

If convicted, Johnson faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and Wedderburn faces a maximum penalty of one year in prison as well as additional financial penalties.

An indictment merely contains accusations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

RIVERSIDE, California – A Santa Barbara County man pleaded guilty today to detonating a bomb at a Santa Maria courthouse in 2024, an attack that injured three people, damaged the building, and was intended to kill law enforcement officers in retaliation for local law enforcement seizing his firearms earlier that year.

Nathaniel James McGuire, 22, of Santa Maria, pleaded guilty to one count of use of a weapon of mass destruction and one count of malicious destruction of a building using an explosive.

McGuire has been in federal custody since September 2024.

“This defendant’s brazen act of terror resulted in physical, structural, and emotional harm, and could have had tragic consequences,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “Individuals who use bombs against law enforcement officials, judges, and other government personnel must be held accountable and face severe punishment for their actions.”

“McGuire launched a vicious, terroristic assault on a court of law with the intent to kill law enforcement officers and a judge,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “His attack injured three people and, were it not for the quick action of court security and law enforcement, it could have been far worse. McGuire will now face the consequences of his actions.”

“Using violence to persuade others is never the answer,” said Patrick Grandy, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Innocent lives were put at risk when this brazen act of domestic terrorism was perpetrated. I’m proud of the work of our investigators and prosecutors in this case and am confident this will serve as a deterrent to anyone contemplating similar vicious acts.” 

According to his plea agreement, on September 24, 2024, McGuire intentionally detonated a bomb in the Santa Maria courthouse, which serves the Santa Barbara County Superior Court. 

McGuire walked in the door of the courthouse and threw a backpack containing an explosive device past the courthouse’s security screening device and towards Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies. The bomb slid between a victim’s legs and detonated in the building outside a courtroom. Five people were hospitalized and released the same day. The bomb resulted in personal injuries to three victims. 

McGuire admitted in his plea agreement that he detonated the bomb with the intent to kill the sheriff’s deputies.

After the bomb exploded, McGuire left to retrieve from his vehicle two long guns and 10 Molotov cocktails and intended to re-enter the courthouse to kill sheriff’s deputies and “splatter” (kill) a judge. A courthouse security guard and several law enforcement officers stopped McGuire at his vehicle.

McGuire admitted to maliciously damaging the courthouse, which sustained approximately $35,000 in damage and had to be closed for several days. 

He also admitted to detonating the bomb at the courthouse in retaliation for various alleged government wrongs, including Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies seizing his firearms earlier that year.

A search of McGuire’s residence resulted in the seizure of other materials related to his bomb making.

United States District Judge Jesus G. Bernal scheduled a March 1, 2027, sentencing hearing, at which time McGuire will face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison.

The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, and Santa Maria Police Department are investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Mark P. Takla of the Orange County Office, and Kathrynne N. Seiden of the National Security Division are prosecuting this case with substantial assistance from Assistant United States Attorney Alexander Su of the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section, and Trial Attorney Patrick Cashman of the Counterterrorism Section in the Department of Justice’s National Security Division.

LOS ANGELES – A former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputy was sentenced today to 21 months in federal prison for abusing his status as a law enforcement officer to threaten and intimidate adversaries of a now-imprisoned, self-proclaimed cryptocurrency businessman, and for cheating on his taxes.

Christopher Michael Cadman, 34, of Fullerton, was sentenced by United States District Judge Percy Anderson, who also ordered him to pay $25,000 in restitution.

Cadman pleaded guilty in August 2025 to one count of conspiracy against rights and one count of subscribing to a false tax return.

Cadman formerly was employed by Adam Iza, 26, who resided in Beverly Hills and Newport Beach, and was a self-styled cryptocurrency businessman who has been in federal custody since September 2024. Iza pleaded guilty in January 2025 to one count of conspiracy against rights, one count of wire fraud, and one count of tax evasion. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 5 before Judge Anderson.

Iza is serving a 15-year federal prison sentence for his involvement in an attempted robbery of Bitcoin and a kidnapping in Connecticut in August 2024.

According to court documents, in August 2021, Cadman and LASD Deputy Scott Simpkins intimidated and threatened a victim who was one of Iza’s adversaries. According to Cadman’s plea, Simpkins held the victim at gunpoint during a meeting at Iza’s office inside his Bel Air mansion. Immediately afterward, the victim transferred approximately $25,000 from his bank account to Iza’s bank account in response to the threat and demand.

