District Not Recorded
The source did not name an office we could identify. These records remain unassigned rather than guessed.
United States and Arkansas File Joint Complaint Against ExxonMobil for Pegasus Pipeline Oil Spill in Mayflower, ArkansasRead the Press Release
Today the United States and the state of Arkansas filed a joint enforcement action against ExxonMobil Pipeline Company and Mobil Pipe Line Company (ExxonMobil) in federal district court in Little Rock, Ark. The complaint addresses ExxonMobil’s unlawful discharge of heavy crude oil from a 20-inch-diameter interstate pipeline – the Pegasus Pipeline – that ruptured in Mayflower, Ark., on March 29, 2013.
As alleged in the complaint, a segment of the Pegasus Pipeline ruptured in a residential neighborhood in the town of Mayflower. The pipe was buried approximately two feet below the ground at that location. The oil spilled directly into the neighborhood and then into nearby waterways, including a creek, wetlands, and Lake Conway. Residents were forced to evacuate their homes due to the hazardous conditions in the neighborhood resulting from the spill. The oil has contaminated land and waterways and impacted human health and welfare, wildlife, and habitat. Cleanup efforts are still ongoing, and many residents still have not been able to return home.The Pegasus Pipeline runs approximately 850 miles from Patoka, Ill., to Nederland, Texas. The pipeline is used to transport Canadian heavy crude oil. The pipeline originally was constructed in the 1940s.
The complaint alleges six causes of action against the defendants. The United States, on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), seeks civil penalties and injunctive relief under the federal Clean Water Act for the oil spill. The state of Arkansas, on behalf of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) by the authority of the Arkansas Attorney General, seeks civil penalties for violations of the Arkansas Hazardous Waste Management Act and the Arkansas Water and Air Pollution Control Act. The state also seeks a declaratory judgment on ExxonMobil’s liability for payment of removal costs and damages related to the spill pursuant to the federal Oil Pollution Act.
Related Materials:
Exxon Complaint
Science Applications International Corporation Pays<br /> $11.75 Million to Settle False Claims AllegationsRead the Press Release
The Justice Department and U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales of the District of New Mexico announced today that Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has paid $11.75 million to settle allegations filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico that it violated the False Claims Act by charging inflated prices under grants to train first responder personnel to prevent and respond to terrorism attacks. SAIC provides scientific, engineering, and technical services to commercial and government customers and is headquartered in Northern Virginia.
Between 2002 and 2012, the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (New Mexico Tech) received six federal grants from the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to train first responder personnel to prevent and respond to terrorism events involving explosive devices. New Mexico Tech awarded subgrants to SAIC to provide course management, development, and instruction. The United States alleged that SAIC’s cost proposals falsely represented that SAIC would use far more expensive personnel to carry out its efforts than it intended to use and actually did use, resulting in inflated charges to the United States.
“To ensure that federal tax dollars are properly spent, federal grant recipients and contractors must provide cost proposals and estimates that reflect their honest judgment about project costs,” said Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. “We will continue to ensure that funds designated for vital programs such as this one are properly used for their intended purpose.”
The False Claims Act is sometimes referred to as “Lincoln’s Law” because it was enacted at the urging of President Lincoln to combat widespread fraud which was being perpetrated on the Union Army by Civil War defense contractors. While originally enacted to combat defense contractor fraud, the False Claims Act has long been successfully employed to combat false claims against the United States in many other contexts, including healthcare fraud. The Act prohibits the submission of false claims for government money or property and allows the United States to recover up to three times the actual damages and penalties for a violation.
The lawsuit against SAIC was originally filed under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Richard Priem, SAIC’s former project manager for the first responder training program. Under the Act’s whistleblower provisions, a private party may file suit on behalf of the United States and share in any recovery, and the United States may elect to intervene and take over the case, as it did here. Mr. Priem’s share has not yet been determined.
“The False Claims Act is a critical tool for weeding out fraud and protecting taxpayers,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales of the District of New Mexico. “The Act provides an incentive for individuals with knowledge of fraud against the government to disclose that information. When whistleblowers bring fraud allegations to the government’s attention and assist us in this public-private partnership to fight fraud, the public benefits and potential fraudsters are deterred.”
The case was jointly handled by Trial Attorneys Don Williamson and Daniel Hugo Fruchter of the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Justice Department’s Civil Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Howard R. Thomas and Auditor Julie A. Ford of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico. The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability. The case is United States ex rel. Priem v. SAIC, No-12-cv-148 (D.N.M.).
Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra Associate <br /> Pleads Guilty to Loan SharkingRead the Press Release
Robert Ranieri, 37, of Glendora, N.J., pleaded guilty today to committing loan sharking activities on behalf of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra (LCN) Family.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Edward J. Hanko, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Through court documents and statements made in court, Ranieri admitted that he conspired with Philadelphia LCN Family capo Anthony Staino and others to make a usurious loan to an undercover FBI agent and used threats of violence to collect payments on the loan.
At sentencing, scheduled for Sept. 25, 2013, Ranieri faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police, the New Jersey State Police, the Philadelphia Police Department, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. Additional assistance was provided by the New Jersey Department of Corrections.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney John S. Han of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Frank A. Labor III and Suzanne B. Ercole of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Valuable prosecutorial assistance was provided by the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General.
Philadelphia Drug Kingpin Sentenced to Death, <br /> Co-defendant to Face Life in PrisonRead the Press Release
A federal jury in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania that voted in favor of death for a North Philadelphia drug kingpin, Kaboni Savage, today voted in favor of life for a co-defendant, Steven Northington. Savage was sentenced to death last week by U.S. District Court Judge R. Barclay Surrick.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and Special Agent in Charge Edward J. Hanko of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division made the announcement after the jury’s decisions.
On May 31, 2013, a jury voted in favor of death for Savage, 38, who is the first defendant in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to receive the death penalty in federal court. Savage was convicted on May 13, 2013, of 12 counts of murder in aid of racketeering, one count of retaliating against a witness by murder, conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, and one count of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise. Savage ordered the Oct. 9, 2004, firebombing of the home of Eugene Coleman’s family. Coleman was a federal witness at the time. Six people were killed in the arson murder, including four children. Savage was sentenced to death on June 3, 2013.
Today, the same jury voted in favor of life for Northington, 41, who was convicted of the murders of Barry Parker in 2003 and of Tybius Flowers in 2004 in addition to racketeering (RICO) conspiracy. Northington will be formally sentenced by U.S. District Judge Surrick on June 19, 2013.
“For more than a decade, Kaboni Savage and members of his organization used murder and violence to intimidate and retaliate against anyone who threatened their drug trade, and along the way mercilessly killed a cooperating witness’s family members, including innocent children,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman. “We are hopeful that the jury’s verdict brings some measure of justice to the victims of Savage’s heinous crimes.”
“Achieving justice sometimes requires us to ask the citizens on a jury to make the most difficult sentencing decision imaginable,” said U.S. Attorney Memeger. “In this case, after convicting the defendants of crimes involving murder, the jurors chose death for Kaboni Savage and life for Stephen Northington. The defendants’ horrific conduct struck at the very heart of our criminal justice system, which depends on witnesses testifying without fearing for their lives or the lives of their family members. We appreciate the time and effort that the jury committed to reaching a fair verdict as to each defendant. While the verdicts cannot restore the loss of life taken by members of the Kaboni Savage drug organization, we hope that the jury verdicts bring some sense of closure to the victims’ families and friends. I want to thank the phenomenal investigative and trial team that worked so hard over many years to bring the defendants to justice for their despicable crimes.”
“Kaboni Savage and his crew murdered men, women, and children – for money, power, and, ultimately, just for revenge,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Hanko. “They thought no more of taking lives than of taking a phone call. After more than a decade of brutality, Northington’s life sentence and Savage’s death sentences are justly deserved.”
Savage’s sister and co-defendant, Kidada Savage, was also found guilty of the RICO conspiracy and the Coleman family murders. Co-defendant Robert Merritt was found guilty of the RICO conspiracy. They each face a mandatory life sentence at sentencing.
Savage’s drug enterprise operated primarily in the North Philadelphia area from at least late 1997 to 2010. After Savage was indicted on drug charges in 2004, he ordered the murders of the family of government witness Eugene Coleman. Lamont Lewis, who has pleaded guilty, firebombed the Coleman family home on Savage’s orders which Kidada Savage relayed to Lewis.In addition to the six people inside the Coleman home, Savage was convicted of the following murders:
• Kenneth Lassiter, 44, of Lansdale, Pa., on March 19, 1998, near the corner of 8th and Butler Streets in Philadelphia;
• Mansur “Shafiq” Abdullah, 22, of 11th Street, Philadelphia, on Sept. 6, 2000. Abdullah was shot and his burned body was later recovered in the 4200 block of North Park Avenue in Philadelphia;
• Carlton “Mohammed” Brown, 27, of Darien Street, Philadelphia, on Sept. 13, 2001;
• Barry Parker, 32, of Susquehanna Avenue, Philadelphia, on February 26, 2003, in the 3900 block of North Franklin Street in Philadelphia;
• Tyrone Toliver, 26, of Cherry Hill, N.J., on March 14, 2003, in the 3500 block of North Palmetto Street in Philadelphia; and
• Tybius Flowers, 32, of K Street, Philadelphia, on March 1, 2004, in the 3700 block of N. 8th Street in Philadelphia.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Philadelphia Police Department, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, and the Maple Shade, New Jersey Police Department. The United States Bureau of Prisons, the United States Marshals Service, and the Philadelphia/Camden High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force also assisted in the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Steven Mellin of the Criminal Division’s Capital Case Unit at the U.S. Department of Justice and Assistant United States Attorneys David E. Troyer and John M. Gallagher.
Department of Justice Reaches Landmark Settlement Agreement with Rhode Island and City of Providence Under the ADARead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today that it has entered into an interim settlement agreement with the State of Rhode Island and the City of Providence that will resolve violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for approximately 200 Rhode Islanders with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD).
This first-of-its-kind agreement addresses the rights of people with disabilities to receive state- and city-funded employment and daytime services in the broader community, rather than in segregated sheltered workshops and facility-based day programs exclusively with other people with disabilities. The department launched an ADA investigation in January 2013 into Rhode Island’s day activity service system for people with I/DD. The department’s initial investigation found that the majority of people receiving state- and city-funded employment and daytime services through segregated programs can and want to work and receive services in more integrated community settings. Under the ADA people with disabilities have the right to receive services in the most integrated settings appropriate for them.
This matter was initially brought to light by an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage & Hour Division, regarding improper subminimum wages being paid to people with disabilities working at TTP. This week, the Department of Labor revoked TTP’s certificate under the Fair Labor Standards Act Section 14(c).
The Department of Justice’s investigation has initially focused on a private provider, Training Thru Placement (TTP), as one of the largest facility-based employment service providers in the state’s system. The investigation also revealed that the school-based sheltered workshop at the Harold A. Birch Vocational Program at Mount Pleasant High School (Birch), was the point of origin for many people entering TTP. Since the department began its investigation earlier this year, the state and the city have worked cooperatively with the department to reach an agreement to resolve the violations.
The department found that the approximately 90 workers with disabilities at TTP were not in the most integrated setting appropriate for them and that the students in the sheltered workshop at Birch were at serious risk of unnecessary placement at TTP following their exit from school. TTP is located in a residential neighborhood, without easy access to stores, offices or public spaces. People with I/DD typically remain at TTP all day, packaging and labeling medical supplies, wrapping television remote controls in plastic or hand-sorting jewelry. The typical tenure at TTP is 15 to 30 years. TTP workers have little or no contact with persons without disabilities. According to TTP’s reports, TTP workers with disabilities make an average hourly wage of $1.57 per hour, with one individual making as little as 14¢ per hour.
The department found that people with disabilities at TTP are capable of working in real jobs with supports, and participating in activities in the community, such as volunteering, exercising, taking classes, going to museums, plays and sporting events. Many TTP clients had specifically and repeatedly asked for help to find and be supported in real jobs in the community. However, the state and city did not respond to their requests and did not make integrated employment services and community-based daytime activities available. For example, one person with I/DD, who has worked at TTP for approximately 30 years, said that he asked nearly every year to work in a hardware store, yet he was never assessed or received services or supports necessary for him to do so. When asked how he would feel about working in integrated employment, he said, “I’d feel I accomplished something . . . something to be happy about.”
The sheltered workshop at Birch was also found to discriminate against its approximately 85 students with I/DD because it cultivated, trained and prepared students to work at TTP as adults. The work that Birch’s students performed in the school’s sheltered workshop was similar to tasks performed by TTP’s service recipients. Students ages 14 to 21 with I/DD would participate in the Birch sheltered workshop for one or two 55-minute periods per day, sometimes to do work for TTP. At times when the Birch sheltered workshop faced deadlines, some students were removed from their regular classes and spent large portions of their school days in the workshop. Students were generally denied diplomas and received only “certificates of attendance.” Students at the Birch sheltered workshop were paid between 50¢ and $2 per hour, or were not paid at all, no matter what job function they performed or how productive they were.
The school provided virtually no opportunities for students to experience or prepare for real jobs and made direct referrals to adult sheltered workshops as the students neared the end of school. Because of the lack of integrated opportunities and direct referrals, invariably, the students would move on to an adult sheltered workshop, TTP, after they left school instead of to integrated work places.
“The Supreme Court made clear over a decade ago that unnecessary segregation of people with disabilities is discriminatory. Such segregation is impermissible in any state or local government program, whether it be residential services, employment services, or other programs,” said Eve Hill, Senior Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. “Unfortunately, the type of segregation and exploitation we found at TTP and Birch is all too common when states allow low expectations to shape their disability programs. The reforms the state and city will undertake under this interim agreement will support people with disabilities to participate in their communities. Thanks to the vision and leadership of the State and the City, both the individuals and their communities will benefit.”
The state has now stopped providing services or funding for new participants at TTP’s sheltered workshop and facility-based day program, and the city has stopped providing services or funding to Birch’s in-school sheltered workshop. Over the next year, the state and city will provide supported employment services and placements to all adults at TTP and youth in transition from Birch to help them find, get, keep and succeed in real jobs. The services will be designed to help people access jobs in typical work settings where they can interact with non-disabled coworkers and customers, and enjoy the same employment benefits as non-disabled peers. When individuals are not working, they will have access to integrated day services.Under the agreement, individuals will receive supported employment and integrated day services sufficient to support a normative 40 hour work week, with the expectation that individuals will work, on average, in a supported employment job at competitive wages for at least 20 hours per week.
For students leaving Birch, the agreement requires a robust career development and transition planning process to ensure that youth can successfully move into community-based jobs, rather than to segregated settings like TTP. The department’s statewide investigation of the state’s day activity service system for people with I/DD will continue. The interim agreement is due to the efforts of the following Civil Rights Division staff: Regina Kline, Sheila Foran, Justin Park, Lance Simon and Chloe Holzman.Please visit www.ada.gov/olmstead to learn more about the Division’s ADA Olmstead enforcement efforts and www.justice.gov/crt to learn more about the laws enforced by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
Related Materials:
Agreement
ComplaintCalifornia Woman Charged with Aiding and Assisting the Preparation of False Tax Returns and Identity FraudRead the Press Release
Lanisha D. Applewhite of Richmond, Calif., was indicted by a federal grand jury in San Francisco, for aiding and assisting the preparation and presentation of false and fraudulent federal income tax returns as well as identity fraud, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.
According to the indictment, from 2008 through 2011, Applewhite, a return preparer, aided and assisted in the preparation and presentation of false and fraudulent federal income tax returns containing claims for deductions and credits to which her clients were not entitled. In addition, six counts allege that Applewhite used individuals’ Social Security numbers without lawful authority in preparing false federal income tax returns.
The maximum penalty for aiding and assisting the preparation of false claims is three years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each count of conviction. The maximum penalty for each count of identity fraud is 15 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
This case is being investigated by special agents of IRS - Criminal Investigation. Trial Attorneys Charles O’Reilly, Erin Mellen and Sonia Owens of the Justice Department’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/tax.
Managing Partner of U.S. Broker-Dealer Charged<br /> in Manhattan Federal Court with Participating in Massive International Bribery SchemeRead the Press Release
A managing partner of a U.S. broker-dealer was arrested today on felony charges arising from a conspiracy to pay bribes to a senior official in Venezuela’s state economic development bank, Banco de Desarrollo Económico y Social de Venezuela (BANDES).
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara for the Southern District of New York, and Assistant Director-in-Charge George Venizelos of the FBI’s New York Office made the announcement.
Ernesto Lujan, 50, among others, allegedly arranged the bribe payments to Maria De Los Angeles Gonzalez De Hernandez at BANDES in exchange for her directing BANDES’s financial trading business to the Broker-Dealer. Lujan was arrested this morning in Wellington, Fla., where he resides, and was presented in federal court in West Palm Beach, Fla.
“The huge bribes Mr. Lujan and others allegedly paid funneled millions to his firm and into his own pockets,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman. “Bribery corrupts markets, and this arrest – just the latest in the Department’s recent series of anti-corruption charges in various districts – is yet another demonstration that, at the end of the day, the real dividends bribe payers reap are criminal charges.”
“From his perch as managing partner Ernesto Lujan allegedly engaged in a bribery scheme designed to drum up foreign trading business for his firm,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara. “Along with his alleged cohorts, three of whom were arrested last month, he pocketed millions from the alleged scheme which was executed through kickbacks to a Venezuelan government official and through money laundering.”“As alleged, Lujan led a conspiracy to bribe a foreign government bank official to steer business to his firm,” said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Venizelos. “As previously alleged, much of this trading activity was conducted solely to generate fees for the firm. Lujan personally reaped millions in profits, and used Swiss bank accounts to conceal both the bribes and his own proceeds of the scheme.”
On May 3, 2013, Gonzalez, along with two employees of the Broker-Dealer, Tomas Alberto Clarke Bethancourt and Jose Alejandro Hurtado, were arrested on separate charges relating to this bribery scheme. On May 6, 2013, the government filed a civil forfeiture action in Manhattan federal court seeking the forfeiture of assets held in a number of bank accounts associated with the scheme, including several bank accounts located in Switzerland, and the forfeiture of several properties in the Miami area related to Hurtado that were purchased with his proceeds from the scheme. That same day, the court also issued seizure warrants for multiple bank accounts and a restraining order relating to those Miami properties.
In a separate action, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced civil charges against Lujan.
According to the allegations in the criminal complaint unsealed today, and other documents filed in Manhattan federal court, Lujan, a managing partner of the Broker-Dealer, which was headquartered in New York City, was the branch manager of its Miami offices. In 2008, the Broker-Dealer established a group called the Global Markets Group, which included Lujan, Clarke and Hurtado, and which offered fixed income trading services to institutional clients. One of the Broker-Dealer’s clients was BANDES, which operated under the direction of the Venezuelan Ministry of Finance. The Venezuelan government had a majority ownership interest in BANDES and provided it with substantial funding. Gonzalez, a BANDES official, oversaw the development bank’s overseas trading activity. At her direction, BANDES conducted substantial trading through the Broker-Dealer. Most of the trades executed by the Broker-Dealer on behalf of BANDES involved fixed income investments for which the Broker-Dealer charged the bank a mark-up on purchases and a mark-down on sales.
From December 2008 through October 2010, Lujan, along with Clarke, Hurtado and Gonzalez, allegedly participated in a bribery scheme in which Gonzalez directed trading business she controlled at BANDES to the Broker-Dealer, and in return, agents and employees of the Broker-Dealer, including Lujan, split the revenue the Broker-Dealer generated from this trading business with Gonzalez. During this time period, the Broker-Dealer generated over $60 million in mark-ups and mark-downs from trades with BANDES. Agents and employees of the Broker-Dealer, including Lujan, Clarke and Hurtado, allegedly devised a split with Gonzalez of the commissions paid by BANDES to the Broker-Dealer.
Court records allege that to further conceal the scheme, the kickbacks to Gonzalez were often paid using intermediary corporations and offshore accounts that she held in Switzerland, among other places. For example, at least $9.5 million was transferred from the Broker-Dealer to a Swiss bank account controlled by Clarke, who in turn transferred at least $6.5 million to a Swiss bank account controlled by Lujan. Lujan then allegedly transferred at least $1.5 million of these proceeds to a Swiss bank account controlled by Gonzalez.
Lujan was charged with one count each of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), violation of the FCPA, conspiracy to violate the Travel Act and violation of the Travel Act, which each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison. He is also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering, which each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the FBI, with assistance from the SEC and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs. Assistant Chief James Koukios and Trial Attorneys Maria Gonzalez Calvet and Aisling O’Shea of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Harry A. Chernoff and Jason H. Cowley of the Southern District of New York’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force are in charge of the prosecution.
Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be
found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.The charges contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Justice Department Settles with New Jersey Bus Company <br /> over Unequal Treatment of Passengers with DisabilitiesRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement with DeCamp Bus Lines Inc., a New Jersey transportation company, to ensure that bus transportation is provided on equal terms to people with disabilities.
The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey determined that DeCamp Bus Lines violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by requiring that passengers with disabilities provide 48 hours of advance notice to secure a wheelchair-accessible bus, even though passengers without disabilities did not have to provide any advance notice. The settlement agreement requires DeCamp to comply with all ADA requirements for accessible service, and not exclude persons with disabilities from its transportation services.
As part of compliance with the ADA, DeCamp will stop requiring that passengers with disabilities provide advance notice to secure an accessible bus and to ensure that no passenger with a disability is denied an accessible bus when the passenger does not provide advance notice. DeCamp will also no longer post, distribute or publish any written material that states that a passenger with a disability is required to provide advance notice to secure accessible transportation and train all employees and contractors on the requirements of the ADA.
“Individuals who use wheelchairs should be able to expect the same level of bus service from large operators that is provided to others,” said Eve L. Hill, Senior Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division. “The department is committed to ensuring that bus companies are complying with this requirement.”
“People with disabilities should not be forced to take needless action simply to use a bus service designed for everyone,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Paul J. Fishman. “With this settlement, the Justice Department ensures individuals riding DeCamp will receive correct information about their access to transportation, and that access will not be denied.”
Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities by public accommodations, including motorcoach companies. Since Oct. 29, 2012, the Department of Transportation’s regulations implementing the ADA require that all large, fixed-route motorcoach bus fleets be 100 percent accessible to individuals with disabilities, including individuals who use wheelchairs. Once a fleet is 100 percent accessible, the motorcoach bus company may no longer require advance notice to provide accessible service. The Department of Transportation’s regulations also require that such companies perform regular maintenance checks to ensure that wheelchair lifts work, train their employees on accessibility requirements and file annual accessibility reports with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The United States was represented by Trial Attorneys David W. Knight and Michael Riess of Civil Rights Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Campion of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
To find out more about the ADA, this settlement, or the obligations of public accommodations, call the Justice Department’s toll-free ADA information line at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TDD), or access its ADA website at www.ada.gov. ADA complaints may be filed by email to [email protected].
Former Chief Executive of Mortgage Servicing Company <br /> Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud for Scheme <br /> to Withhold Funds from Wells Fargo BankRead the Press Release
The former president and chief executive officer of U.S. Mortgage, a loan servicing company in Nevada, pleaded guilty today for his role in a scheme to defraud Wells Fargo Bank out of more than $8 million.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden of the District of Nevada made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon.
Earl Gross, 75, of Las Vegas, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud. Gross faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison when he is sentenced on Sept. 19, 2013. Gross has agreed to forfeit $8,440,439 pursuant to his plea agreement.
According to plea documents, Wells Fargo Bank contracted with U.S. Mortgage to service pools of residential mortgage loans held by investors in mortgage-backed securities. Under the agreement, Gross and U.S. Mortgage were obligated to collect from the borrowers the monthly payments that the borrowers made toward their mortgage obligations and forward these proceeds to Wells Fargo Bank. In the event that a borrower paid off the loan – usually by selling the mortgaged property – U.S. Mortgage was obligated to remit to Wells Fargo Bank the full payoff amount. U.S. Mortgage agreed to provide Wells Fargo Bank with monthly reports, which described the status of the loans, such as the balance, principal and interest, and payment status and received servicing fees for each loan it serviced.
According to the indictment, from 2004 to 2009, Gross and U.S. Mortgage withheld more than $8 million in loan payoffs that were due Wells Fargo Bank by submitting to the bank reports stating that numerous borrowers were continuing to make monthly payments when in fact they had paid off the loans in full. Rather than remit to Wells Fargo Bank the full payoff amount, Mr. Gross and U.S. Mortgage forwarded only what the borrowers’ monthly payment would have been and retained the difference in U.S. Mortgage’s bank account. To deceive Wells Fargo Bank about the status of paid off loans, Mr. Gross and U.S. Mortgage created fake amortization schedules indicating that borrowers who had sold and paid off homes were continuing to make monthly payments. In addition to withholding loan payoff amounts to which he was not entitled, Mr. Gross charged Wells Fargo Bank fees to service mortgage loans that had been paid off.
The case was investigated by the FBI. This case is being prosecuted by Brian R. Young and Charles La Bella of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, with assistance from Roberto Iraola of the Office of International Affairs and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada.
Today’s guilty plea was a result of efforts by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,700 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.StopFraud.gov.
Departments of Justice, Education, and Health and Human Services Issue Letter to Health-related Schools Regarding Hepatitis B DiscriminationRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice, the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services sent a joint letter today to the nation’s medical schools, dental schools, nursing schools and other health-related schools regarding hepatitis B discrimination.
In the letter, the departments express concern that some health-related schools may be making enrollment decisions based on an incorrect understanding of the hepatitis B virus, resulting in discrimination.
The letter updates schools on the latest recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding the participation of students with hepatitis B in health-related schools. The letter also emphasizes the importance of CDC’s recommendations, especially as they relate to the schools’ obligation to comply with federal laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability, race, color and national origin.
Approximately 800,000 to 1.4 million people in the United States have hepatitis B. Asians, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders make up roughly 4.5 percent of the U.S. population, but represent 50 percent of the persons with hepatitis B in the United States.
The letter cites a March 2013 settlement agreement that the Justice Department reached with a medical school and a school of osteopathic medicine resolving allegations that the schools violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by excluding previously-accepted applicants with hepatitis B from their programs.
The updated CDC recommendations, based on the most current scientific information, dispel many myths associated with hepatitis B and provide guidance to health-related schools on managing students with the virus. The CDC also notes that since the last update of the recommendations in 1991, there have been no reports of hepatitis B transmission in the United States or other developed countries from medical or dental students to patients. Among other recommendations, the CDC recommends that chronic hepatitis B virus infection, in itself, should not preclude the study or practice of medicine, surgery, dentistry or allied health professions.
“The Justice Department strongly urges health-related schools to review the CDC’s recommendations and to ensure that their policies and practices comply with federal nondiscrimination laws,” said Jocelyn Samuels, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department. “Applicants and students with hepatitis B should not have to face exclusion on the basis of unfounded fears and stereotypes, and the Justice Department will not tolerate it.”
“Both public health and civil rights will be promoted when medical schools rely on the most recent scientific information, not overbroad generalizations, in dealing with medical students with hepatitis B,” said Seth Galanter, Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the Department of Education.
Leon Rodriguez, Director of the Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Health and Human Services, agrees that health-related schools must ensure that they do not deny equal access to individuals based on discrimination, adding: “The CDC recommendations promote public health and safety while also offering guidance on the management of students with hepatitis B. Our agencies place considerable weight on this guidance in our enforcement of federal civil rights laws.”
The Departments of Justice, Education, and Health and Human Services share responsibility for protecting the rights of students and applicants with disabilities, including those with hepatitis B, in schools of higher education by enforcing titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. These laws prohibit covered postsecondary institutions from discriminating on the basis of disability and from refusing to make reasonable modifications to their policies, practices or procedures when necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability, unless such modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of the program or the services provided. The Departments of Justice, Education, and Health and Human Services also enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance, including those of health-related schools.
Additional information about the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt. Additional information about the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is available on its website at www.ed.gov/ocr/. Additional information about the Department of Health and Human Service’s Office for Civil Rights is available on its website at www.hhs.gov/ocr/.
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County Commissioner Sentenced for<br /> Attempted Extortion and BriberyRead the Press Release
Al J. Hurley, a former county commissioner in Sumter County, Ga., was sentenced today to 36 months in prison stemming from his acceptance of illicit payments in exchange for his official efforts to secure government contracts for a private contractor, Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Middle District of Georgia U.S. Attorney Michael J. Moore announced.
Hurley, 55, of Americus, Ga., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge W. Louis Sands. On Dec. 3, 2012, a federal jury sitting in the Albany Division of the Middle District of Georgia found Hurley guilty of one count each of attempted extortion and federal program bribery.
Hurley was first elected to the five-member Sumter County board of commissioners in 1999. As the primary governing body for the county, the board presided over a variety of official matters, including the bidding process for and award of various county contracts.
Evidence at trial showed that from September to December 2011, Hurley, in his capacity as a county commissioner, solicited and agreed to accept cash payments – including $5,000 on Oct. 23, 2011, and $15,000 on Dec. 19, 2011 – from a private contractor, in exchange for Hurley’s repeated promises to use official action and influence to help facilitate the award of county contracting work to the contractor.
In particular, Hurley told the contractor that he would help him win a $100,000 depot renovation contract in a city within Hurley’s district. Trial testimony also established that, in order to drive up the bribe amount, Hurley invented two inside contacts that he claimed to have at a new racetrack project in his district, and claimed the contacts could influence the award of related contracting work in favor of the contractor. Hurley, who testified, admitted the contacts did not exist.
This case was investigated by the FBI. This case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Eric G. Olshan of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney K. Alan Dasher of the Middle District of Georgia.
Alabama Man Indicted for Multi-state <br /> Stolen Identity Refund Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Christopher Cordelle Davis, of Montgomery County, Ala., was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Middle District of Alabama for his role in a scheme to file fraudulent tax returns using stolen identities, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today following Davis’s arrest. He was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, five counts of wire fraud, and five counts of aggravated identity theft.
According to the indictment, Davis provided stolen identities to Kenneth Jerome Blackmon Jr. Davis and Blackmon then filed fraudulent tax returns using the stolen identities. The refunds would be directed to debit cards. Davis would recruit individuals to obtain the debit cards and to go on trips during which the cards would be used to cash out the refund money at various locations in different states, including Georgia and South Carolina. The indictment also alleges that in September 2011, Davis possessed over 600 stolen identities, some taken from a medical facility in Alabama and over 200 prepaid debit cards in Gwinnett County, Ga. Blackmon was previously convicted and sentenced to 51 months in prison for his role in the conspiracy.
An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. If convicted, Davis faces a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy charge, up to 20 years in prison for each wire fraud charge and a mandatory two-year sentence for the aggravated identity theft counts. He will also be subject to fines and mandatory restitution and forfeiture if convicted.
This case was investigated by special agents of IRS - Criminal Investigation. Trial Attorneys Jason Poole and Justin Gelfand of the Justice Department’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama and, in particular, Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Brown.Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/tax
Justice Department Settles Sex Discrimination Lawsuit Against the Town of Griffith, IndianaRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today that it has entered into a consent decree with the town of Griffith, Ind. that, if approved by the court, will resolve allegations that the Griffith Police Department discriminated against Sergeant Marlene Starcevich based on her sex in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin, or religion and retaliation for engaging in protected activity.
The department’s complaint was filed today along with a notice informing the court of the simultaneous filing of a consent decree to resolve the complaint. The complaint alleges that the Griffith Police Department violated Title VII when it failed to assign Starcevich to a shift commander position because of her sex. Starcevich is a 22-year veteran of the Griffith Police Department and the only female officer in the police department’s history. According to the complaint, while the Griffith Police Department routinely assigned its male sergeants to shift commander positions, when a shift commander position became available in July 2010, Griffith denied Starcevich the position because of her sex.
According to the complaint, instead of assigning Starcevich to the open and available shift commander position, the Griffith Police Department promoted a male corporal to sergeant and assigned him as shift commander. The police department did not make Starcevich a shift commander but, instead, placed Starcevich as second-in-command to another male sergeant.
Under the terms of the consent decree, which must still be approved by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, the Griffith Police Department agreed to injunctive relief that prohibits Griffith from denying Starcevich assignments because of her sex, or otherwise unlawfully discriminating against her. The Police Department has already assigned Starcevich to shift commander duties and must also pay her $5,000 in monetary relief. In addition, the town of Griffith must revise its equal employment opportunity policies to protect its employees from discrimination, and conduct training of its personnel regarding these policies.“Gender discrimination in employment of any kind will not be tolerated,” said Jocelyn Samuels, Principal Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division. “This lawsuit should send a clear message that the department is committed to eliminating and remedying all forms of gender discrimination in the work place and that we will take necessary action to vigorously protect the rights of those in the public sector facing discrimination.”
Additional information about Title VII can be found on the Justice Department website, www.justice.gov/crt/emp , as well as on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s website at www.eeoc.gov.
Justice Department Issues New Guidelines for Payment of<br /> Attorneys’ Fees, Expenses, in Large Chapter 11 Bankruptcy CasesRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice today announced new guidelines for the payment of attorneys’ fees and expenses in large chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in order to enhance disclosure and transparency in the compensation process and to help ensure that attorneys’ fees and expenses are based on market rates. The guidelines, which will go into effect on Nov. 1, 2013, were developed by the U.S. Trustee Program (USTP), the component of the department that protects the integrity of the bankruptcy system by overseeing case administration and litigating to enforce the bankruptcy laws.
“The costs of bankruptcy fall on the creditors and employees of the debtor companies,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Tony West. “At a time when both the public and the most sophisticated participants in the bankruptcy process say bankruptcy attorneys’ costs are rising too rapidly, these guidelines are designed to ensure that statutory requirements limiting bankruptcy fees to market rates – not premium rates – are followed.”
The Bankruptcy Code allows professionals who provide services during a chapter 11 case to be compensated from funds of the debtor company if statutory requirements are met and the bankruptcy court approves payment. Reviewing and, where appropriate, objecting to professionals’ applications for fees and expenses is a statutory duty of the USTP. The guidelines explain the criteria that U.S. Trustees use in reviewing and objecting to those applications. They do not supersede statutes, rules or court orders.
The update to the guidelines takes into account the significant changes that have occurred in the legal industry as well as the increasing complexity of business bankruptcy reorganization cases. The guidelines were originally issued in 1996 and are being updated in phases; the first phase, announced today, governs the USTP’s review of fees and expenses requested by attorneys in chapter 11 cases with $50 million or more in assets and $50 million or more in liabilities. Although the guidelines are not subject to the notice and comment process of the Administrative Procedure Act, the USTP nevertheless modified earlier drafts of the guidelines after two public comment periods and a public meeting.“We were pleased by the many helpful suggestions we received as we drafted the guidelines,” said Clifford J. White III, Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees. “The U.S. Trustee Program went to great lengths to solicit public input while developing the updated guidelines, reviewing and incorporating suggestions from academics, attorneys and other participants in the bankruptcy system.”
The guidelines require a showing that the rates charged reflect market rates outside of bankruptcy.The guidelines also provide for the:
• Use of budgets and staffing plans;
• Disclosure of rate increases that occur during the representation;
• Use of rates that are based on the attorney’s home office location;
• Submission of billing records in an open, searchable electronic format;
• Use of independent fee committees and fee examiners; and
• Use of model forms and templates for applications for compensation and expenses.The updated guidelines apply to attorneys’ fees and expenses in cases filed on or after Nov. 1, 2013, that meet the large case threshold. Until the USTP adopts additional superseding guidelines in the next phases of revisions, the 1996 guidelines will continue in effect for the review of fee applications filed in larger chapter 11 cases by professionals who are not attorneys; in all chapter 11 cases below the large case threshold; and in cases under other chapters of the Bankruptcy Code.
USTP attorneys in districts throughout the country will vigorously enforce the guidelines, defending them in bankruptcy court and through appeals as appropriate. The USTP also will educate bankruptcy attorneys regarding the guidelines and encourage bankruptcy courts to incorporate the guidelines in their local rules of bankruptcy procedure, as many have done with the 1996 guidelines.
The guidelines and explanatory materials are posted at www.justice.gov/ust.Justice Department Issues New Guidelines for Payment of Attorneys’ Fees, Expenses, in Large Chapter 11 Bankruptcy CasesRead the Press Release
New Guidelines Enhance Disclosure and Transparency in Bankruptcy Compensation Process
and Ensure Attorneys’ Fees are Based on Market RatesWASHINGTON — The Department of Justice today announced new guidelines for the payment of attorneys’ fees and expenses in large chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in order to enhance disclosure and transparency in the compensation process and to help ensure that attorneys’ fees and expenses are based on market rates. The guidelines, which will go into effect on Nov. 1, 2013, were developed by the U.S. Trustee Program (USTP), the component of the department that protects the integrity of the bankruptcy system by overseeing case administration and litigating to enforce the bankruptcy laws.
“The costs of bankruptcy fall on the creditors and employees of the debtor companies,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Tony West. “At a time when both the public and the most sophisticated participants in the bankruptcy process say bankruptcy attorneys’ costs are rising too rapidly, these guidelines are designed to ensure that statutory requirements limiting bankruptcy fees to market rates – not premium rates – are followed.”
The Bankruptcy Code allows professionals who provide services during a chapter 11 case to be compensated from funds of the debtor company if statutory requirements are met and the bankruptcy court approves payment. Reviewing and, where appropriate, objecting to professionals’ applications for fees and expenses is a statutory duty of the USTP. The guidelines explain the criteria that U.S. Trustees use in reviewing and objecting to those applications. They do not supersede statutes, rules or court orders.
The update to the guidelines takes into account the significant changes that have occurred in the legal industry as well as the increasing complexity of business bankruptcy reorganization cases. The guidelines were originally issued in 1996 and are being updated in phases; the first phase, announced today, governs the USTP’s review of fees and expenses requested by attorneys in chapter 11 cases with $50 million or more in assets and $50 million or more in liabilities. Although the guidelines are not subject to the notice and comment process of the Administrative Procedure Act, the USTP nevertheless modified earlier drafts of the guidelines after two public comment periods and a public meeting.
“We were pleased by the many helpful suggestions we received as we drafted the guidelines,” said Clifford J. White III, Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees. “The U.S. Trustee Program went to great lengths to solicit public input while developing the updated guidelines, reviewing and incorporating suggestions from academics, attorneys and other participants in the bankruptcy system.”
The guidelines require a showing that the rates charged reflect market rates outside of bankruptcy. The guidelines also provide for the:
- Use of budgets and staffing plans;
- Disclosure of rate increases that occur during the representation;
- Use of rates that are based on the attorney’s home office location;
- Submission of billing records in an open, searchable electronic format;
- Use of independent fee committees and fee examiners; and
- Use of model forms and templates for applications for compensation and expenses.
The updated guidelines apply to attorneys’ fees and expenses in cases filed on or after Nov. 1, 2013, that meet the large case threshold. Until the USTP adopts additional superseding guidelines in the next phases of revisions, the 1996 guidelines will continue in effect for the review of fee applications filed in larger chapter 11 cases by professionals who are not attorneys; in all chapter 11 cases below the large case threshold; and in cases under other chapters of the Bankruptcy Code.
USTP attorneys in districts throughout the country will vigorously enforce the guidelines, defending them in bankruptcy court and through appeals as appropriate. The USTP also will educate bankruptcy attorneys regarding the guidelines and encourage bankruptcy courts to incorporate the guidelines in their local rules of bankruptcy procedure, as many have done with the 1996 guidelines.
The guidelines and explanatory materials are posted at www.justice.gov/ust.
Contact:Jane Limprecht, Public Information Officer
Executive Office for U.S. Trustees
(202) 305-7411To view the Guidelines and other informational material, click here.
Former Hertford County, N.C., Chief Deputy Pleads Guilty for Assault on InmateRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today that Timothy Lassiter, the former chief deputy of the Hertford County, N.C., Sheriff’s Office, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Elizabeth City, N.C., to violating the civil rights of an inmate during a court appearance.
According to information presented to the court, on June 12, 2012, the inmate created a verbal disturbance during a court appearance. After removing the inmate from the courtroom, Lassiter repeatedly and unjustifiably punched the inmate in his face and body at a time when the inmate was handcuffed and posed no threat to law enforcement. The inmate was injured as a result of the assault.
“The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice works to ensure that no law enforcement officer abuses his power to assault a person in his custody,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Roy L. Austin Jr. “This assault by a sheriff’s deputy which started in a courtroom – the very place where the constitutional rights of all Americans, including those accused of crimes, are applied and enforced on a daily basis. This plea demonstrates that the department will vigorously defend the integrity of our legal system.”
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina Thomas G. Walker stated, “This deputy’s deliberate abuse of authority undermines the efforts of the vast majority of law enforcement officers who honor their oath to uphold the law.”
“Every citizen has the right to expect law enforcement officers to act legally and in accordance with the Constitution. Former Chief Deputy Timothy Lassiter's actions were inexcusable. The charges against him should serve as a reminder that no one is above the law,” said John Strong, the Special Agent in Charge of the Charlotte Division of the FBI.
Lassiter pleaded guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law. He faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 9, 2013.
This case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Betsy Biffl and Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina Toby Lathan.
Former Congressman Richard G. Renzi Convicted of <br /> Extortion and Bribery in Illegal Federal Land SwapRead the Press Release
A former U.S. Congressman and a real-estate investor were convicted today by a federal jury in Tucson, Ariz., of conspiring together to extort and bribe individuals seeking a federal land exchange, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney John Leonardo of the District of Arizona and Special Agent in Charge Douglas F. Price of the FBI’s Phoenix Division.
Richard G. Renzi, 55, of Burke, Va., was found guilty of 17 felony offenses including conspiracy, honest services wire fraud, extortion under color of official right, racketeering, money laundering and making false statements to insurance regulators.
James W. Sandlin, 62, of Sherman, Texas, was found guilty of 13 felony offenses including conspiracy, honest services wire fraud, extortion under color of official right and money laundering.
Sentencing is set before U. S. District Judge David C. Bury on Aug. 19, 2013.
“Former Congressman Renzi’s streak of criminal activity was a betrayal of the public trust and abuse of the political process,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman. “After years of misconduct as a businessman, political candidate and member of Congress, Mr. Renzi now faces the consequences for breaking the laws that he took an oath to support and defend.”
“Our democracy is undermined whenever our elected officials misuse the power entrusted to them by the voters to serve their own private interests rather than in the service of the public interest,” said U.S. Attorney Leonardo. “The jury’s verdict reinforces the fundamental principle that our society is governed by the rule of law, and that no citizen, including the most influential and powerful among us, is above the law.”
“Today's conviction is a culmination of the investigative efforts of the FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation over a period of several years,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Price. “Public corruption is one of the top criminal priorities of the FBI, and it is imperative that elected public officials be held accountable to uphold the public's trust. The FBI remains committed to this criminal priority in combating public corruption at all levels.”
According to evidence at trial, Renzi, then a member of Congress from Arizona’s 1st Congressional District, promised in 2005 to use his legislative influence to profit from a federal land exchange that involved property owned by Sandlin, a real-estate investor.
At the time, Sandlin owed Renzi $700,000 in future payments from their business dealings, and Renzi threatened a proponent of the land exchange that he would not support it unless they purchased Sandlin’s property in Cochise County, Ariz. When that individual refused, Renzi promised a second proponent of a land exchange that he would support the exchange if they purchased Sandlin’s property. According to an agreement reached in May 2005, Sandlin was paid $1 million in earnest money, out of which he paid $200,000 to Renzi. Just before Sandlin received the $1.6 million balance owed on the exchange, he paid an additional $533,000 to Renzi.
Evidence at trial further showed that from 2001 to 2003, Renzi engaged in insurance fraud by diverting his clients’ insurance premiums to fund his first campaign for Congress, and he provided false statements to various state regulators who were investigating his activities.
Renzi was indicted in February 2008, and in October 2008, Renzi moved to dismiss the indictment under his rights as a member of Congress under the Speech or Debate Clause. The court denied his motion in February 2010, and Renzi pursued an interlocutory appeal. After Renzi’s appeal was unsuccessful, trial was set for May 2013.
Honest services wire fraud, extortion under color of official right, concealment money laundering and racketeering each carry maximum penalties of 20 years in prison. Conspiracy carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and making false statements to insurance regulators and transactional money laundering each carry maximum penalties of 10 years in prison.
This case was investigated by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. The prosecution was handled by Trial Attorneys David Harbach and Sean Mulryne of the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gary Restaino and James Knapp of the District of Arizona.
Former Chief Executive of Mortgage Servicing Company <br /> Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud for Scheme <br /> to Withhold Funds from Wells Fargo BankRead the Press Release
The former president and chief executive officer of U.S. Mortgage, a loan servicing company in Nevada, pleaded guilty today for his role in a scheme to defraud Wells Fargo Bank out of more than $8 million.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden of the District of Nevada made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon.
Earl Gross, 75, of Las Vegas, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud. Gross faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison when he is sentenced on Sept. 19, 2013. Gross has agreed to forfeit $8,440,439 pursuant to his plea agreement.
According to plea documents, Wells Fargo Bank contracted with U.S. Mortgage to service pools of residential mortgage loans held by investors in mortgage-backed securities. Under the agreement, Gross and U.S. Mortgage were obligated to collect from the borrowers the monthly payments that the borrowers made toward their mortgage obligations and forward these proceeds to Wells Fargo Bank. In the event that a borrower paid off the loan – usually by selling the mortgaged property – U.S. Mortgage was obligated to remit to Wells Fargo Bank the full payoff amount. U.S. Mortgage agreed to provide Wells Fargo Bank with monthly reports, which described the status of the loans, such as the balance, principal and interest, and payment status and received servicing fees for each loan it serviced.
According to the indictment, from 2004 to 2009, Gross and U.S. Mortgage withheld more than $8 million in loan payoffs that were due Wells Fargo Bank by submitting to the bank reports stating that numerous borrowers were continuing to make monthly payments when in fact they had paid off the loans in full. Rather than remit to Wells Fargo Bank the full payoff amount, Mr. Gross and U.S. Mortgage forwarded only what the borrowers’ monthly payment would have been and retained the difference in U.S. Mortgage’s bank account. To deceive Wells Fargo Bank about the status of paid off loans, Mr. Gross and U.S. Mortgage created fake amortization schedules indicating that borrowers who had sold and paid off homes were continuing to make monthly payments. In addition to withholding loan payoff amounts to which he was not entitled, Mr. Gross charged Wells Fargo Bank fees to service mortgage loans that had been paid off.
The case was investigated by the FBI. This case is being prosecuted by Brian R. Young and Charles La Bella of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, with assistance from Roberto Iraola of the Office of International Affairs and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada.
Today’s guilty plea was a result of efforts by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,700 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.StopFraud.gov.
New York Immigration Judge Participates in Naturalization CeremonyRead the Press Release
NEW YORK -- Immigration Judge Aviva Poczter from the Executive Office for Immigration Review, New York Immigration Court, delivered the keynote speech and administered the oath of allegiance to approximately 150 candidates during a naturalization ceremony at 26 Federal Plaza in New York on June 7, 2013. The New York District Office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security, hosted the ceremony.
Biographical Information
Attorney General Eric Holder appointed Judge Poczter in December 2010. Judge Poczter received a bachelor of arts degree in 1996 from McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada and a juris doctorate degree in 1999 from American University, Washington College of Law. From 2002 to December 2010, she worked for the Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Immigration Litigation, as a trial attorney from 2002 to 2005, and as a senior litigation counsel from 2005 to December 2010. From 2000 to 2002, she served as an attorney advisor for the DOJ, Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), Board of Immigration Appeals. From 1999 to 2000, she was a judicial law clerk for EOIR’s Boston Immigration Court. Judge Poczter is a member of the State Bar of Massachusetts and the New York State Bar.
- EOIR -
The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) is an agency within the Department of Justice. Under delegated authority from the Attorney General, immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals interpret and adjudicate immigration cases according to United States immigration laws. EOIR’s immigration judges conduct administrative court proceedings in immigration courts located throughout the nation. They determine whether foreign-born individuals—whom the Department of Homeland Security charges with violating immigration law—should be ordered removed from the United States or should be granted relief from removal and be permitted to remain in this country. The Board of Immigration Appeals primarily reviews appeals of decisions by immigration judges. EOIR’s Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer adjudicates immigration-related employment cases. EOIR is committed to ensuring fairness in all of the cases it adjudicates.
Executive Office for Immigration ReviewJury Convicts CNMI Karaoke Bar Owner of Sex TraffickingRead the Press Release
Saipan, MP – U.S. Attorney Alicia A.G. Limtiaco announced that on Friday, June 7, 2013, a federal jury convicted CHANG RU MENG BACKMAN (age 40) of the People’s Republic of China, of one count of Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud or Coercion in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1591, in the District of the Northern Mariana Islands between August 2008 and March 2009. BACKMAN faces a mandatory minimum sentence of fifteen (15) years and a maximum term of life in prison. Sentencing has been scheduled for September 13, 2013, before U.S. District Court Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona.
This prosecution resulted from an investigation that began in the summer of 2009 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). According to the evidence presented at court, BACKMAN, who was the “boss-lady” of the Holiday Karaoke Club, coerced vulnerable Chinese women into having sex with customers of the club, for her own financial benefit. BACKMAN preyed upon women who had been enticed to come to Saipan from China with promises of legitimate work on a farm, hotel or a restaurant. Once the women arrived, BACKMAN used their debt, lack of legal immigration status, and inability to speak English to compel them to engage in commercial sex acts at her business -- the Holiday Karaoke Club. BACKMAN also drove the women to and from the bar so that the women would have sex with men at her direction. Three victims testified at the trial and the jury found BACKMAN guilty of one of three counts of sex trafficking.
The case was investigated by FBI Special Agent Jaime Prida and the United States was represented at trial by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rami S. Badawy and Ross K. Naughton, and U.S. Attorney Limtiaco. After the trial, U.S. Attorney Limtiaco, stated, “The sexual exploitation of vulnerable individuals is an affront to fundamental human rights, and it cannot be tolerated. Human traffickers trick, lie and coerce victims with promises of work in a legitimate job. In reality, these victims lose their freedom and are horribly demeaned by the sexual acts that they are forced to perform. The defendant preyed on the hopes and dreams of the victims, forcing them into a life of prostitution. The jury's verdict makes clear that sex trafficking schemes will not be tolerated. We will continue to find traffickers and hold them accountable for their crimes."
“This successful prosecution, was brought about through the hard work of the FBI in collaboration with local law enforcement and the CNMI Attorney General’s Office, to combat sex trafficking. This prosecution is the result of the tireless pursuit by law enforcement of those responsible for the sexual exploitation of women, and our joint commitment to attaining justice for the victims of these horrendous crimes.”
Four Former Wellcare Executives Found Guilty in FloridaRead the Press Release
A federal jury in Tampa found four former executives of WellCare Health Plans Inc., a health maintenance organization (HMO) operator, guilty of various charges, including health care fraud, making false statements relating to health care matters and making false statements to a law enforcement officer, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Robert E. O’Neill of the Middle District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Christopher B. Dennis of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Office of Investigations Miami office
Today, former WellCare Chief Executive Officer Todd S. Farha, 45, of Tampa, was convicted of two counts of health care fraud; former WellCare Chief Financial Officer Paul L. Behrens, 51, Odessa, Fla., was convicted of two counts of making false statements relating to health care matters and two counts of health care fraud; William L. Kale, 63, of Oldsmar, Fla., former vice president of Harmony Behavioral Health Inc. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of WellCare), was found guilty of two counts of health care fraud; and Peter E. Clay, 56, of Wellesley, Mass., former WellCare vice president of medical economics, was found guilty of making false statements to a law enforcement officer.
On March 2, 2011, a federal grand jury sitting in Tampa returned an indictment charging Farha, Behrens, Kale and Clay with various federal criminal violations related to a scheme to defraud the Florida Medicaid program, from the summer of 2003 through the fall of 2007, by making false and fraudulent statements relating to expenditure information for behavioral health care services.
WellCare operates HMOs in several states targeted for government-sponsored health care benefit programs like Medicaid. Two WellCare HMOs operating in Florida, StayWell and Healthease, contracted with the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), the Florida agency which administers the Medicaid program, to provide Florida Medicaid program recipients with an array of services, including behavioral health services.
In 2002, Florida enacted a statute that required Florida Medicaid HMOs to expend 80 percent of the Medicaid premium paid for certain behavioral health services upon the provision of those services. In the event that the HMO expended less than 80 percent of the premium, the difference was required to be returned to AHCA. As part of the scheme, the defendants falsely and fraudulently submitted inflated expenditure information in the company’s annual reports to AHCA, in order to reduce the WellCare HMOs’ contractual payback obligations for behavioral health care services.
On May 5, 2009, the government filed related charges in an information and deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) against WellCare. Under that DPA, WellCare was required to pay $40 million in restitution, forfeit another $40 million to the United States and cooperate with the government’s criminal investigation. The company complied with all of the requirements of the DPA. As a result, the information was later dismissed by the court following a government motion.
In May 2009, an information and plea agreement for Gregory West, 55, of Tampa, a former WellCare analyst, was unsealed. In his plea agreement, West admitted to participating in the scheme to defraud the Medicaid program and agreed to cooperate in the government’s investigation. At trial, West provided extensive and detailed testimony explaining the complex scheme. Other former WellCare executives provided additional testimony about the four individuals' roles in the scheme.
The maximum penalty for each of the health care fraud counts is 10 years in prison. The maximum penalty for all other counts is five years in prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
Thaddeus M.S. Bereday, of Tampa, WellCare’s former general counsel, was severed from the trial in February of this year. He will be tried separately, at a later date. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
The jury returned not guilty verdicts with respect to several counts and was unable to reach a verdict on others. The judge declared a mistrial as to those counts on which the jury was deadlocked. The Justice Department will decide, at a later date, whether to retry the individuals on those charges.
This case was investigated by HHS-OIG, the FBI and the Florida Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. It was prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel John Michelich of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jay Trezevant and Cherie Krigsman of the Middle District of Florida and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney John Bowers.
Owner of Michigan Inventory Counting Businesss <br /> Pleads Guilty to Tax FraudRead the Press Release
David P. Rowley, a resident of Jackson, Michigan, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood to filing a false individual income tax return, announced Kathryn Keneally, the Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Tax Division, and Barbara L. McQuade, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.
According to documents filed with the court, between 1999 and 2009, Rowley owned and operated an inventory business for automobile dealerships known as Kennedy Inventory & Service Inc. (KIS). The business also operated under the names D&P Inventory and Spartan in Ohio Inventory. At Rowley’s direction, KIS withheld trust fund taxes, which are the employee portion of Federal Insurance Contributions Act taxes, and employee income tax withholding from his own wages as well as from the wages of the approximately 50-100 employees that it employed at any given time during this period. Also at Rowley’s direction, KIS failed to pay over those trust fund taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In addition, Rowley failed to timely file Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Returns for KIS for quarters during 1999 through 2006 and Individual Income Tax Returns for himself for tax years 2002 through 2007.
In March 2008, Rowley filed 32 delinquent employer tax returns for KIS for years 1999 through 2006 in which he falsely stated that the company had paid over its employees’ trust fund taxes to the IRS when it had not. In November 2008, Rowley filed delinquent individual tax returns for himself for 2002 through 2007. On those returns, he falsely reported that KIS had withheld income taxes from his wages. The tax loss to the government from Rowley’s fraud was between $200,000 and $400,000.
Rowley faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison, one year of supervised release, a $250,000 fine and a $100 special assessment. He has agreed to pay restitution of $303,433.12 to the IRS. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 5, 2013.
The case was investigated by special agents of IRS - Criminal Investigation. Trial Attorney Daren Firestone of the Justice Department's Tax Division is prosecuting the case.Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/tax.
Michigan Woman Arrested for Criminal ContemptRead the Press Release
Doreen Hendrickson of Commerce Township, Mich., was arrested today following an indictment by a federal grand jury for criminal contempt, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.
Hendrickson and her husband, Peter Hendrickson, filed tax returns for 2002 and 2003 on which they claimed more than $20,000 in fraudulent tax refunds. These returns were based on the frivolous argument set forth in Peter Hendrickson’s book, Cracking the Code, that only federal, state and local government employees are liable for the payment of income taxes. In May 2007, as part of a lawsuit against the Hendricksons filed by the department’s Tax Division, U.S. District Judge Nancy G. Edmunds in Detroit entered a permanent injunction that barred the Hendricksons from filing additional false tax returns. Judge Edmunds also ordered the Hendricksons to file amended 2002 and 2003 returns. According to the indictment, Doreen Hendrickson violated this injunction by failing to file amended 2002 and 2003 tax returns and by filing a false 2008 tax return that was based on the arguments in her husband’s book.
An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
This case was investigated and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Melissa S. Siskind and Jeffrey B. Bender of the Tax Division, with the assistance of IRS-Criminal Investigation.
Justice Department Reaches Agreement with California <br /> Water District on Bailout Under the Voting Rights ActRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced that it has reached an agreement with the North Yuba Water District, a special district in California, that, if approved by the court, will allow for the district to bail out from its status as a “covered jurisdiction” under the special provisions of the Voting Rights Act, and thereby exempt the district from the preclearance requirements of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The district covers part of Yuba County, Calif., which is a jurisdiction subject to Section 5. The agreement is in the form of a consent decree filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, certain covered jurisdictions, determined according to Section 4 of the act, are required to seek preclearance for any changes in voting qualifications, standards, practices or procedures from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, or from the U.S. Attorney General, prior to their implementation. Section 4 of the act provides that a covered jurisdiction may seek to “bail out,” or remove itself from such coverage, and therefore be exempted from the preclearance requirements, by seeking a declaratory judgment before a three-judge panel in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. A bailout judgment can be issued only if the court determines that the jurisdiction meets certain eligibility requirements for bailout contained in the statute, including a 10-year record of nondiscrimination in voting-related actions. The act also provides that the Attorney General can consent to entry of a judgment of bailout only if, based upon investigation, the Attorney General is satisfied that the jurisdiction meets the eligibility requirements.
The North Yuba Water District filed its bailout action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on March 29, 2013. District officials had contacted the Attorney General prior to filing its action, indicating that the district was interested in seeking a bailout. The district provided the department with substantial information, and the department conducted an investigation to determine the district’s eligibility. Based on that investigation, the department is satisfied that the district meets the Voting Rights Act’s requirements for bailout.
“In this case, the department carefully evaluated the information provided by the district, and conducted its own investigation, which has satisfied us that the district is eligible for bailout,” said Matthew Colangelo, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “We appreciate the district’s cooperation in the resolution of this matter.”The consent decree details the legal and factual basis for a bailout determination and, if approved, will grant the district’s request. The court will retain jurisdiction of the action for 10 years and can reopen the action upon the motion of the Attorney General or any aggrieved person alleging conduct by the district that would have originally precluded the district from bailing out if it had occurred during the 10 year period preceding entry of the consent decree.
Information about bailout, the Voting Rights Act, and other federal voting laws is available on the Justice Department website at www.justice.gov/crt/voting. Complaints may be reported to the Voting Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.Justice Department Announces Plan for Advancing Crime Victims’ Rights and Services in the Twenty-first CenturyRead the Press Release
The Justice Department today unveiled a plan calling for sweeping changes to advance crime victims’ rights and services in the 21st century.
Developed by the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), Vision 21: Transforming Victim Services Final Report, is the first collective examination in 15 years of current U.S. practices, funding and outreach in the crime victims’ field.
“Today’s announcement marks the latest step forward in the Department’s ongoing work to protect and empower those who have been victimized,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “Through Vision 21, we’ve gained an unprecedented understanding of the current state of victim services from coast to coast. And we've developed groundbreaking strategies for responding to urgent needs, combating violence and abuse, and providing critical support to crime victims.”
Vision 21 documents the need to better understand who is affected by crime, how they are affected, how they seek help, who reports victimization and the reasons why some victims do not. The report calls for continuous, rather than episodic, strategic planning in the victim assistance field and for statutory, policy and programmatic flexibility to address enduring and emerging crime victim issues. It also calls for the development of evidence-based knowledge founded on data collection and analysis of victimization and emerging victimization trends, services, behaviors and enforcement efforts.
“This is a bold and creative plan to meet the needs of crime victims in the 21st century,” said Assistant Attorney General for OJP Karol V. Mason. “The recommendations in this report display the latest and best thinking in the field of victim services and set us on a course to ensuring services for all victims. I am grateful to my Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mary Lou Leary and OVC’s Principal Deputy Director Joye Frost for leading Vision 21 and for their commitment to victims across the country.”
Leary and Frost previously joined Patrick Leahy, President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate, on April 24, to announce the framework for this report. For the Vision 21: Transforming Victim Services Final Report, please visit: www.ovc.gov/vision21.The Office of Justice Programs, headed by Assistant Attorney General Karol V. Mason, 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. For more information about OJP, please visit: www.ojp.gov.
Former Army National Guard Soldier Sentenced to 57 Months in Prison for Lead Role in Fraudulent Military Recruiting Referral Bonus SchemeRead the Press Release
A former member of the U.S. Army National Guard was sentenced today to serve 57 months in prison for leading a conspiracy to obtain approximately $244,000 in fraudulent recruiting referral bonuses from various U.S. military components and their contractor, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
Former U.S. Army National Guard Specialist Xavier Aves, 42, of San Antonio, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Fred Biery in the Western District of Texas. In addition to his prison term, Chief Judge Biery sentenced Aves to serve three years of supervised release and ordered Aves to pay $244,000 in restitution, jointly and severally with co-conspirators.
On Sept. 16, 2011, a grand jury in the Western District of Texas returned a 41-count indictment against Aves and five co-defendants, in which Aves was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 30 counts of wire fraud and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft.
On Feb. 3, 2012, Aves pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
The case against Aves and his co-defendants arose from an investigation concerning allegations that former and current soldiers and military and civilian contract recruiters in the San Antonio area engaged in a wide-ranging scheme to obtain fraudulent recruiting referral bonuses. To date, 11 individuals have been charged, 10 of whom have pleaded guilty and been sentenced. The investigation is ongoing.
According to court documents, between 2005 and 2008, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Army Reserves and the National Guard Bureau entered into contracts with Document and Packaging Broker Inc. to administer recruiting bonus programs designed to offer monetary incentives to soldiers who referred others to serve in the U.S. military. In addition, the Army managed its own recruiting bonus programs, which offered referral bonuses to soldiers who referred other individuals to serve in the Army or Army Reserves after registering online as recruiting assistants (RA) or sponsors.
Through these recruiting programs, a participating soldier could receive up to $2,000 in bonus payments for every person he referred to join the U.S. military. Based on certain milestones achieved by the referred soldier, a participating soldier would receive the recruiting bonus payments in the form of direct deposits and pre-paid debit card payments.
According to court documents, between February 2006 and February 2011, Xavier Aves, Christopher Castro, Grant Bibb, Paul Escobar, Richard Garcia, Ernest Gonzales and others paid military recruiters, including Jesus Torres-Alvarez, for the names and social security numbers of potential soldiers. Aves, Castro, Bibb, Escobar, Garcia, Gonzales and others used the information they obtained from recruiters to claim credit in their online RA and sponsor accounts for referring certain new soldiers to join the military, when in fact they did not refer those individuals.
Aves orchestrated the scheme by serving as a key intermediary between the recruiters and the participating RAs. Aves arranged for the money to be split among his co-conspirators and directed a portion of the proceeds to be wired to his and his girlfriend’s personal bank accounts.
As a result of the fraudulent referrals, Aves and his co-conspirators received a total of approximately $244,000 in fraudulent recruiting bonuses.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Edward J. Loya Jr., Brian A. Lichter, Mark J. Cipolletti and Sean F. Mulryne of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section. The case is being investigated by agents from the San Antonio Fraud Resident Agency of the Major Procurement Fraud Unit, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division.
Federal Court Permanently Bars Prince George’s County, Maryland, Tax Preparers from Preparing Tax Returns for OthersRead the Press Release
Two federal judges in separate cases entered orders permanently barring Marvin Binion Sr., his son Marvin Binion II, Binion Sr.’s ex-wife Tonya Hubbard and her firm Universal Tax Service LLC from preparing tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The civil injunction orders, to which all defendants consented, were signed by Judge Roger W. Titus and Judge Alexander Williams Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
The two government complaints, one against the Binions and one against Hubbard and her firm, alleged that the defendants prepared fraudulent tax returns for customers containing bogus deductions for items like charitable contributions, unreimbursed employee business expenses and other miscellaneous expenses. The lawsuits also alleged that Hubbard, Universal Tax Service LLC and the Binions violated federal law by not signing the returns they prepared for customers and by not placing IRS preparer identification numbers on the returns. All tax preparers are required to place an IRS-issued tax preparer identification number on every federal income tax return they prepare for a customer.According to the complaints the defendants prepared customer returns using commercial tax software, placed the returns in postage-paid pre-addressed envelopes and instructed customers to sign and mail the returns to the IRS on their own. The suits alleged that defendants did this to hide from the IRS their role in preparing the returns.
The government alleged that Hubbard and the Binions charged customers a return-preparation fee of $300 and that the Binions may have earned as much as $30,000 per day preparing fraudulent returns.
The Internal Revenue Service has listed tax-preparer fraud as one of the “Dirty Dozen” tax scams. The Justice Department has obtained injunctions against hundreds of tax-return preparers and tax-fraud promoters in the past 10 years. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website www.justice.gov/tax.
Related Materials:
United States v. Marvin L. Binion, Sr., et al.
Final Stipulated Permanent Injunction Order (PDF)United States v. Tonya L. Hubbard, et al.
Final Stipulated Permanent Injunction Order (PDF)Court Issues Order Barring Michigan Tax Preparer from Preparing Federal Tax Returns for OthersRead the Press Release
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan has issued an order permanently barring Nataki Davis, (formerly known as Nataki Barnes), a Southfield, Mich., tax preparer, from preparing federal tax returns for others for a period of five years, the Justice Department announced today. The court also ordered Davis to mail copies of the court order to all persons or entities for whom she has prepared federal tax returns, amended returns or other federal tax documents or forms since Jan. 1, 2011. Davis consented to the civil injunction order.
Davis operated a business that provided tax return preparation services under the names NKB Tax Services, NKB Tax Services, Etc. and Ready Trans. The complaint states that Davis prepared approximately 1,597 tax returns for tax processing years 2010 through 2012. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) closed examinations on 52 of those 1,597 tax returns prepared by Davis and 48, or 92%, of those examined returns resulted in additional tax assessments. Many of the returns that Davis prepared for customers contained false deductions and credits, including inflation of deductions for charitable contributions, mortgage interest, real estate and personal property taxes paid and false education credits. Returns also included manipulation of taxpayer data for the purposes of claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit for which the taxpayers would otherwise be ineligible.
The court also issued an order permanently barring Davis’s brother Clarence Barnes Jr. from applying for an electronic filing identification number (EFIN) or assisting any other individual or entity in the application for or procurement or use of an EFIN to file a federal income tax return. Barnes consented to this civil injunction order.
The IRS lists return-preparer fraud as one of the Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2013. In the past decade, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of tax fraud promoters and unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department website www.justice.gov/tax.
Related Materials:
United States v. Nataki Davis, et al.
Complaint for Permanent Injunction (PDF)
Order of Injunction with Respect to Defendant Clarence Barnes, Jr. (PDF)
Order of Injunction with Respect to Defendants Nataki Davis and NKB Tax Services, Inc. (PDF)Three Georgia Residents Sentenced for Their Roles in Bribery Scheme Related to the Award of Government ContractsRead the Press Release
A former employee at the Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany (MCLB-Albany) and two local businessmen were sentenced today for their roles in a bribery scheme related to the award of contracts for machine products that resulted in approximately $907,000 in fraudulent overcharges to the U.S. Marines, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Michael J. Moore of the Middle District of Georgia.
Michelle Rodriguez, 32; Thomas J. Cole, 43; and Fredrick W. Simon, 55, all of Albany, Ga., were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge W. Louis Sands in the Middle District of Georgia. Rodriguez was sentenced to 70 months in prison and ordered to pay $161,000 in restitution; Cole was sentenced to 46 months in prison and ordered to pay $209,000 in restitution; and Simon was sentenced to 32 months in prison and ordered to pay $74,500 in restitution. Each is also subject to a $907,000 restitution order and three years of supervised release.
During her guilty plea in February 2013, Rodriguez, a supply technician in the Maintenance Center Albany (MCA), admitted to participating in a scheme to award contracts for machine products to Company A and Company B, companies operated by Cole and Simon. Cole and Simon pleaded guilty to bribery charges related to the same scheme in January 2013 and cooperated with the government’s criminal investigation. The MCA is responsible for rebuilding and repairing ground combat and combat support equipment, much of which has been utilized in military missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as other parts of the world. To accomplish the scheme, Rodriguez would transmit bid solicitations to Simon via facsimile or email, and then usually follow that communication with a text message specifying how much Company A should bid. Simon, on Company A’s behalf, and with Cole’s knowledge, bid the amount specified by Rodriguez on each order, which was normally in excess of fair market value. Rodriguez was then paid $75 in cash for each order awarded to Simon and Cole during the previous week. According to court records, during the relevant period Rodriguez awarded Cole and Simon’s companies nearly 1,300 machine product orders, all of which were in exchange for bribes paid to Rodriguez.
Rodriguez further admitted that in 2011, she began routing some orders through a second company, Company B, owned by Cole, because the volume of orders MCA placed with the first company was so high. Company A, however, continued to perform the required services. Court records state that Rodriguez received approximately $161,000 in bribes during the nearly two-year scheme, while Cole and Simon personally received $209,000 and $74,500, respectively. Court records also indicate that the total loss to the U.S. Marines from overcharges associated with the machine product orders placed during the scheme was approximately $907,000.
The case was investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, with assistance from the Dougherty County District Attorney’s Office Economic Crime Unit and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Richard B. Evans and J.P. Cooney of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney K. Alan Dasher of the Middle District of Georgia.
Testech and Ceso Agree to Pay $2.88 Million to Resolve False Claims Act AllegationsRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today that a number of related entities and individuals agreed to pay $2,883,947 to resolve allegations that they falsely claimed disadvantaged business status on a number of federally-funded transportation projects. These entities are Dayton-based TesTech, Inc. and its owner, Sherif Aziz, and Dayton-based CESO Testing Technology, Inc., CESO International, LLC, and CESO, Inc. (collectively CESO), and their owners, David and Shery Oakes.
“The Disadvantaged Business Enterprises program helps businesses owned by minorities and women work on federal transportation projects,” said Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. “Those who falsely claim credits under the program to obtain federal funds victimize both the businesses that the program is designed to assist and the American taxpayer.”
The Department of Transportation’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program encourages the use of woman- and minority-owned businesses on federally-funded transportation projects. Contractors on such projects must make good-faith attempts to meet DBE participation goals as a condition of federal funding.
"DBE fraud harms the integrity of the program and adversely impacts law-abiding, small business contractors trying to compete on a level playing field,” said Michelle McVicker, regional Special Agent-in-Charge of the DOT’s Office of Inspector General. “Working with our Federal, State, and local law enforcement and prosecutorial colleagues, we will vigorously pursue those who violate the law, and expose and shut down fraud schemes that adversely affect public trust and DOT-assisted airport and highway programs.”
The settlement announced today resolves allegations that the defendants claimed DBE status for TesTech, a civil engineering firm, on numerous highway and airport construction projects in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Kentucky. The United States alleged that TesTech was owned and controlled by CESO, a non-DBE firm, and its owners, the Oakes, who falsely claimed that TesTech was owned by Aziz and qualified as a minority-owned business in order to take advantage of the DBE program.
"The message is that we will work to uphold the integrity of the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and similar programs," US Attorney Carter Stewart said. “Those who attempt to defraud the system will be held accountable.”
The allegations resolved by today’s settlement were initially alleged in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act by Ryan Parker, a former employee of TesTech. Under the False Claims Act, private citizens can sue on behalf of the United States and share in the recovery. Mr. Parker will receive $562,370 of the settlement amount.
This case was handled by the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio, and the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General.
The False Claims Act suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, and is captioned United States ex rel. Parker v. TesTech et al., No. 2:10-cv-1028 (S.D. Ohio). The claims settled in this case are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability.
Seller of Golden Eagle and Hawk Feathers Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Violations of Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Lacey ActRead the Press Release
Steven Patrick Garcia, Jr., 36, of San Jose, Calif., was sentenced today in federal court in Billings, Mont., to 24 months in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release for selling and offering to sell migratory bird parts in violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) and the Lacey Act, the Department of Justice announced today. Garcia had pleaded guilty to the charge on January 16, 2013.
Garcia admitted by his plea that on Dec. 2, 2008, he offered for sale and sold golden eagle and hawk feathers and that on Feb. 25, 2009, he sold golden eagle feathers knowing that those golden eagle feathers were unlawfully taken and possessed.
“The protection of Montana's wildlife, including migratory birds, is a priority of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Montana. Today's prosecution and sentence demonstrate that individuals that attempt to profit from the unlawful taking of golden eagles, bald eagles, hawks and all other migratory birds will be investigated, prosecuted and punished accordingly,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, Michael W. Cotter.
Pursuant to the MBTA, the Secretary of the Interior maintains a list of migratory birds which are protected from, among other things, being killed, sold, bartered, transported or possessed, except as otherwise permitted by federal regulation. Enrolled members of federally recognized American Indian tribes may obtain permits to possess eagle and other migratory bird feathers and parts for religious and ceremonial purposes, but federal law strictly prohibits the sale of migratory birds, feathers, or their parts by any person. The Lacey Act prohibits, among other things, the sale of wildlife knowing that the wildlife was taken or possessed in violation of any federal wildlife-related regulation or law.
According to court documents, Garcia communicated via MySpace with an individual in California and sold the individual hawk feathers for $200 and a golden eagle feather for $25 in December 2008. The hawk feathers were later forensically identified as twelve tail feathers of either ferruginous or red-tailed hawk. Garcia also communicated via MySpace with an undercover U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent who, at one point in time, observed approximately seventy photographs of migratory bird feathers on Garcia’s MySpace Page. The agent purchased twelve ferruginous hawk and twelve rough-legged hawk tail feathers from Garcia in February 2009 as well as one complete set of subadult golden eagle wings for $400. Approximately 146 items containing feathers representing 18 different species of migratory birds were obtained from Garcia’s home in Lame Deer, Montana in March 2009.
This case resulted from a nationwide investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement into the illegal commercialization of eagles and other migratory birds protected by federal law. The case was prosecuted by the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, Environmental Crimes Section with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana.Michigan Doctor Sentenced for Role in Medicare Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Lansing-area resident Dr. Paul Kelly was sentenced to 18 months in prison today for his role in a $13.8 million Medicare fraud scheme.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara L. McQuade; Special Agent in Charge Robert D. Foley III of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG), Chicago Regional Office, made the announcement.
Kelly, 76, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen of the Eastern District of Michigan. In addition to his prison term, Dr. Kelly was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $582,912 in restitution.
Kelly pleaded guilty on Jan. 10, 2013, to one count of health care fraud. According to information contained in plea documents, beginning in or around January 2011 and continuing through approximately March 2011, Kelly signed home health care referrals for a home health agency called Moonlite Home Care Inc., located in Livonia, Mich. Kelly certified Medicare beneficiaries as homebound, a requirement for receiving home health care, when in fact, Kelly had never examined or met the beneficiaries, and they were not homebound. Medicare paid approximately $582,912 for fraudulent home health care claims submitted by Moonlite based on Kelly's referrals.
This case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan. This case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Catherine K. Dick of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,500 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, is taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.
Miami-Dade Agrees to $1.6 Billion Upgrade of Its Sewer System to Eliminate Sewage OverflowsRead the Press Release
Under a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today, Miami-Dade County in Florida has agreed to invest in major upgrades to its wastewater treatment plants and wastewater collection and transmission systems in order to eliminate sanitary sewer overflows. The state of Florida and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) are co-plaintiffs with the United States in this action.
Under the terms of the consent decree, Miami-Dade will rehabilitate its wastewater treatment plants and its wastewater collection and transmission system within 15 years. The county will also develop and implement management operation and maintenance programs to help ensure the sewer system is properly operated and maintained in the future. By implementing these measures, Miami-Dade is expected to eliminate sanitary sewer overflows from its wastewater collection and transmission system and achieve compliance with its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits.
“Sewage overflows are a significant problem in the Southeast because of inadequate and aging infrastructure,” said Stan Meiburg, Acting Regional Administrator of EPA’s Southeastern office. “This agreement demonstrates the county’s commitment to address its sewage problems. Eliminating overflows of raw sewage will comply with the Clean Water Act and benefit the Miami-Dade community by providing a cleaner and healthier environment.”
“Miami-Dade County is one of the world’s premier resort destinations and is home to America’s Everglades, two aquatic preserves as well as Bill Baggs Cape Florida, Oleta River and The Barnacle Historic state parks,” said Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Herschel T. Vinyard Jr. “This agreement will bring lasting environmental and recreational benefits to the citizens and visitors of Miami-Dade County by reducing the threats posed by untreated sewage overflows that degrade water quality and contribute to beach closures,”
Between January 2007 and May 2013, Miami-Dade reported 211 sanitary sewer overflows totaling more than 51 million gallons. Such overflows included a number of large volume overflows from ruptured force mains. At least 84 overflows, totaling over 29 million gallons of raw sewage, reached navigable waters of the United States. Miami-Dade’s Central District wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) also experienced several violations of the effluent limits contained in its NPDES permit. EPA also documented numerous operation and maintenance violations at this same WWTP during inspections in September 2011, April 2012 and April 2013.
Miami-Dade estimates it will spend approximately $1.6 billion to complete the upgrades required by the consent decree and come into compliance with the Clean Water Act. Under the settlement, Miami-Dade will also pay a civil penalty of $978,100 ($511,800 to be paid to the United States and $466,300 to FDEP) and complete a supplemental environmental project costing $2,047,200.
Miami-Dade’s supplemental environmental project involves the installation of approximately 7,660 linear feet of gravity sewer mains through the Green Technology Corridor, an area that is currently using septic tanks. Businesses in the area have been unable to connect to the sewer system because sewer lines are lacking. Disconnecting industrial users from septic tanks will improve water quality in the Biscayne aquifer and nearby surface waters and prevent future contamination.
The terms and conditions of the settlement announced today will update, replace and supersede two existing consent decrees between the United States and the county, the 1994 First Partial Consent Decree and the 1995 Second and Final Partial Consent Decree. Both of these existing consent decrees will be terminated upon entry of the new, proposed consent decree. The parties to this settlement recognized that since entry of the previous consent decrees, conditions within and circumstances surrounding Miami-Dade’s sewer system have changed over the last 18 years, including the causes and locations of sanitary sewer overflows. As a result, appropriate modifications and updates to the previous settlements are included in the new settlement.
Today’s announcement is the latest in a series of Clean Water Act settlements, including sanitary sewer overflow remediation and combined sewer overflow control plans that will reduce the discharge of raw sewage and contaminated stormwater into U.S. rivers, streams and lakes. It is part of EPA’s national enforcement initiative to keep raw sewage and contaminated stormwater out of the nation’s waterways. Reductions in sanitary sewer overflows are accomplished by obtaining municipal utilities’ commitments to implement timely, affordable solutions to these problems.
The settlement, lodged today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court. The settlement will be available for viewing at www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html
More information about EPA’s national enforcement initiative: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/data/planning/initiatives/2011sewagestormwater.html
Justice Department Reaches Agreement with California <br /> Water District on Bailout Under the Voting Rights ActRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced that it has reached an agreement with the Linda County Water District, a special district in California, that, if approved by the court, will allow for the district to bail out from its status as a “covered jurisdiction” under the special provisions of the Voting Rights Act, and thereby exempt the district from the preclearance requirements of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The district covers part of Yuba County, Calif., which is a jurisdiction subject to Section 5. The agreement is in the form of a consent decree filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, certain covered jurisdictions, determined according to Section 4 of the act, are required to seek preclearance for any changes in voting qualifications, standards, practices or procedures from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, or from the U.S. Attorney General, prior to their implementation. Section 4 of the act provides that a covered jurisdiction may seek to “bail out,” or remove itself from such coverage, and become exempted from the preclearance requirements, by seeking a declaratory judgment before a three-judge panel in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. A bailout judgment can be issued only if the court determines that the jurisdiction meets certain eligibility requirements for bailout contained in the statute, including a 10-year record of nondiscrimination in voting-related actions. The act also provides that the Attorney General can consent to entry of a judgment of bailout only if, based upon investigation, the Attorney General is satisfied that the jurisdiction meets the eligibility requirements.
The Linda County Water District filed its bailout action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on March 21, 2013. District officials had contacted the Attorney General prior to filing its action, indicating that the district was interested in seeking a bailout. The district provided the department with substantial information and the department conducted an investigation to determine the district’s eligibility. Based on that investigation the department is satisfied that the district meets the Voting Rights Act’s requirements for bailout.
“In this case, the department carefully evaluated the information provided by the district, and conducted its own investigation, which has satisfied us that the district is eligible for bailout,” said Matthew Colangelo, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “We appreciate the district’s cooperation in the resolution of this matter.”The consent decree details the legal and factual basis for a bailout determination and, if approved, will grant the district’s request. The court will retain jurisdiction of the action for 10 years and can reopen the action upon the motion of the Attorney General or any aggrieved person alleging conduct by the district that would have originally precluded the district from bailing out if it had occurred during the 10 year period preceding entry of the consent decree.
Information about bailout, the Voting Rights Act, and other federal voting laws is available on the department’s website at www.justice.gov/crt/voting. Complaints may be reported to the Voting Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.Federal Court Permanently Enjoins Florida Tax Return PreparerRead the Press Release
A federal court in Miami has permanently barred Osvaldo J. Diaz of Coral Gables, Florida, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The permanent injunction order was signed by Judge Jose E. Martinez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
The government’s complaint alleged that Diaz prepared tax returns that fabricated deductions and credits in an attempt to understate his customers’ tax liabilities or inflate his customers’ refunds. Specifically, the government alleged that Diaz fabricated business and personal expenses and inflated real estate losses for his customers. According to the complaint, the Internal Revenue Service examined 250 returns prepared by Diaz and found that 93 percent resulted in additional taxes being owed. The government alleged that the tax loss from the returns prepared by Diaz could be tens of millions of dollars.The IRS lists return-preparer fraud as one of the Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2013. In the past decade, the Justice Department's Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of tax fraud promoters and unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department website.
Court Approves Orleans Parish Prison Reform PlanRead the Press Release
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana has mandated systemic reform of unconstitutional conditions at the Orleans Parish Prison (OPP), by entering the proposed consent judgment executed by the United States, class plaintiffs, and Sheriff Marlin Gusman in Jones v. Gusman. The agreement was filed with the court by the parties on Dec. 11, 2012.
The consent judgment requires the sheriff to undertake comprehensive remedial measures to address the deficiencies in prisoner safety from physical and sexual assaults, medical and mental health care, suicide prevention, environmental and life safety and limited English proficiency services for Spanish-speaking prisoners.
The Justice Department initiated a comprehensive investigation in February 2008, under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, with the assistance of experts in the fields of corrections, correctional medical and mental health care and environmental safety and sanitation. The department issued comprehensive findings regarding its investigation in Sept. 2009, with an emergency update to its findings in April 2012 after conditions had not improved, and in some instances had deteriorated. In September 2012, the department intervened in the Jones case, a class action lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of current and future prisoners.
Today’s consent judgment requires:
• Development and implementation of policies, procedures and training regarding all aspects of correctional management, including use of force, investigations of serious incidents, prevention of prison rape and contraband prevention and detection;
• The appointment of a professional jail administrator and other key accountability measures;
• Tracking of facility data to determine where in the facility dangerous incidents are happening and what can be done to prevent further incidents;
• Adequate staffing to ensure that prisoners are safe and tha staff can perform their duties without unreasonable risk of injury;• Provision of adequate medical and mental health care, including access to necessary medications and treatment, as well as appropriate supervision and intervention for individuals who are or become suicidal;
• Improvements in sanitation and fire safety;
• Ensuring that Spanish-speaking inmates with limited English proficiency have access to Spanish language translations to enable them to access medical and other basic services;
• Appointment of an independent monitor with expertise in the areas covered by this agreement.In addition to monitoring of agreement implementation, the independent monitor will periodically inspect the facility for compliance and provide technical assistance to OPP staff regarding how to achieve compliance.
These requirements apply as long as inmates are in the current OPP facilities and will remain in place when the new jail facility is completed and put into use.
The court found that these remedies are fair, adequate, reasonable and minimally necessary to bring OPP conditions up to federal constitutional and statutory requirements. Additionally, state law-mandated city funding of OPP operations must be adequate to support the ordered remedies.
“The Justice Department is eager to move forward with proactive solutions to the inhumane conditions that have plagued the Orleans Parish Prison,” said Roy L. Austin, Jr. Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The court’s order today is another step in our ongoing efforts in the City of New Orleans to promote public safety through a contemporary criminal justice system that meets constitutional standards. We look forward to working with all the necessary parties to see to it that this goal is achieved.”
The City of New Orleans was joined by the sheriff as defendant to this case on the sole question of the level of funding the city must provide. The funding dispute between the city and the sheriff is not resolved by this order.
In a hearing on Aug. 5, 2013, the court will determine the appropriate level and allocation of responsibility for OPP funding under the consent judgment between the sheriff and city, who are both defendants in Jones.
This investigation was led by the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division. For more information on the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, please visit www.justice.gov/crt .
U.S. Trustee Program Announces Successful Conclusion of Nationwide Settlement with Capital One BankRead the Press Release
Independent Auditor Finds Capital One Repaid $2.35 Million
and Corrected Flawed Process for Filing Bankruptcy ClaimsWASHINGTON – The U.S. Trustee Program (USTP) announced today that the independent auditor appointed under a nationwide settlement between the USTP and Capital One Bank (USA) N.A. has filed her final report, bringing the settlement to a successful conclusion. The auditor reported that Capital One refunded approximately $2.35 million it received after filing erroneous claims in bankruptcy cases for debts previously discharged in bankruptcy, as well as approximately $30,000 in fees and expenses incurred by consumers and bankruptcy trustees who objected to erroneous claims. The report also confirmed that Capital One corrected the flawed process that led to the filing of the erroneous claims.
As part of the settlement filed in 2008 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts, Capital One had agreed to an audit overseen by an independent auditor. Former Bankruptcy Judge Melanie Cyganowski, who was selected as the auditor, filed her final report after examining more than 850,000 claims filed by Capital One in bankruptcy cases nationwide. Under the settlement, Capital One paid the auditor’s fees and costs of conducting the audit.
“The auditor’s final report shows how important it is for the USTP to address systemic wrongful conduct with enforcement actions that protect consumers nationwide and that ensure independent verification and monitoring,” stated Executive Office for U.S. Trustees Director Cliff White. “This settlement agreement achieved its objectives and serves as a model for remediating past misconduct and preventing future abuses by creditors and others, including professionals, against consumers and the bankruptcy system. I commend the auditor for her painstaking efforts to identify all victims and to ensure that Capital One has established a system to prevent this from happening again.”
The auditor’s final report revealed that, in the nearly four years prior to the settlement, Capital One filed more than 15,500 erroneous claims with a total face value of nearly $25 million. The auditor also determined that Capital One received payment of approximately $2.35 million on those erroneously filed claims – almost seven times the $340,000 originally alleged – and fully refunded those distributions to consumers in bankruptcy or to their bankruptcy estates. Further, the report confirmed that Capital One reimbursed approximately $30,000 in fees and expenses incurred by debtors and trustees in objecting to erroneous claims.
Under the settlement, the auditor conducted additional compliance audits of all claims filed by Capital One during the two-year period following the settlement to ensure that the company had corrected the process that led to the filing of the erroneous claims for previously discharged debt. The auditor determined that, in the two years following the settlement, Capital One filed fewer than 150 erroneous claims out of more than 250,000 claims filed.
The case is United States Trustee v. Capital One Bank (USA), N.A., Adversary Proceeding No. 08-01272 (Bankr. D. Mass.).
The USTP is the component of the Department of Justice that protects the integrity of the bankruptcy system by overseeing case administration and litigating to enforce the bankruptcy laws.
Contact:Jane Limprecht, Public Information Officer
Executive Office for U.S. Trustees
(202) 305-7411Louisiana Businessman Pleads Guilty to Making<br /> False Statements to the Federal Election CommissionRead the Press Release
The president of a Louisiana towing company pleaded guilty today to using his personal and business accounts to fund campaign contribution checks in the names of others in support of two candidates for the U.S. Senate, Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Dana Boente announced.
Arlen “Benny” Cenac Jr., 57, a resident of Houma, La., and the president and owner of Cenac Towing, pleaded guilty today to making false statements to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison when he is sentenced on Sept. 5, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier.
“Today’s plea marks the second campaign finance conviction in a week and is one of many such cases brought throughout the nation,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman. “Mr. Cenac’s crime undermined the cornerstones of campaign finance laws, and his conviction demonstrates our resolve to hold accountable anyone who corrupts our electoral process.”
“Mr. Cenac, in an effort to increase his political contributions, structured his financial transactions and created false documents,” said U.S. Attorney Boente. “This prosecution should serve as a warning to people who attempt to hide their identity and make contributions in excess of legal limits.”
According to the plea documents, Cenac obtained cashier’s checks using his personal and corporate funds in names of individuals other than himself, including people he knew professionally, personally, or through family relations. Cenac neither sought nor obtained the permission of the individuals he listed as remitters on the cashier’s checks. He then submitted the checks as campaign contributions to the campaigns of two U.S. Senate candidates, causing the campaigns to submit materially false information regarding the source and the amount of the contributions to the FEC.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s New Orleans Division. Trial Attorney Tracee Plowell of the Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Friel of the Eastern District of Louisiana are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
Justice Department Reaches Settlement with Supershuttle Under the Americans with Disabilities ActRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement with SuperShuttle, a shared-ride transportation company based in Arizona, to resolve a complaint that it discriminated against a blind person who uses a service animal. Specifically, the Justice Department determined that SuperShuttle violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by forcing a blind person who uses a service animal and her party to ride in a separate van and charging them a higher rate than other individuals who are allowed to share a van and pay a reduced fare.
“Americans with disabilities are entitled to the same opportunities that others have and the Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that people with disabilities are treated equally,” said Eve L. Hill, Senior Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “We are pleased that SuperShuttle has committed to taking affirmative steps to remedy this situation throughout its company.”
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, SuperShuttle will adopt a revised service animal non-discrimination policy; train all employees, franchisees and independent contractors on the requirements of the ADA; and pay $1,000 in damages to the complainant.
The ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities by private transportation providers. Among other things, transportation providers must allow people with disabilities the full and equal enjoyment of their goods, services and facilities. They must also make reasonable modifications of their policies, practices and procedures to permit service animals by people with disabilities.
Those interested in learning more about this settlement or an entity’s obligations under the ADA may call the Justice Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (TDD 800-514-0383) or access its ADA website at www.ADA.gov . Additionally, ADA complaints may be filed by email to [email protected] .Related Materials:
Settlement Agreement
Owner of Window Installation Business Admits <br /> Tax Evasion in New JerseyRead the Press Release
The owner of a window installation company located in Mt.Laurel, N.J. admitted today he converted to cash millions of dollars in the company’s gross receipts and used the money to pay his workers without withholding employment taxes announced, Paul J. Fishman, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, and Kathryn Keneally, Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division.
Fred Marcus, 39, of Camden County, N.J., the owner and operator of Vortex Installations Inc., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Mary L. Cooper in New Jersey federal court to an information charging him with one count of tax evasion.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From early 2006 through the end of 2009, Marcus cashed approximately $2.8 million in Vortex Installations’ gross receipts at a check casher. Marcus used $1,025,868 of that money to pay cash wages to his workers, which he did not report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and from which he did not withhold employment taxes. From 2006 through 2008, Marcus failed to file IRS Forms 941 – Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Returns – in which he was required to report the wages paid to his employees. In 2009, Marcus filed false Forms 941, in that he failed to report the cash wages that he paid to Vortex employees.
On the count of tax evasion, Marcus faces a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, along with restitution to the IRS. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 19, 2013.
Assistant Attorney General Keneally and U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of IRS–Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Shantelle P. Kitchen, for the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Tax Division Trial Attorney Tino M. Lisella. Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at: www.justice.gov/tax.
Former New Jersey Return Preparer Sentenced for Tax FraudRead the Press Release
Ashraf Hassan-Gouda, a former resident of Mays Landing, N.J., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to 541 days in prison, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. The approximately 18 month sentence is for time served. Previously, Hassan-Gouda had pleaded guilty to willfully assisting in the preparation of a false federal individual income tax return for a client.
According to court documents, in 2003, Hassan-Gouda was the owner of Tax World, a tax preparation business located in Atlantic City, N.J. He prepared the false tax return for the client at his business. Hassan-Gouda was indicted in 2007 and fled to Egypt. In 2012, Hassan-Gouda was extradited to the United States from Germany.
The case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation, and prosecuted by Tax Division Trial Attorneys Yael Epstein, Thomas Voracek and Shawn Noud.Karol V. Mason Sworn-In as Assistant Attorney General for <br /> the Office of Justice ProgramsRead the Press Release
Attorney General Eric Holder today welcomed Karol V. Mason as the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs (OJP). As head of OJP, she oversees an annual budget of more than $2 billion dedicated to supporting state, local and tribal criminal justice agencies; an array of juvenile justice programs; a wide range of research, evaluation and statistical efforts; and comprehensive services for crime victims.
“I’m delighted to welcome Karol Mason back to the Justice Department, this time as Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “Karol’s leadership has already been instrumental in bringing about fundamental improvements to the department. I also want to thank Mary Lou Leary for her leadership of the Office of Justice Programs and I’m thrilled to be working with both Karol and Mary Lou, and look forward to all that they and their colleagues will accomplish, as we continue to advance OJP’s important mission.”
From 2009-2012 Mason served at the Justice Department as Deputy Associate Attorney General with oversight responsibility for the Tax Division, the Office of Justice Programs, the Office on Violence Against Women and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. During this time, Mason headed a cross-department initiative to address criminal justice issues in New Orleans, led Attorney General Holder’s Defending Childhood Initiative and helped create its Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence, forming partnerships on this issue with the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. Mason was responsible for the implementation of the Combined Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS) which consolidates all of the Justice Department’s tribal grants under a single solicitation. Mason was awarded the Distinguished Service Award for outstanding service to the Department of Justice by Attorney General Eric Holder in 2011.
Prior to her federal government service, Karol Mason was a partner at the Atlanta law firm of Alston & Bird where she focused on public and project finance, chaired the firm’s public finance group, served on its management committee and provided counsel in the area of government investigations.
Karol Mason received her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, where she was note editor for the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform. She received her A.B. from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was a member of the board of trustees from 2001 to 2009.
Justice Department to Monitor Elections in MississippiRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today that it will monitor municipal elections on June 4, 2013, in the cities of Brookhaven, Greenwood, Isola, Meridian, Philadelphia and Ruleville, Miss., to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Voting Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the election process on the basis of race, color or membership in a minority language group.
Under the Voting Rights Act, the department is authorized to ask the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to send federal observers to jurisdictions that are certified by the Attorney General or by a federal court order. Federal observers will be assigned to monitor polling place activities in Greenwood, Isola, Philadelphia and Ruleville based on the Attorney General’s certification. The observers will watch and record activities during voting hours at polling locations, and Civil Rights Division attorneys will coordinate the federal activities and maintain contact with local election officials.
In addition, department personnel will monitor polling place activities in Brookhaven and Meridian. Attorneys from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division will coordinate federal activities and maintain contact with local election officials.
Each year, the department deploys hundreds of federal observers from OPM, as well as departmental staff, to monitor elections across the country. To file complaints about discriminatory voting practices, including acts of harassment or intimidation, voters may call the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.
Visit www.justice.gov/crt/voting/index.php for more information about the Voting Rights Act and other federal voting laws.
Illinois Man Sentenced to Serve 72 Monthsin Prison for Conspiring to Distribute Presciption Drugs over the InternetRead the Press Release
Michael P. Jackson, 40, of Carmi, Ill., was sentenced today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to serve 72 months in prison for selling the prescription drug known as Adderall, from 2009 to 2012, to a Florida woman who operated an illegal Internet-pharmacy business. Jackson also was sentenced to three years of supervised release.
According to the Dec. 6, 2012, indictment, defendant Jackson supplied his co-defendant Lina Rodriguez with pills of Adderall, which contains amphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance. As defendant Jackson was aware and intended, co-defendant Rodriguez resold the Adderall pills through an Internet business she owned and operated in southern Florida.
“This prosecution aims to curb the sale of dangerous drugs to United States citizens,” said Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. “The controlled substance drugs allegedly sold by the defendants were not dispensed by U.S. licensed pharmacies, and were not prescribed by any physician. Along with FDA, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and our other law enforcement partners, we will continue to protect our citizens from unsafe and potentially harmful drugs.”
Jackson pled guilty to the lead count of the indictment on March 11, 2013, which charged him and Rodriguez with conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute Adderall. Pursuant to his plea agreement, Jackson agreed not to oppose a judgment against him in the amount of $18,862, as gross proceeds of the offense to which he pleaded guilty. Rodriguez was sentenced to 72 months’ imprisonment on April 22, 2013.
The case was investigated by the Miami Field Office of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations; the Miami Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and the Sacramento Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin J. Larsen of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, and Perham Gorji, Trial Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch.
Hombre De Fresno Sentenciado A Prision Por Producir Documentos De Identificacion FalsosRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — Esteban Mendoza-Galeno, 44, de Fresno, fue sentenciado hoy por el Juez de Distrito de los Estados Unidos Lawrence J. O’Neill a dos años y tres meses de prisión por producir documentos fraudulentos de identificación del gobierno, anunció el Fiscal Benjamin B. Wagner de los Estados Unidos.
De acuerdo con documentos de los tribunales, entre Febrero y Marzo de 2012, Mendoza-Galeno fabricó y vendió a clientes en Fresno documentos de identificación falsos, tales como tarjetas de seguridad social y tarjetas de residencia permanente, por hasta $120.00 el juego de documentos. El Juez O’Neill aumentó la sentencia de Mendoza-Galeno en base a su posesión de aproximadamente 213 imàgenes de documentos fraudulentos sobre varios artículos de medios electrónicos, incluida la computadora laptop de Mendoza-Galeno y los dispositivos de memoria. Al sentenciar a Mendoza-Galeno, el Juez O’Neill le dijo “Usted es un impostor experimentado.”
Este caso fue el producto de una investigación por parte del Departamento de Investigaciones de Seguridad Interna (HSI por su sigla en inglés) del àrea de aplicación de la Ley de Aduana e Inmigraciones de los Estados Unidos (ICE por su sigla en inglés). El Fiscal Adjunto de los Estados Unidos Christopher Baker impulsó la causa.
Former Prince George’s County, Maryland, Correctional Officer Sentenced to 24 Months for Obstruction of JusticeRead the Press Release
U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr. sentenced Anthony McIntosh, a former correctional officer at the Prince George’s County Detention Center, in Upper Marlboro, Md., to 24 months in prison for obstruction of justice. McIntosh had entered a guilty plea on Jan. 4, 2013, at which time he admitted that he had obstructed justice by providing false information about the circumstances surrounding the in-custody death of Ronnie White. At the time of his death on June 29, 2008, White was being detained on charges related to the death two days earlier of a Prince George’s County police officer.
McIntosh, 49, of Brooklyn, N.Y., admitted during his guilty plea that he had provided false information in a witness statement he submitted to a police detective investigating White’s in-custody death. McIntosh admitted that he omitted from his witness statement material information that was truthful and included information that he knew was false. Specifically, McIntosh claimed in the false witness statement that another officer had discovered White unresponsive in his single-occupant cell and had then summoned McIntosh to the cell. During his guilty plea, McIntosh admitted that, in actuality, he had been the first correctional officer to find White unresponsive in the cell and that he had failed to call a medical emergency signal as required by the Department of Corrections. McIntosh also admitted that he included in his statement the false claims that he never moved Ronnie White's body and that he “didn’t know what was going on” when his partner told him that White appeared to be unresponsive.
“Instead of lawfully carrying out his duties as a correctional officer, Mr. McIntosh used his official position to obstruct the search for the truth regarding the in-custody death of a pretrial detainee,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Roy L. Austin Jr. “The Justice Department will continue to vigorously prosecute officers who cross the line and engage in criminal misconduct.”
The case was investigated by the Baltimore Division of the FBI and was prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Forrest Christian and Trial Attorney Ali Ahmad of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.Doctor Convicted in Kickback Scheme <br /> Involving a Philadelphia HospiceRead the Press Release
A federal jury sitting in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania convicted Eugene Goldman, M.D., 55, of Philadelphia, of one count of conspiring to violate the anti-kickback statute and four counts of violating the anti-kickback statute in relation to his role in a kickback scheme arising from his employment as the Medical Director at Home Care Hospice Inc. (HCH), announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The evidence at trial proved that from approximately December 2000 until approximately July 2011, Goldman served as the medical director for HCH and regularly referred Medicare or Medicaid patient beneficiaries to HCH. HCH was a for-profit business in Philadelphia that provided hospice services for patients at nursing homes, hospitals and private residences.
In December 2000, Goldman and one of the co-owners of HCH entered into a written contract to create the false appearance that all payments to Goldman from HCH were for services rendered in Goldman’s capacity as medical director for HCH, when in fact the large majority of payments from HCH to Goldman were illegal payments for the referral of Medicare and/or Medicaid patients to HCH. From January 2003 to October 2008, Goldman received approximately $263,000 in illegal payments for patient referrals. In January, February and March 2009, Goldman was captured on tape receiving kickbacks for patient referrals.
Goldman faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each count of conviction when he is sentenced on Sept. 9, 2013, by U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno. The conviction will result in the mandatory exclusion of Goldman from participation in any federal health care program, and he also faces the possible loss of his medical license.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne B. Ercole and Trial Attorney Margaret Vierbuchen of the Organized Crime and Gang Section in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
Bosnian National Extradited to Stand Trial for Murder and TortureRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON - The United States has extradited Sulejman Mujagic, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a resident of Utica, New York, to stand trial in Bosnia for charges relating to the torture and murder of one prisoner of war and the torture of another during the armed conflict in Bosnia.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Richard S. Hartunian of the Northern District of New York, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton made the announcement.
“This extradition is the result of close cooperation between the U.S. and Bosnian authorities to bring alleged perpetrators of war crimes and torture in Bosnia to justice,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman.
“Through the coordinated efforts of many law enforcement agencies and prosecutors, Sulejman Mujagic will stand trial in a Bosnian court for the alleged murder of an unarmed soldier and the torture of a second soldier,” said United States Attorney Hartunian. “This case is a reflection of our steadfast commitment to support the rights of crime victims - wherever they are.”
“For the families who lost loved ones during the Bosnian war, justice has been a long time coming, but they can take some comfort in knowing that those responsible for this tragedy are now being held accountable for their crimes,” said ICE Director John Morton. “I applaud the outstanding work by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents in upstate New York, ICE's Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center, and our partners at the Department of Justice and Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities. Thanks to their efforts, Sulejman Mujagic will now face justice for his actions. We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure our country does not serve as a safe haven for human rights violators and others who have committed heinous acts.”
Mujagic is being extradited to Bosnia to be tried for war crimes committed on or about March 6, 1995, during the armed conflict that followed the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Bosnia has alleged that Mujagic, then a platoon commander in the Army of the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia, summarily tortured and executed a disarmed Bosnian Army soldier and tortured a second soldier after the two prisoners had been captured by Mujagic and his men.
In response to the Bosnian government's request for extradition pursuant to the extradition treaty currently in force between the United States and Bosnia, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a complaint in U.S. federal district court on Nov. 27, 2012, and HSI special agents arrested Mujagic the next day in Utica, New York, for purposes of extradition.
On April 2, 2013, the federal district court in the Northern District of New York ruled that Mujagic was subject to extradition to Bosnia to stand trial for the murder and torture of the two unarmed victims. On May 31, 2013, Mujagic was delivered to Bosnian authorities and removed from the United States. The Office of the Cantonal Prosecutor of the Una-Sana Canton in Bihac is handling Mujagic's prosecution in Bosnia.
Mujagic entered the United States in July 1997 and obtained status as a lawful permanent resident in March 2001. Mujagic does not retain U.S. citizenship.
This case was investigated by HSI Buffalo, with assistance from the ICE Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center and INTERPOL Washington. The case was handled by Trial Attorneys Ivana Nizich and Jay Bauer of the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section of the Justice Department's Criminal Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Carla Freedman of the Northern District of New York. The extradition was handled collaboratively with Criminal Division Trial Attorneys Ken Harris, Marcus Busch and Terry Schubert of the Office of International Affairs.
The case was a result of the close cooperation between the U.S. and Bosnian authorities, particularly the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Una-Sana Canton in Bihac, Bosnia.
Bosnian National Extradited <br /> to Stand Trial for Murder and TortureRead the Press Release
The United States has extradited Sulejman Mujagic, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a resident of Utica, N.Y., to stand trial in Bosnia for charges relating to the torture and murder of one prisoner of war and the torture of another during the armed conflict in Bosnia.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Richard S. Hartunian of the Northern District of New York and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton made the announcement.
“This extradition is the result of close cooperation between the U.S. and Bosnian authorities to bring alleged perpetrators of war crimes and torture in Bosnia to justice,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman.
“Through the coordinated efforts of many law enforcement agencies and prosecutors, Sulejman Mujagic will stand trial in a Bosnian court for the alleged murder of an unarmed soldier and the torture of a second soldier,” said U.S. Attorney Hartunian. “This case is a reflection of our steadfast commitment to support the rights of crime victims – wherever they are.”
“For the families who lost loved ones during the Bosnian war, justice has been a long time coming, but they can take some comfort in knowing that those responsible for this tragedy are now being held accountable for their crimes,” said ICE Director Morton. “I applaud the outstanding work by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents in upstate New York, ICE’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center, and our partners at the Department of Justice and Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities. Thanks to their efforts, Sulejman Mujagic will now face justice for his actions. We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure our country does not serve as a safe haven for human rights violators and others who have committed heinous acts.”
Mujagic is being extradited to Bosnia to be tried for war crimes committed on or about March 6, 1995, during the armed conflict that followed the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Bosnia has alleged that Mujagic, then a platoon commander in the Army of the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia, summarily tortured and executed a disarmed Bosnian Army soldier and tortured a second soldier after the two prisoners had been captured by Mujagic and his men.
In response to the Bosnian government’s request for extradition pursuant to the extradition treaty currently in force between the United States and Bosnia, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a complaint in U.S. federal district court on Nov. 27, 2012, and HSI special agents arrested Mujagic the next day in Utica for purposes of extradition.
On April 2, 2013, the federal district court in the Northern District of New York ruled that Mujagic was subject to extradition to Bosnia to stand trial for the murder and torture of the two unarmed victims. On May 31, 2013, Mujagic was delivered to Bosnian authorities and removed from the United States. The Office of the Cantonal Prosecutor of the Una-Sana Canton in Bihac is handling Mujagic’s prosecution in Bosnia.
Mujagic entered the United States in July 1997 and obtained status as a lawful permanent resident in March 2001. Mujagic does not retain U.S. citizenship.
This case was investigated by HSI Buffalo, with assistance from the ICE Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center and INTERPOL Washington. The case was handled by Trial Attorneys Ivana Nizich and Jay Bauer of the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Carla Freedman of the Northern District of New York. The extradition was handled collaboratively with Criminal Division Trial Attorneys Ken Harris, Marcus Busch and Terry Schubert of the Office of International Affairs.
The case was a result of the close cooperation between the U.S. and Bosnian authorities, particularly the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Una-Sana Canton in Bihac, Bosnia.
Two Virginia Businessmen Sentenced for Illegally Reimbursing Campaign ContributionsRead the Press Release
William P. Danielczyk Jr. was sentenced today to 28 months in prison and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine for illegally reimbursing $186,600 in contributions to the Senate and Presidential campaign committees of a candidate for federal office and then obstructing the subsequent law enforcement investigation.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride of the Eastern District of Virginia and Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge James C. Cacheris in the Eastern District of Virginia.
On Feb. 26, 2013, Danielczyk, 51, and Eugene R. Biagi, 78, both of Oakton, Va., pleaded guilty to making illegal conduit campaign contributions. Biagi was sentenced to two years’ supervised probation for his role in Danielczyk’s scheme.
According to court records, Danielczyk was the chairman of Galen Capital Corporation and Biagi served as the corporation’s secretary. In September 2006, Danielczyk co-hosted a fundraiser for a candidate’s campaign for the U.S. Senate and in March 2007 he co-hosted a fundraiser for the same candidate’s 2008 campaign for the President of the United States.
Danielczyk admitted that he recruited individuals, including Biagi and other corporate employees, to serve as “straw donors” to the campaigns, assuring the donors that they would be reimbursed for their contributions. Danielczyk’s assistant collected the contributions, and Danielczyk and Biagi then reimbursed the straw donors for their contributions using Galen Capital Corporation’s corporate funds.
Biagi admitted that he disguised the nature of the reimbursement payments by falsely identifying the purpose of the reimbursement checks on the memorandum line of the check itself and by issuing the checks for amounts slightly larger than the campaign contributions. As part of the obstruction scheme, Danielczyk directed the creation of back-dated letters addressed to individual contributors, which falsely characterized the reimbursement payments to them as “consulting fees.” One set of the letters contained a check for $1,500 in order to further the charade that the reimbursement checks were consulting fees. Biagi furthered the scheme by, among other means, signing the back-dated letters and the checks, thereby supporting Danielczyk’s aims at covering up the true conduct and obstructing the investigations focused on the reimbursement scheme.
Danielczyk and Biagi admitted they used corporate funds to reimburse a total of $186,600 to the two campaigns. The campaigns unwittingly reported them as lawful contributions from the individual “straw donors.”
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark D. Lytle and Timothy D. Belevetz from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Eric L. Gibson of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.