District Not Recorded
The source did not name an office we could identify. These records remain unassigned rather than guessed.
Sanofi Pasteur Agrees to Pay $19.8 Million to Resolve Drug Overcharges to the Department of Veterans AffairsRead the Press Release
Sanofi-Pasteur has agreed to pay $19,868,194 to resolve claims that it incorrectly calculated drug prices and thereby overcharged the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for drugs under two contracts between 2002 and 2011, the Department of Justice announced today. Sanofi Pasteur, a Delaware corporation headquartered in Swiftwater, Pennyslvania, is the vaccines division of Sanofi-Aventis.
“It is important that pharmaceutical companies provide complete, accurate, and current information to the VA about the pricing of their drugs,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will ensure that pharmaceutical companies follow the rules for drug pricing when selling to the government.”
Under the Veterans Health Care Act, 38 U.S.C. 8126, drug manufactures may not charge the VA more than a maximum amount, known as the Federal Ceiling Price (FCP), for covered drugs. Sanofi Pasteur disclosed to the VA that it had incorrectly calculated the FCP for certain drugs from 2007 to 2011 and overcharged the VA. The Office of Inspector General for the VA investigated the matter, and it determined that the error resulted in overcharges going back to 2002.
“Overcharging VA depletes funds that are available to care for our veterans,” said Director of the Healthcare Resources Division Mark Myers of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General. “We will continue to hold companies accountable for errors in drug pricing.”
Under the settlement, in addition to paying approximately $19.8 million, Sanofi Pasteur has agreed that it will not pursue claims for reimbursement for sales where it contends its error in calculating the FCP resulted in a lower price to the VA.
This settlement was the result of a coordinated effort by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch and the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs. No lawsuit was filed in this matter and there has been no determination of liability.
Justice Department Requires Divestiture of Danone’s Stonyfield Farms Business in Order for Danone to Proceed with WhiteWave AcquisitionRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice announced today that it will require Danone S.A. to divest Danone’s Stonyfield Farms business in order for Danone to proceed with its $12.5 billion acquisition of The WhiteWave Foods Company Inc. The department said that, without the divestiture, the proposed acquisition likely would reduce competition between the two leading participants and top brands in the markets for raw and fluid organic milk, potentially harming dairy farmers in the northeast and U.S. consumers of fluid organic milk.
The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division filed a civil antitrust lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to block the proposed transaction. At the same time, the department filed a proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, would resolve the department’s competitive concerns.
“The proposed acquisition would have blunted competition between the top two purchasers of raw organic milk in the northeast and the producers of the three leading brands of organic milk in the United States,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brent Snyder of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Today’s proposed settlement will ensure competitive marketplaces for both farmers in the northeast that sell raw organic milk and consumers who purchase fluid organic milk in stores nationwide.”
According to the department’s complaint, as a result of Danone’s long-term strategic partnership and supply and licensing agreements with WhiteWave’s primary competitor, CROPP Cooperative (CROPP), the proposed acquisition would have provided incentives and opportunities for cooperative behavior between the two leading purchasers of raw organic milk in the northeast. This cooperation likely would have resulted in farmers receiving less favorable contract terms for the purchase of their raw organic milk. Similarly, the proposed acquisition would have aligned the interests of the producers of Stonyfield, Horizon and Organic Valley, the only three national fluid organic milk brands, and risked higher prices and fewer choices for U.S consumers.
Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Danone must divest its Stonyfield Farms business to an independent buyer approved by the United States. The department said that the divestiture will sever Danone’s and CROPP’s strategic partnership thereby eliminating the entanglements between CROPP and the merged firm. As a result, the divestiture will preserve competition for the purchase of raw organic milk from northeast dairy farmers and the sale of fluid organic milk to consumers.
Danone is a France-based global food company that produces and sells a wide range of food products. Danone’s annual sales for 2015 were approximately $24.3 billion. Stonyfield Farms Inc., a subsidiary of Danone, is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Londonderry, New Hampshire. Stonyfield Farms produces and sells a range of organic dairy products.
WhiteWave is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Denver, Colorado. WhiteWave produces and sells a range of organic dairy products, including organic fluid milk, yogurt and cheese. WhiteWave had $3.86 billion in sales in 2015.
As required by the Tunney Act, the proposed consent decree, along with the department’s competitive impact statement, will be published in the Federal Register. Any person may submit written comments concerning the proposed settlement during a 60-day comment period to Maribeth Petrizzi, Chief, Litigation II Section, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 8700, Washington, D.C. 20530. At the conclusion of the 60-day comment period, the court may enter the final judgment upon a finding that it serves the public interest.
Danone Complaint Danone Explanation of Consent Danone HSSO & PFJJustice Department Cautions Employers Seeking H-1B Visas Not to Discriminate Against U.S. WorkersRead the Press Release
The Justice Department cautioned employers petitioning for H-1B visas not to discriminate against U.S. workers. The warning came as the federal government began accepting employers’ H-1B visa petitions for the next fiscal year. The H-1B visa program allows companies in the United States to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations such as science and information technology.
The anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) generally prohibits employers from discriminating against U.S. workers because of their citizenship or national origin in hiring, firing and recruiting. Employers violate the INA if they have a discriminatory hiring preference that favors H-1B visa holders over U.S. workers.
“The Justice Department will not tolerate employers misusing the H-1B visa process to discriminate against U.S. workers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler of the Civil Rights Division. “U.S. workers should not be placed in a disfavored status, and the department is wholeheartedly committed to investigating and vigorously prosecuting these claims.”
The division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER), formerly known as the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices, is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. The statute prohibits, among other things, citizenship, immigration status and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; retaliation and intimidation.
For more information about protections against employment discrimination under immigration laws, call IER’s worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); call IER’s employer hotline at 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); sign up for a free webinar; email [email protected]; or visit IER’s English and Spanish websites.
Applicants or employees who believe they were subjected to discrimination based on their citizenship, immigration status, or national origin in hiring, firing or recruitment or referral, should contact IER’s worker hotline for assistance.
Court Authorizes Service of John Doe Summons Seeking Information About Dutch Residents Using American Express Cards Linked to Non-Dutch Bank AccountsRead the Press Release
A federal court in Texas authorized the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to serve a John Doe Summons on American Express Travel Related Services Company, the Justice Department announced. The IRS John Doe summons seeks information about persons residing in the Netherlands that have American Express debit or credit cards linked to bank accounts located outside of the Netherlands. The summons is referred to as “John Doe” summonses because the IRS does not know the identity of the person being investigated.
The United States petitioned the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Texas to authorize the summons at the request of the government of the Netherlands under a treaty between the Netherlands and the United States. The treaty allows the two countries to cooperate in exchanging information that is helpful in enforcing each country’s tax laws. The IRS summons seeks the identities of Dutch residents who have debit or credit cards linked to bank accounts located outside of the Netherlands so the Dutch government can determine if those persons have complied with Dutch tax laws. request is based on the Netherlands Tax and Customs Administration’s (NTCA) Payment Card Project, in which information on the use of payment cards (debit or credit) issued by financial institutions outside of the Netherlands can be used to identify non-compliant Dutch taxpayers. NTCA’s project has made similar requests, and already obtained similar information, from other financial institutions outside the United States resulting in several million euros in additional tax, interest and penalties from the non-compliant Dutch taxpayers, according to evidence submitted with the petition. American Express informed the NTCA that the transaction information sought is exclusively available in the United States, according to the evidence submitted with the petition. filing does not allege that American Express violated any U.S. or Dutch laws with respect to these accounts.
“The Department of Justice and the IRS are committed to working with the United States’ international treaty partners to identify individuals using secret offshore accounts to evade tax laws,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “This sustained collaboration limits the opportunities to hide assets and belies the assumption that information about them is beyond a taxing authority’s reach.”
“In fighting international tax evasion, the IRS recognizes hidden offshore accounts are a problem other nations face as well,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “By using our existing network of bilateral agreements and tools such as the John Doe summons, we can help address a common problem of evading taxation by hiding assets abroad.”
The court order in this case authorizing this enforcement action is a part of ongoing international efforts to stop persons from using foreign financial accounts as a way to evade taxes. Courts have previously approved John Doe summonses allowing the IRS to identify individuals using offshore accounts to evade their U. S tax obligations, and have approved John Doe summonses to be used to identify individuals using U.S. financial institutions or accounts to evade tax obligations of a foreign county, pursuant to international tax treaties.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.
Attorney General Sessions' Memorandum Supporting Federal, State, Local and Tribal Law EnforcementRead the Press Release
Memorandum from the Attorney General on supporting federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement.
Drug Trafficker Sentenced to 87 Months ImprisonmentRead the Press Release
SHAWN N. ANDERSON, Acting United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (NMI), announced that ALVIN SANTOS PADUA, age 38, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today by Senior Judge Alex R. Munson, to 87 months imprisonment for attempted possession of 245 grams of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, three years supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment fee.
On September 16, 2013, PADUA met one of his associates at the parking lot of Hotel Mai’ana in Tamuning for the specific purpose of picking up a package containing approximately 250 grams of methamphetamine. PADUA picked up a DVD player box which he expected would contain methamphetamine. The defendant had previously agreed with his associates in the Philippines to sell the drugs, and cause to send $100,000 drug proceeds to the Philippines. He was unaware that the box concealed a sham product that law enforcement agents placed inside the box. The defendant was arrested shortly after he received the package.
Defendant PADUA pled guilty on December 5, 2013.
The case was investigated by special agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marivic David.
Caribbean Defendants Convicted of International Drug TraffickingRead the Press Release
Two defendants were convicted today after a 12 day jury trial for their roles in an international drug trafficking conspiracy that aimed to transport more than 2,400 kilograms of cocaine aboard U.S. registered aircraft, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Dwight Knowles, a Bahamian national also known as “Arizona,” and Oral George Thompson, a Jamaican national also known as “Chad,” were convicted of conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, five kilograms or more of cocaine on board a U.S. registered aircraft. Thompson is set to be sentenced on June 21, 2017, and Knowles is set to be sentenced on June 23, 2017. U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the District of Columbia presided over the trial and will impose sentence.
According to the evidence introduced at trial, Knowles and Thompson sought to acquire U.S. registered aircraft to transport large quantities of cocaine from Colombia and Venezuela. Thompson moved to Colombia by 1997 and Knowles followed by 2010. From their base in Colombia, the defendants were better able to connect with sources of cocaine who were seeking aircraft, mostly from the United States, to transport their cocaine from Colombia and Venezuela to Central America and the Caribbean, for eventual distribution elsewhere.The evidence introduced at trial also revealed that from 2011 through May 2012, Knowles and Thompson sought to acquire a U.S. registered aircraft to transport at least three loads of cocaine from Venezuela to Honduras. The evidence showed that a total of at least 2,400 kilograms of cocaine could have been transported in the three loads. The plan was to acquire a U.S. registered Beechcraft 1900 aircraft in The Bahamas, fly the plane to Haiti to refuel and pick up a second pilot, fly to Venezuela where the cocaine would be loaded on the plane, and then fly to Honduras to deliver the cocaine. In May 2012, Knowles and Thompson arranged for a Bahamian pilot to fly the Beechcraft 1900 aircraft to Haiti; however, upon arriving in Haiti, the pilot and two other men on the plane were arrested and the plane was confiscated by Haitian authorities.
The DEA’s Orlando (Florida) office, Bogotá and Cartagena, Colombia Country Offices, and Special Operations Division investigated the case. The government of Colombia provided invaluable assistance through the investigation of this case, with specific assistance provided by the Colombian National Police. Invaluable assistance was also provided by The Royal Bahamas Police Force, Drug Enforcement Unit; the Ministry of Traffic, Transportation and Urban Planning, Curacao Civil Aviation Authority; and, the National Police of Haiti, Anti-Drug Traffic Office. The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also played a pivotal role in the investigation and prosecution of the case.
This case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Adrian Rosales, Charles Miracle and Erin Cox of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section (NDDS), with significant assistance provided by the NDDS Judicial Attachés in Bogotá, Colombia; the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs; and the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Colombia (Fiscalía).
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions Meets with Attorneys General of El Salvador, Guatemala and HondurasRead the Press Release
A Department of Justice official released the following background statement at the conclusion of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ meeting with the Attorneys General from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras:
“On Thursday, March 30, 2017, Attorney General Sessions met with the Attorneys General of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The goal of the dialogue was to strengthen law enforcement cooperation against transnational criminal threats common to all our countries, such as cartels, gangs and financial crimes. Attorney General Sessions and his counterparts agreed that this meeting was an important first step and that these vital discussions would continue as a means to increasing citizen security both in Central America and the United States.”