In September 2021, Cadman and other law enforcement officers orchestrated a traffic stop in Paramount to arrest the same victim. Cadman helped organize the traffic stop and arrest on Iza’s behalf and received cash payments while he worked for Iza.

Cadman also received income – at least $40,500 – he knowingly failed to report on his 2021 federal tax return, which he signed and filed with the IRS in February 2022. Cadman owed approximately $11,000 in federal taxes for that year.

“Our legal system entrusts law enforcement officers with extraordinary authority,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “Those powers carry a corresponding duty to uphold constitutional rights, exercise sound judgment, and serve the public with integrity. When an officer abuses that trust, the harm extends beyond the immediate victim.  It undermines confidence in the rule of law, weakens trust in government institutions, and damages the reputation of the countless officers who serve honorably.”

Cadman is one of five now-former LASD deputies convicted in connection with Iza’s criminal activities:

• Michael David Coberg, 45, of Eastvale, is serving a 63-month federal prison sentence for helping Iza extort a rival and arranging the sham illegal drug possession arrest of another adversary in Paramount in 2021. Judge Anderson sentenced Coberg on March 16.
• Scott Allen Simpkins, 34, of Brea, was sentenced on July 13 to 18 months in federal prison for obstructing a federal investigation into Iza’s extortion of $25,000 from a party planner at Iza’s Bel Air mansion.
• David Anthony Rodriguez, 45, of La Verne, was sentenced on July 20 to one year in federal prison and who had worked for Iza as a private security guard, pleaded guilty to submitting a false search warrant application to a state court judge on behalf of a different client.
• Eric Chase Saavedra, 42, of Chino, a former LASD deputy and a former federal task force officer, pleaded guilty in February 2025 to one count of conspiracy against rights and one count of making and subscribing to a false tax return. Saavedra founded a company – Saavedra & Associates LLC – that provided security to Iza and hired LASD deputies to do so. Among other crimes, Saavedra used his powers as a sworn law enforcement officer to improperly obtain court-authorized search warrants related to intimidating, threatening, and harassing Iza’s adversaries. Saavedra is expected to be sentenced in the coming weeks.

Relatedly, Iris Ramaya Au, 37, of Irvine, Iza’s ex-girlfriend, pleaded guilty in March 2025 to one count of subscribing to a false tax return for failing to report more than $2.6 million in ill-gotten funds she obtained from Iza’s criminal activities. Au will face a statutory maximum sentence of three years in federal prison at her sentencing hearing, which is expected to occur in the coming weeks.

The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this matter. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has assisted.

Assistant United States Attorney Maxwell K. Coll of the National Security Division prosecuted this case.

A Santa Barbara County, California, man pleaded guilty today to detonating a bomb at a Santa Maria courthouse in 2024 in an attack that injured three people, damaged the building, and was intended to kill law enforcement officers in retaliation for local law enforcement seizing his firearms earlier that year.

“McGuire launched a vicious, terroristic assault on a court of law with the intent to kill law enforcement officers and a judge,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “His attack injured three people and, were it not for the quick action of court security and law enforcement, it could have been far worse. McGuire will now face the consequences of his actions.”

“This defendant’s brazen act of terror resulted in physical, structural, and emotional harm, and could have had tragic consequences,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “Individuals who use bombs against law enforcement officials, judges, and other government personnel must be held accountable and face severe punishment for their actions.”

Nathaniel James McGuire, 22, of Santa Maria, pleaded guilty to one count of use of a weapon of mass destruction and one count of malicious destruction of a building using an explosive.

McGuire has been in federal custody since September 2024.

According to his plea agreement, on Sept. 24, 2024, McGuire knowingly detonated a bomb in the Santa Maria courthouse, which serves the Santa Barbara County Superior Court. 

McGuire walked in the door of the courthouse and threw a backpack containing an explosive device past the courthouse’s security screening device and towards Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies, The bomb slid between a victim’s legs and detonated in the building outside a courtroom. Five people were hospitalized and released the same day. The bomb resulted in personal injuries to three victims. 

McGuire admitted in his plea agreement that he detonated the bomb with the intent to kill the sheriff’s deputies.

After the bomb exploded, McGuire left to retrieve two long guns and 10 Molotov cocktails from his vehicle and intended to re-enter the courthouse to kill sheriff’s deputies and “splatter” (kill) a judge. A courthouse security guard and several law enforcement officers stopped McGuire at his vehicle.

McGuire admitted to maliciously damaging the courthouse, which sustained approximately $35,000 in damages and had to be closed for several days. 

