District of Massachusetts

Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, 42, a dual U.S.-Iranian national of Natick, Massachusetts, and Mohammad Abedininajafabadi, also known as Mohammad Abedini (Abedini), 38, of Tehran, Iran, have been charged with conspiring to export sophisticated electronic components from the United States to Iran in violation of U.S. export control and sanctions laws. Abedini is also charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), that resulted in the deaths of three U.S. service members who were killed by a one-way attack Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), also known as a drone, on a military base in Jordan.

Sadeghi was arrested and made his initial appearance today in the District of Massachusetts. Abedini was also arrested today in Italy by Italian authorities at the request of the United States.

“Today, the Justice Department has charged, and our foreign partners have taken into custody, Mohammad Abedini, who we allege supplied sensitive technology used by the Iranian military to kill three American servicemembers in Jordan earlier this year,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “In addition, we have charged and arrested Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen, for conspiring with Abedini to export sensitive U.S. technology to Iran. Today’s arrests demonstrate that the Justice Department will hold accountable those who enable the Iranian regime to continue to target and kill Americans and undermine the national security of the United States.”

“Earlier this year, Iran-backed militias murdered three American soldiers and wounded dozens more in a brutal drone attack at the Tower 22 base in Jordan,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “Today, working with our partners here and abroad, we have charged and arrested two men who conspired to evade U.S. sanctions and supply the Iranian government with the type of drone navigation technology used in that attack. Our message is unmistakable: if you provide support to the Iranian regime’s campaign of terror and violence targeting Americans – we will find you, arrest you, and hold you accountable in a U.S. court, no matter where you are.”

“This case reflects our commitment to pursuing those who unlawfully aid Iran’s military drone program and to seeking justice for the U.S. servicemembers killed at the hands of the IRGC-backed militants earlier this year,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Export laws exist to keep cutting-edge U.S. technology out of the hands of foreign terrorist organizations. When sensitive drone technology is supplied to the IRGC – as alleged in this case – it places our military at risk and imperils American citizens.”

“These defendants are charged with supplying sensitive technology to an Iranian company that develops technology the IRGC uses in its one-way attack drones to commit acts of terror around the world,” said Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod of the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). “Export crimes are much more than just regulatory violations – they enable our adversaries to engage in numerous malign activities harmful to U.S. interests, including the sowing of terror worldwide.”

“The FBI will continue to aggressively use all of our authorities to investigate and arrest anyone who assists the Government of Iran in obtaining technology that can be used for deadly purposes,” said FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate. “These perpetrators allegedly facilitated the transfer of electronic components to an Iranian company which one of them owned.  According to the charges, the company owner then supplied the IRGC with drone technology that was used in various terrorist acts, including an attack on a U.S. military base in Jordan which killed three servicemembers and injured dozens more. Such acts are wholly unacceptable, and the FBI will work tirelessly with our partners to cut off illegal transfers of technology to foreign terrorists and other adversaries.”

“Holding culpable people accountable for the death and maiming of U.S. service men and women bravely serving our nation abroad is about as important a prosecution as there is. These allegations make clear the grievous harm that can result when highly sophisticated American technologies subject to export controls end up in the hands of our adversaries,” said U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy for the District of Massachusetts. “These criminal charges are the direct product of the dogged work of the FBI and the Department of Commerce, in close collaboration with DOJ lawyers, as part of the Disruptive Technologies Task Force launched in February 2023, and I commend their outstanding work.”

According to court documents, Abedini is the founder and managing director of an Iranian company, San’at Danesh Rahpooyan Aflak Co. (SDRA or SADRA), that manufactures navigation modules used in the IRGC’s military drone program. SDRA’s main business is the sale of a proprietary navigation system — known as the Sepehr Navigation System — to the IRGC, which the United States designated as an FTO on April 15, 2019. The primary application of SDRA’s Sepehr Navigation System is for use in UAVs, as well as cruise and ballistic missiles. Sadeghi is currently employed by a Massachusetts-based microelectronics manufacturer (U.S. Company 1) and was one of the founders of a Massachusetts-based technology company (U.S. Company 2) that specializes in wearable sensors that provide kinetic monitoring for fitness applications.

As alleged in court documents, Abedini, Sadeghi, and others conspired to evade U.S. export control and sanctions laws by procuring U.S. origin goods, services, and technology from, among others, U.S. Company 1 and causing those goods, services, and technology to be exported or otherwise supplied to Iran and, in particular, Abedini’s Iranian company, SDRA.

As further alleged, in or around 2016, Sadeghi traveled to Iran to request funding for U.S. Company 2 from the Iranian National Elites Foundation (INEF), which is an Iranian governmental organization whose main purpose is to recognize, organize, and support Iran’s elite national talents. In exchange for funding for U.S. Company 2, which Sadeghi’s company ultimately received from the INEF, Sadeghi and others created a second company in Iran (Iranian Company 1). Shortly after forming Iranian Company 1, Sadeghi, through Iranian Company 1, entered into a contract with SDRA for the purchase of SDRA’s technology. It is also alleged that, since in or around 2016, on multiple occasions, Sadeghi has helped Abedini procure U.S. export-controlled electronic components for Abedini’s use in Iran.

Due to U.S. laws restricting exports to Iran, Abedini established a Switzerland front company for SDRA, Illumove SA (Illumove). With Sadeghi’s assistance, Abedini, through Illumove, entered into a contract with U.S. Company 1 to develop a mechanism to evaluate U.S. Company 1’s electronic components, including sophisticated semiconductors. Sadeghi and Abedini subsequently caused U.S.-origin goods, services, and technology to be transferred to Iran, through Illumove, for the benefit of SDRA. Certain of the electronic components that Abedini obtained through Illumove were the same types of electronic components used in SDRA’s Sepehr Navigation System.

Abedini is also charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, the IRGC, specifically, the IRGC Aerospace Force, which is the strategic missile, air, and space force within the IRGC. Since at least in or about 2014, SDRA has had multiple projects with the IRGC Aerospace Force, including projects for guided rockets and integrated navigation systems. As alleged, between 2021 and 2022, approximately 99% of SDRA’s sales of the Sepehr Navigation System, which are used in IRGC one-way attack drones, were to the IRGC’s Aerospace Force.

On Jan. 28, three U.S. service members were killed, and more than forty others were injured, in a drone attack by IRGC-backed militants on a military base located in northern Jordan, known as Tower 22. According to court documents, FBI analysis of the drone that was recovered from the site of the attack showed that the drone was an Iranian Shahed UAV and that the navigation system used in the drone was the Sepehr Navigation System, which was manufactured by Abedini’s company, SDRA.   

Sadeghi and Abedini were charged by criminal complaint with one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economics Powers Act, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, three years supervised release, and a fine of up to $1 million. Abedini was also charged with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a Foreign Terrorist Organization, resulting in death, and one count of provision and attempted provision of material support to a Foreign Terrorist Organization, resulting in death, which carries a penalty of up to life in prison, lifetime supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI, Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division, and BIS are investigating the case.

U.S. Attorneys Jared Dolan and Alathea Porter for the District of Massachusetts, Trial Attorney Christina Clark of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, and Trial Attorneys Katie Sweeten and David Smith of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs is providing assistance and is seeking extradition of Abedini from Italy.

​This prosecution is being coordinated through the Disruptive Technology Strike Force, an interagency law enforcement strike force co-led by the Departments of Justice and Commerce designed to target illicit actors, protect supply chains, and prevent critical technology from being acquired by authoritarian regimes and hostile nation states. Under the leadership of the Assistant Attorney General for National Security and the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement, the Strike Force leverages tools and authorities across the U.S. Government to enhance the criminal and administrative enforcement of export control laws. 

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

BOSTON – Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, 42, a dual U.S.-Iranian national of Natick, Mass. and Mohammad Abedininajafabadi, A/K/A Mohammad Abedini (Abedini), 38, of Tehran, Iran, have been charged in federal court in Boston with conspiring to export sophisticated electronic components from the United States to Iran in violation of U.S. export control and sanctions laws. Abedini is also charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), IRGC, that resulted in the deaths of three U.S. servicemembers who were killed by a one-way attack Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), also known as a drone, on a military base in Jordan.

Sadeghi was arrested today and made his initial appearance in the District of Massachusetts. He was held pending a detention hearing scheduled for Dec. 27, 2024. Abedini was also arrested today in Italy by Italian authorities at the request of the United States.

According to court documents, Abedini is the founder and managing director of an Iranian company, San’at Danesh Rahpooyan Aflak Co. (SDRA or SADRA), that manufactures navigation modules used in the IRGC’s military drone program. SDRA’s main business is the sale of a proprietary navigation system—known as the Sepehr Navigation System—to the IRGC, which the United States designated as an FTO on April 15, 2019. The primary application of SDRA’s Sepehr Navigation System is for use in UAVs, as well as cruise and ballistic missiles. Sadeghi is currently employed by a Massachusetts-based microelectronics manufacturer (U.S. Company 1) and was one of the founders of a Massachusetts-based technology company (U.S. Company 2) that specializes in wearable sensors that provide kinetic monitoring for fitness applications.

As alleged in court documents, Abedini, Sadeghi, and others conspired to evade U.S. export control and sanctions laws by procuring U.S. origin goods, services, and technology from, among others, U.S. Company 1 and causing those goods, services, and technology to be exported or otherwise supplied to Iran and, in particular, Abedini’s Iranian company, SDRA.

As further alleged, in or around 2016, Sadeghi traveled to Iran to request funding for U.S. Company 2 from the Iranian National Elites Foundation (INEF), which is an Iranian governmental organization whose main purpose is to recognize, organize, and support Iran’s elite national talents. In exchange for funding for U.S. Company 2, which Sadeghi’s company ultimately received from the INEF, Sadeghi and others created a second company in Iran (Iranian Company 1). Shortly after forming Iranian Company 1, Sadeghi, through Iranian Company 1, entered into a contract with SDRA for the purchase of SDRA’s technology. It is also alleged that, since in or around 2016, on multiple occasions, Sadeghi has helped Abedini procure U.S. export-controlled electronic components for Abedini’s use in Iran.

Due to U.S. laws restricting exports to Iran, Abedini established a Switzerland front company for SDRA, Illumove SA (Illumove). With Sadeghi’s assistance, Abedini, through Illumove, entered into a contract with U.S. Company 1 to develop a mechanism to evaluate U.S. Company 1’s electronic components, including sophisticated semiconductors. Sadeghi and Abedini subsequently caused U.S.-origin goods, services, and technology to be transferred to Iran, through Illumove, for the benefit of SDRA. Certain of the electronic components that Abedini obtained through Illumove were the same types of electronic components used in SDRA’s Sepehr Navigation System.

“Today, the Justice Department has charged, and our foreign partners haven taken into custody, Mohammad Abedini, who we allege supplied sensitive technology used by the Iranian military to kill three American servicemembers in Jordan earlier this year,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “In addition, we have charged and arrested Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen for conspiring with Abedini to export sensitive U.S. technology to Iran. Today’s arrests demonstrate that the Justice Department will hold accountable those who enable the Iranian regime to continue to target and kill Americans and undermine the national security of the United States.”

“Earlier this year, Iran-backed militias murdered three American soldiers and wounded dozens more in a brutal drone attack at the Tower 22 base in Jordan,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “Today, working with our partners here and abroad, we have charged and arrested two men who conspired to evade U.S. sanctions and supply the Iranian government with the type of drone navigation technology used in that attack. Our message is unmistakable: if you provide support to the Iranian regime’s campaign of terror and violence targeting Americans – we will find you, arrest you, and hold you accountable in a U.S. court, no matter where you are.”

“Holding culpable people accountable for the death and maiming of U.S. service men and women bravely serving our nation abroad is about as important a prosecution as there is. These allegations make clear the grievous harm that can result when highly sophisticated American technologies subject to export controls end up in the hands of our adversaries,” said United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “These criminal charges are the direct product of the dogged work of the FBI and the Department of Commerce, in close collaboration with DOJ lawyers, as part of the Disruptive Technologies Task Force launched in February 2023, and I commend their outstanding work.”

“This case reflects our commitment to pursing those who unlawfully aid Iran’s military drone program and to seeking justice for the U.S. servicemembers killed at the hands of the IRGC-backed militants earlier this year,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division. “Export laws exist to keep cutting-edge U.S. technology out of the hands of foreign terrorist organizations. When sensitive drone technology is supplied to the IRGC – as alleged in this case – it places our military at risk and imperils American citizens.”

“These defendants are charged with supplying sensitive technology to an Iranian company that develops technology the IRGC uses in its one-way attack drones to commit acts of terror around the world,” said Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod.  “Export crimes are much more than just regulatory violations – they enable our adversaries to engage in numerous malign activities harmful to U.S. interests, including the sowing of terror worldwide.”

“The FBI will continue to aggressively use all of our authorities to investigate and arrest anyone who assists the Government of Iran in obtaining technology that can be used for deadly purposes,” said FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate. “These perpetrators allegedly facilitated the transfer of electronic components to an Iranian company which one of them owned.  According to the charges, the company owner then supplied the IRGC with drone technology that was used in various terrorist acts, including an attack on a U.S. military base in Jordan which killed three servicemembers and injured dozens more. Such acts are wholly unacceptable, and the FBI will work tirelessly with our partners to cut off illegal transfers of technology to foreign terrorists and other adversaries.”

“We believe these two men conspired to illegally procure sophisticated U.S. technology, made right here in Massachusetts, for one of the world’s most infamous state sponsors of terrorism – in an effort to help the Government of Iran strengthen its arsenal of weapons,” said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division. “With today’s arrests, the FBI has disrupted this Iranian procurement network that was directly involved in the horrific attack on Tower 22 where three U.S. soldiers were killed, and more than 40 others injured. This case demonstrates our ongoing commitment to bring to justice anyone who seeks to commit acts of terror against the United States and our allies.”

“The Office of Export Enforcement vigorously investigates violations of export controls to protect U.S. national security,” said Special Agent in Charge James Guanci of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement, Boston Field Office. “The two defendants are charged with working on behalf of Iran and the IRGC to facilitate the illegal export of high-tech drone components that resulted in a deadly terrorist act targeting U.S. service members.”

Abedini is also charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, the IRGC, specifically, the IRGC Aerospace Force, which is the strategic missile, air and space force within the IRGC. Since at least in or about 2014, SDRA has had multiple projects with the IRGC Aerospace Force, including projects for guided rockets and integrated navigation systems. As alleged, between 2021 and 2022, approximately 99% of SDRA’s sales of the Sepehr Navigation System, which are used in IRGC one-way attack drones, were to the IRGC’s Aerospace Force.

On Jan. 28, 2024, three U.S. service members were killed, and more than 40 others were injured, in a drone attack by IRGC-backed militants on a military base located in northern Jordan, known as Tower 22. According to court documents, analysis of the drone that was recovered from the site of the attack showed that the drone was an Iranian Shahed UAV and that the navigation system used in the drone was the Sepehr Navigation System, which was manufactured by Abedini’s company, SDRA.  

Sadeghi and Abedini each face up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million fine on the conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economics Powers Act charge. On the conspiracy to provide material support to a Foreign Terrorist Organization, resulting in death charge and provision and attempted provision of material support to a Foreign Terrorist Organization, resulting in death, Abedini faces up to life in prison, up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant United States Jared Dolan and Alathea Porter of the District of Massachusetts’ National Security Unit; Trial Attorney Christina Clark of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section; and Trial Attorneys Katie Sweeten and David Smith of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs is providing assistance and is seeking extradition of Abedini from Italy.

This prosecution is being coordinated through the Disruptive Technology Strike Force, an interagency law enforcement strike force co-led by the Departments of Justice and Commerce designed to target illicit actors, protect supply chains, and prevent critical technology from being acquired by authoritarian regimes and hostile nation states. Under the leadership of the Assistant Attorney General for National Security and the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement, the Strike Force leverages tools and authorities across the U.S. Government to enhance the criminal and administrative enforcement of export control laws. 

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – A Dominican pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston for illegally reentering the United States after deportation.    

Jose De La Rosa Rosario, 50, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful reentry of a deported alien. U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled sentencing for March 14, 2025. In October 2024, De La Rosa was indicted by a federal grand jury.

De La Rosa is a citizen of the Dominican Republic who entered the United States in 2006 through Puerto Rico using false identification. He was convicted of federal conspiracy and cocaine distribution charges in 2011. Following completion of his federal sentence, in July 2018, De La Rosa was removed from the United States and deported to the Dominican Republic pursuant to a court order. Thereafter, at an unknown time and place, he illegally reentered the United States without permission. In September 2024, De La Rosa was arrested on new state drug charges and later detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A copy of his fingerprint from his removal document was compared to his fingerprint when he entered federal custody in September 2024 and they were identical to each other.