DELEGATION
Attorney General of El Salvador, Douglas Arquimides Melendez Ruiz
Attorney General of Guatemala, Thelma Esperanza Aldana Hernandez
Attorney General of Honduras, Oscar Fernando Chinchilla BanegasAdditional information on the Justice Department's Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training (OPDAT) may be found on OPDAT's website.
Readout of Today's Meeting Between Attorney General Sessions and the Jewish Community Centers and JCC Association of North AmericaRead the Press Release
The Attorney General, today, had a positive and productive conversation with the Jewish Community Centers and JCC Association of North America. The Department of Justice will not tolerate hate crimes against Jewish communities or the targeting of any community in this country on the basis of their religious beliefs. JCCs continue to have strong partnerships with local and federal law enforcement and the Attorney General commends them for their responsiveness, efficiency, calm and competence in the face of those who would threaten these institutions and the millions of Americans who walk through their doors.
Justice Department Requires Divestiture of Morpho’s Explosive Trace Detection Business Before Smiths AcquisitionRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice announced today that it will require Smiths Group plc to divest Morpho Detection LLC and Morpho Detection International LLC’s global explosive trace detection (ETD) business in order for Smiths to proceed with its proposed $710 million acquisition of Morpho from Safran S.A.
The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division filed a civil antitrust lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to block the proposed transaction. At the same time, the department filed a proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, would resolve the department’s competitive concerns.
“The acquisition, as originally proposed, would have eliminated one of only three suppliers of desktop explosive trace detection devices in the United States, and these devices play a critical role in ensuring the safe transport of passengers and cargo at our nation’s airports,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brent Snyder of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Today’s settlement will ensure that the Transportation Security Administration and other desktop explosive trace detection purchasers continue to enjoy the benefits of vigorous competition when they purchase these vital security screening products.”
The European Commission previously announced that in order to address its competitive concerns with the acquisition, it also will require Smiths to divest Morpho’s global ETD business. The department’s Antitrust Division and the European Commission cooperated closely throughout the course of their respective investigations, with frequent contact between the agencies.
According to the department’s complaint, Smiths and Morpho are two of the leading providers of desktop ETD devices for both air passenger travel and air cargo screening at U.S. airports. Desktop ETD devices detect trace amounts of explosive residue or narcotics on hands, belongings, and cargo from a tiny sample swabbed from the object and placed inside the detector. The complaint alleges that competition between Smiths and Morpho has resulted in lower prices, better service, and more innovative desktop ETD devices.
The proposed divestiture will remedy the loss of this competition. Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Smiths must divest Morpho’s global ETD business to a buyer approved by the United States. The department believes that the divestiture of Morpho’s global ETD business, which also includes handheld and portal ETD devices, was necessary to ensure that the buyer of Morpho’s global ETD business would be a viable competitor in the provision of desktop ETD devices.
Smiths is a London-based public limited company that provides products used in an array of industries. Smith’s wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, Smiths Detection U.S. Inc. (Smiths Detection), sells a wide range of threat and contraband detection equipment used at airports and other high-risk critical infrastructure sites. Smiths Detection, which is headquartered in Edgewood, Maryland, had approximately $730 million in annual revenues in 2015.
Safran is an aerospace and defense company based in Paris. Morpho, a division of Safran, is headquartered in Newark, California. Morpho sells threat and contraband detection equipment used at airports and other high-risk critical infrastructure sites. Morpho had approximately $325 million in annual revenues in 2015, about $65 million of which were from ETD product sales.
As required by the Tunney Act, the proposed consent decree, along with the department’s competitive impact statement, will be published in the Federal Register. Any person may submit written comments concerning the proposed settlement within 60 days of its publication to Maribeth Petrizzi, Chief, Litigation II Section, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 8700, Washington, D.C. 20530. At the conclusion of the 60-day comment period, the court may enter the final judgment upon a finding that it serves the public interest.
Smiths CIS Smiths Complaint Smiths Explanation Smiths HSSO with PFJFishing Vessel Owner Convicted of Discharging Oily Waste into the Coastal Waters of the United States Off Washington StateRead the Press Release
Bingham Fox, owner of the fishing vessel Native Sun, was convicted today in U.S. District Court in Seattle of discharging oily waste directly into coastal waters of the State of Washington, a felony violation of the Clean Water Act. The jury deliberated six hours following a five-day trial. U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik scheduled sentencing for July 11, 2017.
According to court documents, Bingham Fox, and others associated with the Native Sun, repeatedly discharged oily wastes into the ocean using unapproved submersible pumps and hoses. According to evidence presented at trial, the Native Sun had multiple, long-term, mechanical problems that put substantial amounts of oil in its bilges. In addition, the vessel was leaky, so the bilges were constantly filling with a mixture of oil and seawater. Bingham Fox had at least one illegal pump installed on board and directed others to regularly dump oily waste from the bilges, even in port.
“This criminal conviction clearly shows that treating our oceans as a dump has serious consequences,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeff Wood of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “Law-abiding vessel operators know the importance of compliance with our nation’s environmental laws, but those that flout those laws will face justice.”
“This case highlights the great collaborative efforts of Sector Puget Sound, Coast Guard Investigative Service and the Department of Justice, in holding those who pollute our waters accountable,” said Captain Linda A. Sturgis, Commander, Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound. “The results announced today are a prime example of the importance of the Coast Guard's marine environmental protection mission.”
Bingham Fox faces up to five years in prison and a criminal fine of up to $250,000 for this conviction. On March 17, 2017, his son Randall Fox pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to discharge oily wastes into the ocean when the Native Sun was offshore. Those acts violated the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), which specifically prohibits the discharge of machinery space bilge water, unless it has been properly treated, and meets rigorous oil pollution standards. APPS implements America’s obligations under an international treaty to control pollution by ocean-going vessels. On at least one occasion, a discharge under Randall Fox’s command left a large oily sheen in the wake of the Native Sun, which was video recorded by a crewmember, who reported the crime to authorities. Randall Fox faces a maximum of six years in prison for the APPS count and five years in prison for the conspiracy count. He also faces a criminal fine of up to $250,000 for each count. His sentencing is scheduled for June 16, 2017.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard. The case is being prosecuted by trial attorneys Todd W. Gleason and Stephen Da Ponte of ENRD’s Environmental Crimes Section.
Federal Court Permanently Bars California Man from Preparing Property AppraisalsRead the Press Release
A federal court in Helena, Montana permanently barred Ron Broyles of San Rafael, California from preparing - or assisting others in preparing - any property appraisal that will be used in connection with federal taxes, the Justice Department announced. Based upon evidence the government submitted to the Court in support of a request to bar Broyles, the Court found that Broyles assisted in the organization of a timeshare donation scheme, directly participated in and promoted that scheme, which resulted in timeshare owners claiming improper federal tax deductions for donating their timeshares.
The Court also found that Broyles prepared at least 5,000 appraisals for timeshares to be donated to an entity called Donate for a Cause. Previously, the Court entered permanent injunctions against the other individuals and companies involved in the timeshare donation scheme, including Donate for a Cause, Timeshare Closings, James Tarpey of Montana, Curt Thor of Washington, and Suzanne Tarpey of Montana.
According to the Court’s order, each of Broyles’ 5,000 timeshare appraisals contained false or fraudulent statements about the allowability of tax deductions under the internal revenue laws, and that Broyles knew or had reason to know that these statements were false or fraudulent. According to the evidence submitted by the government, Broyles served as the in-house and primary appraiser for Montana-based organizations Donate for a Cause and TimeShare Closings doing business as Resort Closings. According to the United States’ evidence, between 2011 and 2014, Broyles earned more than $617,000 from preparing appraisals for timeshares to be donated to Donate for a Cause, which constituted all - or virtually all - of his appraisal income during that time. Between 2010 and 2012, Broyles’ appraisals caused his customers to claim more than $11 million in improper charitable contribution deductions, according to the evidence submitted by the government.
The court also barred Broyles from encouraging or advising others to claim charitable contribution deductions on any federal tax return. The court’s order also requires Broyles to identify all timeshare owners for which he prepared a timeshare appraisal since 2010, provide such information to the United States, and email, or mail, a copy of the court’s judgment to every timeshare owner for which he prepared a timeshare appraisal since 2010.
Scams that claim inflated charitable contribution deductions is one of the IRS’s Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2017. The IRS recommends anyone who may have improperly claimed such deductions to consult a tax professional. Guidelines for valuing and deducting property donations to charity can be found in Publication 526 and Publication 561, available on IRS.gov.
Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert, head of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, thanked the IRS Revenue Agent who conducted the investigation and Trial Attorneys Richard G. Rose, Harris J. Phillips and Gretchen E. Nygaard of the Tax Division, who litigated this case.
In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of tax return preparers and tax fraud promoters. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.
Attorney General Sessions Announces Expansion and Modernization of Program to Deport Criminal Aliens Housed in Federal Correctional FacilitiesRead the Press Release
Attorney General Jeff Sessions today announced the expansion and modernization of the Department’s Institutional Hearing Program (IHP).
The IHP identifies removable criminal aliens who are inmates in federal correctional facilities, provides in-person and video teleconference (VTC) immigration removal proceedings, and removes the alien upon completion of sentence, rather than releasing the alien to an ICE detention facility or into the community for adjudication of status. Bringing an Immigration Judge to the inmate for a determination of removability, rather than vice versa, saves time and resources and speeds hearings.
The program is coordinated by the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“We owe it to the American people to ensure that illegal aliens who have been convicted of crimes and are serving time in our federal prisons are expeditiously removed from our country as the law requires,” said Attorney General Sessions. “This expansion and modernization of the Institutional Hearing Program gives us the tools to continue making Americans safe again in their communities.”
The expansion and modernization of the IHP program will occur in the following three ways:
1. ICE, BOP, and EOIR will expand the number of active facilities with the program to a total of 14 BOP and 6 BOP contract facilities;
2. EOIR and BOP will increase each facility’s VTC capabilities and update existing infrastructure to aid in the ability to conduct removal proceedings; and
3. EOIR and ICE will finalize a new and uniform intake policy. EOIR and ICE expect to have reached agreement on this new intake process by April 6, 2017.
These improvements will speed the process of deporting incarcerated criminal aliens and will reduce costs to taxpayers.
Former Vice President of Finance at Publicly Traded Company Charged with Accounting and Securities Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
A former vice president of finance for Bankrate Inc., a publicly traded financial services and marketing company headquartered in New York City, was charged in an indictment filed yesterday for his alleged participation in a complex accounting and securities fraud scheme.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Benjamin Greenberg of the Southern District of Florida and Chief Postal Inspector Guy J. Cottrell of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) made the announcement today.
Hyunjin Lerner, 48, of Martin County, Florida, was charged in an indictment filed in the Southern District of Florida with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, falsify a public company’s books, records and accounts and make false statements to a public company’s accountants; three counts of wire fraud; one count of securities fraud; four counts of false entries in a public company’s books, records and accounts; and three counts of false statements to a public company’s accountants. Lerner, who previously worked at Bankrate’s offices in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, made his initial appearance earlier today before U.S. Magistrate Judge John J. O’Sullivan of the Southern District of Florida and was released on bond.
The indictment alleges that between 2011 and 2014, Lerner and his co-conspirators carried out a complex scheme to manipulate Bankrate’s financial statements and artificially inflate Bankrate’s earnings. According to the indictment, Lerner and his co-conspirators allegedly engaged in “cookie jar” or “cushion” accounting, meaning unsupported expense accruals were left on Bankrate’s books and then selectively reversed in later quarters to meet earnings goals. In addition, Lerner and his co-conspirators allegedly: misrepresented certain company expenses as “deal costs” in order to artificially inflate publicly reported adjusted earnings metrics; booked hundreds of thousands of dollars in unsupported revenue to further inflate Bankrate’s reported revenue and earnings; and made materially false statements to conceal the improper accounting entries from Bankrate’s auditors, shareholders and the investing public.
An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The USPIS Washington, D.C., Division investigated the case. Assistant Chief Henry Van Dyck and Trial Attorneys Rush Atkinson, Emily Scruggs and Somil Trivedi of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida provided assistance in this matter.
Individuals who believe that they may be a victim in this case should visit the Fraud Section’s Victim Witness website for more information.
Attorney General Sessions to Travel to St. LouisRead the Press Release
****** MEDIA ADVISORY ******
Attorney General Jeff Sessions will travel to St. Louis on FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 2017, to speak with federal, state and local law enforcement about efforts to combat violent crime and restore public safety.
WHO: Attorney General Jeff Sessions
WHAT: Speech to federal, state and local law enforcement partners.