He also admitted to detonating the bomb at the courthouse in retaliation for various alleged government wrongs, including Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies seizing his firearms earlier that year.

McGuire intended to harm the judge and the sheriff’s deputies on account of their status as government employees and officials.

A search of McGuire’s residence resulted in the seizure of other materials related to his bomb making.

McGuire is scheduled to be sentenced on March 1, 2027, and will face a maximum penalty of life in prison.

The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, and Santa Maria Police Department are investigating this matter.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark P. Takla and Kathrynne N. Seiden for the Central District of California are prosecuting this case with substantial assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Su for the Central District of California and Trial Attorney Patrick Cashman of the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division.

LOS ANGELES – A Glendale man pleaded guilty today to conspiring to steal approximately 30 United States Postal Service (USPS) mail carrier vehicles as well as the mail inside them, including 100 credit and debit cards belonging to other people, some of which he then illegally used. 

Vegen Hartoonian, 46, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit theft of government property and one count of aggravated identity theft. 

Hartoonian, the lead defendant in this case, has been in federal custody since October 2025.

According to his plea agreement, from September 2023 to November 2024, 

Hartoonian and his co-conspirators followed postal vehicles using rented vehicles such as a Dodge Caravan, BMW and GMC SUVs, and a Mitsubishi Outlander. The car rental used to follow a USPS vehicle during a September 2023 incident was paid for with stolen credit card information.

Once the mail carrier got out of the USPS vehicle to deliver mail, Hartoonian and his co-conspirators stole the postal vehicle, drove it to another location, and then stole the mail inside the vehicle.

In total, Hartoonian and his co-conspirators stole approximately 30 USPS postal vehicles – each vehicle valued at $11,651 – and the mail of approximately 232 victims and illegally possessed 100 credit and debit cards belonging to other people. 

Hartoonian further admitted to unlawfully possessing a victim’s credit card number in connection with a scheme to steal USPS vehicles and the mail inside them during a January 2024 incident.

United States District Judge Christina A. Snyder scheduled a December 7 sentencing hearing, at which time Hartoonian will face a statutory maximum sentence of seven years in federal prison.

Three other defendants have already pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges in this case and remain in federal custody:

• Jose Arviso, 50, of San Bernardino;
• Sanjay Varma, 44, of Pasadena; and
• Juan Nuñez, 25, of Highland Park.

One other defendant – Mark Anthony Quitugua, 43, of Lincoln Heights – has pleaded not guilty to federal criminal charges and is scheduled to go to trial in January 2027. He is free on $10,000 bond. 

The United States Postal Inspection Service is investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Neil P. Thakor of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section is prosecuting this case.

LOS ANGELES – A four-times deported illegal alien from Mexico was sentenced today to 135 months in prison for knowingly selling more than pound quantities of fentanyl pills to a buyer to whom he also sold firearms and ammunition.

Antonio Espinoza Zarate, 56, a.k.a. “El Gato,” of the Mar Vista area of Los Angeles, was sentenced by United States District Judge Wesley L. Hsu. 

Espinoza pleaded guilty on May 7 to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. He has been in federal custody since March 2025.

According to his plea agreement, from July 2023 to March 2025, Espinoza conspired with others to knowingly distribute fentanyl by obtaining distribution-level quantities of the powerful synthetic opioid to sell to potential drug customers.

Specifically, in July 2023, Espinoza obtained 4,592 pills (527 grams) of fentanyl, which he sold to a buyer in Los Angeles for $4,500. Espinoza also sold the buyer $1,700 in firearms and ammunition, including a Glock pistol and 131 rounds of ammunition.

In August 2023, Espinoza met with another buyer in Los Angeles and, for $8,000, sold the buyer 9,826 pills containing slightly more than 1 kilogram of fentanyl. Espinoza also sold the buyer a rifle for $2,000.

Espinoza, a Mexican national, was removed from the United States in 2010, 2013, 2014, and 2017, according to court documents. 

The investigation was conducted by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)-led El Camino Real Financial Crimes Task Force, a multi-agency task force that includes federal and state investigators who are focused on financial crimes in Southern California, with support from special agents with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California – Criminal Investigative Division; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with assistance from the Los Angeles Police Department regarding dangers to the community from the sales of narcotics and firearms.

Assistant United States Attorney Neil P. Thakor of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section prosecuted this case.