The charge of unlawful reentry of a deported alien provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Todd M. Lyons, Field Office Director, Boston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations made the announcement today. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Nagelberg of the Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
 

ASD Specialty Healthcare LLC (ASD), doing business as Besse Medical (Besse), has agreed to pay $1.67 million to resolve allegations that it violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act by providing inventory management systems to retina practices at no cost to induce them to purchase drugs from Besse. ASD, headquartered in Carrollton, Texas, distributes specialty medical and pharmaceutical products nationwide, including ophthalmological injections that treat neovascular age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD).

As part of the settlement agreement, ASD admits that it acquired a commercially available inventory management system, known as PODIS, in May 2017. Through November 2023, ASD offered PODIS at no cost to customers who met certain purchase requirements, including that they purchase branded Wet AMD drugs from ASD and convert to an ASD customer if not a current customer. The government alleges that ASD caused physicians to submit false claims to Medicare, TRICARE and the Department of Veterans Affairs induced by these kickbacks.

The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits any person, including specialty medical and pharmaceutical suppliers, from offering or paying, directly or indirectly, any remuneration — which includes money or anything of value, such as free inventory management systems — to induce the purchase of a drug that Medicare pays for.

“According to the allegations in today’s settlement, ASD purchased a commercially available product and leveraged it to gain business in violation of the AKS,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We will pursue kickbacks at all levels of the distribution chain to preserve the integrity of federal health care programs.”

“Pharmaceutical distributors cannot violate the law to gain a financial advantage,” said U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy for the District of Massachusetts. “Offering improper incentives to health care customers can increase health care costs and disadvantage competitors who are playing by the rules. Our office is committed to continue pursuing these investigations with our federal law enforcement partners.”

“Improper financial inducements can compromise medical judgement and threaten the integrity of the Medicare program,” said Special Agent in Charge Roberto Coviello of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. “We are committed to pursuing allegations of kickbacks and false claims as we work to protect the integrity of the taxpayer-funded Medicare program, and we encourage the public to come forward with information about such conduct.”

“Investigating schemes that undermine the integrity of TRICARE, the healthcare system for military members and their families, is a top priority for the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS),” said Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Hegarty of the DCIS Northeast Field Office. “Today’s announcement demonstrates our commitment to work with our partner agencies and the Justice Department to pursue those individuals and corporations that submit false claims to the TRICARE system.”

“Investigations such as these help safeguard the integrity of the healthcare industry marketplace and protect taxpayer funds,” said Special Agent in Charge Christopher Algieri of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA OIG)’s Northeast Field Office. “The VA OIG thanks the Justice Department and our federal law enforcement partners for their collaboration in this joint investigation.”

The settlement resolves claims brought under the whistleblower or qui tam provisions of the FCA by Julianne Nunnelly and Matthew Shanks. Ms. Nunnelly and Mr. Shanks are former employees of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., which manufactures and sells a drug to treat wet AMD. Under the FCA, private parties may sue on behalf of the government for false claims for government funds and receive a share of any recovery. Mr. Shanks and Ms. Nunnelly will receive $250,705.20 from the proceeds of the settlement. The lawsuit is captioned United States ex rel. Nunnelly et al. v. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. et al., No. 20-cv-11401-PBS (Dist. Mass.). The United States filed a complaint in intervention against Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., on March 28, that remains pending.

The investigation of this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the District of Massachusetts, with assistance from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, FBI, DCIS, VA-OIG and the Office of Personnel Management Office of Inspector General.

The investigation and resolution of these matters illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the FCA. 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).

Trial Attorneys Douglas Rosenthal and Samuel Lehman of the Justice Department’s Civil Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Diane Seol and Lindsey Ross for the District of Massachusetts handled the matter.

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

BOSTON – Two corrections officers employed by the Suffolk County Sherriff’s Department were arrested today for allegedly submitting fraudulent information in an effort to obtain loans through CARES Act programs like the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

Christnel Orisca, 25, of Boston, was indicted by a federal grand jury on five counts of wire fraud and one count of making a false statement to a financial institution, arising out of PUA, traditional Unemployment Insurance (UI) and PPP loan benefits obtained prior to his employment at the Suffolk County Sherriff’s Department. Jasmine Murphy, 38, also of Boston, was indicted on seven counts of wire fraud and one count of making a false statement to a financial institution, arising out of PUA and PPP loan benefits obtained prior to her employment at the Suffolk County Sherriff’s Department and UI benefits obtained prior to and during her employment there.

The defendants were arrested this morning and will appear in federal court in Boston at 1:30 PM and 1:45 PM today.

“This case highlights the critical importance of protecting taxpayer-funded programs like the CARES Act from fraud and abuse,” said United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “These defendants, who hold positions of public trust as corrections officers, are alleged to have knowingly exploited pandemic relief programs intended to support small businesses and unemployed workers during a time of unprecedented crisis. Such conduct not only undermines the integrity of these programs but also betrays the public’s trust. My office remains steadfast in holding accountable those who engage in such schemes and ensuring that federal relief funds are used for their intended purpose – helping those in genuine need.”

“An important part of the mission of the Office of Inspector General is to investigate allegations of fraud involving COVID-19 pandemic unemployment insurance programs. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate these types of allegations,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Jonathan Mellone, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General.

“Today’s arrest sends a clear message that those seeking to fraudulently receive benefits will be investigated and prosecuted.  DHS OIG is grateful for our continued partnership with our law enforcement partners as we continue fighting corruption,” said Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari, Ph.D., U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General.

According to the charging document, Orisca has been a Corrections Officer with the Suffolk County Sherriff’s Department since late 2021. It is alleged that Orisca fraudulently applied for pandemic unemployment and small business loan benefits while working full-time, initially for a security company and later for a delivery company.  While employed full-time, it is alleged that Orisca collected approximately $54,700 in unemployment benefits and small business loan funds.

According to the indictment, Murphy has been a Corrections Officer with the Suffolk County Sherriff’s Department since approximately January 2022. It is alleged that Murphy fraudulently applied for pandemic unemployment and small business loan benefits while working for trucking and workforce services companies. It is alleged that Murphy collected approximately $44,346 in unemployment benefits and small business loan funds to which she was not entitled.

In both of their PUA applications, it is alleged that Orisca and Murphy made fraudulent representations about their employment status and thereafter falsely claimed, on a weekly basis, that they did not work and did not receive any income during the prior week. In their PPP loan applications, it is alleged that Orisca and Murphy submitted false statements to SBA-approved lenders, including about the income and/or payroll of their purported small businesses, in order to obtain their loans. According to the charging documents, they also made false representations on forms submitted to request that their PPP loans be forgiven.

The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. The charge of making false statements to a financial institution provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a $1 million fine. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

U.S. Attorney Levy, DOL-OIG SAC Mellone and DHS-OIG Inspector General Cuffari made the announcement today. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Police Department and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department provided valuable assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam Deitch and Dustin Chao of the Public Corruption Unit are prosecuting the case.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.  The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts.  For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus and https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus/combatingfraud.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline via the https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/webform/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
 

BOSTON – A Rhode Island man was sentenced in federal court in Boston for his role in a fentanyl trafficking organization involved in the manufacturing and distribution of fentanyl pills that spanned across Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Texas and North and South Carolina.

Erik Ventura, 36, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to 10 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. In May 2024, Ventura pleaded guilty to a superseding indictment charging him with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. In July 2024, Jasdrual Perez pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 16, 2024. Ventura and Perez were arrested and charged in February 2022 and have remained in custody since.

In September 2019, an investigation began into a drug trafficking organization (DTO) lead by Jasdrual Perez, based in Providence, Rhode Island, known to manufacture large quantities of fentanyl pills designed to appear like pharmaceutical grade oxycodone/Percocet pills and distribute them and other controlled substances throughout the United States. Ventura was a trusted member of the DTO and maintained one of the drug stash locations. Ventura transported cash and kilogram quantities of drugs to and from New York on behalf of the DTO, distributed thousands of fentanyl pills to wholesale customers in Massachusetts and was paid by the DTO for his work as a drug distributor. Ventura also distributed fentanyl and cocaine to his own customers, including one who suffered a non-fatal overdose at a DTO stash house where Ventura resided. In February 2022, two industrial grade pill presses, approximately 20 kilograms of powdered fentanyl, pressed fentanyl pills and other items, including kilograms of pill binder used in the large-scale manufacturing of clandestinely pressed fentanyl pills, were seized.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; and Jonathan Wlodyka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston made the announcement today. Special assistance in the investigation was provided by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Providence Resident Agency; the Drug Enforcement Administration, Providence Field Office; Rhode Island State Police; and the Cranston, Warwick and West Warwick Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lindsey E. Weinstein and Kunal Pasricha of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit are prosecuting the case.

This operation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.    
 

BOSTON – A Revere man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to illegally possessing ammunition in connection with a January shooting in a residential neighborhood of Everett.

Kenneth Munoz, 27, pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of ammunition. U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young scheduled sentencing for April 9, 2025.

On the afternoon of Jan. 2, 2022, three individuals fired over 20 shots in an Everett neighborhood causing ballistic damage in the surrounding area, including bullet holes inside of bedrooms and living rooms in surrounding residences. The shooting was captured on video surveillance from nearby residences. Munoz was identified as one of the two shooters. Munoz is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition due to prior convictions.

The charge of being a felon in possession of ammunition provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy, James M. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division, Everett Police Chief Paul Strong and Chelsea Police Chief Keith E. Houghton made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Hoefle of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit is prosecuting the case. 
 

BOSTON – A New York City man has been sentenced in federal court in Boston for conspiracies to engage in computer hacking, trafficking in stolen payment card numbers and money laundering.

Vitalii Antonenko, 32, was sentenced by United States District Judge William G. Young to time served plus 10 days (69 months and 18 days in prison) to be followed by three years of supervised release. The Court ordered Antonenko to pay approximately $1.8 million in restitution to a victim in the case. In September 2024, Antonenko pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to computer networks and to traffic in unauthorized access devices, and one count of money laundering conspiracy. Antonenko was arrested and detained in March 2019 on money laundering charges at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport after he arrived there from Ukraine carrying computers and other digital media that held hundreds of thousands of stolen payment card numbers. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in May 2020.  

Antonenko and co-conspirators scoured the internet for computer networks with security vulnerabilities that were likely to contain credit and debit card account numbers, expiration dates, and card verification values (Payment Card Data) and other personally identifiable information (PII). They used a hacking technique known as a “SQL injection attack” to access those networks without authorization, extracted Payment Card Data and other PII, and transferred it for sale on online criminal marketplaces. Once a co-conspirator sold the data, Antonenko and others used Bitcoin as well as traditional bank and cash transactions to launder the proceeds in order to disguise their nature, location, source, ownership and control. The conspiracy’s victims included a hospitality business and non-profit scientific research institution, both located in eastern Massachusetts.  

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Andrew Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, Boston Field Office made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth B. Kosto, Chief of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit, prosecuted the case. 
 

McKinsey & Company Inc. (McKinsey), a global management consulting firm based in New York, has agreed to pay $650 million to resolve a criminal and civil investigation into the firm’s consulting work with opioids manufacturer Purdue Pharma L.P. (Purdue). The resolution pertains to McKinsey’s advice to Purdue concerning the sales and marketing of Purdue’s extended-release opioid drug, OxyContin, including a 2013 engagement in which McKinsey advised on steps to “turbocharge” sales of OxyContin.

Today’s resolution marks the first time a management consulting firm has been held criminally responsible for advice resulting in the commission of a crime by a client and reflects the Justice Department’s ongoing efforts to hold actors accountable for their roles in the opioid crisis. The resolution is also the largest civil recovery for such conduct.

Additionally, a former McKinsey senior partner who worked on Purdue matters has been charged with obstruction of justice in federal court in Abingdon, Virginia. Martin E. Elling, 60, a U.S. citizen currently residing in Bangkok, Thailand, has been charged with one count of knowingly destroying records, documents and tangible objects with the intent to impede, obstruct and influence the investigation and proper administration of a matter within the jurisdiction of the Justice Department. Elling has agreed to plead guilty and is expected to appear in federal court in Abingdon to enter his plea and for sentencing at later dates.

As part of the government’s resolution with McKinsey, the company has entered into a five-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) (part one and part two) in connection with a criminal Information filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia against McKinsey’s U.S. subsidiary (McKinsey & Company Inc. United States, “McKinsey U.S.”). The information charges McKinsey U.S. with one felony count of knowingly destroying records, documents and tangible objects with the intent to impede, obstruct, and influence the investigation and proper administration of a matter within the jurisdiction of the Justice Department; and one misdemeanor count of knowingly and intentionally conspiring with Purdue and others to aid and abet the misbranding of prescription drugs, held for sale after shipment in interstate commerce, without valid prescriptions.

McKinsey has agreed to pay a penalty of over $231 million, a forfeiture amount of over $93 million (reflecting all money it was paid by Purdue from 2004 to 2019) and a payment of $2 million to the Virginia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit to resolve the criminal allegations. McKinsey also has entered into a civil settlement agreement in which it will pay over $323 million to resolve its liability under the False Claims Act for allegedly providing advice to Purdue Pharma L.P. that caused the submission of false and fraudulent claims to federal healthcare programs for medically unnecessary prescriptions of OxyContin, as well as allegedly failing to disclose to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conflicts of interest arising from McKinsey US’s concurrent work for Purdue and the FDA. This brings the total payments under the global resolution to $650 million.

Today’s filing includes a 71-page Agreed Statement of Facts, which provides a detailed account of McKinsey’s work with Purdue relating to OxyContin. As part of the resolution, McKinsey has agreed to implement a significant compliance program, including a system of policies and procedures designed to identify and assess high-risk client engagements. As part of this compliance program, McKinsey will implement new document retention procedures and training for all partners, officers and employees who provide or implement advice to clients. This compliance program is in addition to the provisions negotiated between McKinsey and the Department in a concurrent resolution with McKinsey & Company Africa that was announced on Thursday, Dec. 5.

McKinsey has also agreed that it will not do any work related to the marketing, sale, promotion or distribution of controlled substances during the five-year term of the DPA. The resolution requires McKinsey’s Managing Partner to certify, on an annual basis, the firm’s compliance with its obligations under the DPA and federal law.

“This global resolution shows the department’s commitment to holding accountable those who played key roles in fueling the opioid crisis,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Consulting companies cannot advise their clients to break the law, and then skirt responsibility when their clients do so.”

“For the first time in history, the Justice Department is holding a management consulting firm and one of its senior executives criminally responsible for the sales and marketing advice it gave resulting in the commission of crime by a client,” said U.S. Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh for the Western District of Virginia. “This ground-breaking resolution demonstrates the Justice Department’s ongoing commitment to hold accountable those companies and individuals who profited from our Nation’s opioid crisis.”

“McKinsey schemed with Purdue Pharma to ‘turbocharge’ OxyContin sales during a raging opioid epidemic — an epidemic that continues to decimate families and communities across the nation. Today’s groundbreaking resolution makes clear our office’s commitment to holding powerful companies accountable for their part in the opioid epidemic, even if they did not make, sell, or dispense the drugs,” said U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy for the District of Massachusetts. “Consulting firms like McKinsey should get the message: if the advice you give to companies in boardrooms and PowerPoint presentations aids and abets criminal activity, we will come after you and we will expose the truth.”

“No amount of money can make-up for the devastating impact and heartbreaking loss of life the opioid crisis has inflicted on the people of Massachusetts, and our country. But today’s settlement is a sobering reminder that if you try to capitalize on a crisis by putting profits over patient safety — and then try to obstruct a federal investigation — you will pay a hefty price,” said Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the FBI Boston Field Office. “McKinsey is now being held criminally and financially accountable for devising an aggressive marketing strategy that was in reality a roadmap to boost sales of highly addictive opioids. Their actions resulted in powerful prescription painkillers being used in an unsafe, ineffective, and medically unnecessary manner. As both health care consumers, and taxpayers, this type of fraud negatively impacts all of us.”

“McKinsey’s management consulting work with Purdue Pharmaceuticals significantly contributed to a devastating public health crisis affecting American families and communities nationwide,” said Inspector General Christi A. Grimm of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG is committed to holding accountable those who violate the law and put the public at risk, including health care consultants who are complicit in fraudulent schemes.”

“Aiding and abetting in the potential misbranding and illegal distribution of controlled substances poses a danger to U.S. consumers,” said Special Agent in Charge George A. Scavdis of the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Metro Washington Field Office. We will continue to investigate and bring to justice companies whose actions put profits over patient safety.”