WHEN: FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 2017
10:00 a.m. CDT (11 a.m. EDT)
WHERE: Thomas Eagleton U.S. Courthouse
111 S. 10th Street
St. Louis, MO 63102
1st Floor Jury Assembly Room
OPEN PRESS
(Camera Preset by for K9 Sweep: 9:15 a.m. CDT // Final Access: 9:40 a.m. CDT)
NOTE: All media must RSVP and present government-issued photo I.D. (such as a driver’s license as well as valid media credentials). The RSVP and any inquiries regarding logistics should be directed to Peter Carr in the Office of Public Affairs at 202 514-2007 or [email protected].Antitrust Division Issues 2017 Annual NewsletterRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division today issued the 2017 edition of its annual newsletter on its website. The newsletter highlights the Antitrust Division’s recent activities and successes on civil and criminal enforcement, international cooperation and competition advocacy.
The newsletter includes a message from Acting Assistant Attorney General Brent Snyder as well as articles about the Antitrust Division’s enforcement actions in the criminal, merger and civil non-merger areas over the past year. The newsletter highlights the Division’s accomplishments during FY 2016, including charging 52 executives and 19 companies with price-fixing, bid-rigging, fraud, and obstruction of justice, resulting in fines and penalties of $399 million and significant prison sentences. Additional highlights include the Division’s success in preventing anticompetitive acquisitions in the health insurance industry and in preserving competition in a variety of important industries, including movie theaters, advertising, banking, cable, transportation and beer, in matters that were favorably resolved through settlement.
The newsletter also features articles about new leadership and staff within the Division, an update from the Diversity Committee, and a feature on how the Division’s Economic Analysis Group is shaping enforcement efforts.
The newsletter can be found at https://www.justice.gov/atr/division-operations/division-update-spring-2017. Each article provides hyperlinks so that the reader can easily access relevant documents such as press releases, court filings and speeches.
Deutsche Bank’s London Subsidiary Sentenced for Manipulation of LIBORRead the Press Release
DB Group Services (UK) Limited (DBGS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bank AG (Deutsche Bank), was sentenced today for its role in manipulating London Interbank Offered Rates (LIBOR) for U.S. Dollar and several other currencies. LIBOR is a leading benchmark used in financial products and transactions around the world.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting Assistant Attorney General Brent Snyder of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division and Assistant Director in Charge Andrew W. Vale of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement.
DBGS was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill of the District of Connecticut. DBGS pleaded guilty on April 23, 2015, to one count of wire fraud for its role in manipulating LIBOR benchmark interest rates. DBGS signed a plea agreement with the government in which it admitted its criminal conduct and agreed to pay a $150 million fine, which the court accepted in imposing today’s sentence. In addition, Deutsche Bank, the Frankfurt, Germany-based parent company of DBGS, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the Justice Department requiring Deutsche Bank to pay an additional $625 million criminal penalty, to admit and accept responsibility for its misconduct and to continue cooperating with the Justice Department in its ongoing investigation. The DPA also requires Deutsche Bank to retain a corporate monitor for three years.
Together with approximately $1.744 billion in regulatory penalties and disgorgement – $800 million as a result of a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) action, $600 million as a result of a New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) action and $344 million as a result of a U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) action – the Justice Department’s criminal penalties bring the total amount of penalties to approximately $2.519 billion.
According to the plea agreement, from at least 2003 through early 2010, numerous Deutsche Bank derivatives traders – whose compensation was directly connected to their success in trading financial products tied to LIBOR – engaged in efforts, many times in conjunction with other banks, to move these benchmark rates in a direction favorable to their trading positions. Specifically, the derivatives traders requested that LIBOR submitters at Deutsche Bank and other banks submit contributions favorable to trading positions, rather than the accurate rates that complied with the definition of LIBOR. Through these schemes, Deutsche Bank defrauded counterparties who were unaware of the manipulation. Deutsche Bank admitted that its fraudulent LIBOR submissions did, in fact, affect the resulting LIBOR fix on multiple occasions.
The FBI’s Washington Field Office is conducting the investigation. Trial Attorneys Alison Anderson and Richard Powers of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Trial Attorney Michael Koenig of the Antitrust Division are prosecuting the case. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs has provided assistance in this matter.
The investigation leading to these cases has required, and has greatly benefited from, a diligent and wide-ranging cooperative effort among various enforcement agencies both in the United States and abroad. The Justice Department acknowledges and expresses its deep appreciation for this assistance. In particular, the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement referred this matter to the Justice Department and, along with the FCA, has played a major role in the investigation. The Justice Department is also grateful for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s significant role in the LIBOR investigation, as well as the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office for its assistance and ongoing cooperation.
Social Security Disability Lawyer Pleads Guilty for Role in $550 Million Social Security Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
A Social Security disability lawyer pleaded guilty in federal court today for his role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain $550 million in federal disability payments from the Social Security Administration (SSA) for thousands of claimants.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge Michael McGill of the Social Security Administration-Office of Inspector General’s (SSA-OIG) Philadelphia Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Amy S. Hess of the FBI’s Louisville, Kentucky, Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Tracey D. Montaño of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) Nashville, Tennessee, Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Atlanta Regional Office made the announcement.
Eric Christopher Conn, 56, of Pikeville, Kentucky, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves of the Eastern District of Kentucky to one count of theft of government money and one count of payment of gratuities. Sentencing is set for July 14, 2017.
According to the plea, from October 2004 to April 6, 2016, Conn participated in a scheme with former SSA administrative law judge David B. Daugherty and multiple doctors that involved the submission of thousands of falsified medical documents to the SSA. As a result of the scheme, Conn and his co-conspirators obligated the SSA to pay more than $550 million in lifetime benefits to claimants for these fraudulent submissions.
According to the plea, Conn is an attorney whose firm in Floyd County, Kentucky, focused for more than 20 years primarily on representing individuals seeking Social Security disability benefits throughout Kentucky and elsewhere. According to documents filed in connection with the guilty plea, Conn admitted that from December 2004 through April 2011, he paid Daugherty approximately $10,000 a month to award disability benefits to claimants for whom Conn submitted falsified medical documents.
As part of his plea, Conn admitted that he submitted the falsified medical documents, and Daugherty authored decisions granting disability benefits, in well over 1,700 claimants’ cases. Conn admitted that he paid medical professionals to sign medical forms that he fabricated before evaluations of claimants took place. According to the plea, Conn routinely prepared and medical professionals, such as clinical psychologist Alfred Bradley Adkins, signed evaluation reports indicating that claimants had limitations considered disabling by the SSA, irrespective of the claimants’ actual physical or mental conditions. Conn admitted that he received more than $5.7 million in representative fees from the SSA based upon these fraudulent claims.
Conn was indicted last year, along with Daugherty and Adkins. They were charged with conspiracy, fraud, false statements, money laundering and other related offenses in connection with the scheme. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The SSA-OIG, FBI, IRS-CI and HHS-OIG are investigating the case. Trial Attorneys Dustin M. Davis of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Elizabeth G. Wright of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section are prosecuting the case, with previous co-counsel including Assistant U.S. Attorney Trey Alford of the Western District of Missouri and Investigative Counsel Kristen M. Warden of the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General.
Georgia Real Estate Investor Pleads Guilty to Bid Rigging and Bank Fraud at Public Foreclosure AuctionsRead the Press Release
A Georgia real estate investor pleaded guilty today for his role in a bid-rigging conspiracy and fraud scheme related to public real estate foreclosure auctions in Gwinnett County, Georgia, the Department of Justice announced.
Clifford Wayne Hill pleaded guilty to bid rigging and fraud in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. On Feb. 3, 2016, a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia returned an indictment against the defendant.
According to the indictment, from December 2007 to March 2012, Hill and his co-conspirators agreed not to compete for the purchase of selected foreclosed homes so that they could win the auctions for those homes with artificially low bids. Hill made and received payoffs for the agreement not to bid; taking money that otherwise would have gone to mortgage holders and in some cases, to the owners of foreclosed homes.
Including Hill, twenty-three defendants have been charged in connection with the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into bid rigging and fraudulent schemes involving real estate foreclosure auctions in the Atlanta area. Twenty-two real estate investors have pleaded guilty.
Today’s guilty plea is a result of the ongoing investigation being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal II Section, the FBI’s Atlanta Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Georgia. Anyone with information concerning bid rigging or fraud related to public real estate foreclosure auctions should contact the Washington Criminal II Section of the Antitrust Division at 202-598-4000, call the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 888-647-3258, or visit http://www.justice.gov/atr/report-violations.
Statement by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on the Arrest in IsraelRead the Press Release
Attorney General Sessions released the following statement on the arrest in Israel:
“Today’s arrest in Israel is the culmination of a large-scale investigation spanning multiple continents for hate crimes against Jewish communities across our country. The Department of Justice is committed to protecting the civil rights of all Americans, and we will not tolerate the targeting of any community in this country on the basis of their religious beliefs. I commend the FBI and Israeli National Police for their outstanding work on this case.”
New York Salesman Sentenced to Prison for Fraudulently Selling Vending Machine BusinessesRead the Press Release
A federal judge sentenced a Long Island, New York sales representative to prison for fraudulently selling vending machine businesses, the Justice Department announced today.
Richard Linick, 74, of Setauket, New York, was sentenced to serve 36 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $382,126 in restitution by U.S. District Court Judge Joan M. Azrack of the Eastern District of New York. Linick was found guilty after a six-week trial in 2015 of wire fraud and conspiracy. He is one of 22 defendants who have been convicted of fraud in connection with Multivend LLC d/b/a/ Vendstar, which was based in Deer Park, New York.
“The defendant enticed victims to pay thousands of dollars for worthless business opportunities,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to prosecute scam artists who defraud Americans out of their savings.”
Vendstar, which closed in July 2010, sold vending machine businesses in which it promised to provide vending machines, candy, locations, and everything else buyers would need. Vendstar advertised in newspapers and on the Internet and sold the businesses to victims nationwide. But Vendstar’s sales representatives – with the knowledge and approval of Vendstar’s managers – misrepresented the business opportunity’s likely profits, the amount of money that Vendstar’s prior customers were earning, how quickly customers were likely to recover their investment, the quality of locations that were available for the vending machines, and the level of location assistance that customers would receive from locating companies recommended by Vendstar. During the last five years it was open, Vendstar made more than $60 million in sales. Buyers received the vending machines, but little else, and typically lost most or all of their investment. Several of those victims testified at trial about the impact that the losses had on them and their families.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Readler commended the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for its thorough investigation. The case was prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Patrick Jasperse and Assistant Director Alan Phelps of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch. During the last 10 years, approximately 170 individuals have been convicted of fraudulently selling business opportunities in cases prosecuted by the Consumer Protection Branch.
For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.
Justice Department Settles Civil Antitrust Claim Against AT&T and DIRECTV for Orchestrating Information Sharing Agreements with CompetitorsRead the Press Release
Settlement Bars Anticompetitive Information Sharing Between Competitors
The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement that will prohibit DIRECTV and its parent corporation, AT&T, from illegally sharing confidential, forward-looking information with competitors.
The department’s Antitrust Division filed suit on Nov. 2, 2016, alleging that DIRECTV was the ringleader of a series of unlawful information exchanges between DIRECTV and three of its competitors – Cox Communications Inc., Charter Communications Inc. and AT&T (before it acquired DIRECTV) – during the companies’ negotiations to carry the SportsNet LA “Dodgers Channel.” SportsNet LA holds the exclusive rights to telecast almost all live Dodgers games in the Los Angeles area.
The settlement, which will obtain all of the relief sought by the department in its lawsuit, will ensure that when DIRECTV and AT&T negotiate with providers of video programming, including negotiations to telecast the Dodgers Channel, they will not illegally share competitively-sensitive information with their rivals. The settlement also requires the companies to monitor certain communications their programming executives have with their rivals, and to implement antitrust training and compliance programs.
“When competitors email, text, or otherwise share confidential and strategically sensitive information with each other to avoid competing, consumers lose,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brent Snyder of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Today’s settlement promotes competition among pay-television providers and prevents AT&T and DIRECTV from engaging in illegal conduct that thwarts the competitive process.”
According to the Complaint, DIRECTV’s Chief Content Officer, Daniel York, unlawfully exchanged competitively-sensitive information with his counterparts at Cox, Charter and AT&T while they were each negotiating for the right to telecast the Dodgers Channel. The companies engaged in these unlawful information exchanges to decrease the risk that any individual company would lose subscribers by not carrying the Dodgers Channel while others did. Eliminating this threat corrupted the competitive bargaining process and likely contributed to the lengthy blackout.