LOS ANGELES – A Compton man was sentenced today to 36 months in federal prison for assaulting and injuring a federal officer by throwing large rocks at passing government vehicles during an anti-immigration law enforcement riot last year in Paramount.

Elpidio Reyna, 42, was sentenced by United States District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha.

Reyna pleaded guilty on February 17 to one felony count of assault on a federal officer by deadly or dangerous weapon resulting in bodily injury. He has been in federal custody since July 2025.

“Disagreeing with laws passed by Congress does not give you a right to assault federal officers,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “This defendant thought he would go unpunished for throwing large rocks at law enforcement. Instead, he’ll be serving time in federal prison, where he can reflect on his poor decision.”

According to his plea agreement, on June 7, 2025, Reyna forcibly and intentionally assaulted with a deadly and dangerous weapon a federal law enforcement officer engaged in his official duties, resulting in the infliction of bodily injury to the officer.

On that day, federal law enforcement officers were staging a joint enforcement operation in Paramount in the vicinity of a Home Depot. Protestors, including Reyna, began to throw rocks at the officers’ official vehicles, lit objects on fire, and impeded law enforcement activity.

During this time, Reyna knowingly and intentionally lit objects on fire in the middle of the street and threw rocks at a convoy of law enforcement vehicles occupied by United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, including the victim – identified in court documents as “R.T.” – all of whom were engaged in their official duties as federal officers.

Reyna threw a rock at R.T.’s government vehicle, which caused glass to shatter and injure R.T. by cutting his forehead.

“[Reyna’s] reflection on the circumstances surrounding his conduct, that his actions were ‘sudden and emotional and fueled by alcohol,’ because of his anger regarding immigration policy in the United States, is simply not an adequate excuse for his violence,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum.

The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and United States Border Patrol investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Brenda N. Galván of the Transnational Organized Crime Section prosecuted this case.

RIVERSIDE, California – A San Bernardino County man was arrested today on a federal grand jury indictment charging him and two other defendants with paying people on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles to sign petitions using stolen identities of registered voters to qualify initiatives on ballots in California elections. 

James Brass, 47, a.k.a. “Lord,” of Victorville, was arrested this morning and is expected to make his initial appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in Riverside.

Also charged in the two-count indictment are two petition circulators who worked for Brass: Courtney Price, 49, of Jacksonville, Florida, and Jateisha Herron, 33, of Boron, California. 

All three defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony. Brass and Price are charged with an additional count of identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony.

“These defendants are charged with using stolen identities of registered voters to manufacture signatures on ballot petitions used to shape California law,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “They allegedly used people, including members of Skid Row’s vulnerable homeless population, to try to cover up their tracks. The charged conduct undermines the confidence voters have in our election systems, and we will vigorously investigate and charge anyone involved.” 

“It is imperative that Americans have confidence in our voting system and election infrastructure” said Patrick Grandy, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “The scheme outlined in today’s indictment sought to undermine an essential pillar of our democracy and cause an undue burden on taxpayers. We will remain vigilant in detecting those trying to weaken our political process and we will aggressively investigate any allegations of voter fraud or other election crimes.”

According to court documents, California’s constitution contains a process for direct democracy in which state voters can bypass the California State Legislature and enact laws or constitutional amendments directly through the ballot initiative process.

To qualify an initiative for inclusion on a ballot in 2026, an initiative’s proponent was required to submit 546,651 signatures to place a proposed statute on the ballot, and 874,641 signatures to place a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot. An initiative’s proponent had up to 180 days to gather these signatures and needed to submit them no later than 130 days before the date of an election.

Given the large number of signatures required in such a short period of time, proponents of initiatives typically hired petition management companies to gather the signatures. These companies charge significant fees and set a price for each signature gathered, contracting with outside individuals to collect signatures.

According to the indictment that a federal grand jury returned on Wednesday, Brass managed a team of signature collectors and collected signatures himself while Price and Herron were signature collectors who worked for Brass. From February 2026 to August 2026, the defendants used a database to identify registered California voters. On Skid Row, Brass and Price handed out these voters’ stolen identities and paid petition signers to copy the voters’ personal information onto ballot initiative petitions and fraudulently sign the petitions in those voters’ names.

After the petitions were signed, Brass and Herron signed declarations at the bottom of the petitions, falsely declaring under penalty of perjury that they personally witnessed the named registered voters sign the petitions and that each signature was, to the best of their knowledge, “the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be.”

Brass and Herron then turned in the bogus petitions to several petition coordinators, knowing the false representations regarding the signatures’ authenticity would result in false and fraudulent signatures being counted in connection with the effort to place the initiative at issue on the ballot.