“Today’s resolution holds this defendant accountable for its role in the aggressive marketing and promotion of opioids. Their actions led to medically unnecessary opioid prescriptions, which compromised the integrity of VA’s healthcare system that cares for our nation’s veterans,” said Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Inspector General Michael J. Missal. “We thank our law enforcement partners for their diligent work in bringing this case to closure.”

“It shocks the conscience that a major consulting corporation would actively seek to increase the submission of fraudulent claims for medically unnecessarily opioid prescriptions in the midst of the opioid crisis,” said Inspector General Krista A. Boyd of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management Office of the Inspector General. “The outstanding efforts of our law enforcement partners and colleagues at the Department of Justice led to this ground-breaking result. We must hold accountable those who prey upon the most vulnerable Americans in the name of increased profits.”

As described in the DPA, McKinsey received credit for its cooperation with the United States in connection with the criminal investigation, including providing updates regarding information obtained through is internal investigation; highlighting documents of interest in voluminous productions; and facilitating interviews. McKinsey also engaged in extensive remedial measures, including voluntarily stopping all work in 2019 on any opioid-specific business issues; terminating two senior partners, including Elling, who communicated about deleting opioid-related documents concerning Purdue; hiring a new chief legal officer and chief ethics and compliance officer; significantly enhancing its new client selection framework; and deploying a formalized diligence review and intake process for all clients. McKinsey has agreed to continue to cooperate with the United States.

McKinsey’s Criminal Liability for Misbranding

The criminal misbranding charge was based on McKinsey’s advice to Purdue Pharma L.P. as set forth in the Agreed Statement of Facts filed today. Between 2004 and 2019, McKinsey contracted with Purdue on 75 different engagements in the United States. In 2007, a Purdue affiliate pleaded guilty to misbranding OxyContin, from 1996 through 2001, by falsely marketing it as less addictive, less subject to abuse and diversion, and less likely to cause dependence and withdrawal than other pain medications, and Purdue entered into a five-year corporate integrity agreement (CIA) with HHS-OIG. After the 2007 guilty plea, McKinsey partners maintained close contact with Purdue, and in 2009, worked with Purdue to enhance “brand loyalty” for OxyContin and protect market share. In 2010 McKinsey worked with Purdue to obtain FDA approval for a version of OxyContin that was reformulated with abuse-deterrent properties. Following the introduction of reformulated OxyContin in August 2010, OxyContin sales immediately began to decline. Purdue studied the drivers for this decline and attributed it, in large part, to a drop in prescriptions for individuals abusing OxyContin and increases in regulatory safeguards intended to hinder medically unnecessary prescribing of OxyContin.

In May 2013, Purdue retained McKinsey to conduct a rapid assessment of the underlying drivers of OxyContin performance, identify key opportunities to increase near-term OxyContin revenue and develop plans to capture priority opportunities. This 2013 effort was called Evolve to Excellence, or “E2E,” and included McKinsey advising Purdue on how to “turbocharge” the sales pipeline for OxyContin by, among other strategies, intensifying marketing to High Value Prescribers, included prescribers who were writing opioid prescriptions for uses that were unsafe, ineffective, and medically unnecessary. McKinsey consultants spoke with Purdue about the concerns and increasing reluctance of pharmacists and pharmacy chains to fill prescriptions for OxyContin as abuse of the drug rose. McKinsey consultants also went on several “ride-alongs” with Purdue sales representatives in the field, as these sales representatives called on prescribers and pharmacists. In notes about one of these ride-alongs, a McKinsey consultant wrote, in part, “Pharmacist; [had] a gun and was shaking; abuse is definitely a huge issue[.]”

In August 2013, McKinsey partners met with certain members of the Purdue Board of Directors (members of the family that controlled Purdue) to present McKinsey’s findings and proposal; as one McKinsey partner reported afterwards, “[b]y the end of the meeting the findings were crystal clear to everyone and they gave a ringing endorsement of ‘moving forward fast.’” McKinsey also described for Purdue the financial value at stake: “hundreds of millions, not tens of millions.”

For Purdue and McKinsey, E2E was a financial success. Their targeting of High Value Prescribers slowed OxyContin’s declining sales and kept Purdue’s profits flowing at the expense of public health. After the conclusion of McKinsey’s work for Purdue on E2E, McKinsey performed additional work with Purdue that also sought to maximize OxyContin sales by further targeting sales efforts to High Value Prescribers.

Obstruction of Justice by Former McKinsey Senior Partner

According to the charging documents filed today, Elling served as the Director of the client services team for approximately 30 of McKinsey’s engagements with Purdue. He had a senior, relationship-focused role with respect to the E2E engagement and was involved in securing the engagement for McKinsey. On July 4, 2018, Elling allegedly emailed another senior partner: “Just saw in the FT that [Purdue board member] is being sued by states attorneys general for her role on the [Purdue] Board. It probably makes sense to have a quick conversation with the risk committee to see if we should be doing anything other [than] eliminating all our documents and emails. Suspect not but as things get tougher there someone might turn to us.” According to court documents, forensic analysis of Elling’s McKinsey-issued laptop found that Elling in fact removed materials related to McKinsey’s work for Purdue from the laptop, as well as a Purdue-related folder from his Outlook email account.

Elling faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine up to $250,000 for the obstruction of justice charge. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

False Claims to Federal Healthcare Programs

The department’s civil False Claims Act settlement resolves allegations that, from 2013 to 2014, McKinsey US, by advising Purdue to turbocharge OxyContin marketing to High Value Prescribers, some of whom were already prescribing very large quantities of OxyContin, as a means to increase OxyContin sales, and despite its awareness of the opioid crises, thereby knowingly caused false and fraudulent claims for OxyContin to be submitted to Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program and the Veterans Health Administration.

Along with the civil settlement, McKinsey US entered into a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement with HHS-OIG. The CIA, HHS-OIG’s first with a management consulting firm, contains novel obligations regarding risk assessment and quality control. First, the CIA requires McKinsey’s Compliance Committee to establish a robust risk evaluation process, evaluating engagement risks and providing quality oversight for certain client deliverables. Second, it requires McKinsey to establish a Quality Review Program to assess the quality of McKinsey’s advice to certain life sciences and health care clients with the dual goals of ensuring that McKinsey complies with applicable laws and does not provide or assist clients with plans, advice, or strategies that violate the law. HHS-OIG will select an independent Compliance Expert to review McKinsey’s systems and processes under the Quality Review Program and to review a sample of McKinsey client engagements, including the advice provided to those clients.

False Claims to FDA

The department’s civil False Claims Act settlement also resolves allegations that, from 2014 to 2017, McKinsey US knowingly misled the FDA by assigning consultants to concurrently work on both FDA projects and competitively sensitive Purdue projects, contrary to McKinsey US’ conflict of interest policy. While soliciting a contract from the FDA, McKinsey US represented to the FDA that it had a conflict-of-interest policy in which its consultants serving the FDA would not be assigned to a competitively sensitive project for a significant period of time following an assignment for FDA. The FDA then awarded McKinsey US the first in a series of contracts on a project relating to the monitoring of the safety of FDA-regulated products. McKinsey US admitted that it did not inform the FDA that its consultants worked on the Purdue projects around the same time those consultants also worked on the FDA project.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Ramseyer for the Western District of Virginia; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda P. Masselam Strachan and William B. Brady for the District of Massachusetts; Senior Trial Counsel Kristen M. Echemendia of the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section; Trial Attorneys Jessica Harvey and Steven R. Scott of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch; and Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys and Assistant Attorneys General Kristin Gray and Kimberly Bolton of the Virginia Office of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit are prosecuting the criminal case against Elling and McKinsey.

The civil resolution was handled by Senior Trial Counsel Christopher Terranova of the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section. The FDA Office of Criminal Investigations, FBI and Offices of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Veterans Affairs and Office of Personnel Management investigated the case, with assistance from the Department of Justice’s Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section Cybercrime Lab.

The details contained in the charging documents and civil resolution are merely allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON — McKinsey & Company Inc. (McKinsey), a global management consulting firm based in New York, has agreed to pay $650 million to resolve a criminal and civil investigation into the firm’s consulting work with opioids manufacturer Purdue Pharma L.P. (Purdue). The resolution pertains to McKinsey’s advice to Purdue concerning the sales and marketing of Purdue’s extended-release opioid drug, OxyContin, including a 2013 engagement in which McKinsey advised on steps to “turbocharge” sales of OxyContin.

Today’s resolution marks the first time a management consulting firm has been held criminally responsible for advice resulting in the commission of a crime by a client and reflects the Justice Department’s ongoing efforts to hold actors accountable for their roles in the opioid crisis. The resolution is also the largest civil recovery for such conduct.

Additionally, a former McKinsey senior partner who worked on Purdue matters has been charged with obstruction of justice in federal court in Abingdon, Virginia. Martin E. Elling, 60, a U.S. citizen currently residing in Bangkok, Thailand, has been charged with one count of knowingly destroying records, documents and tangible objects with the intent to impede, obstruct and influence the investigation and proper administration of a matter within the jurisdiction of the Justice Department. Elling has agreed to plead guilty and is expected to appear in federal court in Abingdon to enter his plea and for sentencing at later dates.

As part of the government’s resolution with McKinsey, the company has entered into a five-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in connection with a criminal Information filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia against McKinsey’s U.S. subsidiary (McKinsey & Company Inc. United States, “McKinsey U.S.”). The information charges McKinsey U.S. with one felony count of knowingly destroying records, documents and tangible objects with the intent to impede, obstruct, and influence the investigation and proper administration of a matter within the jurisdiction of the Justice Department; and one misdemeanor count of knowingly and intentionally conspiring with Purdue and others to aid and abet the misbranding of prescription drugs, held for sale after shipment in interstate commerce, without valid prescriptions.

McKinsey has agreed to pay a penalty of over $231 million, a forfeiture amount of over $93 million (reflecting all money it was paid by Purdue from 2004 to 2019) and a payment of $2 million to the Virginia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit to resolve the criminal allegations. McKinsey also has entered into a civil settlement agreement in which it will pay over $323 million to resolve its liability under the False Claims Act for allegedly providing advice to Purdue Pharma L.P. that caused the submission of false and fraudulent claims to federal healthcare programs for medically unnecessary prescriptions of OxyContin, as well as allegedly failing to disclose to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conflicts of interest arising from McKinsey US’s concurrent work for Purdue and the FDA. This brings the total payments under the global resolution to $650 million.

Today’s filing includes a 71-page Agreed Statement of Facts, which provides a detailed account of McKinsey’s work with Purdue relating to OxyContin. As part of the resolution, McKinsey has agreed to implement a significant compliance program, including a system of policies and procedures designed to identify and assess high-risk client engagements. As part of this compliance program, McKinsey will implement new document retention procedures and training for all partners, officers and employees who provide or implement advice to clients. This compliance program is in addition to the provisions negotiated between McKinsey and the Department in a concurrent resolution with McKinsey & Company Africa that was announced on Thursday, Dec. 5.

McKinsey has also agreed that it will not do any work related to the marketing, sale, promotion or distribution of controlled substances during the five-year term of the DPA. The resolution requires McKinsey’s Managing Partner to certify, on an annual basis, the firm’s compliance with its obligations under the DPA and federal law.

“This global resolution shows the department’s commitment to holding accountable those who played key roles in fueling the opioid crisis,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Consulting companies cannot advise their clients to break the law, and then skirt responsibility when their clients do so.”

“For the first time in history, the Justice Department is holding a management consulting firm and one of its senior executives criminally responsible for the sales and marketing advice it gave resulting in the commission of crime by a client,” said U.S. Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh for the Western District of Virginia. “This ground-breaking resolution demonstrates the Justice Department’s ongoing commitment to hold accountable those companies and individuals who profited from our Nation’s opioid crisis.”

“McKinsey schemed with Purdue Pharma to ‘turbocharge’ OxyContin sales during a raging opioid epidemic — an epidemic that continues to decimate families and communities across the nation. Today’s groundbreaking resolution makes clear our office’s commitment to holding powerful companies accountable for their part in the opioid epidemic, even if they did not make, sell, or dispense the drugs,” said U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy for the District of Massachusetts. “Consulting firms like McKinsey should get the message: if the advice you give to companies in boardrooms and PowerPoint presentations aids and abets criminal activity, we will come after you and we will expose the truth.”

“No amount of money can make-up for the devastating impact and heartbreaking loss of life the opioid crisis has inflicted on the people of Massachusetts, and our country. But today’s settlement is a sobering reminder that if you try to capitalize on a crisis by putting profits over patient safety — and then try to obstruct a federal investigation — you will pay a hefty price,” said Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the FBI Boston Field Office. “McKinsey is now being held criminally and financially accountable for devising an aggressive marketing strategy that was in reality a roadmap to boost sales of highly addictive opioids. Their actions resulted in powerful prescription painkillers being used in an unsafe, ineffective, and medically unnecessary manner. As both health care consumers, and taxpayers, this type of fraud negatively impacts all of us.”

“McKinsey’s management consulting work with Purdue Pharmaceuticals significantly contributed to a devastating public health crisis affecting American families and communities nationwide,” said Inspector General Christi A. Grimm of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG is committed to holding accountable those who violate the law and put the public at risk, including health care consultants who are complicit in fraudulent schemes.”

“Aiding and abetting in the potential misbranding and illegal distribution of controlled substances poses a danger to U.S. consumers,” said Special Agent in Charge George A. Scavdis of the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Metro Washington Field Office. We will continue to investigate and bring to justice companies whose actions put profits over patient safety.”

“Today’s resolution holds this defendant accountable for its role in the aggressive marketing and promotion of opioids. Their actions led to medically unnecessary opioid prescriptions, which compromised the integrity of VA’s healthcare system that cares for our nation’s veterans,” said Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Inspector General Michael J. Missal. “We thank our law enforcement partners for their diligent work in bringing this case to closure.”

“It shocks the conscience that a major consulting corporation would actively seek to increase the submission of fraudulent claims for medically unnecessarily opioid prescriptions in the midst of the opioid crisis,” said Inspector General Krista A. Boyd of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management Office of the Inspector General. “The outstanding efforts of our law enforcement partners and colleagues at the Department of Justice led to this ground-breaking result. We must hold accountable those who prey upon the most vulnerable Americans in the name of increased profits.”

As described in the DPA, McKinsey received credit for its cooperation with the United States in connection with the criminal investigation, including providing updates regarding information obtained through is internal investigation; highlighting documents of interest in voluminous productions; and facilitating interviews. McKinsey also engaged in extensive remedial measures, including voluntarily stopping all work in 2019 on any opioid-specific business issues; terminating two senior partners, including Elling, who communicated about deleting opioid-related documents concerning Purdue; hiring a new chief legal officer and chief ethics and compliance officer; significantly enhancing its new client selection framework; and deploying a formalized diligence review and intake process for all clients. McKinsey has agreed to continue to cooperate with the United States.

McKinsey’s Criminal Liability for Misbranding

The criminal misbranding charge was based on McKinsey’s advice to Purdue Pharma L.P. as set forth in the Agreed Statement of Facts filed today. Between 2004 and 2019, McKinsey contracted with Purdue on 75 different engagements in the United States. In 2007, a Purdue affiliate pleaded guilty to misbranding OxyContin, from 1996 through 2001, by falsely marketing it as less addictive, less subject to abuse and diversion, and less likely to cause dependence and withdrawal than other pain medications, and Purdue entered into a five-year corporate integrity agreement (CIA) with HHS-OIG. After the 2007 guilty plea, McKinsey partners maintained close contact with Purdue, and in 2009, worked with Purdue to enhance “brand loyalty” for OxyContin and protect market share. In 2010 McKinsey worked with Purdue to obtain FDA approval for a version of OxyContin that was reformulated with abuse-deterrent properties. Following the introduction of reformulated OxyContin in August 2010, OxyContin sales immediately began to decline. Purdue studied the drivers for this decline and attributed it, in large part, to a drop in prescriptions for individuals abusing OxyContin and increases in regulatory safeguards intended to hinder medically unnecessary prescribing of OxyContin.

In May 2013, Purdue retained McKinsey to conduct a rapid assessment of the underlying drivers of OxyContin performance, identify key opportunities to increase near-term OxyContin revenue and develop plans to capture priority opportunities. This 2013 effort was called Evolve to Excellence, or “E2E,” and included McKinsey advising Purdue on how to “turbocharge” the sales pipeline for OxyContin by, among other strategies, intensifying marketing to High Value Prescribers, included prescribers who were writing opioid prescriptions for uses that were unsafe, ineffective, and medically unnecessary. McKinsey consultants spoke with Purdue about the concerns and increasing reluctance of pharmacists and pharmacy chains to fill prescriptions for OxyContin as abuse of the drug rose. McKinsey consultants also went on several “ride-alongs” with Purdue sales representatives in the field, as these sales representatives called on prescribers and pharmacists. In notes about one of these ride-alongs, a McKinsey consultant wrote, in part, “Pharmacist; [had] a gun and was shaking; abuse is definitely a huge issue[.]”