DIRECTV Group Holdings, LLC is a subsidiary of AT&T Inc., a Delaware corporation with headquarters in Dallas. As of 2014, DIRECTV had approximately 1.25 million video subscribers in the Los Angeles area. AT&T is a Delaware corporation with headquarters located in Dallas. As of 2014, AT&T had approximately 400,000 video subscribers in the Los Angeles area.The proposed settlement agreement, along with the department’s competitive impact statement, will be published in the Federal Register as required by the Antitrust Penalties and Procedures Act. Any person may submit written comments concerning the proposed settlement within 60 days of its publication to Scott Scheele, Chief, Telecommunications and Media Enforcement Section, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 7000, Washington, DC 20530. At the conclusion of the 60-day comment period, the court may enter the final judgment upon finding that it serves the public interest.
Anyone with information related to anticompetitive conduct should contact the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 1-888-647-3258 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html.
Dodgers CIS Dodgers Explanation Dodgers Proposed Final Judgement Dodgers Stipulation & Order Dodgers Stipulation & OrderFormer Coach USA Inc. Executive Sentenced to 15 Months in Prison for Obstruction of JusticeRead the Press Release
A former executive of Coach USA Inc. was sentenced today for attempting to conceal and destroy documents relevant to a civil antitrust investigation and for providing false and misleading statements during the course of civil antitrust litigation, the Department of Justice announced.
Ralph Groen, of North Carolina, the former vice president of information technology for Coach USA Inc. (Coach), was ordered to serve 15 months in prison and ordered to pay a $5000 criminal fine. On Oct. 14, 2016, Groen pleaded guilty to corruptly obstructing, influencing and impeding a civil antitrust investigation and subsequent litigation brought by the United States and State of New York.
According to court documents filed in this case in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Groen directed his subordinates to recall, conceal and destroy end-of-month backup tapes containing emails that were relevant and responsive to the litigation. Additionally, according to court documents, Groen provided false and misleading information to Coach’s investigators and to the United States during the course of a deposition taken as part of the litigation.
The civil litigation, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, related to the New York City hop-on, hop-off tour bus market and challenged Coach’s and City Sights LLC’s formation of the Twin America LLC joint venture in 2009. On Nov. 17, 2015, the district court entered a final judgment requiring Coach and City Sights to pay $7.5 million in disgorgement and to make divestitures to address the competitive harm alleged in the division’s lawsuit.
Today’s sentence is a result of an investigation into obstruction of justice conducted by the Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal I Section and the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Anyone with information on price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct should contact the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 1-888-647-3258, visit http://www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html or call the FBI’s Washington Office at 202-278-2000.
Federal Court Bars South Florida Tax Return Preparers from Preparing Tax Returns for OthersRead the Press Release
A federal court in Miami, Florida has permanently barred Aleluya Universal Accounting Services Inc. (Aleluya) and its officers Frantz Petit-Dos, Luczor Fertilien, and David Joseph from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.
In its complaint, the government alleged that Petit-Dos of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Fertilien of Margate, Florida, and Joseph of Lauderhill, Florida, prepared false returns from Aleluya’s office located at 7537 West Oakland Park Boulevard in Lauderhill, Florida. In addition to barring the defendants from preparing tax returns, the court ordered them to post a notice, in English and in Creole, in the store window where they prepared tax returns stating that the defendants are barred from preparing tax returns for others.
According to the government’s complaint, the defendants prepared tax returns that unlawfully understated income tax liabilities and overstated refunds by fabricating and/or exaggerating deductions and tax credits their clients are not eligible to take. For example, the defendants claimed Fuel Tax Credits for customers who did not qualify for this credit, according to the complaint. In particular, Joseph falsely advised one customer that she was eligible for the Fuel Tax Credit because she was self-employed and drove herself to work, according to the complaint. Similarly, Fertilien told the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that he advised anyone with receipts for gas used in their vehicles could claim the Fuel Tax Credit, according to the complaint.
The government alleged in its complaint that Petit-Dos’s, Fertilien’s, and Joseph’s misconduct predated the creation of Aleluya. Prior to Joseph forming Aleluya in June 2013, Petit-Dos and Fertilien owned a tax return preparation business called Imperial Taxation that was located at the same Lauderhill location as Aleluya, according to the complaint. The complaint alleged that Petit-Dos, Fertilien, and Joseph, a return preparer at Imperial Taxation, prepared false tax returns and committed other violations of the Internal Revenue Code while at Imperial Taxation. Altogether, the complaint alleged that the loss to the U. S. Treasury from the defendants’ activities may be in the millions of dollars.
Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’s Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2017 and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. The IRS has some tips on their website for choosing a return preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers.
In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.
South Florida Resident Sentenced in Connection with Lottery Fraud Scheme Based in JamaicaRead the Press Release
A Broward County, Florida woman was sentenced in Miami, Florida for her role in connection with the operation of a Jamaican-based fraudulent lottery scheme, the Department of Justice announced today.
Cassandra Althea Palmer, 33, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke to serve 24 months in prison and three years of supervised release. The court scheduled a hearing on May 3, 2017 to determine the amount of restitution that Palmer will pay to the victim.
Palmer pleaded guilty on Dec. 7, 2016, to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. As part of her guilty plea, Palmer acknowledged that from February through April 2014, she was a member of a conspiracy that defrauded a Maryland resident.
“Lottery scammers tied to Jamaica continue to prey on victims in the United States, promising large winnings in a lottery to trick victims into sending money to a member of the scheme, with no return to the victim,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice is committed to prosecuting those who participate in international lottery schemes, which frequently target elderly or vulnerable Americans.”
Palmer was charged with the conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud on Oct. 26, 2016. As part of her guilty plea, Palmer agreed that, had the case gone to trial, the United States would have proved the following facts beyond a reasonable doubt: In February 2014, a woman from Worcester County, Maryland, was contacted by an individual in Jamaica and told that she had won a multi-million dollar lottery prize, and that in order to collect her lottery prize, she first had to pay taxes and fees. The victim did not win a lottery prize and would not collect any winnings. Palmer knew about the fraud scheme and agreed with her co-conspirator in Jamaica to participate in the scheme. Palmer participated in the fraudulent scheme in a number of ways. Among other things, she worked with her co-conspirator in Jamaica, to recruit a friend in Maryland to receive $7,500 of the victim’s money. She and her friend kept a portion of the money, and Palmer wire transferred the rest to her Jamaican co-conspirator.
The fraudulent scheme ended when law enforcement officials learned of the fraud. Officials set up a sting, in which an undercover police officer posed as the victim and met Palmer’s friend at a fast food restaurant parking lot in Maryland. The purpose of the meeting was for the victim to hand over $32,500 in cash to Palmer’s friend in order for the victim to claim her purported lottery winnings. Law enforcement arrested Palmer’s friend on the spot, after she received $32,500 in cash from the officer.
“The Postal Inspection Service seeks to end fraud on American citizens, many of whom are vulnerable or older, by those engaged in international lottery schemes,” said Inspector in Charge Daniel B. Brubaker of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Division. “Today’s sentencing demonstrates there are no safe havens for those who participate in these types of fraud schemes.”
This prosecution is part of the Department of Justice’s effort to work with federal and local law enforcement to combat fraudulent lottery schemes in Jamaica that prey on U.S. citizens.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Readler commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the Maryland State Police. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney David A. Frank of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch.
For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl.
INTERPOL Washington to Attend Counter ISIL Ministerial MeetingRead the Press Release
Department of StateINTERPOL Washington Acting Director Wayne Salzgaber will attend a meeting of the Ministers of the Global Coalition working to defeat ISIS on March 22, 2017, at the U.S. Department of State. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will host the 68 foreign ministers and senior Coalition leaders from around the world.
As one of the international organizations represented in the Coalition, INTERPOL, the largest international police organization, will be represented by INTERPOL Secretary General Jϋrgen Stock. INTERPOL Washington is the U.S. National Central Bureau representing the United States in INTERPOL. INTERPOL provides a global framework of resources for combating transnational crime and terrorism, including leading a multinational fusion cell and analytical database containing biometric and other data of value to law enforcement and border control authorities responsible for determining threats from foreign fighters within their jurisdictions.The Ministerial is intended to accelerate international efforts to defeat ISIS in the remaining areas it holds in Iraq and Syria and to maximize pressure on its branches, affiliates, and networks. The Coalition regularly meets at the Small Group level to coordinate and enhance combined efforts to counter ISIS.
The ministerial participants will discuss detailed priorities for the Coalition’s multiple lines of effort, including military, foreign terrorist fighters, counterterrorist financing, counter-messaging, and stabilization of liberated areas, to increase the momentum of the campaign. Ministers will also discuss the ongoing humanitarian crises in Iraq and Syria that are affecting the region.
For more information on the Global Coalition, please visit the State Department webpage: https://www.state.gov/s/seci/ .
A component of the U.S. Department of Justice, INTERPOL Washington is co-managed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As the designated representative to the International Criminal Police Organization on behalf of the Attorney General, INTERPOL Washington serves as the national point of contact for all INTERPOL matters, coordinating international investigative efforts among member countries and the more than 18,000 federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies in the United States.
Former FBI Contractor Pleads Guilty to Making False Statements to InvestigatorsRead the Press Release
A former FBI contractor pleaded guilty today to making false statements to FBI agents in connection with an official FBI investigation.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Assistant Director in Charge Andrew W. Vale of the of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and Acting Inspector General April Stephenson of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General (DOE-OIG) made the announcement.
Arkadiy Zagaytov, 59, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate District Judge Robin M. Meriweather of the District of Columbia. The defendant’s sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.
From June 2010 to October 2011 and September 2012 to August 2014, Zagaytov worked as an Oracle Database Administrator at the FBI Headquarters Information Technology Division and maintained Top Secret security clearance level for the entirety of his term at FBI. On July 31, 2014, Zagaytov was interviewed by Special Agents of the FBI in connection with an official investigation.
According to admissions made in connection with his plea agreement, Zagaytov lied to investigators about a financial transaction that he facilitated in 2004 and 2005 between a senior DOE official and a private company doing business in the United States. Specifically, at the request of the senior official, Zagaytov served as a conduit for purported “consulting” payments from the private company to the senior official. Zagaytov prepared and submitted false invoices to the private company for up to $140,000 in services that he never rendered or performed. Upon receiving payment from the private company and withholding a portion thereof to cover tax liabilities and other personal expenses, Zagaytov made several cash disbursements to the senior official. During his interview with the FBI on July 31, 2014, Zagaytov denied making any such payments to the senior official. Zagaytov also failed to disclose these transactions in his application for Top Secret clearance even though he was required to do so.
The FBI’s Washington Field Office and DOE-OIG investigated the case. Trial Attorney Victor R. Salgado of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section is prosecuting the case.
Statement by Attorney General Sessions on Fatal Officer Shooting in LouisianaRead the Press Release
Attorney General Jeff Sessions today issued the following statement regarding Saturday’s fatal shooting in Louisiana:
“We are all saddened to learn of the death on Saturday night of Sergeant Shawn Anderson, who was shot and killed while trying to question a rape suspect. His death adds to the sorrow of the law enforcement community in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which still mourns the killing last July of three officers during an ambush. The loss of Sergeant Anderson underscores the dangers that our men and women in law enforcement face willingly every day as they serve and protect us. We are forever in their debt, and we must do more to keep them safe. I will make available all of the resources of the department to aid the state and local authorities investigating this incident, and to ensure that the suspect who killed this brave officer faces justice. My thoughts and prayers, and those of the entire Department of Justice, go out to the family, loved ones, and colleagues of Sergeant Anderson.”
Justice Department Settles with Public School District to Resolve HIV-Related Discrimination FindingsRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today that it has reached an agreement with the Pea Ridge School District (PRSD) of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, to remedy alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Title II of the ADA prohibits discrimination by public entities, including school districts, against individuals who have disabilities; individuals regarded as having disabilities; and individuals associated with people with disabilities.
Based on its investigation, the Department previously issued a Letter of Findings outlining how the District excluded three students after reviewing a document referencing the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status of the students’ family member. The District initially concluded that the students were not to be allowed back into the school district until they underwent HIV testing and the results were returned to the District. Following the students’ exclusion from school and extracurricular activities for multiple days, the District changed its position, readmitting the students prior to its receipt of their HIV test results.