Brass further knew the false representations about the signatures’ authenticity would result in payments to him from a petition management company. 

In total, Brass received approximately $41,600 from coordinators working with one such petition management company.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each count.

The FBI is investigating this matter with assistance from special agents of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

Assistant United States Attorneys Nandor F.R. Kiss of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section and Michael G. Wheat of the Orange County Office are prosecuting this case.

SANTA ANA, California – An Orange County woman was arrested today on a federal indictment charging her with defrauding a nonprofit created to financially support a high school football team, an organization for which she served as treasurer, out of more than $400,000, in part, to pay the delinquent balance on her home’s mortgage.

Julie Hanway Molina, 56, was arrested today at her home in Aliso Viejo. She is expected to make her initial appearance and be arraigned later today in United States District Court in Santa Ana.

Molina is charged with four counts of wire fraud.

According to the indictment that a federal grand jury returned on September 2, from 2023 to November 2025, Molina executed a scheme to defraud the nonprofit organization. Without the nonprofit’s knowledge or authorization, she diverted funds from the group’s bank account for her own personal expenses, including the mortgage on her home and to pay off her credit card bills.

In June 2023, Molina wired approximately $131,523 from the nonprofit’s bank account in Laguna Hills through Federal Reserve facilities in New Jersey and Texas to an account in Santa Ana to pay the delinquent balance on the mortgage on her personal residence.

To conceal these unauthorized payments, Molina sent numerous emails to the nonprofit’s board members attaching false treasurer reports that failed to disclose her misappropriation of funds.

In total, Molina misappropriated approximately $411,761 that belonged to the nonprofit organization.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, Molina would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each count.

The FBI is investigating this matter. 

Chief Assistant United States Attorney and Chief of the Criminal Division Jennifer L. Waier is prosecuting this case.

LOS ANGELES – An Orange County man was sentenced today to 360 months in federal prison for masterminding a massive health care fraud scheme in which nearly $270 million in fraudulent claims were submitted to Medi-Cal over an 11-month span for expensive prescription drugs containing generic ingredients that were not medically necessary and, many times, were not provided to the purported recipients.

Paul Richard Randall, 67, of Orange, was sentenced by United States District Judge Mark C. Scarsi, who also ordered him to pay $178,746,556 in restitution.

Randall pleaded guilty on April 7 to one count of wire fraud committed while on release. 

“This defendant took advantage of California’s weak systems allowing him to submit $270 million in fraudulent claims to Medi-Cal in less than a year,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “Today’s prison sentence underscore’s our department’s determination to aggressively punish criminals who steal from public health programs.”

“Paul Randall exploited a temporary change in Medi-Cal’s prescription drug reimbursement system to steal hundreds of millions of hard-earned taxpayer dollars meant to help California’s neediest residents,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. “Today’s sentence sends a clear message to those who would abuse our public benefit programs to line their own pockets: The Fraud Division will aggressively prosecute you and seek to hold you accountable to the fullest extent permissible under the law.”

“This case exposes unbridled greed at the expense of patients and taxpayers,” aid Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Miranda L. Bennett at the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). 
“Stealing funds meant for essential care and corrupting medical decisions through kickbacks is deeply harmful and erodes trust in our health care system. HHS-OIG, together with our law enforcement partners, will continue to pursue those who exploit federal health care programs and ensure they are held fully accountable.”

“The amount of money Paul Randall stole from California taxpayers through his fraud scheme is staggering,” said Patrick Grandy, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “By exploiting a loophole in the Medi-Cal system, he was able to bill nearly $270 million dollars, then launder it to evade detection and pay kickbacks to his co-schemers. Today’s sentencing sends a strong message to anyone considering defrauding health care benefit programs that the federal government is actively seeking fraudulent claims and will pursue prosecution.”

Randall, along with Kyrollos Mekail, 38, of Moreno Valley, and Patricia Anderson, 59, of West Hills, took advantage of Medi-Cal’s suspension of its requirement that health care providers obtain prior authorization before providing certain health care services or medications as a condition of reimbursement. The suspension of the prior authorization requirements was part of an ongoing transition of Medi-Cal’s prescription drug program to a new payment system. 

Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program, a public health insurance program which provides health care services for the state’s neediest residents, including low-income individuals, persons with disabilities, and individuals in foster care.