In August 2013, McKinsey partners met with certain members of the Purdue Board of Directors (members of the family that controlled Purdue) to present McKinsey’s findings and proposal; as one McKinsey partner reported afterwards, “[b]y the end of the meeting the findings were crystal clear to everyone and they gave a ringing endorsement of ‘moving forward fast.’” McKinsey also described for Purdue the financial value at stake: “hundreds of millions, not tens of millions.”

For Purdue and McKinsey, E2E was a financial success. Their targeting of High Value Prescribers slowed OxyContin’s declining sales and kept Purdue’s profits flowing at the expense of public health. After the conclusion of McKinsey’s work for Purdue on E2E, McKinsey performed additional work with Purdue that also sought to maximize OxyContin sales by further targeting sales efforts to High Value Prescribers.

Obstruction of Justice by Former McKinsey Senior Partner

According to the charging documents filed today, Elling served as the Director of the client services team for approximately 30 of McKinsey’s engagements with Purdue. He had a senior, relationship-focused role with respect to the E2E engagement and was involved in securing the engagement for McKinsey. On July 4, 2018, Elling allegedly emailed another senior partner: “Just saw in the FT that [Purdue board member] is being sued by states attorneys general for her role on the [Purdue] Board. It probably makes sense to have a quick conversation with the risk committee to see if we should be doing anything other [than] eliminating all our documents and emails. Suspect not but as things get tougher there someone might turn to us.” According to court documents, forensic analysis of Elling’s McKinsey-issued laptop found that Elling in fact removed materials related to McKinsey’s work for Purdue from the laptop, as well as a Purdue-related folder from his Outlook email account.

Elling faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine up to $250,000 for the obstruction of justice charge. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

False Claims to Federal Healthcare Programs

The department’s civil False Claims Act settlement resolves allegations that, from 2013 to 2014, McKinsey US, by advising Purdue to turbocharge OxyContin marketing to High Value Prescribers, some of whom were already prescribing very large quantities of OxyContin, as a means to increase OxyContin sales, and despite its awareness of the opioid crises, thereby knowingly caused false and fraudulent claims for OxyContin to be submitted to Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program and the Veterans Health Administration.

Along with the civil settlement, McKinsey US entered into a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement with HHS-OIG. The CIA, HHS-OIG’s first with a management consulting firm, contains novel obligations regarding risk assessment and quality control. First, the CIA requires McKinsey’s Compliance Committee to establish a robust risk evaluation process, evaluating engagement risks and providing quality oversight for certain client deliverables. Second, it requires McKinsey to establish a Quality Review Program to assess the quality of McKinsey’s advice to certain life sciences and health care clients with the dual goals of ensuring that McKinsey complies with applicable laws and does not provide or assist clients with plans, advice, or strategies that violate the law. HHS-OIG will select an independent Compliance Expert to review McKinsey’s systems and processes under the Quality Review Program and to review a sample of McKinsey client engagements, including the advice provided to those clients.

False Claims to FDA

The department’s civil False Claims Act settlement also resolves allegations that, from 2014 to 2017, McKinsey US knowingly misled the FDA by assigning consultants to concurrently work on both FDA projects and competitively sensitive Purdue projects, contrary to McKinsey US’ conflict of interest policy. While soliciting a contract from the FDA, McKinsey US represented to the FDA that it had a conflict-of-interest policy in which its consultants serving the FDA would not be assigned to a competitively sensitive project for a significant period of time following an assignment for FDA. The FDA then awarded McKinsey US the first in a series of contracts on a project relating to the monitoring of the safety of FDA-regulated products. McKinsey US admitted that it did not inform the FDA that its consultants worked on the Purdue projects around the same time those consultants also worked on the FDA project.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Ramseyer for the Western District of Virginia; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda P. Masselam Strachan and William B. Brady for the District of Massachusetts; Senior Trial Counsel Kristen M. Echemendia of the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section; Trial Attorneys Jessica Harvey and Steven R. Scott of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch; and Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys and Assistant Attorneys General Kristin Gray and Kimberly Bolton of the Virginia Office of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit are prosecuting the criminal case against Elling and McKinsey.

The civil resolution was handled by Senior Trial Counsel Christopher Terranova of the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section. The FDA Office of Criminal Investigations, FBI and Offices of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Veterans Affairs and Office of Personnel Management investigated the case, with assistance from the Department of Justice’s Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section Cybercrime Lab.

The details contained in the charging documents and civil resolution are merely allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – A Brooklyn was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston in connection with a scheme to steal over $3 million in COVID relief tax credits using the stolen identity of a corporate executive in New Jersey.

Isaiah Aaron Tenryk, 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to three years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. In September 2024, Tenryk pleaded guilty to bank fraud conspiracy, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Tenryk and his co-conspirators used a fraudulent driver’s license and the New Jersey executive’s name and Social Security number to open an account at a bank in Boston. Tenryk then deposited an approximately $3 million Employee Retention Tax Credit check, payable to the executive’s company, into the fraudulent account. In the days after Tenryk deposited the check, co-conspirators tried unsuccessfully to transfer the funds out of the account. Tenryk was arrested when he returned to the bank to attempt to wire money out of the account.

A co-conspirator, Linval Jackson, of Queens, was arrested in July 2024.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Jonathan Wlodyka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; and Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Boston Division made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kriss Basil of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.
 

BOSTON – A Boston man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Worcester to child exploitation offenses.

Jalen Latimer, 26, of Roxbury, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. U.S. District Court Judge Margaret R. Guzman scheduled sentencing for March 18, 2025. Latimer is currently in state custody on related offenses. The defendant was previously charged by criminal complaint with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor on Feb. 16, 2024.

In July 2023, Latimer conspired with another individual to sex traffic a minor victim. In July 2022, Latimer used two other minor victims to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography.

Latimer was arrested in February 2024 and is facing charges by state authorities in Worcester Superior Court of rape of a child, aggravated indecent assault and battery of a child, human trafficking of a minor and depicting a minor in sexual conduct.

The charge of sexual exploitation of a minor provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison, up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking provides of a sentence of up to life in prison, up to a lifetime supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Worcester Police Chief Paul B. Saucier; and Oxford Police Chief Michael K. Daniels made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by Rhode Island State Police and Massachusetts State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen M. Noto of the Worcester Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

BOSTON – A Boston man pleaded guilty today to illegally carrying a loaded pistol. The defendant, a felon who also possessed armor-piercing ammunition, was first identified when his online purchasing history showed that he was acquiring firearm accessories and various chemicals that could create incendiary or explosive compounds.

Pepo Herd El a/k/a Pepo Wamchawi Herd, 51, of Dorchester, pleaded guilty to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs scheduled sentencing for Jan. 2, 2025. Herd El was arrested on Thanksgiving Day 2020 and has been detained in custody since that time.

For about a year preceding his arrest, Herd El made many online firearms-related purchases, including buying a laser sight, magazines and a concealable holster. Herd El also purchased extended magazine plates, which allow magazines to hold more rounds, and a Glock firing pin safety, which reduces the force required to pull the trigger. Manufacturers claim that this modification decreases the fatigue that a user may experience when firing multiple rounds.  According to court documents, Herd El adhered to the sovereign citizen ideology, which is generally considered anti-government and anti-authority.

On Nov. 26, 2020, Herd El took a bus from his house in Dorchester to the Ruggles MBTA station. At Ruggles, Herd El was detained and searched pursuant to a search warrant. During that search, a loaded semi-automatic pistol, a laser sight, three spare magazines, 45 rounds of ammunition, a knife, and an infrared camera were discovered. Herd El was also wearing a bullet-proof vest and a jacket that had “security” written on it. He told law enforcement officers that he was on his way to Thanksgiving dinner.

During a subsequent search of Herd El’s Dorchester residence, another magazine loaded with armor-piercing rounds was recovered. Additionally, various drawings of gun barrel designs, firearms suppressors and bullets were on the apartment walls. In the kitchen and dining area, various tools that could manufacture ammunition were found. A chemistry book containing handwritten notes about the materials needed to make TNT and C-4 was also found.  

Due to several 2004 state convictions for possessing firearms without permits and other crimes, Herd El is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition.

The charging statute provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the United States Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Boston Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda Beck and Timothy Kistner of the National Security Unit are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Tolkoff of the Criminal Division also assisted in the prosecution.
 

BOSTON – ASD Specialty Healthcare, LLC (ASD), doing business as Besse Medical (Besse), has agreed to pay $1.67 million to resolve allegations that it provided inventory management systems to retina practices at no cost to induce them to purchase drugs from Besse, in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute. ASD, headquartered in Carrollton, Texas, distributes specialty medical and pharmaceutical products nationwide, including ophthalmological injections that treat neovascular age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD).  

As part of the settlement agreement, ASD admitted and accepted responsibility for certain facts providing the basis of the settlement. In May 2017, ASD acquired an inventory management system known as PODIS, which was specialized for retina practices to manage inventory of, and reimbursements for, high-cost injectable medications such as drugs that treat wet AMD. Through November 2023, ASD offered PODIS at no cost to customers who entered into “prime vendor agreements” that required them to purchase a certain percentage of their specialty drugs from ASD. ASD required customers who did not enter into prime vendor agreements to pay a monthly fee for access to PODIS. Following its acquisition of PODIS, ASD then discontinued access to PODIS for non-ASD customer retina practices that had used PODIS prior to the acquisition, including customers who offered to pay a monthly fee to continue using PODIS. The government alleges that ASD caused physicians to submit false claims to Medicare, TRICARE and the Department of Veterans Affairs induced by these kickbacks.  

“Pharmaceutical distributors cannot violate the law to gain a financial advantage,” said United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “Offering improper incentives to health care customers can increase health care costs and disadvantage competitors who are playing by the rules. Our office is committed to continue pursuing these investigations with our federal law enforcement partners.”

“According to the allegations in today’s settlement, ASD purchased a commercially available product and leveraged it to gain business in violation of the AKS,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We will pursue kickbacks at all levels of the distribution chain to preserve the integrity of federal health care programs.”

“Improper financial inducements can compromise medical judgement and threaten the integrity of the Medicare program,” said Special Agent in Charge Roberto Coviello of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General.  “We are committed to pursuing allegations of kickbacks and false claims as we work to protect the integrity of the taxpayer-funded Medicare program, and we encourage the public to come forward with information about such conduct.”

“Today’s settlement resolves allegations that Besse Medical paid kickbacks to medical practices treating patients with age-related macular degeneration in an effort to drum up business for the drugs they sold and increase their revenue,” said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. “This case highlights the FBI’s commitment to rooting out health care fraud, one case at a time, and ensuring accountability for those who run afoul of the law.”

“Investigating schemes that undermine the integrity of TRICARE, the healthcare system for military members and their families, is a top priority for the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS)," stated Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Hegarty, DCIS Northeast Field Office. “Today’s announcement demonstrates our commitment to work with our partner agencies and the Department of Justice to pursue those individuals and corporations that submit false claims to the TRICARE system.”

“Investigations such as these help safeguard the integrity of the healthcare industry marketplace and protect taxpayer funds,” said Special Agent in Charge Christopher Algieri with the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General’s Northeast Field Office. “The VA OIG thanks the Department of Justice and our federal law enforcement partners for their collaboration in this joint investigation.”

The settlement resolves, in part, claims brought under the whistleblower or qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by former employees of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., also a named defendant in the case, which manufactures and sells a drug to treat wet AMD. The government intervened in the qui tam and filed a complaint against Regeneron concerning separate allegations, and the parties currently are litigating that matter in U.S. District Court. Under the FCA, private parties may sue on behalf of the government for false claims for government funds and receive a share of any recovery. The whistleblowers will receive $250,705.20 from the proceeds of the settlement. The lawsuit is captioned United States ex rel. Nunnelly et al. v. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. et al., No. 20-cv-11401-PBS (Dist. Mass.).  

U.S. Attorney Levy, AAG Boynton, FBI SAC Cohen, HHS-OIG SAC Coviello, DCIS SAC Hegarty and VA-OIG SAC Algieri made the announcement today. This matter was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lindsey Ross and Diane Seol of the District of Massachusetts and Trial Attorneys Douglas Rosenthal and Samuel Lehman of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. 

BOSTON – A Wareham resident was sentenced yesterday for selling fentanyl to a 42-year-old man who died of an overdose.

Troy Jones, 45, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to 92 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $7,868 in restitution to the family of the victim for funeral expenses. In August 2024, Jones pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl resulting in death and distributing fentanyl resulting in death. In October 2020, Jones and his co-conspirator, Kayla Nightingale were indicted by a federal grand jury.

Jones and Nightingale worked together from January 2019 through at least April 3, 2019 to distribute fentanyl in Wareham, including to a 42-year-old Wareham resident. On April 2, 2019, that resident died of a fentanyl overdose.

Nightingale pleaded guilty in August 2024, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 8, 2025.

U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; Colonel Geoffrey D. Noble, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Wareham Police Chief Walter Correia made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Dolan of the Criminal Division is prosecuting the case.
 

BOSTON – A Quincy man was sentenced today in federal district court in Boston for filing false corporate tax returns to hide over $10 million in corporate revenue and to evade over $2 million in taxes.

Su Nguyen, 60, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young to 18 months in prison, followed by 12 months of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $2,090,192.77 in restitution. In May 2024, Su pleaded guilty to three counts of aiding and assisting in the filing of false tax returns. In October 2023, Nguyen was indicted by a federal grand jury.

Between 2016 and 2020, Nguyen owned and operated General Employment Services (GES), a temporary employment agency operating in Massachusetts. Clients paid GES by check for the work performed by GES employees. Nguyen deposited a small number of client checks in a bank account that Nguyen used for GES business and reported that income to the IRS. However, Nguyen cashed the majority of client checks at a check casher located in Worcester and used that cash on himself and to pay employees’ wages off-the-books. In total, Nguyen cashed over $10 million in client checks and did not report that revenue or the wages paid in cash to the IRS. By doing so, Nguyen and GES failed to pay over $2 million in taxes.  

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Jonathan Wlodyka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher J. Markham and Kriss Basil of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.
 

BOSTON – The President of a now-defunct investment firm targeting retail investors was sentenced yesterday for assisting an unregistered broker who sold securities in exchange for an undisclosed commission of approximately 40 percent.

Clinton Greyling, 50, of Tamarac, Fla., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to one year of probation. He was also ordered to perform 200 hours of community service and to forfeit $229,576. In August 2024, Greyling pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting an unregistered broker. Greyling was charged in July 30, 2024.  

Greyling was the President of Trends Investments, Inc., a now-shuttered Florida-based company that sold securities of fledgling public companies that were engaged in mergers. Between February 2017 and June 2019, Trends sold shares of several companies to retail investors throughout the United States. Greyling touted the companies as promising because they were supposedly about to enter new and exciting business lines, including therapeutic cannabinoids and blockchain technology. To sell the securities, Trends engaged a former registered broker, who solicited prospective customers to buy shares by falsely holding himself out as a broker and wealth manager and telling customers that the securities were promising investments. At Greyling’s direction, Trends paid the individual—who was no longer registered as a broker with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, as required—an undisclosed commission of approximately 40 percent, totaling more than $800,000 on over $1.9 million in sales. Greyling also assisted the individual by providing positive information about the companies, including information about when the companies’ securities would purportedly begin active trading on the over-the-counter market. Trends, however, ultimately did not timely deliver shares to customers and the promised investment returns did not materialize. The shares sold to investors were ultimately worthless as a practical matter, as the customers were generally unable to deposit or trade them in a timely manner.    

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney James R. Drabick of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case. 
 

BOSTON – A North Andover, Mass. man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to possessing over 30 firearms and explosives as a convicted felon.

Daniel Medina, 64, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a machine gun, unlawful possession of explosives and as a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition. U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris scheduled sentencing for April 3, 2025. In October 2024, Medina was charged by criminal complaint.

On July 1, 2024, law enforcement was dispatched to the area of Medina’s North Andover residence after receiving a report of an explosion. Upon arrival, damage to two vehicles was observed as well as a piece of mail addressed to Medina beneath the damaged rear passenger door of one vehicle. The damages to the vehicles and materials left behind were consistent with common items used in manufacturing homemade explosive devices, specifically ball bearings or shrapnel. Witnesses observed Medina running from the damaged vehicles toward his residence following the explosion.