The Settlement Agreement requires the District to adopt and implement a written non-discrimination policy that makes clear that PRSD does not discriminate on the basis of disability and that those individuals who are “regarded as disabled” or are associated with a person with a disability are covered by the ADA’s protections. PRSD has also agreed to revise its “Communicable Diseases and Parasites” policy to state that HIV is not considered to be a condition requiring a student’s exclusion from school under that policy; to provide ADA training to PRSD instructors and administrators; to report on its compliance with the agreement; and to pay $15,000 in compensatory damages.
“No child should be kept from attending school based on unfounded fears about HIV,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We commend the Pea Ridge School District for its commitment, reflected in this agreement, to ensure the ADA’s nondiscrimination promise for all students.”
To read the Settlement Agreement or for more information on the ADA and HIV discrimination, visit www.ada.gov/hiv. For more information about the ADA, including how to file a complaint, call the Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (TDD 800-514-0383) or access the ADA website at www.ada.gov.
Justice Department Settles Immigration-Related Discrimination Claim Against Florida Pizza Delivery ChainRead the Press Release
The Justice Department reached a settlement agreement today with Pizzerias, LLC (Pizzerias), a pizza restaurant franchisee with 31 locations in Miami, Florida. The agreement resolves the department’s investigation into whether Pizzerias violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by discriminating against work-authorized immigrants when checking their work authorization documents.
The department’s investigation concluded that Pizzerias routinely requested that lawful permanent residents produce a specific document – a Permanent Resident Card – to prove their work authorization, while not requesting a specific document from U.S. citizens. Lawful permanent residents often have the same work authorization documents available to them as U.S. citizens, and may choose acceptable documents other than a Permanent Resident Card to prove they are authorized to work. The antidiscrimination provision of the INA prohibits employers from subjecting employees to unnecessary documentary demands based on citizenship or national origin.
Under the settlement, Pizzerias must pay a civil penalty of $140,000 to the United States, post notices informing workers about their rights under the INA’s antidiscrimination provision, train their human resources personnel, and be subject to departmental monitoring and reporting requirements.
“The Justice Department is committed to ensuring the rights of lawful U.S. workers to be free from discriminatory barriers based on their citizenship, immigration status, or national origin,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler of the Civil Rights Division. “Pizzerias’ responsiveness throughout the course of the investigation assisted in a speedy resolution of this matter.”
The division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER), formerly known as the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices, is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. The statute prohibits, among other things, citizenship, immigration status, and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; retaliation and intimidation.
For more information about protections against employment discrimination under immigration laws, call IER’s worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); call IER’s employer hotline at 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); sign up for a free webinar; email [email protected]; or visit IER’s English and Spanish websites.
Applicants or employees who believe they were subjected to different documentary requirements based on their citizenship, immigration status, or national origin; or discrimination based on their citizenship, immigration status, or national origin in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral, should contact IER’s worker hotline for assistance.
Guam Construction Company (“GCC”), Byong Kang (President of GCC) Sentenced for Conspiracy to Commit Visa Fraud and Choon Kang (Vice President of GCC) Sentenced for Conspiracy to Commit Money LaunderingRead the Press Release
SHAWN N. ANDERSON, Acting United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, announced that defendants GUAM CONSTRUCTION COMPANY (“GCC”) and its President BYONG HEE KANG (88 years of age) were convicted and sentenced for Conspiracy to Commit Visa Fraud. Also, CHOON HEE KANG (76 years of age), the sister of BYONG KANG and former Vice President of GCC was convicted and sentenced for Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering.
On July 10, 2015, a Superseding Indictment was returned against GCC, BYONG HEE KANG, and CHOON HEE KANG. Charges included Conspiracy to Commit Visa Fraud by intentionally misrepresenting the occupations of H-2B workers in an effort to fraudulently obtain H-2B visas. After the workers arrived in Guam, BYONG HEE KANG caused GCC to employ them in skilled occupations not authorized on their H-2B visas. Additionally, CHOON HEE KANG and her co-defendants were charged with Conspiracy to Launder Money, which involved financial transactions with visa fraud proceeds exceeding $1,140,878.07. The United States also sought the forfeiture of money equal to the value of the proceeds of that offense.
On March 20, 2017, Chief Judge Francis Tydingco-Gatewood of the District of Guam sentenced the Defendants as follows:
GCC sentenced to:
- 5 years probation (during which it must submit to unannounced examination of its books and records by the probation officer or experts engaged by the court);
- $1,875,407.12 in criminal forfeiture, which represented visa fraud proceeds seized from the GCC corporate bank account.
- An additional $27,000 fine
- $400 assessment fee
Defendant BYONG HEE KANG was sentenced to:
- 3 years probation with 14 months of home detention;
- $10,000 fine
- $2,334 restitution to R.N.Q.
- $100 Special Assessment fee
- Forfeiture of all rights and interest in the visa fraud proceeds.
Defendant CHOON HEE KANG was sentenced to:
- Time served and 3 years of supervised release.
- As a condition of supervised release, report to DHS for removal or deportation proceedings
- $7,500 fine
- $100 Special Assessment fee
- Forfeiture of all rights and interest in the visa fraud proceeds.
Shawn N. Anderson, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, stated, "Maintaining the integrity of the H-2B visa program is vital to our business community. The Department of Justice will continue to prosecute those who seek personal enrichment through dishonest business practices. The forfeiture of nearly $2 million in visa fraud proceeds is a significant step toward accountability for corporate wrongdoers such as GCC, its President BYONG KANG and former Vice President CHOON KANG.”
The investigation was a joint effort involving local and federal law enforcement, including the Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations, the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigations, the U.S. Department of Labor - Wage & Hour Division, the Guam Department of Labor, and Guam Customs & Quarantine Agency. This case was prosecuted by Stephen F. Leon Guerrero and Belinda Alcantara, Assistant United States Attorneys for the District of Guam.
Statement by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Declined Detainer Outcome ReportRead the Press Release
Attorney General Sessions released the following statement on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Declined Detainer Outcome Report:
“This important report demonstrates a clear and ongoing threat to public safety. It is not acceptable for jurisdictions to refuse to cooperate with federal law enforcement by releasing criminal aliens back into our communities when our law required them to be deported. The Department of Justice will use all lawful authority to ensure that criminals who are illegally in this country are detained and removed swiftly and to hold accountable jurisdictions that willfully violate federal law.”
Pottstown Woman Pleads Guilty to Defrauding EmployerRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – Christina Svanda, 46 of Pottstown pleaded guilty to charges stemming from her schemes to defraud her employer. Svanda was employed as the financial manager for a family owned furniture business with store locations in Pottstown and Chester Springs, Pennsylvania. She pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of filing a false individual income tax return. United States District Court Judge Jan E. DuBois scheduled a sentence hearing for June 20, 2017. Svanda faces a maximum possible statutory sentence of 43 years in prison, a fine up to $750,000, a $300 special assessment, three years of supervised release, and full restitution of as much as $1,050,029.
In August 2009, Svanda began writing checks from the furniture business’ bank account at Downingtown National Bank to cover her personal credit card bills. Between August 2009 and May 2015, Svanda stole approximately $858,669 from the furniture business’s bank account to pay her personal credit card bills.
Svanda also defrauded the furniture business by wrongfully increasing her pay by a total of $191,359 between 2009 and 2015. The furniture company used a third-party payroll service. Svanda called in the payroll to the third-party service on a weekly basis. Each week, there were changes to payroll, including bonuses paid to sales staff who met sales goals, as well as additional pay earned by the warehouse staff when they worked on the sales floor. Svanda was not entitled to bonus pay or personal pay for warehouse staff. However, records from the payroll service show that Svanda wrongfully instructed the payroll service to increase her pay by a total of $191,359 between 2009 and 2015.
Finally, Svanda filed income tax returns that failed to report the $858,669 that she stole from the furniture company’s bank account to pay her own credit card bills. Thus, her personal federal income tax return for the year of 2013 failed to include $258,882 that she embezzled that year, resulting in tax due and owing of $81,497.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Karen Grigsby.
Joint Efforts Yield 5 Million Global Child Exploitation LeadsRead the Press Release
INTERPOL Washington In February, the total number of reports made available to Interpol member countries through NCMEC’s CyberTipline and Interpol’s I-24/7 secure messaging system exceeded 5 million.WASHINGTON – Interpol Washington, the U.S. National Central Bureau (USNCB), recently reached a significant milestone in its 20-year partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). In February, the total number of reports made available to Interpol member countries through NCMEC’s CyberTipline and Interpol’s I-24/7 secure messaging system exceeded 5 million.
Pursuant to its nonprofit private mission to help reduce child sexual exploitation, NCMEC works with Interpol Washington to provide law enforcement officials urgent and timely leads and information to prevent child sexual exploitation and abuse. Historically, these leads were not actionable due to the unavailability of law enforcement contacts as well as a lack of an established mechanism for making the reports available to law enforcement in certain jurisdictions. Interpol’s I-24/7 secure messaging system is the tool that is being used to quickly and effectively make available the information and leads to investigative law enforcement entities around the world. Foreign Universal Resource Locators (URL) Internet leads received by Interpol Washington are provided to NCMEC. Images and other forms of media containing actual evidence are provided to U.S. law enforcement agencies for potential action.
The source of the shared information is NCMEC’s CyberTipline® reports. In May 2014, Interpol’s I-24/7 secure messaging system tool went live and the service became available to approximately 140 Interpol member countries after a 30-day pilot program was completed. The pilot program was designed to test how Interpol member countries assimilated data made available from NCMEC. By November 2015, 1 million CyberTipline reports had been made available to international law enforcement agencies, with 38 countries requesting additional follow-up information. Today, more than 5 million CyberTipline reports have been made available through Interpol’s I-24/7, a secure, encrypted messaging system accessible by only the country where the leads are sent. This project allows for electronic distribution, 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year without personnel resources.
“On behalf of Interpol Washington, I would like to thank NCMEC and its leadership for its ongoing and extraordinary efforts in partnering with the USNCB to reach this historic milestone toward the global sharing of information among law enforcement in the fight against child exploitation,” stated Wayne H. Salzgaber, Acting Director of the USNCB.
NCMEC created the CyberTipline to further NCMEC’s mission of helping to prevent and diminish the sexual exploitation of children in March 1998 using hardware, software, and programming assistance donated by Sun MicroSystems, The CyberTipline provides the public and electronic service providers (ESPs) with the ability to report online (and via toll-free telephone) suspected child sexual abuse images, instances of online enticement of children for sexual acts, extra-familial child sexual molestation, child sexual abuse, child sex tourism, child sex trafficking, unsolicited obscene materials sent to a child, misleading domain names, and misleading words or digital images on the Internet. NCMEC continuously reviews CyberTipline reports to ensure that reports of children who may be in imminent danger get first priority. After NCMEC’s review is completed, all information in a CyberTipline report is made available to law enforcement.
“Interpol Washington is a crucial ally in NCMEC’s efforts to reduce the dissemination of child sexual abuse images around the world and prevent future child victimization,” said John Shehan, vice president of the Exploited Children Division at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. “We’re tremendously proud of our work with Interpol Washington and its commitment to help bring an end to child sexual exploitation worldwide.”
More than 18.4 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation have been made to the CyberTipline between 1998 and March 11, 2017.
A component of the U.S. Department of Justice, Interpol Washington is co-managed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As the designated representative to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) on behalf of the Attorney General, Interpol Washington serves as the national point of contact for all Interpol matters, coordinating international investigative efforts among member countries and the more than 18,000 local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies in the United States.
Vietnam Government Officials Visit Interpol WashingtonRead the Press Release
INTERPOL WashingtonOn Wednesday, March 15, 2017, officials from the Government of Vietnam visited INTERPOL Washington—the U.S. National Central Bureau (USNCB)—to learn about the agency’s mission, role, and functions in the United States and internationally. They also discussed police cooperation between the United States and Vietnam in efforts to combat transnational crime and enhance border security. The six-member group is in the United States participating in the Strategic Leadership Development for Senior Vietnamese Government Officials (S-LEAD) program. Established in 2016, the program is supported by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Vietnam Initiative at Indiana University, and the U.S. Department of State.
S-LEAD provides executive-level training to select senior officials slated for promotion to vice-ministerial positions in Vietnam. Each year, two groups of Vietnamese officials spend two months in the United States participating in research and training. The activities include taking graduate courses and conducting research at Indiana University, visiting and studying different U.S. federal and state government agencies, and participating in an executive leadership program at Harvard University.
In addition to listening to the INTERPOL Washington mission overview, the Vietnamese visitors toured the INTERPOL Operations and Command Center, which operates 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year.
A component of the U.S. Department of Justice, INTERPOL Washington is co-managed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As the designated representative to the International Criminal Police Organization on behalf of the Attorney General, INTERPOL Washington serves as the national point of contact for all INTERPOL matters, coordinating international investigative efforts among member countries and the more than 18,000 federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies in the United States.