Through a business called Monte Vista Pharmacy, Randall and his co-schemers exploited Medi-Cal’s prior authorization suspension by billing Medi-Cal tens of millions of dollars per month for dispensing high-reimbursement, non-contracted, generic drugs through Monte Vista Pharmacy. Some prescription medications purportedly were to treat pain and included Folite tablets, a vitamin available over the counter.

Normally, these high-cost reimbursement medications would have required prior authorization under Medi-Cal’s old payment system. Medication involved in this scheme was medically unnecessary, frequently was not dispensed to patients, and procured by kickbacks.

From May 2022 to April 2023, Monte Vista billed Medi-Cal more than $269 million and was paid more than $178 million for 19 expensive, non-contracted drugs containing low-cost, generic ingredients that were not medically necessary, not provided, or both.

Randall also admitted that he committed the offense while on release in another criminal tax case in the Central District of California (USA v. Paul Richard Randall, No. 20cr31).

Randall and others then laundered their illicit proceeds by transferring the proceeds of the Medi-Cal fraud scheme to a third party to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks to Anderson, to promote the fraud scheme and to conceal and disguise the transfers from detection by law enforcement.

Randall caused the wiring of at least approximately $269,120,829 in false and fraudulent claims to Medi-Cal for purportedly dispensing the fraud scheme medications that Anderson prescribed, on which Medi-Cal paid at least approximately $178,746,556.  Randall started this fraud scheme while awaiting sentencing in another federal criminal case.

In his plea agreement, Randall agreed to forfeit property obtained from the fraud, including bank account balances exceeding $17 million, three vehicles, seven properties, and sports memorabilia, such as Mickey Mantle and Jackie Robinson baseball cards worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and Kobe Bryant game worn and signed sneakers. 

Mekail pleaded guilty in August 2024 to two counts of health care fraud and awaits sentencing. Anderson is charged with two counts of health care fraud, and the criminal case against her is still pending.  A criminal complaint was filed against Christina Mareik, a.k.a. “Christina Marie Sanchez Hernandez”, charging her with health care fraud and alleging that she played a key role in the Medi-Cal fraud scheme by creating fraudulent prescriptions for Medi-Cal beneficiaries and directing Anderson to sign them. The case against Hernandez is still pending.   

The United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), the FBI, and the California Department of Justice investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Roger A. Hsieh of the Major Frauds Section and Trial Attorney Siobhan M. Namazi of the U.S. Department of Justice, Fraud Enforcement Division, are prosecuting this case. Assistant United States Attorney James E. Dochterman of the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section is handling asset forfeiture matters in this case.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within federal benefit programs.

The Department of Justice’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in federal districts across the country, has charged more than 6,200 defendants who collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion since 2007. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit. 

More information can be found at https://www.justice.gov/fraud. 

LOS ANGELES – The United States Department of Justice today sent a letter to Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert G. Luna to notify him and the County of Los Angeles that it is beginning an investigation into whether the County has violated the Constitution and federal law by failing to provide environmentally safe, humane, and habitable conditions for prisoners incarcerated at the Men’s Central Jail (MCJ) in downtown Los Angeles.

During this investigation, which will focus on the conditions of the facility itself and not the actions of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies who staff it, the Justice Department will determine whether the County has violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution.

The investigation will be conducted under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Personals Act (CRIPA), a federal statute intended to protect the rights of people incarcerated in state or local correctional facilities, among other state and locally run institutions.

“Whether a person is held in a county jail, awaiting trial, or after conviction, the environmental conditions in that jail need to meet constitutional standards,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon. “The Civil Rights Division is pleased to partner with the United States Attorney’s Office in its investigation of Los Angeles County’s Men’s Central Jail to determine whether the County meets those constitutional conditions.”

“Los Angeles County has a constitutional duty to provide safe, humane, and habitable conditions at Men’s Central Jail,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “We have reached no conclusions, but these concerns warrant a thorough investigation. If the evidence reveals systemic violations, we will act.”

The Justice Department has not reached any conclusion regarding allegations in this matter.

This new investigation is separate from a 2015 settlement in United States v. County of Los Angeles, (C.D. Cal., 15cv5903), which was related to mental health care provided at Los Angeles County jails.

Individuals with relevant information are encouraged to contact the Department via civilrights.justice.gov/report. 

Assistant United States Attorney Julie A. Hamill of the Civil Division’s Civil Rights Section is handling this matter.