During a search of Medina’s residence the following day, the following items were seized:v32 firearms, including 12 rifles, 15 pistols, three shotguns and two antique firearms; 9,000 rounds of various calibers of modern ammunition manufactured outside of Massachusetts; 75 magazines for various caliber firearms; various firearm parts; a Glock switch device; books pertaining to the building of firearms and manufacturing of explosives and drugs; shrapnel accessories such as BB’s and ball bearings; multiple firework containers; and various containers of powders produced and shipped in interstate commerce.

Potassium chlorate and aluminum powder – the same flash powder found in the suspected explosive material used for the prior day’s explosion – were found in the containers.
 

Medina is prohibited from possessing firearms, ammunition and explosive material due to a 2002 state conviction of assault and battery in Lawrence District Court, for which he was sentenced to two and a half years in jail.

The charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition provides for a sentence of up to 15 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to
$250,000. The charge of illegal possession of a machine gun provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of illegal possession of an explosive material provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and James M. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the North Andover Police Department, Massachusetts State Police and the Essex County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Luke A. Goldworm of the Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.         
 

BOSTON – A New York doctor pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to receiving kickbacks in exchange for ordering medically unnecessary brain scans.

Dr. Vishnudat Seodat, 75, of Mattituck, N.Y. pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton scheduled sentencing for March 11, 2025. Seodat was charged by criminal complaint in December 2024.

Seodat, an internist in Long Island, N.Y., was a licensed medical doctor in the State of New York for approximately 36 years. From approximately June 2013 through June 2019, Seodat conspired with others, including a principal for a mobile medical diagnostics company that performed transcranial doppler (TCD) scans, to order hundreds of medically unnecessary TCD scans in exchange for kickbacks. TCD scans are brain scans that measure blood flow in parts of the brain. Seodat and his alleged co-conspirators used false diagnoses to order the unnecessary brain scans, for which a co-conspirator would submit claims to Medicare and other insurance companies, including private insurance companies, on behalf of the medical diagnostic company for payment. In exchange, Seodat was paid cash kickbacks of approximately $100 per test. The scheme resulted in fraudulent bills of approximately $1 million to Medicare and private insurance companies.

The charge of conspiracy to commit health care fraud provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Roberto Coviello, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Jonathan Wlodyka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division, Boston Field Office; Carol S. Hamilton, Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, Boston Regional Office; Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division; and Christopher Algieri, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Howard Locker and Mackenzie Queenin of the Health Care Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case
 

BOSTON – Quincy Convenience Store, a retail food market in Quincy, Mass. and its owners and operators, Wei Zheng and Cun Yong Liu, have entered into a consent decree with the government to resolve allegations that they repeatedly violated the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) and the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) by selling and offering to sell, illegally imported, misbranded, non-federally inspected meat, meat food products, poultry and poultry products.  

Under the consent decree, Quincy Convenience Store, Ms. Zheng and Mr. Liu face significant penalties if violations of the FMIA and PPIA continue. The consent decree also permanently enjoins Quincy Convenience Store, Ms. Zheng and Mr. Liu from further violating the FMIA and the PPIA and provides investigators with broad access to inspection of the premises and business records in the future.  

The proposed consent decree was filed with the court and is subject to judicial approval.    

“Consumers deserve to trust that the food they purchase is produced and sold under safe and sanitary conditions,” said United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “This consent decree not only holds the defendants accountable for their repeated failures to comply with federal food safety laws but also protects the public by ensuring rigorous oversight moving forward. Our office will continue to work diligently to uphold the integrity of the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act, safeguarding the health and safety of our communities.”

“The sale of illegally imported, misbranded, and non-inspected meat and poultry products undermines the integrity of our food safety system and puts public health at risk,” said USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service Administrator Dr. Denise Eblen. “This consent decree reflects our commitment to holding businesses accountable and ensuring compliance with federal safety laws. We will continue to take all necessary steps to protect American consumers.”

The government filed its complaint after investigators with the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued numerous warnings to Quincy Convenience Store, Ms. Zheng and Mr. Liu to stop purchasing, illegally importing, selling and offering for sale misbranded and non-federally inspected meat, meat food products, poultry and poultry products. In addition, the USDA has cited Quincy Convenience Store, Ms. Zheng and Mr. Liu for repeatedly failing to maintain the required business records of the purchase, transport, sale and offer to sell meat, meat food products, poultry and poultry products. During the latest USDA inspection, investigators observed Quincy Convenience Store offering for sale over 440 pounds of non-federally inspected and misbranded meat, meat food products, poultry and poultry products, including 34 pounds of meat and poultry illegally imported from China. 

U.S. Attorney Levy and USDA FSIS Administrator Eblen made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Sharobem of the Affirmative Civil Enforcement Unit handled the matter. 

BOSTON – A Dorchester man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston to a multi-year tax fraud scheme in which he failed to pay employment taxes for his temporary employment agency.

Det Tran, 62, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin to one year and a day in prison, to be followed by three years supervised release and ordered to pay more than $2.5 million in restitution. In September 2024, Tran pleaded guilty to two counts of failure to collect and pay over employment taxes.

From at least 2018 through 2021, Tran owned and operated HTP Temp. Inc. (HTP), an agency that provided temporary workers for client businesses. During that time, Tran paid $8 million in “off the books” cash wages to HTP employees. Through his concealment of these cash wages, Tran caused his accountant to prepare false quarterly filings to the IRS for HTP’s employee wages and tax withholdings between 2018 and 2021. As a result, Tran evaded more than $2.1 million in employment taxes owed to the IRS.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jonathan Wlodyka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement. The United States Attorney’s Office would also like to thank the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts for their assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin A. Saltzman of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.
 

BOSTON – An indictment was unsealed yesterday charging five individuals with conspiring to obtain driver’s licenses for ineligible applicants, principally undocumented individuals without legal status residing in the United States (the customers).  

The following defendants have been indicted on one count of conspiracy to unlawfully produce and possess with intent to transfer identification documents, two counts of possession with intent to use or transfer unlawfully identification documents and one count of furnishing a false passport to another for use:

•    Edvan Fernandes Alves De Andrade, 34, formerly of Worcester, currently of Brazil; •    Leonel Texeiera De Souza Junior, 38, formerly of Milford, currently of Brazil; •    Gabriel Nascimento De Andrade, 26, of Boston; •    Cesar Agusto Martin Reis, 28, of Waterbury, Conn; and
•    Helbert Costa Generoso, 39, of Danbury, Conn.

Gabriel Nascimento De Andrade, Cesar Agusto Martin Reis and Helbert Costa Generoso were arrested, and appeared in federal court in Worcester for an initial appearance. Gabriel Nascimento De Andrade was ordered detained pending trial. Cesar Agusto Martin Reis and Helbert Costa Generoso were ordered detained pending a detention hearing on Dec. 16, 2024.

According to the charging document, the defendants conspired, from in or about November 2020 through in or about September 2024, to fraudulently procure driver’s licenses for customers who resided in states that prohibited undocumented individuals from obtaining driver’s licenses. Prior to July 2023, undocumented individuals residing in Massachusetts were not permitted to obtain Massachusetts driver’s licenses. Beginning in 2019, undocumented individuals residing in New York became eligible to obtain New York driver’s licenses. The defendants allegedly conspired to fraudulently obtain New York driver’s licenses for customers who did not reside in New York, including Massachusetts residents, and after July 2023 they also conspired to fraudulently obtain Massachusetts driver’s licenses for customers who did not reside in Massachusetts. The defendants allegedly typically charged the customers approximately $1,400 to obtain the driver’s licenses.
 
In New York, before obtaining a driver’s license, applicants were required to pass a written permit test and complete driver’s education coursework from a New York driving school.  The New York Department of Motor Vehicles (NY DMV) required online permit test-takers to allow the NY DMV to take pictures of the test-takers, with a web camera, during the test.  This was to ensure that the test-taker was the applicant, and that there was not a person sitting with and helping the applicant with the test.  

To avoid the customers having to take the permit tests, the defendants allegedly conspired to obtain, from the customers, several pictures of the customers, sitting down, making it look as if the customers were taking the tests. The defendants then allegedly completed the permit tests for the customers online, and during the tests, when prompted by the NY DMV, caused the pictures that the customers took of themselves to be uploaded, purporting to show that it was the customers who were taking the tests, not the defendants. The defendants also allegedly created fraudulent driver’s education certificates of completion, purportedly from New York driving schools, forged the signatures of driving school staff on the fake certificates, and gave these documents to the customers to provide to the NY DMV.

The NY DMV also required that applicants appear at a NY DMV location and provide documents to prove their identity and residence in New York. The defendants and other co-conspirators allegedly conspired to meet the customers who were Massachusetts residents at locations in Massachusetts, and drove them to NY DMV branch locations, typically several customers at a time. When they arrived at the NY DMV locations, the defendants allegedly gave the customers fraudulent documents falsely purporting to demonstrate that the customers resided in New York. The customers provided these fake records to the NY DMV staff, and the NY DMV relied on the misrepresentations to issue New York driving permits to the customers. The defendants allegedly arranged for the NY DMV to mail the permits to locations in New York that were controlled by the defendants, who then provided the permits in hand to the customers.  The defendants allegedly scheduled road driving license tests for the customers with the NY DMV, and drove the customers again to New York, where the customers took the road tests. If the customers passed the tests, the NY DMV mailed the driver’s licenses to addresses in New York, which the defendants allegedly controlled, and the defendants and other co-conspirators then provided the licenses to the customers.  

The defendants allegedly conspired to obtain Massachusetts driver’s licenses for out-of-state residents, in generally the same manner as they obtained the New York licenses for Massachusetts residents. In Massachusetts, it is alleged that the defendants conspired to fraudulently obtain purported foreign passports to provide to the customers to use as proof of identity with the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (MA RMV), in support of customer driver’s license applications.

Collectively, the defendants allegedly conspired to fraudulently apply for licenses for more than 1,000 customers, obtained licenses for more than 600 of customers and collected at least hundreds of thousands of dollars.    

The investigation remains ongoing.

The charges of conspiracy to unlawfully produce and possess with intent to transfer identification documents, and possession with intent to use or transfer unlawfully identification documents, carry up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of furnishing a false passport to another for use carries up to up to 10 years in prison, supervised release of up to three years and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England; and Kelly Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the NY DMV Division of Field Investigation, the Boston, Danbury (Conn.) and Waterbury Police Departments, the Bridgeport Branch Office of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut and Offices of the New York State Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan O’Shea of the Worcester Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – Two Pittsfield men, including the Dean of Pittsfield High School, have been arrested and charged today for allegedly conspiring to traffic large quantities of cocaine in Western Massachusetts.  

Lavante Wiggins, 30, of Pittsfield and Theodore Warren, a/k/a “Monty,” 42, also of Pittsfield, were charged with one count each of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. The defendants were arrested this morning and released on conditions following an initial appearance in federal court in Springfield this afternoon.

According to the charging documents, Wiggins, the Dean of Students at Pittsfield High School, operated a drug trafficking organization (DTO) that distributed large amounts of cocaine in and around the Pittsfield area. It is alleged that Warren is a trusted member of the DTO who serves as a runner for Wiggins. According to the charging documents, in August 2024, Wiggins expressed concern that he was under investigation and that he would send Warren to complete drug sales and deliver cocaine. It is alleged that one of Wiggins’ customers amassed a debt of more than $34,000 for cocaine that Wiggins provided on credit. It is further alleged that Wiggins and Warren then went about collecting on that debt while continuing to supply large amounts of cocaine to that customer. Specifically, Wiggins allegedly directed Warren to distribute cocaine to that customer on four separate occasions between September and December 2024: approximately 91 grams of cocaine on Sept. 10, 2024; approximately 100 grams of cocaine on Oct. 14, 2024; 125 grams of cocaine on Oct. 31, 2024; and 150 grams of cocaine on Dec. 10, 2024.

The charge of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Holyoke, Springfield, Chicopee, West Springfield, Easthampton and Pittsfield Police Departments; Berkshire, Hampden and Franklin County Sherriff’s Offices; Massachusetts State Police; and the Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil L. Desroches, Chief of the Springfield Branch Unit, is prosecuting the case.  

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – A Brockton man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston to firearm, cocaine, fentanyl and conspiracy offenses.

Antonio Denziah Fernandes, 23, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to 78 months in prison, to be followed by four years of supervised release. In September 2024, Fernandes pleaded guilty to two counts of illegally receiving a firearm while under indictment, two counts of distributing and possessing with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, one count of possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and cocaine, and one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl. In September 2023, Fernandes was indicted by a federal grand jury and on Sept. 11, 2024, additional charges were brought in a Superseding Information.

In late 2021, law enforcement learned that Fernandes was trafficking firearms and narcotics in the Brockton area, including large quantities of fentanyl. In January 2022, while under indictment in state court for trafficking more than 10 grams of fentanyl, Fernandes received and sold a Glock Model 48, 9mm pistol for $1,700 in the Taunton area. In each of two subsequent transactions in January and February 2022, Fernandes distributed and possessed with intent to distribute approximately 50 grams of fentanyl, for a total of approximately 100 grams. These two transactions took place in the vicinity of Fernandes’s Brockton residence.

Fernandes and a co-conspirator were storing and packaging narcotics in an abandoned van parked outside Fernandes residence and distributing them with a different vehicle. Fernandes was arrested in the passenger seat of the latter vehicle, and a loaded firearm was found wedged against his seat. Fernandes had 2.8g of fentanyl and $1,215 in cash on his person.  

During a search of the abandoned vehicle, large quantity of drugs was found inside including approximately 174.7 grams of Fentanyl, 51.5 grams of cocaine, 18.2 grams of Percocet pills and eight grams of mushrooms. Twenty-seven rounds of 9mm ammunition was also recovered. The van also contained various packaging materials for narcotics, such as plastic baggies, corner cut bags, a trash bag full of various used drug packaging materials with white residue, mixing bowls with white residue and latex gloves.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and James M. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office; the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office; and the Brockton, Taunton, Whitman, West Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, Bridgewater and Bridgewater State University Police Departments; the Drug Enforcement Administration; and the Massachusetts State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Meghan C. Cleary of the Criminal Division is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and other violent crime, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.
 

BOSTON – A Quincy man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for a tax fraud scheme that resulted in a tax loss of approximately $2,824,577 and making false statements about a fatal workplace accident.

Mauricio Baiense, 57, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young to 18 months in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,824,577.45 in restitution to the United States. In April 2024, Baiense pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, seven counts of failure to collect and pay over taxes, one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return and one count of making false statements. In August 2022, Baiense was indicted by a federal grand jury.

Baiense owned and operated Contract Framing Builders, Inc. (CFB), a Medford-based construction business. Baiense was responsible for filing CFB’s quarterly employment tax returns and collecting and paying IRS payroll taxes withheld from the wages of the company’s employees. From approximately 2013 through 2017, Baiense facilitated having approximately $11 million worth of checks drawn on CFB’s corporate bank account to purported subcontractors, which were in fact nominee entities controlled by him. Baiense then directed others to cash the checks at a check cashing business and used the money to operate an “off-the-books” cash payroll for CFB’s employees. Baiense did not report the cash wages to the IRS and did not pay employment taxes on wages paid to employees in cash. Baiense also assisted in the preparation of at least one fraudulent employment tax return that understated the actual wages paid to CFB’s employees.

When questioned under oath at a U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration interview regarding a fatal workplace accident pertaining to an employee of Baiense’s company, Baiense made false statements to a federal investigator - falsely claiming that the deceased employee did not work for him.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Stuart M. Goldberg, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Tax Division; Jeff Erskine, Acting Regional Administrator of the Department of Labor OSHA Region 1; Jonathan Wlodyka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office; and Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General in Boston made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the Department of Homeland Security, OSHA Criminal Investigations Team, Region 1 and the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Tobin of the Major Crimes Unit and Trial Attorney Thomas F. Koelbl of the Justice Department’s Tax Division prosecuted the case.
 

BOSTON – A Lawrence man was charged today in federal court in Boston with scheming to fraudulently obtain and misuse COVID-19 relief funds and stealing Social Security benefits.

Randolph Dominguez, 57, was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of theft of government money. Dominguez will make an appearance in federal court in Boston at a later date.

The charging document alleges that, in June 2020, Dominguez submitted a loan application on behalf of an interpreter business he owned and operated, Dominguez SP Interpreters, to the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, which provided loans to small businesses that suffered substantial economic injury due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dominguez is alleged to have fraudulently obtained $74,900 in EIDL funds from the SBA in July 2020 when he claimed falsely on his EIDL application that his gross business revenue was $600,000 the previous year, when it was only $16,989. Further, Dominguez is alleged to have improperly spent all of the EIDL funds received on non-business expenses.