Northern California Real Estate Investor Sentenced for Rigging Bids at Public Foreclosure AuctionsRead the Press Release
A Northern California real estate investor was sentenced yesterday for his role in a conspiracy to rig bids at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California, the Department of Justice announced.
John Michael Galloway was charged on Dec. 3, 2014, in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of California. He pleaded guilty to one count of bid rigging in Oakland, California, on Nov. 16, 2016. Yesterday, Galloway was sentenced to serve 12 months of imprisonment and ordered to pay a $74,899 criminal fine and $265,050 in restitution.
Between June 2008 and January 2011, Galloway conspired with others not to bid against one another, instead designating a winning bidder to obtain selected properties at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Contra Costa County. The members of the conspiracy then held second, private auctions to award the properties to members of the conspiracy and determine payoffs for other conspirators who had agreed not to bid against each other at the public auctions. The private auctions often took place at or near the courthouse steps where the public auctions were held. The primary purpose of the conspiracies was to suppress and eliminate competition in order to obtain selected real estate offered at Contra Costa County public foreclosure auctions at noncompetitive prices. When real estate properties are sold at public auctions, the proceeds are used to pay off the mortgage and other debt attached to the property, with the remaining proceeds, if any, paid to the homeowner.
Yesterday's sentence is a result of the department’s ongoing investigation into bid rigging at public real estate foreclosure auctions in California’s San Francisco, San Mateo and Contra Costa counties. These investigations are being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office and the FBI’s San Francisco Office
Anyone with information concerning bid rigging or fraud related to public real estate foreclosure auctions should contact the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office at 415-934-5300 or call the FBI tip line at 415-553-7400.
Interpol Washington Collaborates with Indonesian PartnersRead the Press Release
On March 14 – 16, 2017, officials from INTERPOL Washington – U.S National Central Bureau (USNCB) met with their counterparts in Indonesia to participate in a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Workshop to assist INTERPOL Jakarta and Immigration with improving their submissions of Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) to the INTERPOL SLTD database and use of INTERPOL tools and services for enhanced border screening capabilities.
INTERPOL Washington’s Office of the Chief Information Officer has partnered with the U.S. Department of State on a Southeast Asia Capacity Building Initiative. Indonesia is one of four countries targeted by the United States to receive assistance in upgrading their access to INTERPOL information sharing resources. The other countries are Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Funding provided by the State Department enables INTERPOL Washington to collaborate with member countries lacking the infrastructure, resources and funding to regularly submit Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) to the INTERPOL SLTD database, or to integrate INTERPOL’s tools and services for automated border screening and national network connectivity to INTERPOL’s I-24/7 network.
INTERPOL Washington is implementing a standardized methodology for integrating the full suite of INTERPOL tools and services into each country’s existing national architecture. The integration will be done in three phases. First, INTERPOL Washington will assess what adjustments and equipment are required to enhance the country’s information sharing capabilities. Second, the initiative will enhance border or immigrations screening capabilities by integrating INTERPOL’s I-24/7 network allowing the country to seamlessly screen travelers against INTERPOL data during routine border or immigration encounters. Third, INTERPOL Washington will help the member country’s technical personnel to integrate I-24/7 services into their existing national immigration and border screening systems.
This initiative seeks to operationalize compliance with United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2178 section 13 and 14. The resolution encourages member countries to “… prevent the movement of terrorists or terrorist groups by effective border controls …” and to improve international, regional, and sub-regional cooperation through increased sharing of information.
Technical consultation services and assessments are being provided to each country by the INTERPOL Washington Development and Operations Team in collaboration with the INTERPOL General Secretariat. The consulting service is provided to the member country at no cost. The INTERPOL Washington Capacity Building initiative will expand the global use of the suite of INTERPOL tools and services for implementing effective border security safeguards and management techniques.
A component of the U.S. Department of Justice, INTERPOL Washington is co-managed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As the designated representative to the International Criminal Police Organization on behalf of the Attorney General, INTERPOL Washington serves as the national point of contact for all INTERPOL matters, coordinating international investigative efforts among member countries and the more than 18,000 local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies in the United States.
District Court Enters Permanent Injunction Against Colorado Companies to Stop Distribution of Adulterated and Misbranded Dietary Supplements and Unapproved and Misbranded DrugsRead the Press Release
The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado has entered a permanent injunction against EonNutra LLC, two related companies, CDSM LLC and HABW LLC, and their owner, Michael Floren, to prevent the sale and distribution of adulterated and misbranded dietary supplements and unapproved and misbranded drugs, the Justice Department announced today.
The Department filed a complaint on March 10 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, alleging that the defendants, who sell some 150 dietary supplement products, violated the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). Although labelled as dietary supplements, several of the defendants’ products were, according to the complaint, marketed as drugs, with claims that the products could help treat or prevent a host of serious conditions or diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, depression, hypertension, osteoporosis, and liver and kidney disorders. But, according to the complaint, the defendants offered these claims to the consuming public, notwithstanding the absence of FDA approval. Some of the specific products identified in the complaint as unapproved drugs were 4NOx2, HGH Night Time, rHGH Drops Black Label, Primal Rage Levo 5 GH Mass and Deer Antler Velvet Extract. Additionally, as the complaint alleges, the defendants sold these supplements without implementing the requisite procedures to validate the supplements’ composition.
“The Department of Justice will continue to work cooperatively with FDA so that consumers can be confident in the claims of sellers of drugs and dietary supplements,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Manufacturers need to ensure the quality and identity of the ingredients that go into their products, so that such products are safe for consumers and the public can rely on the integrity of those products.”
The complaint alleged that the defendants marketed several of their products as drugs through a series of disease-related treatment claims even though these same products had not received FDA approvals. The complaint further alleges that, despite repeated warnings from FDA, the defendants continued to post statements on their websites claiming that their products cured, mitigated, treated, or prevented a number of serious diseases. According to the complaint, these claims were unsupported by any well-controlled clinical studies or other credible scientific substantiation. In addition, the complaint alleges that the defendants’ products did not contain adequate directions for such uses. The complaint continued that directions for use, including dosages, warnings, and side effects, must be premised on clinical data derived from scientifically controlled investigation, and since the defendants persisted in making disease-related treatment claims about their products in the absence of any well-controlled scientific test data, the products were misbranded.
In addition to claims related to sales of unapproved drugs, the complaint further alleges that the defendants’ products were adulterated dietary supplements because they were not manufactured in compliance with federal good manufacturing practice regulations. Under the FDCA, dietary supplement manufacturers are required to have systems in place to ensure that their products meet specifications for identity, purity, strength and composition. According to the complaint, a 2016 FDA inspection of the defendants’ manufacturing facility revealed, among other things, that the defendants failed to establish specifications for the identity, purity, strength, and composition of their finished products or the components in their products, or prepare and follow their manufacturing plans. The complaint also alleges that many of the labels on the defendants’ supplements were deficient, and caused the products to be misbranded under the FDCA. The complaint alleges, for example, that some of the defendants’ supplement labels did not list all of the products’ ingredients, indicate the correct serving size, or indicate the number of servings in a bottle.
The defendants agreed to settle the litigation and be bound by a consent decree of permanent injunction. The consent decree requires that if the defendants wish to resume manufacturing drugs or dietary supplements in the future, they must implement the remedial measures set forth in the consent decree, notify the FDA of the measures they have taken, and obtain written approval from the FDA that they appear to be in compliance with both the terms of the consent decree and the provisions of the FDCA.
“Lying to the public so you can make money is a bad idea,” said Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado Bob Troyer. “Doing it in a way that jeopardizes their health and safety is a REALLY bad idea. We have a long history in the West of not tolerating snake-oil salesmen.”
This matter was handled by Trial Attorney Christopher O’Connell of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob Licht-Steenfat of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado and Senior Counsel Michele Svonkin of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of General Counsel.
For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/usao-co.
U.S. Navy Admiral and Eight Other Officers Indicted for Trading Classified Information in Massive International Fraud and Bribery SchemeRead the Press Release
Retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Bruce Loveless and eight other high-ranking Navy officers are charged in a federal indictment with accepting luxury travel, elaborate dinners and services of prostitutes from foreign defense contractor Leonard Francis, the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA), in exchange for classified and internal U.S. Navy information.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Alana W. Robinson of the Southern District of California, Director Dermot F. O’Reilly of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) and Director Andrew L. Traver of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) made the announcement.
Including today’s defendants, a total of 25 named individuals have been charged in connection with the corruption and fraud investigation into GDMA, a defense-contracting firm based in Singapore. Of those charged, 20 are current or former U.S. Navy officials and five are GDMA executives. To date, 13 have pleaded guilty while several other cases are pending.
“The defendants in this indictment were entrusted with the honor and responsibility of administering the operations of the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet, which is tasked with protecting our nation by guarding an area of responsibility that spanned from Russia to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Blanco. “With this honor and awesome responsibility came a duty to make decisions based on the best interests of the Navy and the 40,000 Sailors and Marines under their care who put their lives at risk every day to keep us secure and free. Unfortunately, however, these defendants are alleged to have sold their honor and responsibility in exchange for personal enrichment.”
“This is a fleecing and betrayal of the United States Navy in epic proportions, and it was allegedly carried out by the Navy’s highest-ranking officers,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Robinson. “The alleged conduct amounts to a staggering degree of corruption by the most prominent leaders of the Seventh Fleet – the largest fleet in the U.S. Navy - actively worked together as a team to trade secrets for sex, serving the interests of a greedy foreign defense contractor, and not those of their own country.”
“The allegations contained in today’s indictment expose flagrant corruption among several senior officers previously assigned to the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet. The charges and subsequent arrests are yet another unfortunate example of those who place their own greed above their responsibility to serve this nation with honor,” said Director O’Reilly. “This investigation should serve as a warning sign to those who attempt to compromise the integrity of the Department of Defense that DCIS and our law enforcement partners will continue to pursue these matters relentlessly.”
“Naval Criminal Investigative Service, in concert with our partner agencies, remains resolved to follow the evidence wherever it leads, and to help hold accountable those who make personal gain a higher priority than professional responsibility,” Director Traver. “It's unconscionable that some individuals choose to enrich themselves at the expense of military security.”
Nine defendants were arrested today on various charges including bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery, honest services fraud, obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal investigators when confronted about their actions. Four of the defendants are retired captains: (1) David Newland, 60, of San Antonio, Texas, (2) James Dolan, 58, of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, (3) David Lausman, 62, of The Villages, Florida, and (4) Donald Hornbeck, 56, a resident of the United Kingdom. The other defendants arrested today included: (5) Colonel Enrico Deguzman, 48, of Honolulu, Hawaii, (6) retired Chief Warrant Officer Robert Gorsuch, 48, of Virginia Beach, Virginia (7) retired Rear Admiral Bruce Lovelace, 48, of San Diego, California, (8) active duty Lieutenant Commander Stephen Shedd, 48, of Colorado Springs, Colorado and (9) active duty Commander Mario Herrera, 48, of Helotes, Texas.
The defendants were arrested early this morning in California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida, Colorado and Virginia. The United States will seek to move all of these cases to federal court in San Diego, California. Admiral Loveless was taken into custody at his home in Coronado and was expected to make his first appearance in federal court this afternoon.
According to the indictment, the Navy officers allegedly participated in a bribery scheme with Leonard Francis, in which the officers accepted travel and entertainment expenses, the services of prostitutes and lavish gifts in exchange for helping to steep lucrative contracts to Francis and GDMA and to sabotage competing defense contractors. The defendants allegedly violated many of their sworn official naval duties, including duties related to the handling of classified information and duties related to the identification and reporting of foreign intelligence threats. According to the indictment, the defendants allegedly worked in concert to recruit new members for the conspiracy, and to keep the conspiracy secret by using fake names and foreign email service providers. According to the indictment, the bribery scheme allegedly cost the Navy – and U.S. taxpayers – tens of millions of dollars.
In addition to the nine defendants charged today, the 11 Navy officials charged so far in the fraud and bribery investigation are: (1) Admiral Robert Gilbeau, (2) retired Captain Michael Brooks, (3) Commander Jose Luis Sanchez, (4) Captain Daniel Dusek, (5) former Department of Defense civilian employee Paul Simpkins, (6) Commander Michael Misiewicz, (7) Lieutenant Commander Gentry Debord, (8) Lieutenant Commander Todd Malaki, (9) Petty Officer First Class Daniel Layug, (10) Naval Criminal Investigative Service Supervisory Special Agent John Beliveau and (11) Commander Bobby Pitts.