LOS ANGELES – An Inglewood woman has been arrested on a 15-count federal grand jury indictment charging her with defrauding venture capital funds out of more than $13 million by lying about her credentials and her now-defunct tax compliance startup company’s revenue, then using investors’ money to purchase a home, a Tesla, and pay for her wedding in the Caribbean, the Justice Department announced today.

Shiloh Luckey, 42, a.k.a. “Shiloh Johnson,” was arrested on Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, before she attempted to board a cruise ship for a vacation. Luckey was released on bond in the Southern District of Florida and is expected to appear in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles in the coming weeks.

Luckey is charged with nine counts of securities fraud, three counts of wire fraud, one count of bank fraud, and two counts of money laundering.

According to the indictment returned on September 1, Luckey founded the Los Angeles-based ComplYant App Inc. in 2019 and presented it as a tax compliance startup company that offered services to small businesses to help them navigate complex tax regulations in exchange for a monthly subscription fee. Luckey was ComplYant’s CEO and exerted managerial control over the company.

From September 2020 to September 2023, Luckey defrauded investors by promoting ComplYant as having existing customers and a significant recurring revenue stream. As part of the alleged scheme, Luckey persuaded victims to invest in the company by presenting them with pitch decks, investor materials, and updates that falsely inflated ComplYant’s revenue, customer base, subscriptions, and cash reserve balances. 

Luckey also induced victims to invest by lying to them and representing that she was a licensed certified public accountant (CPA) with deep expertise in tax management, accounting, and compliance, when, in fact, she has never been a licensed CPA. 

Relying on these false statements, pretenses, and misrepresentations, victims invested millions of dollars into ComplYant under the belief it was a promising start-up based on Luckey’s representations.

Luckey then used a portion of these funds to pay for personal expenses, including the purchase of her residence, the purchase of a Tesla automobile, and to pay her wedding on the Caribbean island of Anguilla.

By September 2023, ComplYant experienced severe liquidity issues and ceased operations, causing the investors to lose their investments. 

In total, Luckey fraudulently obtained at least $13.3 million from her victims, with the victims losing their entire investments.

The indictment further alleges that, in September and October of 2022, Luckey engaged in a check kiting scheme to purchase her Inglewood home by intentionally writing a bad $1.5 million check from a ComplYant account with insufficient funds, depositing it into another ComplYant account at a different bank, and wiring the money to buy her home before the first bank realized the check was worthless.

Luckey then paid off the negative balance caused by her check kiting scheme by repaying the negative bank account balance with fresh proceeds from her securities fraud.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted of all charges, Luckey would face a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison on the bank fraud count, up to 20 years in federal prison for each securities fraud and wire fraud count, and a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for each money laundering count.

The FBI is investigating this matter. 

Assistant United States Attorney Andrew M. Roach of the Major Frauds Section is prosecuting this case.

A California man was sentenced today to 30 years in federal prison for masterminding a massive health care fraud scheme in which nearly $270 million in fraudulent claims were submitted over an 11-month span to Medi-Cal, the California Medicaid program, for expensive prescription drugs containing generic ingredients that were medically unnecessary and, many times, were not provided to the purported recipients. The sentence marks one of the highest health care fraud sentences in the Central District of California’s history.

Paul Richard Randall, 67, of Orange, California, was also ordered to pay $178,746,556.22 in restitution.

“Paul Randall exploited a temporary change in Medi-Cal’s prescription drug reimbursement system to steal millions of hard-earned taxpayer dollars meant to help California’s most vulnerable residents,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. “Today’s sentence sends a clear message to those who would abuse our public benefit programs to line their own pockets: The Fraud Division will aggressively prosecute you and seek to hold you accountable to the fullest extent under the law.”

“This case exposes unbridled greed at the expense of patients and taxpayers. Stealing funds meant for essential care and corrupting medical decisions through kickbacks is deeply harmful and erodes trust in our health care system,” said Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Miranda L. Bennett of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG, together with our law enforcement partners, will continue to pursue those who exploit federal health care programs and ensure they are held fully accountable.”

“This defendant took advantage of California’s weak systems allowing him to submit $270 million in fraudulent claims to Medi-Cal in less than a year,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli of the Central District of California. “Today’s prison sentence underscore’s our department’s determination to aggressively punish criminals who steal from public health programs.”

According to court documents, Randall, along with pharmacist and pharmacy owner Kyrollos Mekail, 38, of Moreno Valley, California, and nurse practitioner Patricia Anderson, 59, of West Hills, California, took advantage of Medi-Cal’s suspension of its requirement that health care providers obtain prior authorization before providing certain h medications as a condition of reimbursement. The suspension of the prior authorization requirement was part of an ongoing transition of Medi-Cal’s prescription drug program to a new payment system.