Separately, it is alleged that, from April 2001 through June 2022, Dominguez stole approximately $163,642 in Social Security benefits. 

The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of theft of government money provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Amy Connelly, Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division made the announcement. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Nagelberg of the Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – The Justice Department announced today the findings from its pattern or practice investigation into conduct by the City of Worcester, Mass. and the Worcester Police Department (WPD). According to the findings, the City of Worcester and WPD engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of rights secured by the U.S. Constitution and federal law.

Specifically, as detailed in the investigative report, the Justice Department finds that the WPD uses excessive force, including unjustified uses of tasers, police dogs and strikes to the head. Officers rapidly escalated minor incidents by using more force than necessary, including during encounters with people who have behavioral health disabilities or are in crisis. WPD’s use of excessive force violates the Fourth Amendment. WPD has allowed certain officers at times to engage in outrageous government conduct and violate the constitutional rights of women suspected of being involved in the commercial sex trade by engaging in sexual contact while undercover as part of official investigations. This violates the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause.

The Department’s investigation also describes serious concerns about some credible reports that officers have sexually assaulted women under threat of arrest and engaged in other sexual misconduct and concerns that WPD lacks adequate policies and practices to respond to and investigate sexual assaults by officers and others. Finally, the Department raised concerns that WPD engages in racially discriminatory policing. Deficiencies in policies, training, supervision, and accountability contribute to the city and WPD’s unlawful conduct.

“Our comprehensive investigation revealed that the Worcester Police Department uses excessive force and has allowed undercover police officers to engage in sexual contact with women suspected of being involved in the commercial sex trade,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This is the first time the department has issued a pattern or practice finding involving sexual misconduct by officers. We look forward to working with city officials to institute reforms that build on their own preliminary efforts but that will fully bring an end to these unlawful and unconstitutional practices. The Justice Department is committed to standing firm against sexual misconduct in all its forms.”

“Excessive force and sexual misconduct at the hands of officers who took an oath to serve and protect deeply diminishes the public’s trust in its sworn officers” said U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy for the District of Massachusetts. “The actions by certain officers who engaged in this conduct are not a reflection of the many hard working and ethical officers at the WPD who did not engage in such misconduct or the thousands of police officers around the Commonwealth who serve with honor every day. While the findings announced in today’s report are serious and sobering, today we start a new chapter. We look forward to working with the City of Worcester and the new leadership of the Worcester Police Department to implement reforms that will prevent these kinds of incidents from reoccurring.”

The Justice Department opened this investigation on Nov. 15, 2022, pursuant to 34 U.S.C. § 12601 (Section 12601), which prohibits law enforcement officers from engaging in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of rights protected by the Constitution or federal law.

The report acknowledges the changes already made by the City and WPD and identifies additional remedial measures that the Department believes are necessary to address its findings. The Department is committed to working collaboratively with the City and WPD to address and remedy the harms the investigation identified.

The Justice Department will hold a webinar at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 9, to provide more information about the findings. Members of the public are encouraged to attend. Please email [email protected] to register. The Department will also be seeking input from the Worcester community on remedies to address the investigation’s findings. Members of the public may submit recommendations by email at [email protected] or by phone at 617-275-8756.

This matter was investigated by AUSA Jennifer Serafyn, Chief of the Civil Rights Unit; AUSAs Michelle Leung and Greg Dorchak of the Civil Rights Unit; and members of the Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Information about the Civil Rights Division is available at www.justice.gov/crt. Information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts is available at www.justice.gov/usao-ma.

The Justice Department announced today the findings from its pattern or practice investigation into conduct by the City of Worcester, Massachusetts, and the Worcester Police Department (WPD).

According to the findings, the City of Worcester and WPD engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of rights secured by the U.S. Constitution and federal law.

Specifically, as detailed in the investigative report, the Justice Department finds that:

• WPD uses excessive force, including unjustified uses of tasers, police dogs and strikes to the head. Officers rapidly escalated minor incidents by using more force than necessary, including during encounters with people who have behavioral health disabilities or are in crisis. WPD’s use of excessive force violates the Fourth Amendment.
• WPD has allowed certain officers at times to engage in outrageous government conduct and violate the constitutional rights of women suspected of being involved in the commercial sex trade by engaging in sexual contact while undercover as part of official investigations. This violates the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause.

The department’s investigation also describes serious concerns about some credible reports that officers have sexually assaulted women under threat of arrest and engaged in other sexual misconduct; and concerns that WPD lacks adequate policies and practices to respond to and investigate sexual assaults by officers and others. Finally, the department raised concerns that WPD engages in racially discriminatory policing.  

Deficiencies in policies, training, supervision, and accountability contribute to the city and WPD’s unlawful conduct.

“Our comprehensive investigation revealed that the Worcester Police Department uses excessive force and has allowed undercover police officers to engage in sexual contact with women suspected of being involved in the commercial sex trade,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This is the first time the department has issued a pattern or practice finding involving sexual misconduct by officers. We look forward to working with city officials to institute reforms that build on their own preliminary efforts but that will fully bring an end to these unlawful and unconstitutional practices. The Justice Department is committed to standing firm against sexual misconduct in all its forms.”

“Excessive force and sexual misconduct at the hands of officers who took an oath to serve and protect deeply diminishes the public’s trust in its sworn officers” said U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy for the District of Massachusetts. “The actions by certain officers who engaged in this conduct are not a reflection of the many hard working and ethical officers at the WPD who did not engage in such misconduct or the thousands of police officers around the Commonwealth who serve with honor every day. While the findings announced in today’s report are serious and sobering, today we start a new chapter. We look forward to working with the City of Worcester and the new leadership of the Worcester Police Department to implement reforms that will prevent these kinds of incidents from reoccurring.”

The Justice Department opened this investigation on Nov. 15, 2022, pursuant to 34 U.S.C. § 12601 (Section 12601), which prohibits law enforcement officers from engaging in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of rights protected by the Constitution or federal law. The investigation was conducted by career attorneys and staff in the Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section and the Civil Rights Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

The report acknowledges the changes already made by the City and WPD and identifies additional remedial measures that the department believes are necessary to address its findings. The department is committed to working collaboratively with the City and WPD to address and remedy the harms the investigation identified.

The department will also be seeking input from the Worcester community on remedies to address the investigation’s findings. Members of the public may submit recommendations by email at [email protected] or by phone at 617-275-8756.

The Justice Department will hold a webinar at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 9, to provide more information about the findings. Members of the public are encouraged to attend. Please email [email protected] to register.

Information about the Civil Rights Division is available at www.justice.gov/crt. Information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts is available at www.justice.gov/usao-ma.

BOSTON – A New Bedford woman pleaded guilty on Dec. 3, 2024 to stealing federal funds by filing false tax returns in order to obtain fraudulent tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”).

Valentina Martinez, 50, pleaded guilty to five counts of theft of government money. Senior U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris scheduled sentencing for March 6, 2025.  

According to court documents, Martinez worked for a national tax preparation service.  After preparing returns for clients and providing them copies of their returns, Martinez added fraudulent claims for business deductions to the clients’ returns without their knowledge and electronically filed the false returns in order to obtain fraudulent refunds. Martinez caused the tax refunds to be deposited onto debit cards that she used to make ATM withdrawals, and to pay for a Florida vacation and other purchases. Martinez’s scheme was discovered and her employment terminated when a taxpayer client complained to the preparation service about a missing refund. By then, Martinez had already filed at least 12 false returns and caused more than $45,000 in losses to the IRS.    

The prosecution of Martinez is part of a Stolen Identity Refund Project (“SIRF”) program operated by the IRS to identify tax preparers who use stolen identities to steal money from the United States Treasury by filing fake tax returns that claim tax refunds without the named taxpayer’s knowledge.  

The charge of theft of government money carries a maximum potential sentence of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release. a fine of $250,000and restitution to the IRS. Sentences are imposed by the federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jonathan Wlodyka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office made the announcement today. Assistant United States Attorney Victor A. Wild of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.  

BOSTON – The former Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Lawrence, Mass., pleaded guilty on Dec. 6, 2024 in federal court in Boston to transporting and possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Jhovanny Martes-Rosario, 50, pleaded guilty to one count of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled sentencing for March 10, 2025. In April 2023, Martes-Rosario was indicted by a federal grand jury.

Martes-Rosario was identified by law enforcement as the likely user of Yahoo and Apple accounts, in February 2023, containing child pornography. A search was executed at Martes-Rosario’s residence and an iPad device was seized which contained child pornography files. Martes-Rosario admitted that he was the owner of the email addresses and that he searched for and downloaded child pornography to his personal iPad and later sent it to his email address for storage. He also admitted he had been searching for and storing child pornography for years.

The charge of transportation of child pornography provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to 20 years in prison, a mandatory minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of possession of child pornography provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy, Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division and Colonel Geoffrey D. Noble, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Essex County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Suzanne Sullivan Jacobus of the Major Crimes Unit and Meghan C. Cleary of the Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

BOSTON – A Canadian man was sentenced today in federal district court in Boston to embezzling more than $1.4 million from his employer and its clients.

Adil Rahman, 36, of Ontario, Canada, was sentenced by United States Senior District Judge William G. Young to 20 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $1,473,909.50 in restitution. In September 2024, Rahman pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. Rahman was charged in July 2024.

Rahman worked in Ontario, Canada as a credit analyst for Company A – a subsidiary of a large electrical distribution and services company based in Pittsburgh, Pa. As part of his job, Rahman interacted with clients of Company A concerning invoices for the company’s services.  Between November 2022 and December 2023, Rahman directed certain customers of Company A to pay their invoices via ACH transfers to his personal bank account, rather than to the account of Company A.  

For example, in or about November 2022, Rahman sent an email to the accounts payable department of Company B – a nonprofit municipal corporation based in Hartford, Conn. – asking if the company would be interested in paying future invoices to Company A by ACH transfer rather than by check. When Company B agreed to do so, Rahman provided his personal account information to Company B. Thereafter, under the false impression that it was sending the money to Company A to pay the invoices it owed, Company B sent at least 15 ACH transfers to Rahman’s personal account between December 2022 and June 2023.

Likewise, in May 2023, Rahman emailed the accounts payable department at Company C – a privately held provider of corporate security systems based in Andover, Mass. – asking if Company C wished to pay future invoices by ACH transfer. Once again, when Company C agreed to do so, Rahman provided his personal bank account information and Company C thereafter made 11 ACH transfers to Rahman’s personal account between May 2023 and July 2023.

In total, through this scheme, Rahman defrauded Company A and its clients of more than $1.4 million.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Boston Division made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Saltzman of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.

BOSTON – Twenty-five individuals have been charged in connection with a drug trafficking conspiracy involving fentanyl and cocaine with activity that spanned across eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Over 2.3 kilograms of fentanyl, 12 kilograms of suspected fentanyl and cocaine, 300 grams of cocaine, six firearms and approximately $400,000 was seized during the investigation.

“Communities across eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island are safer today because of this takedown that dismantled a sophisticated and large-scale drug trafficking organization operating in plain sight. We allege that these defendants exploited addiction for personal profit and with full knowledge that the drugs they were peddling could be lethal. They allegedly raked in $20,000 a day at the expense of the lives and safety of people suffering from drug addiction,” said United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “This case should send an unmistakable message: together with our federal, state and local partners, we will not allow drug traffickers to profit while our communities suffer, and we are committed to disrupting these criminal enterprises.”

“Fentanyl and cocaine are causing tremendous damage to our communities,” said Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division. “Those who distribute these drugs are endangering the safety of the citizens of Massachusetts. The DEA will continue to work each day alongside our law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute those who are responsible for distributing deadly drugs in order to profit while endangering the lives of others."

The following defendants have been charged with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine and have been apprehended. Six defendants remain at large and remain under seal:

1.    Yulial Cuello-Reynoso a/k/a “Sonny,” 33, of Leominster; 2.    Yordania Abel Rivera a/k/a “Mommy,” 33, of Leominster; 3.    Jorge Vizcaino Vizcaino a/k/a Yeison Vizcaino Vizcaino a/k/a “Jason” a/k/a “Libreta” a/k/a Yeikel Perez-Tejeda, 24, of Boston; 4.    Rafael Concepcion a/k/a “Menor,” 34, of Boston; 5.    Alinson Joel Ortiz Arias, 32, of Boston; 6.    Axel Brea Baez, 25, of Boston; 7.    Denly Soto-Tejeda, 25, of Manchester, N.H.; 8.    Yeiron Vizcaino Vizcaino a/k/a “Boli,” 28, of Boston; 9.    Alberto Gonzalez, 36, of Boston; 10.    Luis Guerrero, 25, of Lawrence; 11.    Mariela Cuello Reynoso, 30, of Boston; 12.    Elisbania Tejeda-Soto a/k/a “Lisbania,” 25, of Boston; 13.    Rubert Adrian Jimenez a/k/a “Soga,” 24, of Boston; 14.    Adrian Suncar-Gonzalez, 38, of Boston; 15.    Johangel Mejia-Hernandez, 22, of Boston; 16.    Francisco Tavarez Contreras, 43, of Boston; 17.    Santo Franco-Sanchez, 42, of Brookline; 18.    Carlos Abel Rivera, 34, of North Smithfield, R.I.; and 
19.    Anthony Cuoco, 43, of Barnstable.

According to the charging documents, in March 2022, law enforcement began an investigation into a large-scale drug dispatch service operating in and around Boston. Over the course of the investigation, undercover drug purchases and intercepted communications established that the defendants allegedly distributed fentanyl and cocaine throughout eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Specifically, it is alleged that the drug trafficking organization is led by Yulial Cuello-Reynoso, who operated a drug customer order telephone and employed distributors and stash house operators to process, store and distribute narcotics. The organization allegedly distributed approximately $20,000 worth of drugs per day and maintained multiple stash locations simultaneously. The organization also allegedly employed a color-coding system to differentiate between the drugs (fentanyl, crack cocaine and powder cocaine) it sold and frequently concealed drugs in socks within the engine compartments of cars driven by distributors. Some of the defendants openly discussed the dangers of the drugs they were distributing. For example, when referring to drug customers, Tejeda-Soto allegedly stated in an intercepted call, “Those people like the stuff that kills them.” During the course of the investigation, over 2.3 kilograms of fentanyl and 300 grams of cocaine was seized. In addition, approximately 12 kilograms of suspected fentanyl and cocaine, six firearms and approximately $400,000 was seized during searches in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.  

The charge of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

U.S. Attorney Levy, DEA Acting SAC Belleau and Michael Cox, Commissioner of the Boston Police Department made the announcement. The Massachusetts State Police; The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Homeland Security Investigations; U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service; and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement assisted in the investigation. Special assistance was provided by the Arlington and Medford Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Ferguson, Deputy Chief of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit, is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
 

BOSTON – The operator of numerous sober homes in Massachusetts, who also operated insulation companies receiving funds through the Mass Save Program, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to his involvement in four different fraud schemes involving sober homes in the Greater Boston area, the Mass Save Program, mortgage lenders and a federal loan program that assisted businesses during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Daniel Cleggett, 38, of Kingston, formerly of Braintree and Quincy, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud conspiracy; one count of conspiracy to make false statements to a mortgage lending business (mortgage fraud conspiracy); 25 counts of wire fraud; six counts of unlawful monetary transactions (money laundering); and three counts of making false statements to a mortgage lending business. U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young scheduled sentencing for March 31, 2025. Cleggett was arrested and charged in March 2023  along with co-conspirator Nicholas Espinosa.

Espinosa pleaded guilty to his role in the fraud schemes on Oct. 3, 2024 and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 11, 2025.

Cleggett was the founder of the sober home business A Vision From God LLC (AVFG). Established in November 2016, AVFG owned and operated sober homes in Boston, Wakefield, Quincy and Weymouth under trade names including Brady’s Place, Lakeshore Retreat and Lambert House. Espinosa managed the day-to-day affairs of Cleggett’s sober home business.

Cleggett, Espinosa and a sober home client entered into a conspiracy to defraud a New York-based family trust that was paying for the client’s room and board at Brady’s Place, located in Quincy. Specifically, Cleggett and Espinosa overcharged the family trust for room and board by up to $12,500 per month by submitting false and fraudulent invoices to the family trust. Cleggett and Espinosa would then issue “refund” checks to the client in furtherance of the fraud scheme.

From approximately October 2019 to December 2021, Cleggett personally, and through straw purchasers including Espinosa, purchased the three residential properties in Weymouth and Boston to use as sober homes. Cleggett, Espinosa and others submitted false information and fraudulent documentation including falsely representing that the three properties were intended to be purchased as primary residences when, in reality, each was intended to be a sober home.

In addition to the sober home business, Cleggett operated numerous insulation contracting companies that participated in the Mass Save Program: Green Save Energy Corporation; Environmental Construction Objective Inc. (ECO); Green Giants, LLC; and Insulation Situation, LLC. Mass Save is a Massachusetts public/private partnership sponsored by gas and electric utility companies that funds energy conservation projects and improvements via energy efficiency funds charged to Massachusetts residents’ utility bills. Specifically, Green Save and ECO received millions of dollars for residential insulation work from a lead vendor company under the Mass Save program. From 2018 through mid-2021, Green Save and ECO fraudulently billed the vendor company for required permits that were not actually obtained. Green Save and ECO were ultimately terminated from participating in the lead vendor company’s program in June 2021, and Cleggett was banned from participating in the Mass Save program. In response to this, Cleggett, Espinosa and other co-conspirators formed Insulation Situation and Green Giants to enter as new lead vendors with the same company under straw owners. As a result, Cleggett obtained a total of $954,443 in payments from the company to Green Giants and Insulation Situation, despite him being banned from participating in the Mass Save program.

Additionally, on April 1, 2020, Cleggett submitted three Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications to the Small Business Administration for AVFG, the Daniel Cleggett Sole Proprietorship and Green Save. Cleggett obtained a total of $794,900 in EIDL loans and advances. In the applications, Cleggett falsely denied involvement in illegal activity despite his involvement in the sober home wire fraud scheme and the mortgage fraud scheme involving one of his Weymouth sober homes. Cleggett’s Sole Proprietorship EIDL application was false because the Daniel Cleggett Sole Proprietorship did not exist. Despite certifying that EIDL proceeds would only be used for “working capital” for the entity seeking the loan, Cleggett used tens of thousands of dollars from the funds to pay for personal expenses including EZ-Pass bills, gym membership fees, pet expenses, airline tickets, car rentals, vacation trips to Yellowstone, Montana and Aruba, and thousands of dollars in hotel resort stays for Cleggett and his girlfriend – which included spa fees as well as a wine and caviar dinner, among other expenses. Cleggett also used Green Save EIDL funds for $37,997 in wedding expenses.

The charges of wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of making false statements to a mortgage lending business provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. The charge of unlawful monetary transactions provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Jonathan Wlodyka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the Kingston, Randolph and Quincy Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys and John T. Mulcahy and Dustin Chao of the Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit are prosecuting the case.

BOSTON – A New Hampshire man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for his role in a conspiracy to harass and intimidate two journalists employed by New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR). The harassment and intimidation of the victims included the vandalism – on five separate occasions – of the victims’ homes and the home of one of the victims’ parents with bricks, large rocks and red spray paint.

Keenan Saniatan, 36, of Nashua, N.H., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to 30 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. In September 2024, Saniatan pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit stalking using a facility of interstate commerce and one count of stalking using a facility of interstate commerce. Saniatan was charged in June 2023 along with co-conspirators Tucker Cockerline and Michael Waselchuck. In September 2024, Saniatan, Cockerline and Waselchuck were indicted by a federal grand jury along with a fourth New Hampshire man, Eric Labarge.

In March 2022, an NHPR journalist (Victim 1) published an article detailing allegations of sexual and other misconduct by a former New Hampshire businessperson, identified in the charging document as Subject 1. Another NHPR journalist (Victim 2) also contributed to the article, which appeared on NHPR’s website during and after March 2022. In response to this reporting, Labarge – who is a close personal associate of Subject 1 – Saniatan, Cockerline and Waselchuck agreed to harass and intimidate Victims 1 and 2 and their immediate family members.

Saniatan was responsible for vandalizing two homes connected to the NHPR journalists in April 2022, at Labarge’s request. On the evening of April 24, 2022, Saniatan spraypainted the word “C*NT” in large red letters on the front door of Victim 2’s home in Concord, N.H. He also threw a large rock at the exterior of the home. That same evening, Saniatan threw a softball-sized rock through an exterior window and spraypainted the word “C*NT” in large red letters on the front of Victim 1’s parents’ home in Hampstead, N.H. Separately, and at Labarge’s request, Cockerline and Waselchuck vandalized Victim 1’s home, a home where Victim 1 used to reside and Victim 1’s parents’ home using bricks and red spray paint in three separate incidents in April and May 2022.

In November 2024, U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani sentenced Labarge to 46 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Earlier this year, Cockerline and Waselchuck received prison sentences of 27 months and 21 months, respectively. Each sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Concord, Hampstead and Hanover, New Hampshire Police Departments, the Melrose, Massachusetts Police Department and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Hampshire. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason A. Casey and Torey B. Cummings of the Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.
 

BOSTON — The boyfriend of a senior level employee in the technology operations group at the multinational pharmaceutical company Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda) was convicted today by a federal jury of setting up a fake consulting company that billed Takeda for services it never actually provided.

Samuel N. Montronde, 39, was convicted of three counts of wire fraud by a federal jury in Boston. U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled sentencing for March 7, 2025. The jury acquitted Montronde of one count of wire fraud conspiracy. Montronde was arrested and charged in January 2023 along with his girlfriend Priya Bhambi – a former senior employee in the technology operations group of Takeda. The two were later indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2023.

“Today’s jury verdict makes it crystal clear that greed and deception have serious consequences. Mr. Montronde and his girlfriend exploited her senior-level position at Takeda to line their own pockets, stealing millions to bankroll a luxury lifestyle—complete with a high-end Mercedes and a multi-million-dollar condo in Boston’s Seaport.  I commend Takeda for reporting this fraud to the authorities promptly. As a result, both culpable individuals have been convicted and held accountable for this egregious breach of trust and the government was able to seize assets with an estimated value of over $1.5 million. This case sends two strong messages – first, there are very serious consequences for executives who exploit their positions to line their own pockets and second, for companies who are victims of embezzlement, law enforcement stands ready to do whatever it can to recoup stolen funds and hold individuals accountable for fraud.”  said United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “This office will not hesitate to hold accountable those who exploit trust and steal to fund their own extravagance.”

“Samuel Montronde would do anything for love, including setting up a phony consulting company to help his girlfriend embezzle $2.3 million from Takeda so they could live lavishly, well beyond their bank accounts,” said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division. We are pleased with the jury’s verdict.”.

In 2022, Montronde and Bhambi orchestrated and executed a scheme to defraud Takeda of at least $2.3 million in payments for purported consulting services by submitting fabricated invoices on behalf of a sham consulting company. Bhambi had previously engaged in the same fraud using a different sham consulting company, resulting in payments from Takeda totaling nearly $300,000 for consulting services that were never provided.

In February 2022, Montronde, in coordination with Bhambi, incorporated a fake consulting firm, Evoluzione Consulting LLC (Evoluzione). Later, Bhambi created a website for Evoluzione with false information, including fabricated blog posts, to make it appear that Evoluzione was a legitimate consulting business.

After incorporating Evoluzione, Bhambi, in coordination with Montronde, submitted a statement of work to Takeda and caused Takeda to sign a master services agreement with Evoluzione and issue a purchase order to Evoluzione for consulting services with a total cost of $3.542 million. Then, between March and May of 2022, Bhambi and Montronde fabricated and submitted five separate invoices to Takeda for services that Evoluzione had not performed, each in the amount of $460,000. The defendants also created a fictional employee “Jasmine” to handle communications with Takeda. When questioned by Takeda employees, Bhambi made false representations regarding the services purportedly provided by Evoluzione. Before discovering the scheme and terminating Bhambi, Takeda, relying on these false representations, paid all five of the invoices to business accounts opened by Montronde in the name of Evoluzione.

In June 2024, Bhambi pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud. On Oct. 30, 2024, she was sentenced to 46 months in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release. Bhambi was also ordered to pay $2,585,480 in restitution.

In total, Bhambi and Montronde defrauded Takeda of $2.3 million in payments to Evoluzione for services not provided. The couple used the fraudulently obtained funds to purchase a Mercedes-Benz Model Class E, a diamond engagement ring, freightliner trucks, a $1.9-million 2-bedroom condo in Boston’s Seaport District and a $50,000 wedding venue deposit. These assets are now subject to the Court’s forfeiture order.

U.S. Attorney Levy and FBI SAC Cohen made the announcement today. Takeda provided valuable assistance and cooperation with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leslie A. Wright and Mackenzie A. Queenin of the Criminal Division are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carol E. Head, Chief of the Asset Recovery Unit is handling the forfeiture matter.
 

BOSTON – Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson has been indicted by a federal grand jury for an alleged kickback scheme to obtain thousands of dollars in cash from a staff member in exchange for a large bonus.

Tania Fernandes Anderson, 45, of Boston, was indicted on five counts of wire fraud and one count of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds. Fernandes Anderson was arrested this morning and will appear in federal court in Boston at 2:15 p.m. today.

“Elected officials have a duty to serve the public with the highest integrity and not to abuse positions of trust for personal gain. By allegedly orchestrating a scheme to funnel public funds into her own pocket, City Councilor Fernandes Anderson betrayed the trust of her constituents and violated her fiduciary duty as a public servant,” said United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “Our office remains committed to holding those who abuse public office accountable and protecting precious public resources.”

“The FBI arrested Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson today for allegedly orchestrating a kickback scheme in which she stole thousands of dollars in taxpayer money for herself,” said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division. “Using public office for personal gain is a crime. Her behavior, as alleged in today’s indictment, is a slap in the face to the hardworking taxpayers in the city of Boston who have every right to expect that the city’s funds are in good and honest hands. This case illustrates how the FBI, and our partners are working hard every day to battle public corruption and the corrosive damage it does to people’s faith in government.”

“Tania Fernandes Anderson was elected to serve the citizens of Boston, but today we arrested her for allegedly orchestrating a kickback scheme to enrich herself through the misappropriation of city funds,” said Jonathan Wlodyka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office. “Elected officials are held to a higher standard when they take an oath to serve, but to Fernandes Anderson, her oath meant nothing when she allegedly chose to steal from the City of Boston and her constituents. We are committed to working with our law enforcement partners to root out public corruption at every level.”

Fernandes Anderson currently serves as City Councilor for Boston’s District 7, which includes Roxbury, Dorchester, Fenway and part of the South End. She was first elected to office to a two-year term in November 2021 and won re-election in November 2023.

According to court documents, in or about 2022, Fernandes Anderson hired two members of her immediate family as salaried employees of her City Councilor Staff. Because City Councilors are prohibited by law from hiring immediate family members to their paid staff, Fernandes Anderson was required to terminate their salaried employment in or about August 2022. Additionally, from in or about March 2023 to May 2023, the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission notified Fernandes Anderson of its findings and that it would be seeking a $5,000 civil penalty payment from her.

According to the indictment, Staff Member A was a relative of Fernandes Anderson but was not an immediate family member. In or about November 2022, Fernandes Anderson allegedly emailed a City of Boston employee regarding her hiring of Staff Member A as a salaried employee, falsely representing that she and Staff Member A were not related:

From in or about early to mid-2023, Fernandes Anderson was allegedly facing personal financial difficulty, which included the outstanding $5,000 civil penalty payment to the Ethics Commission. It is further alleged that, in or about early May 2023, Fernandes Anderson told Staff Member A that she would give them extra pay in the form of a large bonus, but that Staff Member A would have to give a portion of the bonus back to Fernandes Anderson. Staff Member A agreed to the arrangement with Fernandes Anderson.  

On or about May 3, 2023, Fernandes Anderson allegedly sent an email to a City of Boston employee to process bonus payments for her City Councilor Staff. In the email, Fernandes Anderson instructed the City of Boston employee to process a bonus payment of $13,000 to Staff Member A – more than twice as large as the total amount of all bonus payments to Fernandes Anderson’s other staff combined. Fernandes Anderson allegedly did not disclose the bonus kickback arrangement she had made with Staff Member A to the City of Boston employee.

Staff Member A deposited the bonus check on or about May 26, 2023 into their account at Santander Bank. It is alleged that, at Fernandes Anderson’s direction, Staff Member A then made separate cash withdrawals of the payment on three separate dates: $3,000 on May 31, 2023; $3,000 on June 5, 2023; and $4,000 on June 9, 2023.

It is alleged that, on June 9, 2023, immediately following the final cash withdrawal, Fernandes Anderson and Staff Member A arranged to meet at a bathroom at City Hall. There, Staff Member A allegedly provided Fernandes Anderson with $7,000 in cash:

The charges of wire fraud each provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

U.S. Attorney Levy, FBI SAC Cohen and IRS Acting SAC Wlodyka made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John T. Mulcahy and Dustin Chao of the Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – A West Bridgewater man pleaded guilty yesterday to receiving and possessing child pornography from an online communication application.

Juan Levano, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns scheduled sentencing for March 12, 2025.

An investigation into an internet-based communications application used for the trafficking of child pornography identified Levano as a likely user of the platform who participated in groups where child pornography was disseminated.

Levano rented a room at a residence that is registered as a residential daycare. Both Levano and the owner of the residence and daycare denied that Levano worked at the residential daycare and denied that Levano had any contact with the children who attend it. During a search of the residence, various electronic devices belonging to Levano were seized.

During the search, Levano admitted to being a member of several groups on the chat application and obtaining child pornography from those groups. A review of Levano’s phone revealed that Levano was a member of several active groups on the platform that included the exchange of child pornography, including children ranging from infancy to 13 years old. Additionally, investigators identified more than 100 video and image files, most of which appear to depict child pornography, stored in a photo application on Levano’s phone.

The charge of receipt of child pornography provides for a sentence of at least five years and up to 20 years in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $ 250,000. The charge of possession of child pornography provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $ 250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Members of the public who have questions, concerns or information regarding this case should call 617-748-3274.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the West Bridgewater Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica L. Soto of the Office’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
 

BOSTON – A Lebanese man was sentenced yesterday for his for his participation in a money laundering conspiracy.

Andres Rached Farah, 55, a Lebanese citizen who resided in Colombia, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to 52 months in prison. In August 2024, Farah pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and conducting substantive money laundering transactions. Farah was charged in a 50-count indictment along with 19 other individuals in March 2022. Farah was arrested in Colombia in April 2022 and extradited to the United States in September 2023.

Beginning in 2016 and continuing until 2022, law enforcement conducted an investigation into a money laundering organization based primarily in Barranquilla, Colombia. An undercover agent infiltrated the organization by portraying himself as an international money launderer able to pick up bulk cash throughout the world, launder the proceeds through his United States-based accounts and send the money to Colombia. Specifically, the money would be sent either through the Black Market Peso Exchange – a common method of trade-based money laundering used to repatriate the proceeds of drug trafficking to Colombia – or through business accounts that could layer the proceeds in other transactions to conceal the original illegal source.

Throughout the course of the investigation, members of the money laundering organization would allegedly contact the undercover and arrange meetings for the undercover and the undercover’s purported associates to collect bulk cash throughout the world. Members of the money laundering organization allegedly directed where the money was to be sent, and facilitators, such as Farah, would facilitate the payout of the laundered proceeds in Colombia for the benefit of the drug suppliers. Over the course of the conspiracy, Farah was responsible for the laundering of at least $591,000 in drug proceeds.

Farah is the ninth defendant to be sentenced in the case. Four other defendants have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Two additional defendants have filed notice of their intent to plead guilty. The case is pending as to the remaining defendants.

United States Attorney Joshua R. Levy; Stephen Belleau, Acting Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; and Jonathan Wlodyka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston made the announcement today. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section’s Office of the Judicial Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota provided critical assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Farah. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared C. Dolan and Alathea E. Porter of the Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – The manager of a real estate agency was sentenced today in federal court in Boston in connection with a multi-year scheme to defraud his clients by engaging in fraudulent short sales of government and bank-owned properties to straw buyers acting at the direction of the defendant.

James Macchio, 46, of Glastonbury, Conn., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to 42 months in prison and two years of supervised release. Macchio was also ordered to forfeit $621,579 and to pay at least $2,567,154 in restitution. In May 2024, Macchio pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Macchio and another real estate agent, Sheldon Haag, used straw buyers to acquire properties owned by the clients of Macchio’s brokerage, which included banks, federal agencies, bankruptcy trustees and other mortgage holders. The straw buyers included a shell company set up by a co-conspirator as a purported construction company. Macchio and his co-conspirators hid their involvement as the de facto buyers of short sale properties from their clients, the owners of the properties, and used their inside knowledge as the owner’s broker to minimize sale prices in order to maximize their gain from later “flipping” the properties.

While perpetrating the “flipping scheme,” Macchio and his co-conspirators further defrauded clients by submitting fraudulent renovation bids from contractors to their own clients, including from a fake construction company they controlled through a co-conspirator. Once their clients accepted a fraudulent bid, Macchio and his co-conspirators hired different contractors at much lower cost and pocketed the difference between the fraudulent bid and the actual cost of the property repairs.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Macchio and co-conspirators defrauded the Small Business Administration by obtaining pandemic relief loans to fund their ongoing real estate fraud scheme.

Sheldon Haag previously pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy and, in October 2024, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison to be followed by supervised release.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Jonathan Wlodyka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office; and Christopher Algieri, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office made the announcement today. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development provided valuable assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kriss Basil, Deputy Chief of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.

BOSTON – A Chelsea man was sentenced today for selling fraudulent Social Security cards and Legal Permanent Resident cards, often referred to as “Green Cards.”  

Wilberto Sandoval Mazariego, 41, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs to one month in prison, followed by six months of home confinement. In July 2024, Sandoval Mazariego pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful transfer of a document or authentication feature. In October 2023, Sandoval Mazariego was arrested and charged by criminal complaint and later indicted by a federal grand jury.

During an investigation into Tomas Xirum for selling fraudulent Green Cards and fraudulent Social Security cards, Sandoval Mazariego was identified as the creator of the fraudulent documents Xirum was selling. Following Xirum’s arrest in August 2022, a text message string was discovered between Xirum and Sandoval Mazariego that contained approximately 568 attachments. Xirum would regularly text Sandoval Mazariego pictures of unknown persons along with a name, date of birth and country of birth – to which Sandoval Mazariego would later respond with pictures of Social Security cards and/or Green Cards with a person’s photo and information that Xirum provided.

On Aug. 17, 2023, Sandoval Mazariego sold a fraudulent Green Card and a fraudulent Social Security card to an undercover agent. On Oct 3, 2023, Sandoval Mazariego was arrested after leaving his Chelsea residence. During a search of his residence, all items necessary to produce counterfeit forms of identification were found, including two laminators, card stock paper, photo paper, glue, trimmers and printers. Also recovered were nine Legal Permanent Resident cards, six Social Security cards and five driver’s licenses. Five of the recovered Social Security cards contained the names provided by the undercover agent to Sandoval Mazariego as part of the investigation. A total of $17,095 in cash was also recovered from the residence.  

On Aug. 21, 2023, Xirum pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawful transfer of document or authentication feature and three counts of unlawful production of document or authentication feature. In January 2024, Xirum was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin of the Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.

The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigation’s Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force, a specialized investigative group comprising personnel from various state, local and federal agencies with expertise in detecting, deterring and disrupting organizations and individuals involved in various types of document, identity and benefit fraud schemes.

BOSTON – A manufacturing supervisor for a luxury jewelry company was sentenced today for stealing over $1.7 million in gold, silver and platinum from his employer over a period of more than three years.

Benjamin Preacher, 54, of North Attleboro, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley to 59 days in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release, including 10 months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service. Preacher was also ordered to forfeit $1,267,093. The government recommended a sentence of 30 months in prison. In June 2024, Preacher pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen goods and one count of engaging in unlawful monetary transactions.  

From 2018 until early 2024, Preacher worked as a manufacturing supervisor at a Rhode Island facility operated by a company that sells luxury items, including jewelry made from gold, silver and platinum. Preacher used his position overseeing the production and security of high-end jewelry to steal scrap precious metals from the company’s facility in Rhode Island. Preacher then drove the stolen metals into Massachusetts and then sold them to various businesses in Massachusetts.  An image of some of the stolen metals appears below.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jonathan Wlodyka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kriss Basil, Deputy Chief of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.
 

BOSTON – The former chairman of Massachusetts-based company Arch Therapeutics, Inc. was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for three felony securities offenses, two of which concerned his undisclosed sale of over $1.3 million worth of company shares.

Avtar Singh Dhillon, 63, of Long Beach, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs to four months in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release, with the first six months on home detention. Dhillon was also ordered to forfeit $1,493,500. In December 2022, Dhillon pleaded guilty to one count of willful failure to disclose stock sales, one count of aiding and abetting the sale of unregistered securities and one count of touting compensation nondisclosure conspiracy.

Dhillon and his then attorney, Daniel V. Martinez, placed 2.75 million Arch Therapeutics shares that Dhillon beneficially owned into a limited liability company that Martinez created. Dhillon and Martinez then worked together to sell the shares in the open market without a valid exemption under the relevant securities laws and to distribute the approximately $1.34 million in proceeds. The proceeds were distributed primarily to third parties for Dhillon’s benefit, with a small portion distributed to Martinez directly. Dhillon thereafter willfully failed to report the stock sales to the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission and the investing public, as he was required to do.

In October 2023, Martinez was sentenced to one year of probation and 100 hours of community service. Martinez was also ordered to pay a fine of $7,500 and forfeit $110,999.

Separately, Dhillon also participated in a securities conspiracy involving the nondisclosure of compensation paid to a subscription newsletter analyst. Specifically, Dhillon agreed with others to cause Emerald Health Pharmaceuticals (EHP), a life sciences company in San Diego, to indirectly compensate a subscription newsletter analyst to tout a securities offering by EHP without the analyst or the newsletter disclosing the compensation, as required under securities laws. Dhillon was both a one-time board member of and an indirect shareholder in EHP, which raised tens of millions of dollars in the securities offering.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Office made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission headquarters, Boston and Los Angeles regional offices. Assistant U.S. Attorney James R. Drabick of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.
 

BOSTON – A Brockton man was arrested today for allegedly selling over 100 grams of a fentanyl analogue to a cooperating witness. At the time of the alleged offense, the defendant was on probation for a 2019 fentanyl conviction and on pretrial release for a separate March 2024 drug arrest.

Joshua Tavares, 29, was charged with distribution and possession with intent to distribute 100 grams and more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl analogue. Tavares was arrested this morning and following an initial appearance in federal court in Boston, was detained pending a hearing scheduled for Dec. 6, 2024.  

According to the charging documents, on Nov. 1, 2024, Tavares sold 100 grams of a fentanyl analogue to a cooperating witness which was captured on video recording.

During searches of Tavares’s residence and multiple suspected stash houses, approximately four kilograms of suspected fentanyl, cocaine, packaging materials for distribution of controlled substances and over $89,000 in cash were recovered. A .40 caliber Glock firearm and a 9mm Glock firearm with a machinegun conversion device were also located at Tavares’ residence.

A 9mm Glock firearm with a machinegun conversion device and a tactical laser sight was allegedly recovered from a stash location along with numerous rounds of ammunition and multiple loaded magazines, including a 50 round “drum” style magazine. Machinegun conversion devices, commonly referred to as “switches,” are designed to convert firearms into fully automatic weapons.

The charge of possession with intent to distribute 100 grams and more of fentanyl analogue provides for a sentence of at least 10 years and up to life in prison, five years and up to life of supervised release and a fine of up to $10 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Massachusetts State Police and the Brockton Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip A. Mallard of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
 

BOSTON – A Cranston, R.I. man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for his involvement in a drug trafficking organization (DTO) that distributed fentanyl throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Mario Rafael Dominguez-Ortiz, 27, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs to one year and a day in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. In May 2024, Dominguez-Ortiz pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. Dominguez-Ortiz was indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2022 along with nine other individuals.

In March 2021, an investigation began into a DTO operating in Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island led by Estarlin Ortiz-Alcantara. The investigation identified Dominguez-Ortiz as a member of the DTO who was employed by Ortiz-Alcantara to deliver fentanyl. On four occasions between July and November 2021, Dominguez-Ortiz delivered fentanyl to a cooperating source. The total amount of fentanyl that the defendant distributed over the fourth-month period was approximately 500 grams.    

Estarlin Ortiz-Alcantara pleaded guilty in December 2023 and is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 5, 2025.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; New Bedford Police Chief Paul Oliveira; and Fairhaven Police Chief Michael J. Myers made the announcement today. Special assistance was provided by the Massachusetts State Police; Homeland Security Investigations; Bristol County Sherriff’s Office; and Fall River, Taunton, Attleboro, Scituate, Yarmouth, Providence (R.I.) and West Warwick (R.I.) Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. Mulcahy of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
 

BOSTON – A New York operations manager was charged today in federal court in Boston for allegedly conspiring to offer and pay kickbacks to doctors in exchange for ordering medically unnecessary brain scans.

Timothy Doyle, 45, of Selden, N.Y. was charged and has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the Court.

According to the charging documents, from at least June 2013 through at least September 2020, Doyle allegedly conspired with others, including two managers for a mobile medical diagnostics company that performed transcranial doppler (TCD) scans, to enter into kickback agreements with various doctors. TCD scans are brain scans that measure blood flow in parts of the brain. It is alleged that Doyle and his co-conspirators agreed to offer and pay doctors kickbacks, some in cash and others by check, based on the number of TCD ultrasounds the doctors ordered. Doyle and his co-conspirators allegedly created purported rental and administrative service agreements, which on paper made it appear as if doctors were compensated for the TCD company’s use of space and administrative resources of the ordering doctor’s practice based on fair market value and not based on the volume or value of referrals. It is also alleged that these agreements were shams that hid the true nature of the arrangement of paying per test.  

According to the charging documents, the scheme resulted in fraudulent bills of approximately $70.6 million to Medicare.  

The charge of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Roberto Coviello, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Jonathan Wlodyka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division, Boston Field Office; Carol S. Hamilton, Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, Boston Regional Office; Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division; and Christopher Algieri, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Howard Locker and Mackenzie Queenin of the Health Care Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 
 

BOSTON – A Honduran man living in Puerto Rico, and two co-conspirators living in Massachusetts, have pleaded guilty to their roles in a conspiracy to distribute 15 kilograms of cocaine. One of the two Massachusetts co-conspirators also pleaded guilty to distributing thousands of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl.

Linette Davila, 42, of Methuen, Mass. pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, involving 500 grams or more of cocaine, and one count of distribution of 500 grams or more of cocaine. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton scheduled Davila’s sentencing for Feb. 26, 2025.

Rony Valencia Lopez, 31, of Puerto Rico, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Judge Gorton scheduled Valencia Lopez’s sentencing for Dec. 10, 2024.

Luis Pena Arias, 28, of Lawrence, Mass. pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, involving 5 kilograms or more of cocaine and one count of distribution of 500 grams or more of cocaine. Pena Arias also pleaded guilty to four counts of distribution of fentanyl, involving variously 400 grams or more of fentanyl and 40 grams or more of fentanyl. Judge Gorton scheduled Pena Arias’s sentencing for Jan. 10, 2025.  

The defendants were indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2024.

On four occasions in the summer of 2023, Pena Arias sold more than 10,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl to an undercover officer. The same summer, law enforcement contacted Rony Valencia Lopez, an associate of Pena Arias, who lived in Puerto Rico and reportedly had access to large kilogram quantities of cocaine. In telephone conversations and during a meeting in Puerto Rico, Valencia Lopez agreed to provide 15 kilograms of cocaine, which he said were located in Massachusetts. In September 2023, Valencia Lopez flew to Boston to facilitate the sale and later joined Pena Arias to meet with undercover law enforcement at a hotel in Andover, Mass. where they agreed to provide the 15 kilograms – five kilograms at a time. That evening, Davila arrived at the hotel with four kilograms of cocaine. All three defendants were subsequently taken into custody.

The charges of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances (involving five kilograms or more of cocaine) and distribution of 400 grams or more of fentanyl each provide for a sentence of at least 10 years and up to life in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $10 million. The charges of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances (involving 500 grams or more of cocaine), distribution of 500 grams or more of cocaine and distribution of 40 grams or more of fentanyl each provide for a sentence of at least five years and up to 40 years in prison, at least four years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $5 million. The charge of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division made the announcement today. Special assistance was provided by the Massachusetts State Police, the Caribbean Division of the DEA, U.S. Customs & Border Protection and the Andover Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samuel R. Feldman and Annapurna Balakrishna of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Division are prosecuting the case.

BOSTON – A New York doctor was charged today in federal court in Boston for allegedly receiving kickbacks in exchange for ordering medically unnecessary brain scans.

Dr. Vishnudat Seodat, 75, of Mattituck, N.Y. was charged and has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the Court.

According to the charging documents, Seodat, an internist in Long Island, N.Y., was a licensed medical doctor in the State of New York for approximately 36 years. It is alleged that from approximately June 2013 through December 2019, Seodat conspired with others, including a principal for a mobile medical diagnostics company that performed transcranial doppler (TCD) scans, to order hundreds of medically unnecessary TCD scans in exchange for kickbacks. TCD scans are brain scans that measure blood flow in parts of the brain. It is further alleged that Seodat and his co-conspirators used false diagnoses to order the unnecessary brain scans, for which a co-conspirator would submit claims to Medicare and other insurance companies, including private insurance companies, on behalf of the medical diagnostic company for payment. In exchange, Seodat was paid cash kickbacks of approximately $100 per test. According to the charging documents, the scheme resulted in fraudulent bills of approximately $1 million to Medicare and private insurance companies.

The charge of conspiracy to commit health care fraud provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Roberto Coviello, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Jonathan Wlodyka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division, Boston Field Office; Carol S. Hamilton, Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, Boston Regional Office; Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division; and Christopher Algieri, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Howard Locker and Mackenzie Queenin of the Health Care Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 
 

BOSTON – A Boston man has been charged in federal court in Boston with illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition.

Kyvon Ross, 25, was charged by criminal complaint with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Ross will appear in federal court in Boston on Dec. 4, 2024.

According to the charging documents, on Oct. 3, 2024, Ross was approached by law enforcement after driving a moped at a high speed and without a rear license plate. It is alleged that Ross accelerated at a high rate of speed directly at one of the officers before losing control of the moped and falling to the ground. It is alleged that Ross violently resisted arrest and was found in possession of a loaded Glock handgun with an obliterated serial number on his person.  

Ross is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition due to multiple prior felony convictions, including a 2021 federal conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The charge of possessing ammunition after being convicted of a felony provides for a sentence of up to 15 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of a $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division made the announcement today. The Boston Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives provided valuable assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney William F. Abely, Chief of the Criminal Division, is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – A Worcester man has been charged for his alleged sexual exploitation of two minor females and filming the assault.

Antonio Merced, 26, was charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor. The defendant is in state custody on related offenses and will appear in federal court in Worcester at a later date.

According to the criminal complaint, on or about July 13, 2024, Merced allegedly created video recordings of himself sexually assaulting two minor victims.

Merced was previously arrested in September 2024 and subsequently charged in Worcester District Court with three counts of dissemination of obscene material to a minor, and one count each of open and gross lewdness and lascivious behavior, dissemination of Child sexual abuse material (CSAM), intimidation, enticing a child under 16 and two counts of aggravated rape of a child.

The charge of sexual exploitation of a minor provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison, up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Interim Worcester Police Chief Paul B. Saucier made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen Noto of the Worcester Branch Office is prosecuting the case.  

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.  

BOSTON – A Haverhill man was sentenced today for distributing tens of thousands of pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine.

Angel Joel Diaz, a/k/a “Guero,” 36, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to nine years in prison. In April 2024, Diaz pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, two counts of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, and one count of possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and methadone.

In January 2023, an investigation began into Diaz’s fentanyl pill manufacturing and distribution operation. An undercover officer contacted Diaz posing as a potential drug customer seeking to buy counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl. On Jan. 11, 2023, Diaz provided the undercover officer with 208 pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine. Diaz told the undercover officer that the pills were made with “fentanyl” and they were “knocking people down in New York.”

On two subsequent occasions, Jan. 27, 2023 and Feb. 7, 2023, Diaz distributed thousands of counterfeit prescription pills containing suspected fentanyl to the undercover officer. On Feb. 14, 2023, Diaz sent a photo of fentanyl pills to the undercover officer and said, “even making it with a mask makes you want to vomit and everything.”

On Feb. 15, 2023, Diaz was arrested while carrying a shopping bag containing 31,142 fentanyl pills separated into seven plastic bags. During a subsequent search of Diaz’s Haverhill residence, two pill presses; thousands of pills; powder containing fentanyl and methadone; stamps used to make counterfeit pills; several masks; and chemicals used in manufacturing pills were discovered.

In all, more than 6 kilograms of substances containing fentanyl, 381 grams of substances containing methamphetamine, and 81 grams of substances containing methadone were seized from Diaz.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Massachusetts State Police and the Haverhill Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel R. Feldman of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.