Gilbeau, Brooks, Sanchez, Dusek, Simpkins, Misiewicz, Debord, Malaki, Layug and Beliveau have pleaded guilty. Gilbeau, Brooks, and Sanchez await sentencing. On March 25, 2016, Dusek was sentenced to 46 months in prison and ordered to pay a $70,000 fine and $30,000 in restitution to the Navy. On Dec. 2, 2016, Simpkins was sentenced to 72 months in prison. On April 29, 2016, Misiewicz was sentenced to 78 months in prison and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine and $95,000 in restitution to the Navy. On Jan. 12, 2017, Debord was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay a $15,000 fine and $37,000 in restitution to the Navy. On Jan. 29, 2016, Malaki was sentenced to 40 months in prison and ordered to pay a $15,000 fine and $15,000 in restitution to the Navy. On Jan. 21, 2016, Layug was sentenced to 27 months in prison and a $15,000 fine. On Oct. 14, 2016, Beliveau was sentenced to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay $20 million in restitution to the Navy. Pitts was charged in May 2016 and his case is pending.
Additionally, to date, five GDMA executives have been charged: (1) Alex Wisidagama, (2) Francis, (3) Edmund Aruffo, (4) Neil Peterson and (5) Linda Raja. Three have pleaded guilty: Wisidagama, Francis and Aruffo. On March 18, 2016, Wisidagama was sentenced to 63 months in prison and ordered to pay $34.8 million in restitution to the Navy. Francis and Aruffo await sentencing. Peterson and Raja were extradited to the United States from Singapore in September 2016 and their cases remain pending.
The charges and allegations contained in an indictment are merely accusations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
DCIS, NCIS and the Defense Contract Audit Agency are investigating the case. Assistant Chief Brian R. Young of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark W. Pletcher and Patrick Hovakimian of the Southern District of California are prosecuting the case.
Anyone with information relating to fraud or corruption should contact the NCIS anonymous tip line at www.ncis.navy.mil or the DOD Hotline at www.dodig.mil/hotline or call (800) 424-9098.
GDMA IndictmentOffice for Victims of Crime Awards Almost $8.5 Million to Support Victims of Pulse Nightclub ShootingRead the Press Release
Today, the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, announced an $8,466,970 Antiterrorism and Emergency Assistance Program (AEAP) grant to assist victims of the June 2016 mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. OVC will award the grant tomorrow to the Florida Office of the Attorney General.
“This funding will provide important support to the victims, their loved ones and communities who were affected by last year’s devastating attack on Pulse nightclub,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “We continue to mourn those who were taken from us that awful day, and we admire the resilience of the great city of Orlando. With this grant, we reaffirm the Justice Department’s commitment to the people of Orlando, the families of the victims and all who are helping those affected by this heinous crime.”
“OVC is committed to assisting the recovery, healing and justice for all victims of crime and this award will help to provide much needed support, emotionally and financially, as they continue to heal,” said Acting OVC Director Marilyn McCoy Roberts. “This award will reimburse victim services costs for operation of the Family Assistance Center in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, and ensure that victims, witnesses and first responders receive necessary services to help them adjust in the aftermath of violence, begin the healing process and cope with probable re-traumatization.”
On June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen, 29, entered Pulse nightclub with an assault rifle and handgun, opening fire on club patrons while holding them hostage. During the attack, Mateen killed 49 people and injured more than 50 others, making it the deadliest mass shooting in U. S. history. Mateen was eventually killed during a shootout with police.
Victim services funding is awarded to and distributed by the Florida Office of the Attorney General’s Department of Legal Affairs.
In 1995, following the Oklahoma City bombing, Congress authorized OVC to set aside and administer up to $50 million annually from the Crime Victims Fund for the Antiterrorism Emergency Reserve Fund to assist victims in extraordinary circumstances. Following an act of terrorism or mass violence, jurisdictions can apply for an AEAP grant award for crisis response, criminal justice support, crime victim compensation and training and technical assistance expenses. OVC also provided AEAP funds and assistance following the below mass violence incidents:
in, San Bernardino, California (2015); Roseburg, Oregon (2015); Charleston, South Carolina (2015); Marysville, Washington (2014); Boston, Massachusetts (2013); Newtown, Connecticut (2012); Oak Creek, Wisconsin (2012); Aurora, Colorado (2012); Tucson, Arizona (2011); Binghamton, New York (2009); at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (2007); and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety on behalf of the Red Lake Nation (2005).
For more information on the AEAP, please visit http://ojp.gov/ovc/AEAP/index.html.
The Office of Justice Programs (OJP), headed by Acting Assistant Attorney General Alan R. Hanson, provides federal leadership in developing the nation’s capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice and assist victims. OJP has six components: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; the Office for Victims of Crime and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking. More information about OJP can be found at www.ojp.gov.
Statement by Attorney General Sessions on Fatal Officer Shooting in New MexicoRead the Press Release
Attorney General Jeff Sessions today issued the following statement regarding Sunday’s fatal shooting in New Mexico:
“We are all saddened to learn of the death on Sunday of Navajo Nation Officer Houston Largo, who was shot and killed while responding to a domestic violence call. This dedicated young officer chose a life of service to others, despite knowing that each time he put on his badge he might not come home safely. His death reminds us once again that our men and women in law enforcement willingly face danger each day to protect us all – and for this, they deserve our lasting gratitude, respect and support. Our U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico and the FBI are working closely with state and tribal authorities to investigate this tragic incident and ensure that the killer of this brave officer faces justice. My thoughts and prayers, and those of the entire Department of Justice, go out to the family, loved ones and colleagues of Officer Largo.”
Justice Department Settles Immigration-Related Discrimination Claim Against California Janitorial CompaniesRead the Press Release
The Justice Department reached an agreement today with Paragon Building Maintenance, Inc. (Paragon) and Pegasus Building Services Company, Inc. (Pegasus), related janitorial companies headquartered in Long Beach, California. The settlement resolves the department’s investigation into whether the companies violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by discriminating against work-authorized immigrants when checking their work authorization documents.
The department concluded, based on its investigation, that Paragon and Pegasus routinely requested that lawful permanent residents show their Permanent Resident Cards to prove their work authorization while not requesting specific documents from U.S. citizens. Lawful permanents residents often have the same work authorization documents available to them as U.S. citizens, and may choose other acceptable documents besides the Permanent Resident Card to prove they are authorized to work. The investigation further revealed that the companies required lawful permanent resident employees to re-establish their work authorization when their Permanent Resident Cards expired, even though federal rules prohibit this practice. The antidiscrimination provision of the INA prohibits employers from subjecting employees to unnecessary documentary demands based on the employees’ citizenship or national origin.
“Employers may not discriminate against employees when verifying that their employees are authorized to work in the United States,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler of the Civil Rights Division. “We encourage employers everywhere to familiarize themselves with their legal obligations, as Paragon and Pegasus have committed to do by reaching this settlement.”
Under the settlement, Paragon and Pegasus will pay a civil penalty of $115,000 and pay up to $30,000 to compensate any eligible workers who lost pay due to these documentary practices. The companies also have agreed to post notices informing workers about their rights under the INA’s antidiscrimination provision, train their human resources personnel, and be subject to departmental monitoring and reporting requirements.
The division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER), formerly known as the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices, is responsible for enforcing the antidiscrimination provision of the INA. The statute prohibits, among other things, citizenship, immigration status, and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; retaliation and intimidation.
For more information about protections against employment discrimination under immigration laws, call IER’s worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); call IER’s employer hotline at 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); sign up for a free webinar; email [email protected]; or visit IER’s English and Spanish websites.
Applicants or employees who believe they were subjected to different documentary requirements based on their citizenship, immigration status, or national origin; or discrimination based on their citizenship, immigration status, or national origin in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral, should contact IER’s worker hotline for assistance.
Charles River Laboratories International Inc. Agrees to Pay United States $1.8 Million to Settle False Claims Act AllegationsRead the Press Release
Charles River Laboratories International Inc. has agreed to pay the U.S. government $1.8 million to settle claims that it violated the False Claims Act by improperly charging for labor and other associated costs that were not actually provided on certain National Institutes of Health contracts, the Justice Department announced today. Charles River is a for-profit corporation headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts.
“Contractors are expected to deal fairly with federal agencies when receiving taxpayer funds,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to ensure that contractors spend taxpayer dollars appropriately and that those who do not are held accountable.”
Charles River holds contracts with National Institutes of Health (NIH) for services relating to the development, maintenance, and distribution of colonies of animals as well as the provision of laboratory animals to the NIH. Charles River billed to NIH labor and associated costs of employees at its Raleigh, North Carolina and Kingston, New York facilities despite the fact these individuals did not render the services as Charles River had claimed. Charles River disclosed the improper billing to the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Companies that do business with the federal government must bill honestly,” said Special Agent in Charge Phillip M. Coyne of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).
“We expect companies that contract with HHS to provide the services as claimed and paid for by the taxpayers,” said Chief Counsel to the Inspector General, HHS-OIG, Gregory E. Demske. “Charles River’s self-disclosure and resolution of this matter underscores the importance of contractors preventing, detecting, and remediating overcharges of labor costs to HHS. Under our contractor self-disclosure program, OIG is committed to working with HHS contractors that detect fraud issues to review, take any appropriate action, and resolve these matters fairly.”
The case was handled by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch and the HHS-OIG. The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
INTERPOL Washington Attends INTERPOL Heads ConferenceRead the Press Release
Senior leaders from INTERPOL Washington, the U.S. National Central Bureau (USNCB), participated in the annual International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) Heads of National Central Bureaus (NCB) conference this week. The gathering brought together 270 police officials from 149 countries. INTERPOL Washington representatives were Acting Director Wayne Salzgaber, Chief of Staff Bernard Graham, and Deputy Chief of Staff Joseph Ferrigno. The conference, held March 7-9 at INTERPOL Headquarters in Lyon, France, highlighted the need for increased sharing of biometric data, such as fingerprints, DNA and facial recognition, and enhanced use of INTERPOL’s firearms tracing and ballistic data sharing capabilities, according to INTERPOL.
INTERPOL Washington serves as the designated U.S. representative to INTERPOL on behalf of the Attorney General. While it is a component of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), INTERPOL Washington is co-managed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
U.S. membership in INTERPOL is authorized by U.S. law. As a condition of membership, the United States maintains a National Central Bureau (NCB) in Washington, D.C., which liaises with INTERPOL’s General Secretariat and the National Central Bureaus of INTERPOL’s 189 other member countries. The United States also details law enforcement officials to serve at INTERPOL Headquarters.
INTERPOL Washington coordinates U.S. law enforcement actions and responses, ensuring that they are consistent with U.S. interests and law, as well as INTERPOL policies, procedures, and regulations. As the official U.S. point of contact in INTERPOL's worldwide, police-to-police communications and criminal intelligence network, INTERPOL Washington operates 24/7/365. It supports more than 18,000 local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies in the United States as well as their foreign counterparts seeking assistance in transnational criminal investigations.
INTERPOL Washington criminal investigative data assists U.S. law enforcement officials in bringing many criminals to justice. To date in 2017, two major high profile cases benefited from INTERPOL Washington assistance. For example, INTERPOL Washington partnered with U.S. and international law enforcement agencies to bring down four multi-million dollar international fraud and money laundering schemes perpetrated by a transnational organized crime network. In another case, the subject of an INTERPOL Red Notice, wanted for a July 10, 2016, murder in the Dominican Republic, was arrested Thursday, February 23, by U.S. Marshals and Immigrations & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents with the New York/ New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force. INTERPOL Washington also provided critical assistance during that investigation. These are only two examples of the contributions INTERPOL Washington makes to domestic and international law enforcement.
Photograph courtesy INTERPOL INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock addresses the INTERPOL Heads conference.
Federal Court Orders Eastern Washington Dentist and Spouse to Shut Down Their Dental Care BusinessRead the Press Release
A federal court in Spokane, Washington has found Dr. James Hood, a dentist, and his wife, Karen Hood, in contempt for violating the Court’s previous permanent injunction requiring them to timely file payroll tax returns and pay payroll taxes, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. The Court ordered the Hoods to close their dental care businesses, cease operating as employers, and barred them from opening any new businesses where the Hoods would serve as employers.
On March 8, U.S. District Court Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson for the Eastern District of Washington found James Hood and Karen Hood in contempt after they demonstrated a consistent pattern of disregarding their tax obligations by making incomplete employment tax payments, making dishonored payments, and missing deadlines. The Court had previously entered a permanent injunction requiring James and Karen Hood, and their entities, to comply with the federal employment tax laws.