Through a business called Monte Vista Pharmacy (Monte Vista), Randall and his co-conspirators exploited Medi-Cal’s prior authorization suspension by billing Medi-Cal tens of millions of dollars per month for dispensing high-reimbursing, non-contracted generic drugs through Monte Vista. The medications, which included pain creams and Folite tablets, a vitamin available over the counter, were billed for thousands of dollars each, including approximately $13,424 for one prescription of meloxicam 5 mg, a generic drug that typically costs between $5 and $25 for a 30-day supply in larger dosages. Normally, these high-cost reimbursement medications would have required prior authorization under Medi-Cal’s previous payment system. Medication involved in this scheme was medically unnecessary, frequently not dispensed to patients, and procured by illegal kickbacks.

In furtherance of the scheme, Randall paid illegal kickbacks to patient marketers in exchange for Medi-Cal beneficiary information and to Anderson to sign pre-filled prescriptions for the medications. Anderson never met the patients, reviewed their medical records, or otherwise determined that the medications were medically necessary before signing the prescriptions. 

From May 2022 to April 2023, Randall caused at least $269,120,829 in false and fraudulent claims to be submitted to Medi-Cal, of which Medi-Cal paid at approximately $178,746,556. Randall committed this offense while on release in another criminal tax case in the Central District of California (United States v. Paul Richard Randall, No. CR 20-00031-GW). 

Randall and his co-conspirators laundered their illicit proceeds by transferring them to a third party to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal kickbacks to Anderson in exchange for Anderson signing the fraudulent prescriptions. 

In April 2026, Randall pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. In his plea agreement, Randall agreed to forfeit property obtained from the fraud, including bank account balances exceeding $17 million, three vehicles, seven real properties, and sports memorabilia. To date, the government has seized approximately $126.5 million in assets that Randall and his co-conspirators accumulated from the scheme, including $111 million in bank funds and securities, nine luxury vehicles totaling approximately $1 million, nine luxury real properties totaling approximately $13.5 million, and more than $1 million worth of sports memorabilia. 

FBI, HHS-OIG, and the California Department of Justice investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Siobhan M. Namazi of the Fraud Division’s Health Care Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger A. Hsieh for the Central District of California prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney James E. Dochterman for the Central District of California’s Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section is handling asset forfeiture matters in this case. 

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

The Department of Justice’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in federal districts across the country, has charged more than 6,200 defendants who collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion since 2007. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

More information can be found at www.justice.gov/fraud. 

David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ADAM IZA, 26, of California, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford to 180 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release for his involvement in an attempted robbery of Bitcoin and a kidnapping in Danbury in August 2024.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on August 25, 2024, Danbury Police arrested six Florida men who were involved in a violent carjacking of a Lamborghini Urus and the kidnapping of two occupants of the vehicle on that date.  The investigation revealed that the kidnapping victims are the parents of an individual who participated in the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin.  In an attempt to steal some of that Bitcoin, Iza and others planned and coordinated the attempted robbery and ultimately the kidnapping.  Iza’s alleged co-coconspirator, who had an altercation with the victims’ son in a Miami nightclub in July 2024, was in regular communication with certain of the kidnappers in the days before the crime, provided funding for it, and helped arrange the participants’ transportation and lodging.  Iza communicated via cellphone and encrypted messaging applications with certain of the kidnappers, directed them as to the logistics of the scheme, and also provided funding.

Iza has been detained since September 24, 2024, after he was charged in the Central District of California with unrelated federal offenses.  On June 1, 2026, he pleaded guilty in the District of Connecticut to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery (“Hobbs Act Robbery”).

Iza’s brother, Saif Faiq, pleaded guilty to the same offense and awaits sentencing.  Six individuals who carried out the carjacking and kidnapping have also pleaded guilty.  Other alleged co-conspirators are awaiting trial.

This matter is being investigated by the FBI New Haven Violent Crimes Task Force, FBI Los Angeles, FBI St. Louis, and the Danbury Police Department.  The FBI Task Force includes members from the Connecticut State Police and several local police departments.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen L. Peck.

U.S. Attorney Sullivan thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Central District of California, the Eastern District of Missouri, the District of Columbia, and the District of New Jersey, and the State’s Attorney’s Office for the Judicial District of Danbury, for their assistance in the investigation and prosecution of this matter.