According to the United States’ supplemental filing in the case, the Hoods had failed to show full compliance with the tax laws and the Court’s injunction by Jan. 31, as the Court had ordered. The court found that, the Hoods had failed to pay their taxes for the Fourth Quarter 2016 by the end of January 2017. The court also found that the Hoods had attempted to make payroll tax payments that were dishonored due to insufficient funds in their accounts.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Hubbert thanked the revenue officer of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Field Collection for investigating the taxpayer’s tax compliance.
In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of employers that fail to meet their employment tax obligations. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website.
Attorney General Sessions Directs Federal Prosecutors to Target Most Significant Violent OffendersRead the Press Release
Attorney General Jeff Sessions today directed federal prosecutors nationwide to engage in a focused effort to investigate, prosecute and deter the most violent offenders.
This builds on the announcement last week of the creation of the U.S. Department of Justice Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety, which is central to the Attorney General’s commitment to combatting illegal immigration and violent crime, such as drug trafficking, gang violence and gun crimes, and to restoring public safety to all of the nation’s communities.
“Turning back our nation’s recent rise in violent crime is a top priority for the Department of Justice, and it requires decisive action from our federal prosecutors,” said Attorney General Sessions. “I’m urging each of them to continue working closely with their counterparts at all levels, and to use every tool we have to put violent offenders behind bars and keep our citizens safe.”
In a memo to federal prosecutors in the department’s 94 United States Attorney’s Offices, the Attorney General made clear that prosecuting violent criminals is a high priority and prosecutors should work closely with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners to target the most violent offenders in each district. Working together, law enforcement at every level should determine which venue – federal or state – would best get those identified immediately off our streets and punished appropriately for their crimes.
The memo states when federal prosecution is determined appropriate, federal prosecutors should ensure the individuals driving violent crime in their district are prosecuted using the tools at their disposal, which may include firearms offenses, including possession and straw purchasing offenses; possession of a firearm during and in relation to a violent crime or drug trafficking offense; Hobbs Act robbery; carjacking; violent crime in aid of racketeering; Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act; and drug offenses under the Controlled Substances Act, among others.
The Attorney General recognized that many offices are already employing these strategies and asked that those offices ensure their efforts are achieving the desired results.
Additional guidance and support in executing this priority will be forthcoming.
Memo on Commitment to Targeting Violent CrimeKiekert AG to Plead Guilty to Bid Rigging Involving Auto PartsRead the Press Release
Kiekert AG, an automotive parts manufacturer based in Heiligenhaus, Germany, has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $6.1 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to rig bids of side-door latches and latch minimodules installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere, the Department of Justice announced today.
According to a one-count felony charge filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Kiekert participated in a conspiracy to eliminate competition by agreeing to allocate sales, rig bids and fix prices for side-door latches and latch minimodules sold to Ford Motor Company and its subsidiaries in the United States and elsewhere between September 2008 and May 2013. In addition to Kiekert’s agreement to pay a $6.1 million criminal fine, the manufacturer has agreed to cooperate with the department’s ongoing investigation. The plea agreement is subject to court approval.
“The Antitrust Division has uncovered conspiracies involving more than 50 automotive parts,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brent Snyder of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Automobile manufacturers, and the American consumers who buy their cars, are entitled to prices set by competition, not secret cartels.”
“Americans expect corporations in the United States and overseas to conduct their business honestly. To do anything less, compromises consumer trust,” said Special Agent in Charge David P. Gelios of FBI’s Detroit Division. “Today’s plea agreement of Kiekert AG, demonstrates the resolve of the FBI and the Department of Justice to protect American consumers from price fixing and bid rigging schemes that ultimately harm the U.S. economy.”
Side-door latches secure car doors to the body. Latch minimodules include the side-door latch and all related mechanical operating components, including the electronic lock function.
According to the charges, Kiekert officials participated in meetings and communications with representatives of another major side-door latch producer, during which they agreed to allocate sales, rig bids and fix prices submitted to Ford. To effectuate those agreements, the conspirators exchanged information on bids and price quotations for submission to Ford.
Today’s charge is the result of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct in the automotive parts industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s criminal enforcement sections and the FBI. Including Kiekert, 48 companies and 65 executives have been charged in the division’s ongoing investigation and have agreed to pay a total of more than $2.9 billion in criminal fines.
Kiekert AG Information
These charges were brought by the Antitrust Division’s Chicago Office and the FBI’s Detroit Field Office with the assistance of the FBI headquarters’ International Corruption Unit. Anyone with information on price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct related to other products in the automotive parts industry should contact the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at (888) 647-3258, visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/new case.html or call the FBI’s Detroit Field Office at (313) 965-2323.Court Orders Return Preparation Business Owner to Pay Nearly $950,000 to the United States for Preparing Fraudulent ReturnsRead the Press Release
A federal court in Orlando, Florida, has permanently barred Jason Stinson, of Longwood, Florida, from preparing federal tax returns for others and from owning or operating a tax return preparation business, following a six-day bench trial held in 2016, the Justice Department announced today. The civil order, signed by Judge Anne C. Conway of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, also requires Stinson to disgorge to the United States $949,952.47 of funds he received from “improper and fraudulent tax return preparation.”
The court determined that Stinson owns a company called “Nation Tax Services” and had stores in four states: Birmingham and Fairfield, Alabama; St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida; Albany and Augusta, Georgia; and Greenville and Raleigh, North Carolina. Stinson’s stores, the court found, targeted “underprivileged, undereducated poor people and earned income credit claims.”
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a refundable tax credit for working people with low to moderate income. Eligibility depends on factors such as the amount of income, filing status, and the amount of dependents. To illustrate, the court noted that customers with earned income between $13,050 and $17,100 in tax year 2012 could receive the maximum EITC. The court found that Stinson falsified information on his customers’ returns to claim the maximum EITC amount by: “claiming bogus dependents, fabricating unreimbursed employee expenses and charitable contributions, and fabricating business income and expenses.” The court found that in many instances Stinson and his preparers fraudulently lowered a customer’s taxable income by claiming false unreimbursed business expenses in large amounts, at times more than half of what the customer earned in a given year. According to the court’s decision, “it is illogical for an individual making $35,000 a year to spend as much as half of their yearly income, around $16,000, on unreimbursed business expenses.”
Stinson’s stores charged customers in excess of $600 to prepare a single tax return, even as much as $999, sometimes without telling the customer, the court determined. Moreover, the court found that Stinson’s practice was to take his fees out of his customer’s refund, rather than charge fees upfront, meaning that “a larger refund was better for the client and better for Stinson.” Based upon the pattern of abusive claims made by Stinson and his preparers, the court ordered Stinson to pay the United States nearly $950,000 in fees he received.
“The Tax Division works with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to protect taxpayers from unscrupulous return preparers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “Court decisions like this show that those who prepare false tax returns will be stopped and will not profit from their fraudulent conduct.”
Acting Assistant Attorney General Hubbert thanks the Tax Division attorneys assigned to the case, Daniel Applegate, Sean Green, Alison Yewdell, Steven Woodliff, Jared Wiesner, and Joshua Levine, and the revenue agents of the IRS—Small Business/Self-Employed Division, who conducted the investigation.
Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’s Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2017 and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. The IRS has some tips on their website for choosing a return preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers.
In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.
Colombian Paramilitary Leader Sentenced to More than 15 Years in Prison for International Drug TraffickingRead the Press Release
A senior paramilitary leader and one of Colombia’s most notorious drug traffickers was sentenced on Friday to serve 198 months in prison for his role leading an international drug trafficking conspiracy responsible for the importation of ton-quantities of cocaine into the United States. Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Chief of Operations Anthony Williams of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) made the announcement.
Hernan Giraldo Serna, a Colombian national, pleaded guilty in 2009 to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine knowing and intending that it would be imported into the United States. U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton imposed the sentence.
According to admissions in the plea agreement, Serna ascended to a leadership position in 1996 within the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (United Self Defense Forces of Colombia or AUC), a terrorist and paramilitary organization in Colombia. In September 2001, the AUC was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. Department of State. In May 2003, the AUC was placed on the Significant Foreign Narcotics Traffickers list by order of the President, pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. In February 2004, Giraldo Serna individually was designated as a Tier II Kingpin by the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, subjecting him to severe economic sanctions under the Kingpin Act.
The statement of facts also established that Giraldo Serna became a senior commander in the AUC by 1996, and his armed force controlled a significant part of northern Colombia. In connection with his guilty plea, Giraldo Serna admitted that, from the early 1990s through the early 2000s, soldiers operating under his direction controlled large areas in northern Colombia where cocaine was cultivated, produced and distributed. Giraldo Serna also admitted to providing security for drug traffickers in the region under his control, including those individuals responsible for coca cultivation and distribution. Giraldo Serna also admitted to knowing that multi-ton quantities of cocaine were manufactured and transiting the region under his control and that significant quantities of that cocaine was transported to the United States. He further admitted his responsibility for the illegal importation of thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United States.
“The sentence demonstrates the successful and vigorous partnership we have with our law enforcement colleagues in Colombia. We have been able to disrupt the flow of drugs coming from the north coast of Colombia, and punish the narco-traffickers responsible,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Blanco. “This defendant, operating with the resources of an illegal para-military group that controlled drug trafficking in a large portion of northern Colombia, distributed large quantities of cocaine into international commerce, much of which was imported into the United States. International drug traffickers who believe they can operate with impunity learn the hard way that they cannot, and we will continue to work with our international partners to bring to justice those who knowingly transport cocaine to the United States.”
“DEA agents work every day to attack global criminal networks that use drug trafficking as a means to finance their terrorist activities and we are pleased that this AUC leader will finally face American justice,” said DEA Chief of Operations Williams. “We will continue to work with our international partners as DEA targets the transnational criminal groups destroying the lives of many people around the world.”
Today’s sentence does not account for violations of Colombian human rights-related laws allegedly committed by Giraldo Serna, which are being addressed in Colombia through the Justice and Peace process – a legal framework enacted in 2005 to facilitate the demobilization of its paramilitary organizations – and Colombian criminal justice system.
The case was investigated by DEA’s Bogota and Cartagena, Colombia Country Offices, and the DEA Special Operations Division. The government of Colombia provided invaluable assistance through the investigation, prosecution, and sentencing of this case, with specific assistance provided by the Judicial Police of the Prosecutor General’s Office in Colombia and the Colombian National Police.
This case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Paul Laymon of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section (NDDS), with significant assistance provided by the NDDS Judicial Attachés in Bogotá, Colombia; the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs; and the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Colombia (Fiscalía), including the Fiscalía’s Transnational Justice program.
INTERPOL Fugitive Wanted for Murder Arrested by U.S. Marshals Task ForceRead the Press Release
Hackensack, NJ - The subject of an INTERPOL Red Notice, wanted for a July 10, 2016, murder in the Dominican Republic, was arrested Thursday, February 23, by U.S. Marshals and Immigrations & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents with the New York/ New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force. INTERPOL Washington—the U.S. National Central Bureau (USNCB)--provided critical assistance during the investigation.
Kelbin Perez De Los Santos was being sought on an international arrest warrant for fatally shooting a man with a shotgun in a restaurant after a verbal altercation. The incident occurred in Los Girasoles near the capital city of Santo Domingo. Perez De Los Santos is thought to have fled the Dominican Republic shortly after the incident. The INTERPOL National Central Bureau in Santo Domingo issued a Red Notice in August 2016 requesting Perez De Los Santos’ arrest.
After receiving information from INTERPOL that Perez De Los Santos could be in the United States, the U.S. Marshals International Investigations Branch determined that the fugitive was likely residing in the Hackensack area, and on Thursday, members of the U.S. Marshals New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force, along with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations agents, tracked Perez De Los Santos to an apartment where he was arrested on immigration violations.
De Los Santos is currently being held in the custody of ICE and is facing deportation back to the Dominican Republic.
The U.S. Marshals Service is the primary agency within the federal government responsible for locating and apprehending fugitives who are wanted by foreign countries and who have been identified and located in the United States. Cases are referred to the U.S. Marshals Service through INTERPOL Washington (USNCB), the Department of Justice-Office of International Affairs (DOJ-OIA), and through foreign embassies in the United States.
A component of the U.S. Department of Justice, INTERPOL Washington is co-managed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As the designated representative to the International Criminal Police Organization on behalf of the Attorney General, INTERPOL Washington serves as the national point of contact for all INTERPOL matters, coordinating international investigative efforts among member countries and the more than 18,000 local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies in the United States.
Additional information about the U.S. Marshals Service can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov.