District Not Recorded
The source did not name an office we could identify. These records remain unassigned rather than guessed.
Cardiac Monitoring Companies to Pay More than $44.8 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Liability Relating to Services Performed by Offshore TechniciansRead the Press Release
BioTelemetry Inc. and its subsidiary CardioNet LLC, both headquartered in Pennsylvania (collectively “BioTelemetry”), have agreed to pay $44,875,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting claims to Medicare, TRICARE, the Veterans Health Administration, and the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program for heart monitoring tests that were performed, in part, outside the United States, and in many cases by technicians who were not qualified to perform such tests.
The United States alleged that CardioNet improperly billed Medicare and other federal health care programs for certain cardiac monitoring services — including Holter, event monitoring, and mobile cardiovascular telemetry (MCT) tests — that were performed overseas in violation of federal law that prohibits payment for services furnished outside the United States. More specifically, the government alleged that, in 2013, CardioNet contracted with a company located in India for the provision of diagnostic and analysis services of heart monitoring data. Although BioTelemetry set up a workflow that was designed to route electrocardiogram data, including data relating to cardiac events (ECG Data) for federal healthcare beneficiaries, to a domestic independent diagnostic testing facility for review and analysis, the government alleged that BioTelemetry — with the knowledge of then senior management — diverted certain federal beneficiaries’ ECG Data to India when the domestic workflow became backlogged. BioTelemetry also allegedly sent ECG data for other federal beneficiaries directly to India for review. In 2014, over 29% of the ECG Data reviewed in connection with MCT tests, and over 78% of the ECG Data reviewed in connection with event monitoring tests, for Medicare patients were allegedly reviewed by technicians located in India. In 2015, those numbers allegedly rose to over 47% and over 88%, respectively. Although BioTelemetry began implementing technological controls in late 2015 to prevent personnel in India from accessing the domestic workflow, those controls were insufficient, and technicians in India allegedly continued to review and analyze some ECG Data for federal healthcare program beneficiaries thereafter.
“Federal health care beneficiaries deserve care, including remote cardiac monitoring, that complies with federal law and is provided by qualified clinical personnel,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Today’s settlement reminds all providers that they must observe those standards and reflects the department’s commitment to pursue knowing violations of federal health care program requirements.”
“Providers must act within clear federal healthcare program boundaries to ensure that appropriate care is given to the beneficiaries of those programs,” said U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. “This office will continue to pursue cases where providers have failed to honor these rules, which were established to provide quality care to elderly citizens and military veterans, among others.”
“Providers participating in federal health care programs are obligated to obey the laws meant to protect the integrity of those programs and the quality of care furnished to patients,” said Special Agent in Charge Maureen R. Dixon of the Department of Health and Human Services. “With our law enforcement partners, our agency is extremely committed to investigating providers alleged of defying these requirements.”
The United States further alleged that most of the offshore technicians tasked with reviewing ECG Data for federal healthcare program beneficiaries did not have the basic qualifications to perform the tests in question. Of the more than 450 India-based technicians who reviewed Medicare patients’ ECG Data in connection with MCT services that CardioNet billed to Medicare during the 2013 to 2018 period, the government alleged that fewer than 3% were certified by Cardiovascular Credentialing International (CCI), the only recognized credentialing body for such cardiovascular technicians.
In connection with the settlement, BioTelemetry Inc. entered into a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA) with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) that requires, among other things, the implementation of a risk assessment and internal review process designed to identify and address evolving compliance risks. The CIA also requires an independent review organization to annually assess the medical necessity and appropriateness of claims billed to Medicare.
The civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Christopher Strasinski and Philip Leone, both former CardioNet employees. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. The qui tam case is captioned U.S. ex rel. Doe v. BioTelemetry, Inc., et al., No. No. 2:18-cv-01688-PD (E.D. Pa.). As part of today’s resolution, the whistleblowers will receive approximately $8.3 million.
The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Assistance was provided by HHS-OIG, the Department of Defense’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General and the Office of Personnel Management’s Office of Inspector General.
The investigation and resolution of this matter illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating healthcare fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement, can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).
Attorneys Amy Kossak and Jessica Sievert of the Civil Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric Gill and Erin Lindgren for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania prosecuted the case.
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.
California Man Pleads Guilty in Scam PACs SchemeRead the Press Release
A California man pleaded guilty today in the Western District of Texas to participating in a scheme to solicit millions of dollars in contributions to two political action committees (PACs) based on false and misleading representations that the funds would be used to support presidential candidates during and after the 2016 election cycle.
According to court documents, from 2016 through at least April 2017, Matthew Nelson Tunstall, 35, of Los Angeles, together with co-conspirators, operated two PACs – Liberty Action Group PAC and Progressive Priorities PAC – which solicited contributions from the public via robocalls and television, radio, and internet advertisements, among other means. The two PACs stated that the contributions would be used to support the presidential nominees of the two major political parties, respectively. Instead, Tunstall and his co-conspirators used the funds to enrich themselves and to fund additional fraudulent solicitations. Specifically, Tunstall admitted that the two PACs raised approximately $3.9 million in contributions during the 2016 election cycle and subsequent months. Additionally, to conceal the origin and nature of the proceeds of the fraudulent scheme, Tunstall and his co-conspirators instructed a third-party vendor to withdraw from the two PACs approximately $353,000 in excess of the amount owed to the vendor for services rendered, then deposit the excess payments into accounts held by shell companies that they controlled.
Tunstall pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to cause the PACs to make false statements to the Federal Election Commission and one count of money laundering. He faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Robert Reyes and Kyle Davies – co-conspirators who previously pleaded guilty for their involvement in the fraudulent political solicitation scheme – will be sentenced at a later date.
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge Oliver E. Rich, Jr. of the FBI San Antonio Field Office made the announcement.
The FBI San Antonio Field Office, Austin Resident Agency investigated the case.
Trial Attorneys Michael N. Lang and Celia Choy of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section (PIN) are prosecuting the case. Former PIN Trial Attorney Rebecca Schuman provided significant assistance.
Advanced Bionics LLC to Pay over $12 Million for Alleged False Claims for Cochlear Implant ProcessorsRead the Press Release
Advanced Bionics LLC, a Valencia, California-based manufacturer of cochlear implant system devices, has agreed to pay more than $12 million to resolve allegations that it misled federal health care programs regarding the radio-frequency (RF) emissions generated by some of its cochlear implant processors.
“The United States expects device manufacturers to provide accurate information when they claim that their devices meet certain tests or standards,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “The integrity of our health care system depends on the government being able to rely on the information provided by manufacturers when they apply for permission to market their devices.”
“The FDA’s approval process requires companies to demonstrate the efficacy of their products,” said U.S Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. “The settlement in this case demonstrates our commitment to hold responsible any medical device manufacturer that skirts these rules and seeks FDA approval of a device it knows is not as effective as represented. The consumers who use these devices, and the federal programs that pay for many of them, deserve better.”
The tests at issue measured the extent to which cochlear implant systems generate RF emissions that can potentially interfere with other devices that use the RF spectrum. Such other devices may include telephones, alarm and security systems, televisions and radios.
The settlement resolves allegations that Advanced Bionics, in submitting pre-market approval applications to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Advanced Bionics’ Neptune and Naida cochlear implant processors, made false claims regarding the results of its RF emissions tests. Advanced Bionics allegedly represented that its processors satisfied an internationally recognized emissions standard when, in fact, Advanced Bionics did not comply with that standard. More specifically, Advanced Bionics allegedly failed to honor the standard’s requirements to test processors using “worst-case” configurations, and improperly shielded certain emissions-generating system components during emissions testing. Advanced Bionics then allegedly sought reimbursement from Medicare, Medicaid, and other federally funded healthcare programs for these devices.
“Patients deserve to receive medical devices which are in compliance with all federal standards,” said Special Agent in Charge Maureen R. Dixon of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-OIG) Office of the Inspector General. “Manufacturers are required to be truthful in submitting claims for payment to the Medicare and Medicaid Programs. HHS-OIG will continue to work with the Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners to protect the integrity of the Medicare Trust Fund.”
“The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General's Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) is committed to working with its law enforcement partners, including the Department of Justice, to combat health care fraud,” said Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Hegarty of the DCIS Northeast Field Office. “TRICARE, the health care program for active-duty military personnel, retirees, and dependents, relies on medical providers to furnish complete and truthful information about the efficacy of their products and services. Today’s settlement demonstrates DCIS’s tireless commitment to investigating the submission of false claims and statements to TRICARE.”
“We expect that medical products offered to federal employees and their families meet the standards promised by the manufacturer,” said Special Agent in Charge Amy K. Parker of the Office of Personnel Management, Office of Inspector General (OPM-OIG). “We applaud our law enforcement partners and colleagues at the Department of Justice for their hard work resulting in today's settlement.”
“The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG) is dedicated to ensuring veterans receive the quality healthcare products they are promised,” said Special Agent in Charge Christopher Algieri of the VA-OIG Northeast Field Office. “In reaching today's settlement, we thank the Department of Justice, and our law enforcement partners in exposing misleading practices that affect medical devices meant for veterans and the proper use of VA dollars for their benefit.”
In addition to the civil settlement, Advanced Bionics entered into a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA) with HHS-OIG. The CIA requires an independent review of activities and processes relating to the preparation or submission of Premarket Approval Applications (PMAs) to the FDA and performance standards relevant to those PMAs. Advanced Bionics must also implement a robust compliance program that includes, among other things, a risk assessment program and compliance certifications from key managers and from the Board of Directors.
The settlement provides that Advanced Bionics will pay roughly $11.36 million to the United States, and in addition, will pay approximately $1.24 million to the participating Medicaid States, pursuant to the terms of separate settlement agreements that Advanced Bionics has, or will enter into, with those states.
The settlement resolves a lawsuit originally brought by David Nyberg, a former Advanced Bionics engineer, under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. As part of this resolution, Mr. Nyberg will receive approximately $1.87 million of the federal settlement amount.
This settlement was the result of a coordinated effort by the Justice Department’s Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, with assistance from the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Counsel to the Inspector General and Office of Investigations; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; the Defense Health Agency Office of General Counsel; the Office of Personnel Management, Office of Inspector General; the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General; and the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
The investigation and resolution of this matter illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating healthcare fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).
Senior Trial Counsel Daniel Spiro of the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren DeBruicker for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania prosecuted the case.
The lawsuit resolved by this settlement is captioned United States, et al., ex rel. Nyberg v. Advanced Bionics Corp., Case No. 2:19-cv-3439 (E.D.PA.). The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
司法部宣布新的执法机构语言通达倡议Read the Press Release
司法部宣布发起执法机构语言通达倡议，该全国性的倡议旨在帮助执法机构向英语程度有限者(LEP)提供有意义的语言协助，履行他们的义务。该项倡议将以司法部的长期工作为基础，确保执法机构遵守他们提供语言协助的义务。
司法部民权司的助理检察长克里斯滕•克拉克说:“向执法部门提供他们需要的工具，以确保有效和有意义的语言协助，此举能更好地促进和提高英语程度有限者的安全性。”“通过此倡议，我们将能够和全国各地的执法机构分享语言通达最好的做法和类似的资源。”
该倡议由民权司的联邦协调和合规办牵头，与美国检察长办公室合作执行。具体而言，该倡议的措施如下：
- 开发技术支持方面的资源和工具，协助地方和州执法机构努力为其管辖范围内的英语程度有限者和群众提供有意义的语言服务。
- 让有意审阅、更新、或加强他们的语言通达政策、计划和培训的执法机构，积极地参与进来。
- 利用与美国检察长办公室的合作，在全国各地的社区里开展培训，以提高语言通达义务的认识，鼓励执法机构广泛采用最佳的做法。
- 加强与英语程度有限者和群体的利益相关人士和群众的联系和接触。
除了今天的倡议公告外，司法部和科罗拉多地区美国检察长办公室还宣布一项协议，以解决对丹佛警察局（DPD）违反1964年《民权法》第六章因基于民族血统而歧视英语程度有限者的指控的调查。第六章禁止对联邦经济援助获得者进行基于种族、肤色和源自国的歧视。
“与丹佛警察局达成的这个协议将帮助警务人员做好他们的工作，”美国检察官（在28 U.S.C. §515法律规定下为科罗拉多区域行使代理职责）马修•柯尔切表示。“无论是在进行社区交流或在逮捕被控违法的个人中，确保能够获得准确的语言服务都能让警员们服务并保护社区所有的成员，无论其英语程度如何。”
司法部对丹佛警察局的调查, 始于社区群众对涉及居住在丹佛东科尔法克斯(East Colfax)地区英语程度有限者的缅甸和罗兴亚语居民的事件提出关切之后。调查揭露了许多情况，丹佛警察局的警员多次没有向英语程度有限者提供语言协助，或者提供了无效或不适当的语言协助。比如，调查发现出现了依赖儿童、家庭成员和旁观者来提供语言服务的情况，这其中包括本应该使用更可靠和客观的语言协助的情况。
作为本和解协议的一部分，丹佛警察局已同意对其语言通达的政策、程序和培训实施一系列的改变，包括：
- 更新警局的《语言通达政策和计划》，以建立与包括作为包括证人和嫌疑人的英语程度有限者沟通的程序，除非在特殊情况下，禁止使用儿童、家庭成员和旁观者来与英语程度有限者沟通；
- 任命警局有史以来的首位英语程度有限者协调员，在每个丹佛警察局的辖区里建立语言通达联络点；
- 对所有丹佛警察局的员工和新雇员进行培训，让他们更好地分辨英语程度有限者，如何与他们沟通，以及如何记录下和他们的互动；
- 设立一个语言通达委员会,包括代表英语程度有限者社区利益的利益相关者。
关于民权司的其他信息可在 www.justice.gov/crt 民权司网站上查阅，英语程度有限和民权法第六章的信息可以在www.lep.gov上面找到。公众可以在https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/ 上举报违反民权的可能行为。
English
Amharic: አማርኛ
Arabic: العربية
Burmese: မြန်မာဘာသာ
Chinese, Simplified: 简体字
Chinese, Traditional: 簡體字
Farsi: فارسی
French: Français
Karen: ကညီ
Nepali: नेपाली
Rohingya: Ruáingga
Russian: Pусский
Somali: Soomaaliga
Spanish: Español
Vietnamese: Tiếng Việt
司法部宣佈新的執法機構語言通達倡議Read the Press Release
司法部宣佈發起執法機構語言通達倡議，該全國性的倡議將幫助執法機構向英語程度有限者(LEP)提供有意義的語言協助，履行他們的義務。該項倡議將以司法部德長期工作為基礎，確保執法機構遵守他們提供語言協助的義務。
司法部民權司的助理檢察長克里斯滕•克拉克说:“向執法機構提供他們需要的工具，以確保有效和有意義的語言協助，此擧能更好地促進和提高英語程度有限者的安全。”“通過此倡議，我们將能够和全國各地的執法機構分享語言通達最好的做法和類似的資源。”
該倡議由民權司的聯邦協調和合規辦領頭，與美國檢察長辦公室合作執行。倡議的具體措施如下：
- 開發技術支持方面的資源和工具，協助地方和州的執法機構努力為其管轄範圍内的英語程度有限者和民衆提供有意義的語言服務。
- 讓有意審閲、更新、或加强他們的語言通達政策、計劃和培訓的執法機構，積極地參與進來。
- 利用与美國檢察長辦公室的合作，在全國各地的社區里開展培訓，以提高對語言通達義務的認識，鼓勵執法機構廣汎采用最佳的做法。
- 加强與英語程度有限者和群體的利益相關人士和民衆的聯係和接觸。
除了今天的倡議公告外，司法部和科羅拉多地區美國檢察長辦公室還宣佈一項協議，以解決對於丹佛警察局(DPS)違反1964年民權法第六章因基於民族血統而歧視英語程度有限者的指控的調查。第六章中禁止對聯邦經濟援助獲得者進行基於种族、肤色和源自国的歧视。
“与丹佛警察局達成的這個協議將幫助警務人員做好他們的工作，”美國檢察官（在28 U.S.C. §515法律規定下為科羅拉多區域行使代理職責）馬修•柯爾切表示。“無論是在進行社區交流或在逮捕被控違法的個人中，確保能夠獲得準確的語言服務都能讓警員們服務並保護社區所有的成員，無論其英語程度如何。”
司法部对丹佛警察局的調查, 始於社區民衆對涉及居住在丹佛东考爾費克斯(East Colfax)地區英語程度有限者的緬甸和羅興亞語居民的事件提出關切之後。調查揭露了許多情況，丹佛警察局的警員多次没有向英語程度有限者提供語言協助，或者提供了無效或不適當的語言協助。比如，調查發現出現了依賴孩童、家庭成員和旁觀者来提供語言服務的情況，這其中包括本應該使用更可靠和客觀的語言協助的情況。
作爲本和解協議的一部分，丹佛警察局已同意對其語言通達的政策、程序和培訓實施一系列的改變，包括：
- 更新警局的《語言通達政策和計劃》，以建立与包括作爲證人或疑犯的英語程度有限者溝通的程序，除非在特殊情況下，禁止使用孩童、家庭成员和旁觀者来和英語程度有限者溝通；
- 任命警局有史以來的首位英語程度有限者協調員，在每個丹佛警察局的轄區里建立語言通達聯絡點；
- 對所有丹佛警察局的員工和新雇員進行培訓，讓他們更好地分辨英語程度有限者，如何與他們溝通，以及如何記錄下和他們的往來；
- 設立一個語言通達委員會, 其中包括代表英語程度有限者社區利益的利益相關者。
關於民權司的更多信息可在www.justice.gov/crt 民權司網站上查閲。英語程度有限和民權法第六章的信息可以在www.lep.gov上面找到。公衆可以在https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/ 上舉報違法民權的可能行爲。
English
Amharic: አማርኛ
Arabic: العربية
Burmese: မြန်မာဘာသာ
Chinese, Simplified: 简体字
Chinese, Traditional: 簡體字
Farsi: فارسی
French: Français
Karen: ကညီ
Nepali: नेपाली
Rohingya: Ruáingga
Russian: Pусский
Somali: Soomaaliga
Spanish: Español
Vietnamese: Tiếng Việt
የፍትህ ሚኒስቴር፤ ለሕግ ማስከበሪያ እርምጃ የሚውል አዲስ የቋንቋ ተደራሽነት ማስጀመሩን አስታወቀRead the Press Release
የፍትህ ሚንስቴር በሃገር አቀፍ ደረጃ የህግ አስከባሪ አካላት፤ ውሱን የእንግሊዝኛ ቋንቋ ችሎታ ላላቸው የማህበረሰብ አባላት ትርጉም ባለው እና ተገቢ በሆነ የቋንቋ ድጋፍ በመታገዝ ግዴታቸውን እንዲወጡ ለመርዳት ለህግ ማስከበር አገልግሎት የሚጠቅም የቋንቋ ተደራሽነት እርምጃ ማስጀመሩን አስታውቋል።
የዚህ ሃሳብ ተነሳሽነት የሚኒስቴር መስርያ ቤቱ የህግ አስከባሪ አካላት በቋንቋ ተደራሽነት የሚጠበቅባቸውን ግዴታ እየተወጡ መሆናቸውን ለማረጋገጥ ለረዥም ግዜ ሲያደርግ የነበረው ጥረት ላይ የሚገነባ ይሆናል።የሚኒስቴር መስሪያ ቤቱ የዜጎች መብቶች ክፍል ረዳት አቃቤ ህግ የሆኑት ክሪስተን ክላርክ ሲናገሩ፣
“የህግ አስከባሪ አካላት ውጤታማ እና ትርጉም ያለው የቋንቋ ተደራሽነት እንዲኖራቸው ለማረጋገጥ የሚያስፈልጋቸውን መሳርያ መስጠት፤ ውሱን የሆነ የእንግሊዝኛ ቋንቋ ችሎታ ያላቸው ሰዎች ከህግ አስከባሪ አባላት ጋር የሚኖራቸውን ግንኙነት አስተማማኝነት የሚያራምድና የሚያሳድግ ይሆናል።” “የፍትህ ሚኒስቴር በዚህ የሃሳብ አነሳሽነት የተካተቱ የቋንቋ ተደራሽነት ምርጥ ተሞክሮዎችን እና መሰል ግብአቶችን በመላው ሃገሪቱ የሚገኙ የህግ አስከባሪ አካላት እንዲጋሩ ለማድረግ ያስችለዋል” በማለት ክሪስተን ክላርክ ጨምረው ገልጸዋል።ይህ እርምጃ በዜጎች መብቶች መምሪያ የፌዴራል ማስተባበርያና የክትትል ማስከበሪያ ክፍል ከዩናይትድ ስቴትስ የአቃቤ ህግ ጽህፈት ቤቶች ጋር በመተባበር የሚመራ ይሆናል። በተለይም ይህ እርምጃ:
- የአካባቢ እና የግዛት የህግ አስከባሪ አካላት በክልላቸው ከሚኖሩ ውሱን የእንግሊዝኛ ቋንቋ ተናጋሪ ከሆኑ ግለሰቦችና የተለያዩ የማህበረሰብ ክፍሎች ጋር ትርጉም ያለው የቋንቋ ተደራሽነት አገልግሎት ለማቅረብ የሚያደርጉትን ጥረት የሚያግዝ የቴክኒክ ድጋፍ እና ሌሎች ግብአቶችን ያጎለብታል።
- የቋንቋ ተደራሽነት መመሪያዎቻቸውን፣ እቅዶቻቸውን፣ እና ስልጠናቸውን ለመገምገም ፣ ለማዘመን ወይም ለማጠናከር የሚፈልጉ የህግ አስከባሪ አካላትን በአዎንታዊ መልክ ያሳትፋል።
- የቋንቋ ተደራሽነት ግንዛቤን ለመጨመር እና የህግ አስከባሪ አካላትን መልካም ተሞክሮ እና ግዴታ በሰፊው ለማበረታታት፣ ከዩናይትድ ስቴትስ የአቃቤ ህግ ጽህፈት ቤቶች ጋር በመተባበር ስልጠናዎችን ያከናውናል።
- የሚኒስቴሩ መስርያ ቤት ውሱን የእንግሊዝኛ የመግባባት ችሎታ ካላቸው የማህበረሰብ አባላት ጋር የሚኖረውን መልካም ግንኙነትና ስምሪት ያጠናክራል።
ከዛሬው የእርምጃ ሃሳብ ማስታወቅያ በተጨማሪ የፍትህ ሚኒስቴር እና የዩናይትድ ስቴትስ የኮሎራዶ ግዛት የአቃቤ ህግ ጽህፈት ቤት የዴንቨር የፖሊስ መምርያ ውሱን የእንግሊዝኛ ችሎታ ባላቸው የህብረተሰብ አባላት ላይ በ1964 ዓም የተደነገገውን የዜጎች መብቶች ሕግ አንቀጽ VI በጣሰ ሁኔታ ብሔራዊ ማንነትን መሰረት ያደረገ አድልዎ ይፈጽማል ተብሎ በቀረበበት ውንጀላ ተጀምሮ የነበረውን ምርመራ በስምምነት ለማጠናቀቅ መግባባታቸውን አስታውቀዋል።
የዚህ ሕግ አንቀጽ VI ፤ የፌዴራል የገንዘብ እገዛ የሚደረግላቸው አካላት ዘርን ፣የቆዳ ቀለምን፣ ወይም ብሄራዊ ማንነትን መሰረት ያደረገ አድልዎን እንዳያደርጉ ይከለክላል።
“ይህ ከዴንቨር የፖሊስ መምሪያ ጋር የተደረሰው ስምምነት የፖሊስ አባላት ተግባራቸውን እንዲያከናውኑ ይረዳቸዋል፤” ሲሉ በዩናይትድ ስቴትስ ህግ ኮድ 28 § 515 አማካይነት በተሰጠ ስልጣን መሰረት ለኮሎራዶ ግዛት የዩናይትድ ስቴትስ ጠበቃ የሆኑት ማቲው ከርሽ ገልጸዋል።” “ማህበረሰብን የመድረስ ተግባር ሲያከናውኑም ሆነ ሕግ የጣሱ ግለሰቦችን በቁጥጥር ስር ለማዋል በሚያደርጉት ጥረት ትክክለኛ የሆነ የቋንቋ አገልግሎት ማረጋገጥ፤የእንግሊዝኛ ቋንቋ ችሎታ ላይ በማያተኩር መልኩ፤ የፖሊስ መኮንኖች ሁሉንም የማህበረሰብ አባላት ለማገልገልና ጥበቃም ለማድረግ ያስችላቸዋል፣ በማለት ማቲው ከርሽ ጨምረው ገልጸዋል።
የፍትህ ሚኒስቴር በዴንቨር የፖሊስ መምሪያ ላይ ይህንን ምርመራ የጀመረው በዴንቨር ምስራቃዊ ኮልፋክስ አካባቢ የሚኖሩ እና ዝቅተኛ የሆነ የእንግሊዘኛ ችሎታ ያላቸው የበርማ እና የሮሂንግያ ቋንቋ ተናጋሪ የሆኑ ነዋሪዎች በፖሊስ መምርያው ላይ ባቀረቡት ቅሬታ የተነሳ ነው።
ምርመራው፤ የዴንቨር ፖሊስ መምሪያ አባላት፤ ዝቅተኛ የእንግሊዝኛ ችሎታ ላላቸው አባላት የቋንቋ እገዛ እንደማያቀርቡ፣ ቢያቀርቡም ተገቢ እና ብቃት ያለው እንዳልሆነ በዛ ባሉ አጋጣሚዎች አሳይቷል። ለምሳሌ፣ ይህ ምርመራ አስተማማኝና ተጨባጭ የሆነ የቋንቋ እገዛ የሚያስፈልግበትን ሁኔታዎች ጨምሮ፣ የፖሊስ መምርያው አባላት፣ ልጆችን፣የቤተሰብ አባላትን፣ ወይም ተመልካቾችን የቋንቋ ድጋፍ እንዲያደርጉ አመኔታ ጥለውባችው እንዳነበረ በተደጋጋሚ አሳይቷል።በዚህ የመግባቢያ ስምምነት መሰረት፣ የዴንቨር ፖሊስ መምሪያ ከዚህ በታች የተዘረዘሩትን ጨምሮ፤ በቋንቋ ተደራሽነት መመሪያዎች፣ የአሰራር ስርአቶችና ስልጠናን የተመለከቱ ተከታታይ ለውጦችን ተግባራዊ ለማድረግ ተስማምቷል:
- ምስክሮችንና ተጠርጣሪዎችን ጨምሮ፤ ዝቅተኛ የእንግሊዝኛ መግባባት ችሎታ ካላቸው ግለሰቦች ጋር ለመግባባት የሚያግዛቸውን አሰራር ለመዘርጋት የቋንቋ ተደራሽነት መመሪያና እና እቅዳቸውን ለማዘመን፤ እንዲሁም፤ አጣዳፊ ከሆኑ ሁኔታዎች በስተቀር፤ ህጻናትን፤ የቤተሰብ አባላትና ተመልካቾችን መጠቀምን ለማስወገድ፤
- በሁሉም የዴንቨር ፖሊሰ ጣብያ ዞኖች ለመጀመርያ ጊዜ ዝቅተኛ የእንግሊዝኛ ብቃት ላላቸው ተጠቃሚዎች አገልግሎት አስተባባሪዎችን መመደብ እና የቋንቋ ተደራሽነት ተጠሪዎችን ማዋቀር፤
- የዴንቨር የፖሊስ መምርያ ሰራተኞችን በሙሉና አዲስ ምልምሎችን ዝቅተኛ የእንግሊዝኛ ብቃት ያላቸውን ግለሰቦች እንዴት መለየት፣መቅረብ እንደሚኖርባቸውና ከግለሰቦቹም ጋር የነበሯቸውንም ተግባቦቶች በጽሁፍ ስለመመዘገብ ማሰልጠን፣ እና
- ዝቅተኛ የእንግሊዝኛ ችሎታ ያላቸውን የማህበረሰብ አባላትን ፍላጎት የሚወክሉ ባለድርሻ አካላትን የሚያካትት የቋንቋ ተደራሽነት ኮሚቴ ማቋቋም።
ስለ ዜጎች መብቶች መምሪያ ተጨማሪ መረጃ በ www.justice.gov/crt ድረ-ገጽ ላይ ይገኛል።
ውሱን የእንግሊዝኛ ብቃት እና ይህን መብት የሚመለከት የሕግ አንቀጽ VI መረጃ በ www.lep.gov ድረ-ገጽ ላይ ይገኛል። በተጨማሪም የህብረተሰቡ አባላት ተፈጽሟል ብለው የሚያምኑበትን የዜጎች መብት ጥሰት
በ https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/ ድረ-ገጽ ላይ ማመልከት ይችላሉ።
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Amharic: አማርኛ
Arabic: العربية
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တၢ်တီတၢ်တြၢ်အ၀ဲၤကျိၤအတၢ်ဘိးဘၣ်သ့ၣ်ညါတၢ်မၤန့ၢ်သူကျိာ်အသီတၢ်ဒုးလူၤပိာ်ထွဲသဲးစးအတၢ်မၤအိၣ်သီထီၣ်တၢ် (Justice Department Announces New Language Access Law Enforcement Initiative)Read the Press Release
တၢ်တီတၢ်တြၢ်အ၀ဲၤကျိၤ (Justice Department) ဘိးဘၣ်သ့ၣ်ညါ၀ဲအတၢ်စးထီၣ်ဒုးလဲၤတရံးတၢ်ဒုး လဲၤပိာ်မၤထွဲသဲစးဂ့ၢ်၀ီတၢ်မၤန့ၢ်သူကျိာ်အတၢ်မၤအိၣ်ထီၣ်သီ (Law Enforcement Language Access Initiative) န့ၣ်လီၤ. တၢ်မၤအံၤမ့ၢ်ထံကီၢ်ဒီတဘ့ၣ်အတၢ်ထဲးဂံၢ်ထဲးဘါလၢတၢ်ကမၤစၢၤ တၢ်ကရၢကရိလၢအဖံးမၤတၢ်လၢတၢ် ကဒုးလူၤပိာ်ထွဲကမျၢၢ်ဒီးသဲစးတၢ်ဘျၢတဖၣ်အဂီၢ်ဒ်သိးအ၀ဲသ့ၣ်အကမၤတုၤထီၣ်ဘးအမူအဒါအတၢ်ဖံးတၢ်မၤတဖၣ်လၢတၢ်ကဟ့ၣ်ကျိာ်အတၢ်မၤစၢၤလၢအဘျုးအဖှိၣ်အိၣ်၀ဲဒၣ်ဆူနီၢ်တဂၤစုာ်စုာ်လၢအအိၣ်ဒီးအဲးကလံးကျိာ်အတၢ်သ့တၢ်ဘၣ်လၢအစှၤတဖၣ် (LEP) အဂီၢ်န့ၣ်လီၤ.တၢ်မၤအိၣ်ထီၣ်သီတခါအံၤကသူၣ်ထီၣ်အသးလၢ၀ဲၤကျိၤအကတီၢ်ယံာ် တၢ်ဖံးတၢ်မၤလၢတၢ်ကမၤလီၤတံၢ်တၢ်ကရၢကရိလၢအဖံးမၤတၢ်လၢတၢ်ကဒုးလူၤပိာ်ထွဲကမျၢၢ်ဒီးသဲစးတၢ်ဘျၢတဖၣ် အဂီၢ်လၢအကမၤပိာ်ထွဲအမူအဒါတဖၣ်လၢအဘၣ်ထွဲဒီးတၢ်မၤန့ၢ်သူကျိာ်န့ၣ်လီၤ.
ပီၢ်ရီခိၣ်ကျၢၢ်အစၢၤ Kristen Clarke လၢအမၤတၢ်လၢတၢ်တီတၢ်တြၢ်အ၀ဲၤကျိၤအထံဖိကီၢ်ဖိကမျၢၢ်အခွဲးအယာ်ဂ့ၢ်၀ီ အ၀ဲၤဒ့စံး၀ဲဒၣ်လၢ“တၢ်ဟ့ၣ်လီၤတၢ်ကရၢကရိလၢအဒုးလူၤပိာ်မၤထွဲကမျၢၢ်ဒီးသဲစးတၢ်ဘျၢတဖၣ်ဃုာ်ဒီးစုက၀ဲၤတဖၣ်လၢအ၀ဲသ့ၣ်လိၣ်ဘၣ်၀ဲလၢအတၢ်ကမၤလီၤတံၢ်တၢ်မၤန့ၢ်သူကျိာ်လၢအဘျုးအဖှိၣ်အိၣ်ဒီးအတုၤလီၤတီၤလီၤ,ဟ့ၣ်သဆၣ်ထီၣ်ဒီးမၤလဲၤထီၣ်လဲၤထီတၢ်ပူၤဖျဲးလၢအဂ့ၤဒိၣ်ထီၣ်လၢပှၤလၢအအိၣ်ဒီးအဲးကလံးကျိာ်တၢ်သ့တၢ်ဘၣ်လၢအစှၤတဖၣ်အဂီၢ်န့ၣ်လီၤ”.“ခီဖျိတၢ်မၤအိၣ်ထီၣ်သီတၢ်တခါအံၤတဆီပကနီၤဟ့ၣ်လိာ်ဘၣ်ပသးဒီးတၢ်မၤန့ၢ်သူကျိာ်အတၢ်ဖံးတၢ်မၤအကျိၤအကွာ်လၢအဂ့ၤတဖၣ်ဒီးတၢ်တိစၢၤမၤစၢၤဒ်သိးအံၤတဖၣ်ဒီးတၢ်ကရၢကရိလၢအဖံးမၤတၢ်လၢတၢ်ကဒုးလူၤပိာ်ထွဲကမျၢၢ်ဒီးသဲစးတၢ်ဘျၢတဖၣ်လၢအအိၣ်လၢထံကီၢ်တၢ်လီၢ်ခဲလၢာ်အပူၤ”န့ၣ်အ၀ဲကတိၤထီၣ်၀ဲဒ်န့ၣ်လီၤ.
တၢ်မၤအိၣ်ထီၣ်သီတၢ်တခါအံၤကဘၣ်တၢ်တီခိၣ်ရိၣ်မဲအီၤခီဖျိကမျၢၢ်ထံဖိကီၢ်ဖိအခွဲးအယာ်အ၀ဲၤဒ့ကီၢ်စဲၣ်စၢဖှိၣ်တၢ်ရဲၣ်ကျဲၤပၢဆှၢတၢ်ဒီးတၢ်လူၤပိာ်မၤထွဲတၢ်ဘျၢအဒ့,ဃုာ်ဒီးတၢ်ပာ်ဃုာ်မၤသကိးတၢ်ဒီး U.S. ပီၢ်ရီအ၀ဲၤဒၢးန့ၣ်လီၤ. လီၤဆီဒၣ်တၢ်, တၢ်မၤအိၣ်ထီၣ်သီတၢ်တခါအံၤက-
- မၤကဲထီၣ်တၢ်သ့တၢ်ဘၣ်လီၤဆီအတၢ်မၤစၢၤအဂံၢ်ထံးတဖၣ်ဒီးစုက၀ဲၤတဖၣ်လၢအကမၤစၢၤလီၢ်က၀ီၤဒီးကီၢ်စဲၣ်တၢ်ကရၢကရိလၢအဖံးမၤတၢ်လၢတၢ်ဒုးလူၤပိာ်ကမျၢၢ်ဒီးသဲစးတၢ်ဘျၢတဖၣ်ဒ်သိးအကသ့ထဲးဂံၢ်ထဲးဘါလၢအတၢ်ကဟ့ၣ်၀ဲဒၣ်တၢ်မၤန့ၢ်သူကျိာ်လၢအဘျုးအဖှိၣ်အိၣ်ဆူ LEP နီၢ်တဂၤစုာ်စုာ်တဖၣ်မ့တမ့ၢ်ကမျၢၢ် အဂၤလၢအအိၣ်လၢအ၀ဲသ့ၣ်တၢ်ပၢတၢ်ပြးတဖၣ်အပူၤအဂီၢ်န့ၣ်လီၤ.
- ပှဲၤတၢ်လီၤတံၢ်လီၤဆဲးဒုးပာ်ဃုာ်ပာ်ဂီၢ်တၢ်ကရၢကရိလၢအဖံးမၤတၢ်လၢတၢ်ဒုးလူၤပိာ်ကမျၢၢ်ဒီးသဲစးတၢ်ဘျၢတဖၣ်လၢအအဲၣ်ဒိးကွၢ်သမံသမိးက့ၤ,မၤသီထီၣ်,မ့တမ့ၢ်အတၢ် ဂံၢ်ဆူၣ်လၢအ၀ဲသ့ၣ်အဖီလစံၣ်တဖၣ်, တၢ်ရဲၣ်တၢ်ကျဲၤတဖၣ်ဒီးတၢ်သိၣ်လိနဲၣ်ယုၤလၢအဘၣ်ထွဲဒီးတၢ်မၤန့ၢ်သူကျိာ်အဂ့ၢ်န့ၣ်လီၤ.
- မၤဆူၣ်ထီၣ်တၢ်မၤသကိးဃုာ်တၢ်ဒီး U.S. ပီၢ်ရီအ၀ဲၤဒၢးလၢတၢ်ကမၤ၀ဲဒၣ်တၢ်သိၣ်လိနဲၣ်ယုၤလၢ တၢ်ဆဲးကျိး ဆဲးကျၢလၢထံကီၢ်ဒီတဘ့ၣ်လၢတၢ်ကမၤအါထီၣ်တၢ်သ့ၣ်ညါနၢ်ပၢၢ်တၢ်မၤန့ၢ်သူကျိာ်အမူအဒါတဖၣ်ဒီးဟ့ၣ်သဆၣ်ထီၣ်တၢ်ကရၢကရိလၢအဖံးမၤတၢ်လၢတၢ်ဒုးလူၤပိာ်ကမျၢၢ်ဒီးသဲစးတၢ်ဘျၢတဖၣ်အတၢ်မၤန့ၢ်သူတၢ်မၤအကျိၤအကွာ်အဂ့ၤကတၢၢ်တခါအံၤလဲၢ်လဲၢ်ကွာ်ကွာ်အဂီၢ်န့ၣ်လီၤ.
- မၤဆူၣ်ထီၣ်၀ဲၤကျိၤအတၢ်စၢဃာ်အသးဒီးဒုးပာ်ဃုာ်ပာ်ဂီၢ် LEP အပှၤတ၀ၢပှၤဘၣ်မူဘၣ်ဒါတဖၣ်ဒီး LEP အကမျၢၢ်တဖၣ်န့ၣ်လီၤ.
တနံၤအံၤတၢ်မၤအိၣ်ထီၣ်သီတၢ်အတၢ်ဘိးဘၣ်သ့ၣ်ညါအမဲာ်ညါ, တၢ်တီတၢ်တြၢ်အ၀ဲၤကျိၤဒီး U.S. ပီၢ်ရီအ၀ဲၤဒၢး လၢကီၢ်ရ့ၣ်ကိၣ်လိၣ်ရၣ်ဒိၣ်ဘိးဘၣ်လီၤ၀ဲဒၣ်တၢ်အၢၣ်လီၤအီလီၤတခါလၢတၢ်ကဃဲာ်လီၤ ဘှါလီၤတၢ်ဃိထံသ့ၣ်ညါ တခါလၢအမ့ၢ်တၢ်ဆှိးထီၣ်လၢအဘၣ်ထွဲဒီးဒဲဘၢၣ်ပၢၤကီၢ်အ၀ဲၤကျိၤ (DPD) အတၢ်ကွၢ်တလီၤထီဒါတၢ်လၢအဒိးသ န့ၤထီၣ်အသးလၢထံကီၢ်တၢ်လီၢ်အခီၣ်ထံးခီၣ်ဘိအဂ့ၢ်လၢ LEP နီၢ်တဂၤစုာ်စုာ်အဖီခိၣ်လၢအလူၤသ့ၣ်ခါပတာ်၀ဲဒၣ် Title VI လၢအအိၣ်လၢကမျၢၢ်ထံဖိကီၢ်ဖိအခွဲးအယာ်အတၢ်သိၣ်တၢ်သီ 1964 န့ၣ်လီၤ. Title VI တြီဃာ်၀ဲဒၣ်တၢ်ကွၢ် တလီၤထီဒါလၢပှၤလၢအဒိးန့ၢ်ဘၣ်ကီၢ်စဲၣ် စၢဖှိၣ်အတၢ်မၤစၢၤတဖၣ်အဖီခိၣ်မ့ၢ်လၢအဒူၣ်ကလုာ်,ဖံးညၣ်အလွဲၢ်ဒီးထံ ကီၢ်တၢ်လီၢ်အခီၣ်ထံးခီၣ်ဘိအဃိန့ၣ်လီၤ.
“တၢ်အၢၣ်လီၤတခါအံၤဃုာ်ဒီးဒဲဘၢၣ်ပၢၤကီၢ်အ၀ဲၤကျိၤကမၤစၢၤပၢၤကီၢ်တဖၣ်မၤအ၀ဲသ့ၣ်အမူဒါတၢ်ဖံးတၢ်မၤ,” န့ၣ် Matthew Kirsch, ပီၢ်ရီလၢ United States, ဖံးမၤတၢ်လၢတၢ်စိတၢ်ကမီၤလၢတၢ်ဟ့ၣ်လီၤအီၤအဖီလာ် ခီဖျိ 28 U.S.C. §515 လၢကိၣ်လိၣ်ရၣ်ဒိၣ်ကီၢ်ရ့ၣ်အဂီၢ်စံး၀ဲဒၣ်န့ၣ်လီၤ. “မ့ၢ်အမၤ၀ဲဒၣ်တၢ်လဲၤလီၤမၤစၢၤ တၢ်လၢအတုၤလီၤတုၤကျဲ လၢပှၤတ၀ၢအပူၤမ့ၢ်ဂ့ၤမ့တမ့ၢ်ဖဲမ့ၢ်ဖီၣ်ပှၤတဂၤလၢတၢ်ပာ်ထီၣ်တၢ်ကမၣ်လၢအလိၤလၢအလူၤသ့ၣ်ခါပတာ်တၢ်သိၣ်တၢ်သီမ့ၢ်ဂ့ၤ, တၢ်မၤလီၤတံၢ်ကျိာ်အတၢ်မၤစၢၤအတၢ်ဖံးတၢ်မၤလၢအဘၣ်ဒီးအိၣ်ကတဲာ်ကတီၤအသးလၢတၢ်ကမၤန့ၢ် အီၤအံၤကမၤစၢၤပဒိၣ်ပပှၢ်တဖၣ်လၢအကမၤန့ၢ်တၢ်ဒီးဒီသဒၢပှၤတ၀ၢဖိခဲလၢာ်ခဲဆ့လၢတအိၣ်ဒီးတၢ်ကွၢ်ကပာ်အ၀ဲသ့ၣ်အအဲးကလံးကျိာ်အတၢ်သ့တၢ်ဘၣ်န့ၣ်လီၤ.”
တၢ်တီတၢ်တြၢ်အ၀ဲၤကျိၤအတၢ်ဃိထံသ့ၣ်ညါ၀ဲဒၣ် DPD အံၤ စးထီၣ်အသးဖဲပှၤတ၀ၢဖိတဖၣ်ပာ်ဖျါထီၣ်အတၢ်ဘၣ် ယိၣ်ဘၣ်ဘီတဖၣ်လၢအဘၣ်ထွဲဒီးတၢ်ကဲထီၣ်အသးလၢအပာ်ဃုာ် LEP လၢအကတိၤပယီၤဒီးရိၣ်ဟ့ကၠၣ်အကျိာ်လၢ အအိၣ်ဆိးလၢ East Colfax အလီၢ်လၢ Denver အပူၤန့ၣ်လီၤ. တၢ်ဃိထံသ့ၣ်ညါအံၤပာ်ဖျါထီၣ်၀ဲဒၣ်လၢတၢ်မၤအ သးတဘျုးဘျီဖဲ DPD အပဒိၣ်တဖၣ်အံၤလီၤတူာ်လီၤကာ်လၢအတၢ်ဟ့ၣ်ကျိာ်အတၢ်မၤစၢၤဆူနီၢ်တဂၤစုာ်စုာ်လၢအမ့ၢ် LEP မ့တမ့ၢ်ဟ့ၣ်ကျိာ်အတၢ်မၤစၢၤလၢတတုၤထီၣ်ထီၣ်ဘးမ့တမ့ၢ်တဖိးမံဘၣ်တဖၣ်န့ၣ်လီၤ. အဒိန့ၣ်, တၢ်ဃိထံသ့ၣ် ညါထံၣ်န့ၢ်၀ဲဒၣ်လၢဖိသၣ်,ဟံၣ်ဖိဃီဖိတဖၣ်ဒီးပှၤလၢအအိၣ်ဖဲတၢ်ကပိၤကပၤတဖၣ်တၢ်သူအီၤလၢကျိာ်အတၢ်မၤစၢၤအဂီၢ်,ပာ်ဃုာ်တၢ်အိၣ်သးတဖၣ်ဖဲကျိာ်အတၢ်မၤစၢၤလၢ တၢ်နာ်န့ၢ်အီၤသ့ဒီးတကွၢ်မဲာ်တၢ်န့ၣ်တၢ်လိၣ်ဘၣ်အီၤလၢတၢ် ကဘၣ်ဟ့ၣ်အီၤအခါန့ၣ်တၢ်တဟ့ၣ်အီၤဘၣ်.
ဒ်တၢ်လၢအဘၣ်ထွဲဒီးတၢ်ဆီလီၤမၤဘၣ်က့ၤတၢ်အတၢ်အၢၣ်လီၤအီလီၤတခါအံၤအသိး, DPD အၢၣ်လီၤ၀ဲဒၣ်လၢအ ကမၤလၢထီၣ်ပှဲၤထီၣ်တၢ်ဆီတလဲတဘျုးမံၤလၢအဘၣ်ထွဲဒီးအတၢ်မၤန့ၢ်သူကျိာ်အဖီလစံၣ်,အကျိၤအကွာ်တဖၣ်ဒီးတၢ်သိၣ်လိနဲၣ်ယုၤ,ပာ်ဃုာ်-
- မၤသီထီၣ်အတၢ်မၤန့ၢ်သူကျိာ်အဖီလစံၣ်ဒီးတၢ်ရဲၣ်တၢ်ကျဲၤဒ်သိးတၢ်ကသူၣ်ထီၣ်တၢ်မၤအကျိၤအကွာ်တဖၣ်လၢတၢ်ကဆဲးကျိးဆဲးကျၢဒီး LEP နီၢ်တဂၤစုာ်စုာ်, ပာ်ဃုာ်ပှၤအုၣ်သးတဖၣ်ဒီးပှၤ လၢတၢ်ဆိကမိၣ်လၢအမၤ ကမၣ်သဲစးတဖၣ်ဒီးဒ်သိးတၢ်ကတြီဒီးတသူ၀ဲဒၣ်ဖိသၣ်,ဟံၣ်ဖိဃီဖိဒီးပှၤလၢအအိၣ်ဖဲတၢ်ကပိၤကပၤတဖၣ်လၢကဆဲးကျိးတၢ်ဒီး LEP နီၢ်တဂၤစုာ်စုာ်,တပာ်ဃုာ်ဂ့ၢ်ဂီၤအူတၢ်အိၣ်သးလၢတၢ်လိၣ်ဘၣ်နီၢ်နီၢ်အိၣ်ထီၣ်အခါ တဖၣ်
- ဃုထၢထီၣ်အ LEP အမူဒါခိၣ်အခီၣ်ထံးတဘျီဒီးသူၣ်ထီၣ်တၢ်မၤန့ၢ်သူကျိာ်အလီၢ်အကျဲလၢတၢ်ဆဲးကျိးအ ဂီၢ် (LAPCs) လၢ DPD ကီၢ်ရ့ၣ်ခဲလၢာ်အပူၤ,
- သိၣ်လိ၀ဲဒၣ် DPD အပှၤမၤတၢ်ဖိခဲလၢာ်ဒီးပှၤနုာ်လီၤသီတၢ်မၤတဖၣ်လၢကထံၣ်န့ၢ်, ဆဲးကျိးဆဲးကျၢ၀ဲဒၣ် ဒီးမၤနီၣ်မၤဃါအတၢ်တဲတၢ်,မၤတၢ်ဒီး LEP နီၢ်တဂၤစုာ်စုာ်ဒီး
- မၤကဲထီၣ်တၢ်မၤန့ၢ်သူကျိာ်အကမံးတံာ်တဖုလၢအပာ်ဃုာ်ပှၤဘၣ်မူဘၣ်ဒါလၢအကဲခၢၣ်စးလၢ LEP အပှၤတ၀ၢအတၢ်သးစဲတဖၣ်န့ၣ်လီၤ.
တၢ်ဂ့ၢ်တၢ်ကျိၤဆူညါဘၣ်ဃးထံဖိကီၢ်ဖိအခွဲးအယာ်အ၀ဲၤကျိၤန့ၣ်အိၣ်၀ဲဒၣ်လၢအပှာ်ယဲၤသန့အလိၤဖဲ www.justice.gov/crt ဒီးတၢ်ဂ့ၢ်တၢ်ကျိၤဘၣ်ဃးအဲးကလံးကျိာ်အတၢ်သ့တၢ်ဘၣ်လၢအစှၤဒီး Title VI န့ၣ်အိၣ်၀ဲဒၣ်ဖဲ www.lep.gov န့ၣ်လီၤ. ကမျၢၢ်တဖၣ်ပာ်ဖျါထီၣ်ကမျၢၢ်ထံဖိကီၢ်ဖိအခွဲးအယာ် အတၢ်လူၤသ့ၣ်ခါပတာ်ဂ့ၢ်၀ီလၢအကဲထီၣ် သးတဖၣ်ဖဲ https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/ န့ၣ်သ့လီၤ.
English
Amharic: አማርኛ
Arabic: العربية
Burmese: မြန်မာဘာသာ
Chinese, Simplified: 简体字
Chinese, Traditional: 簡體字
Farsi: فارسی
French: Français
Karen: ကညီ
Nepali: नेपाली
Rohingya: Ruáingga
Russian: Pусский
Somali: Soomaaliga
Spanish: Español
Vietnamese: Tiếng Việt
တရားေရးဌာနက ဘာသာစကားအသစ္အသုံးျပဳခြင့္ ဥပေဒစိုးမိုးေရးအစီအစဥ္ကို ေၾကညာRead the Press Release
Burmese Translation - Justice Department Announces New Language Access Law Enforcement InitiativeEnglish
Amharic: አማርኛ
Arabic: العربية
Burmese: မြန်မာဘာသာ
Chinese, Simplified: 简体字
Chinese, Traditional: 簡體字
Farsi: فارسی
French: Français
Karen: ကညီ
Nepali: नेपाली
Rohingya: Ruáingga
Russian: Pусский
Somali: Soomaaliga
Spanish: Español
Vietnamese: Tiếng Việt
कानुन लागू गर्ने एकाइहरूको लागि न्यायिक विभाग (Justice Department), भाषाप्रति पहुँसम्बन्धी नयाँ अग्रसरताको घोषणा गर्दछRead the Press Release
Nepali Translation - Justice Department Announces New Language Access Law Enforcement Initiative
English
Amharic: አማርኛ
Arabic: العربية
Burmese: မြန်မာဘာသာ
Chinese, Simplified: 简体字
Chinese, Traditional: 簡體字
Farsi: فارسی
French: Français
Karen: ကညီ
Nepali: नेपाली
Rohingya: Ruáingga
Russian: Pусский
Somali: Soomaaliga
Spanish: Español
Vietnamese: Tiếng Việt
وزارة العدل تُعلن عن مبادرة جديدة لقانون الوصول إلى المساعدة اللغوية في مجال إنفاذ القانونRead the Press Release
أعلنت وزارة العدل الأمريكية عن إطلاق مبادرة الوصول إلى المساعدة اللغوية في مجال إنفاذ القانون، وهي مجهود على مستوى البلاد لمساعدة وكالات إنفاذ القانون على الوفاء بالتزاماتها لتوفير مساعدة لغوية حقيقية للأفراد ذوي القدرات المحدودة في اللغة الإنجليزية. وستستند المبادرة إلى العمل الذي تقوم به الوزارة منذ فترة طويلة لضمان امتثال وكالات إنفاذ القانون لالتزاماتها المتعلقة بإتاحة فرص الوصول إلى المساعدة اللغوية.
وقالت مساعدة وزير العدل لشعبة الحقوق المدنية كريستين كلارك: "إن تزويد وكالات إنفاذ القانون بالأدوات التي تحتاجها لضمان الوصول الفعال والملموس إلى المساعدة اللغوية يعزز ويوفّر المزيد من السلامة للأفراد ذوي القدرات المحدودة في اللغة الإنجليزية". وأضافت أنه "من خلال هذه المبادرة سنتمكن من مشاركة أفضل ممارسات الوصول إلى المساعدة اللغوية، وموارد مشابهة، مع وكالات إنفاذ القانون في جميع أنحاء البلاد".
وسيقودُ المبادرة قسمُ التنسيق والامتثال الفيدرالي بشعبة الحقوق المدنية بشراكة مع مكاتب المدعين العامين الفيدراليين. وستقوم المبادرة على وجه التحديد بما يلي:
- تطوير موارد وأدوات المساعدة التقنية التي يمكن أن تساعد وكالات إنفاذ القانون المحلية وعلى مستوى الولايات في جهودها الرامية إلى إتاحة فرص الوصول إلى المساعدة اللغوية الحقيقية للأفراد والسكان ذوي القدرات المحدودة في اللغة الإنجليزية في مناطق نفوذها.
- المشاركة بالإيجاب مع وكالات إنفاذ القانون التي تريد مراجعة و/أو تحيين و/أو تقوية سياساتها وخططها وتدريبها في مجال الوصول إلى المساعدة اللغوية.
- الاستفادة من التعاون مع مكاتب المدعين العامين الفيدراليين لإجراء دورات تدريبية في المجتمعات المحلية في جميع أنحاء البلاد لزيادة الوعي بالتزامات الوصول إلى المساعدة اللغوية ولتشجيع اعتماد وكالات إنفاذ القانون لأفضل الممارسات على نطاق واسع.
- تعزيز روابط وتعاون الوزارة مع الجهات المعنية والسكان في مجتمعات الأفراد ذوي القدرات المحدودة في اللغة الإنجليزية.
وبالإضافة إلى إعلان المبادرة اليوم، أعلنت وزارة العدل ومكتب المدعي العام الأمريكي لمنطقة كولورادو عن إتفاق لإنهاء تحقيق في شأن اتهامات بأن شرطة مدينة دنفر قامت بالتمييز على أساس الأصل القومي ضد أفراد ذوي القدرات المحدودة في اللغة الإنجليزية في انتهاك للمادة السادسة من قانون الحقوق المدنية لعام 1964. وتحظر المادة السادسة التمييز على أساس العرق واللون والأصل القومي للمستفيدين من المساعدة المالية الفيدرالية.
قال ماثيو كيرش، مدعي الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية، الذي يعمل بموجب السلطة الممنوحة وفقا للبند 515 من الفصل 28 من قانون الولايات المتحدة لمقاطعة كولورادو: "هذا الاتفاق مع شرطة دنفر سيساعد ضباط الشرطة على أداء وظائفهم". وأضاف أنه "سواء تعلق الأمر بالقيام بتوعية المجتمع أو باعتقال الأفراد المتهمين بمخالفة القانون، فإن ضمان الوصول السريع إلى خدمات المساعدة اللغوية يُمكّنُ الضباط من خدمة وحماية جميع أفراد المجتمع بغض النظر عن الكفاءة في اللغة الإنجليزية."
وقد بدأ تحقيق وزارة العدل مع شرطة دنفر بعد أن عبّر أفراد المجتمع المحلي عن مخاوفهم بشأن حوادث تعرض لها سكان ذوي القدرات المحدودة في اللغة الإنجليزية يتحدثون بالبورمية والروهينغية، ويعيشون في منطقة شرق كولفاكس في دنفر. وكشف التحقيق عن حالات عديدة لم يقم فيها ضباط شرطة دنفر بتوفير المساعدة اللغوية لأفراد ذوي القدرات المحدودة في اللغة الإنجليزية أو قدموا مساعدة لغوية غير فعالة أو غير مناسبة. فعلى سبيل المثال، كشف التحقيق عن حالات تم الاعتماد فيها على الأطفال وأفراد الأسرة والمارة لتوفير المساعدة اللغوية، بما في ذلك في الظروف التي كان ينبغي فيها تقديم مساعدة لغوية أكثر موثوقية وموضوعية.
وكجزء من إتفاق التسوية هذا، وافقت شرطة دنفرعلى تنفيذ سلسلة من التغييرات في سياساتها وإجراءاتها وتدريباتها المتعلقة بإتاحة الوصول إلى المساعدة اللغوية، بما في ذلك:
- تحيين سياستها وخطتها المتعلقة بالوصول إلى المساعدة اللغوية من أجل وضع إجراءات للاتصال بالأفراد ذوي القدرات المحدودة في اللغة الإنجليزية، بمن فيهم الشهود والمشتبه فيهم، ومن أجل حظر استخدام الأطفال أو أفراد الأسرة أو المارة للتواصل مع الأفراد ذوي القدرات المحدودة في اللغة الإنجليزية، إلا في الظروف القاهرة؛
- تعيين أول منسق للأفراد ذوي القدرات المحدودة في اللغة الإنجليزية من نوعه، وإنشاء نقاط اتصال للوصول إلى المساعدة اللغوية في كل مقاطعة من مقاطعات شرطة دنفر؛
- تدريب جميع موظفي شرطة دنفر الحاليين والجدد على طرق التعرف على الأفراد ذوي القدرات المحدودة في اللغة الإنجليزية والتواصل معهم وتوثيق التعاملات معهم ؛
- وإنشاء لجنة الوصول إلى المساعدة اللغوية تضم الأطراف المعنية التي تمثل مصالح الأفراد ذوي القدرات المحدودة في اللغة الإنجليزية.
ويمكن الاطلاع على المزيد من المعلومات عن شعبة الحقوق المدنية على موقعها www.justice.gov/crt و على المعلومات المتعلقة بمحدودية إتقان اللغة الإنجليزية والفصل السادس على الموقع www.lep.gov . ويمكن للعموم الإبلاغ عن أي انتهاكات محتملة للحقوق المدنية على الموقع التالي https://civilrights.justice.gov/report: .
English
Amharic: አማርኛ
Arabic: العربية
Burmese: မြန်မာဘာသာ
Chinese, Simplified: 简体字
Chinese, Traditional: 簡體字
Farsi: فارسی
French: Français
Karen: ကညီ
Nepali: नेपाली
Rohingya: Ruáingga
Russian: Pусский
Somali: Soomaaliga
Spanish: Español
Vietnamese: Tiếng Việt
اعلامیه وزارت دادگستری درباره پیشگامی جدید دسترسی به خدمات زبانهای خارجی توسط نیروهای انتظامیRead the Press Release
وزارت دادگستری اعلام کرد که پیشگامی دسترسی به خدمات زبانهای خارجی توسط نیروهای انتظامی آغاز شده است. این یک تلاشی است در سراسر کشور برای یاری رساندن به سازمانهای انتظامی تا آنها بتوانند تعهدات خود را در ارائه هدفمند خدمات زبانهای خارجی به افراد کم مهارت در زبان انگلیسی انجام بدهند. این پیشگامی بر تاریخچه طولانی این وزارتخانه گسترش خواهد یافت تا اطمینان حاصل شود که سازمانهای انتظامی تعهدات خود را در رابطه با دسترسی به خدمات زبانهای خارجی انجام می دهند.
کریستین کلارک، دستیار دادستان کل بخش حقوق مدنی وزارت دادگستری، گفت: «ارائه ابزار لازم به سازمانهای انتظامی در زمینه دسترسی موثر و هدفمند به خدمات زبانهای خارجی منجر به ترویج و افزایش امنیت افرادی خواهد شد که در زبان انگلیسی کم مهارت هستند. از طریق این پیشگامی ما قادر خواهیم شد تا بهترین شیوه های دسترسی به خدمات زبانهای خارجی و منابع مشابه را با سازمانهای انتظامی در کل کشور به اشتراک بگذاریم.»
این پیشگامی توسط بخش حقوق مدنی، قسمت هماهنگی و پیروی فدرال، و با همکاری دفاتر دادستانی ایالات متحده هدایت خواهد شد. این پیشگامی بویژه موارد زیر را انجام خواهد داد:
● گسترش منابع و ابزار فنی که میتواند به سازمانهای انتظامی محلی و ایالتی در تلاش خود برای ارائه خدمات هدفمند زبانهای خارجی به افراد و جوامع کم مهارت در زبان انگلیسی در حوزه قضایی شان کمک کنند.
● مشارکت مثبت سازمانهای انتظامی که مایل به بررسی، به روزرسانی، و یا تقویت رویه ها، طرح ها⸲ و آموزشهای مربوط به دسترسی به خدمات زبانهای خارجی در آن سازمانها هستند.
● بهره بری ازهمکاری با دفاتر دادستانی ایالات متحده برای اجرای آموزشها در جوامع سر تا سر کشور برای آگاهی بیشتر در زمینه تعهدات مربوط به دسترسی به خدمات زبانهای خارجی، و تشویق سازمانهای انتظامی به برگزیدن گسترده بهترین شیوه ها.
● تقویت روابط و همکاریهای وزارت دادگستری با جوامع کم مهارت در زبان انگلیسی و اشخاص کلیدی آنها.امروز علاوه بر اعلام این پیشگامی، وزارت دادگستری و دفتر دادستانی ایالات متحده در منطقه کلرادو اعلام کرد که با اداره پلیس دنور به توافق رسیدند که تحقیقات در باره اتهامات مبنی بر تبعیض قائل شدن اداره پلیس دنور نسبت به اصلیت ملی افراد کم مهارت در زبان انگلیسی، که خلاف ماده ششم قانون حقوق مدنی ۱۹۶۴است، به پایان برسد. ماده ششم دریافت کنندگان کمک مالی فدرال را از تبعیض بر مبنای نژاد، رنگ پوست، و اصلیت ملی منع می کند.
متیو کرش، وکیل دادستان ایالات متحده که بر اساس بخش ۵۱۵ ماده ۲۸ قوانین ایالات متحده مسئولیت این امر را در منطقه کلرادو برعهده دارد، گفت: «توافق حاصل شده با اداره ﭙلیس دنور به افسران پلیس کمک خواهد کرد که وظیفه خود را انجام دهند. اطمینان داشتن از دسترسی آماده به خدمات صحیح زبانهای خارجی افراد انتظامی را قادر می کند که بدون توجه به مهارت در زبان انگلیسی افراد، به خدمت و محافظت تمامی افراد جامعه بپردازند. چه این امر مربوط به گسترش ارتباطات با جوامع باشد، و چه مربوط به دستگیری اشخاصی که متهم به شکستن قانون هستند.»
وزارت دادگستری تحقیقاتش را بر روی اداره پلیس دنور زمانی آغاز کرد که اعضای جامعه نگرانی هایی را ابراز کردند درباره رخدادهایی مربوط به ساکنان منطقه کلفس شرقی در دنورکه به زبانهای برمه ای و روهینگا صحبت می کنند ومهارت کم در زبان انگلیسی دارند. این تحقیقات نشان داد که افسران ﭙلیس دنور در موارد بسیاری یا از ارائه خدمات زبان به اشخاص کم مهارت در زبان انگلیسی کوتاهی کردند، یا خدماتی که ارائه دادند بی ثمر و یا نامناسب بوده است. به عنوان مثال، تحقیقات مواردی را آشکار کرد که در آنها از کودکان، اعضای خانواده، و رهگذران برای خدمات زبانهای خارجی استفاده شده بود. از جمله رویدادهایی که مستلزم ارائه خدمات معتبرتر و بیطرفانه تر زبانهای خارجی می بود.
بر اساس بخشی از این توافق، اداره پلیس دنور پذیرفته است که تغییراتی دررویه ها⸲ روندها، و آموزشهای خود در دسترسی به زبانهای خارجی بدهد که شامل موارد زیر می باشد:
● بروزرسانی رویه و طرح دسترسی به زبانهای خارجی خود به منظور ایجاد روندهایی برای ارتباط با افراد کم مهارت در زبان انگلیسی، از جمله شاهدان و افراد مظنون، تا استفاده از کودکان، اعضای خانواده، یا رهگذران برای برقراری ارتباط با افراد کم مهارت در زبان انگلیسی منع شود⸲ مگر در شرایط ضروری.
● انتساب شخصی برای نخستین بار به عنوان مسئول هماهنگی با افراد کم مهارت در زبان انگلیسی، و گزینش اشخاصی در هر یک از حوزه های پلیس دنور که برای خدمات زبانهای خارجی با آنها باید تماس گرفته شود.● آموزش دادن به همه کارکنان و تازه استخدامی های اداره پلیس دنور تا آنها بتوانند افراد کم مهارت در زبان انگلیسی را شناسایی کنند، با آنها ارتباط برقرار کنند، و برخوردهای خود را با آنان مستند سازند.
● ایجاد کمیته دسترسی به زبانهای خارجی که شامل اشخاصی باشد که به نمایندگی از جامعه کم مهارت در زبان انگلیسی حضور داشته باشند تا منافع جامعه را ابراز کنند.
اطلاعات بیشتر در مورد بخش حقوق مدنی در این تارنما موجود است:
www.justice.gov/crt
اطلاعات در مورد کم مهارتی در زبان انگلیسی و ماده ششم در این تارنما موجود است:
www.lep.gov
افراد جامعه میتوانند تخلفات احتمالی قوانین حقوق مدنی را از طریق این تارنما گزارش بدهند:
https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/
English
Amharic: አማርኛ
Arabic: العربية
Burmese: မြန်မာဘာသာ
Chinese, Simplified: 简体字
Chinese, Traditional: 簡體字
Farsi: فارسی
French: Français
Karen: ကညီ
Nepali: नेपाली
Rohingya: Ruáingga
Russian: Pусский
Somali: Soomaaliga
Spanish: Español
Vietnamese: Tiếng Việt
Министерство Юстиции Объявило О Новой Инициативе Правоохранительных Органов По Обеспечению Доступа К Языковым РесурсамRead the Press Release
Министерство юстиции объявило о запуске инициативы по обеспечению доступа к языковым ресурсам для правоохранительных органов – общенациональной программы по оказанию поддержки правоохранительным органам в выполнении их обязательств по предоставлению значимой языковой помощи лицам с ограниченным знанием английского языка. Инициатива будет основываться на многолетней работе министерства по обеспечению соблюдения правоохранительными органами своих обязательств по обеспечению доступа к языковым ресурсам.
«Предоставление правоохранительным органам инструментов, необходимых для эффективного и целенаправленного обеспечения доступа к языковым ресурсам, будет содействовать улучшению безопасности людей с ограниченным знанием английского языка», — заявила помощница Генерального прокурора Кристен Кларк из Отдела гражданских прав Министерства юстиции. «Благодаря этой инициативе мы сможем поделиться передовым опытом предоставления доступа к языковым и другим подобным ресурсам с правоохранительными органами по всей стране».
Инициативу будет возглавлять Секция федеральной координации и надзора за нормативно-правовым соответствием Отдела гражданских прав в партнерстве с прокуратурой США. В частности, инициатива позволит:
- Разработать ресурсы и механизмы технической помощи, которые помогут местным и государственным правоохранительным органам в их усилиях по предоставлению доступа к языковым ресурсам лицам и группам населения с ограниченным знанием английского языка в пределах их юрисдикции.
- Активно привлекать правоохранительные органы, которые хотят пересмотреть, доработать и/или улучшить свои внутренние правила, планы и обучение в области предоставления языковой помощи.
- Эффективно использовать сотрудничество с прокуратурой США при проведении тренингов для местной общественности по всей стране с целью повышения осведомленности об обязательствах по доступу к языковым ресурсам и поощрения повсеместного внедрения передового опыта правоохранительными органами.
- Укреплять связи и взаимодействие министерства с заинтересованными представителями местной общественности и населения с ограниченным знанием английского языка.
В дополнение к сегодняшнему объявлению об указанной инициативе, Министерство юстиции и прокуратура США судебного округа штата Колорадо объявили о соглашении о завершении расследования по делу обвинения Департамента полиции г. Денвер в дискриминации лиц с ограниченным знанием английского языка по признаку национальной принадлежности в нарушение Раздела VI Закона о гражданских правах 1964 года. Раздел VI этого закона запрещает дискриминацию по признаку расы, цвета кожи и национального происхождения получателями федеральной финансовой помощи.
«Это соглашение с Департаментом полиции г. Денвер поможет полицейским выполнять свою работу», — заявил Мэтью Кирш, прокурор США, действующий в соответствии с полномочиями, предоставленными параграфом 515 Раздела 28 Кодекса США судебного округа штата Колорадо. «Будь то проведение работы с населением или арест лиц, обвиняемых в нарушении закона, обеспечение свободного доступа к надежным языковым услугам позволит полицейским исполнять свои обязанности и защищать всех членов общества, вне зависимости от их знания английского языка».
Расследование Министерства юстиции в отношении Департамента полиции г. Денвер началось после того, как представители местной общественности выразили обеспокоенность по поводу инцидентов с участием жителей, говорящих на бирманском языке и на языке рохинджа, и обладающих ограниченным знанием английского языка, проживающих в районе Ист-Колфакс в г. Денвер. Расследование выявило многочисленные случаи, когда сотрудники Департамента полиции г. Денвер либо не оказывали языковую помощь лицам с ограниченным знанием английского языка, либо оказанная языковая помощь была неэффективной или неадекватной. Например, в ходе расследования были выявлены случаи, в которых за языковой помощью обращались к детям, членам семьи и прохожим, в то время, когда должна была быть оказана более надежная и объективная языковая помощь.
В рамках этого мирового соглашения, Департамент полиции г. Денвер согласился внести ряд изменений в свои внутренние правила, процедуры и обучение в области предоставления доступа к языковым ресурсам, в том числе:
- Обновление внутренних правил и планов предоставления доступа к языковым ресурсам с целью установления процедур общения с лицами с ограниченным знанием английского языка, включая свидетелей и подозреваемых, и запрета использования детей, членов семьи или посторонних лиц для общения с лицами с ограниченным знанием английского языка, за исключением неотложных случаев;
- Назначение первого в истории координатора по работе с лицами с ограниченным знанием английского языка и контактных лиц для обеспечения доступа к языковым ресурсам в каждом округе Департамента полиции г. Денвер;
- Обучение всех сотрудников и новобранцев Департамента полиции г. Денвер по выявлению, общению и документированию взаимодействия с лицами с ограниченным знанием английского языка; а также
- Создание комитета по обеспечению доступа к языковым ресурсам, в который будут входить члены местной общественности, представляющие интересы лиц с ограниченным знанием английского языка.
Дополнительная информация об Отделе гражданских прав доступна на его веб-сайте по адресу: www.justice.gov/crt, а информация по вопросам, связанным с ограниченным владением английским языком и Разделом VI, доступна по адресу: www.lep.gov. Представители общественности могут сообщать о возможных нарушениях гражданских прав по адресу: https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/.
English
Amharic: አማርኛ
Arabic: العربية
Burmese: မြန်မာဘာသာ
Chinese, Simplified: 简体字
Chinese, Traditional: 簡體字
Farsi: فارسی
French: Français
Karen: ကညီ
Nepali: नेपाली
Rohingya: Ruáingga
Russian: Pусский
Somali: Soomaaliga
Spanish: Español
Vietnamese: Tiếng Việt
Wasaaradda Cadaaladda Oo Ku Dhawaaqday Hindisaha Dhaqangelinta Sharciga Luuqad CusubRead the Press Release
Wasaaradda Cadaaladda ayaa ku dhawaaqday bilawga Hindisaha marin-u-helidda Luqadda ee Sharci Fulinta, dadaal heer qaran ah oo lagu caawinayo hay’adaha Sharci Fulinta si ay u gutaan waajibaadkooda oo ay u siiyaan kaalmo luuqadeed oo macno leh shaqsiyaadka leh aqoonta xadidan ee afka Ingiriiska (LEP). Hindisaha ayaa dhisi doona shaqada soo jireenka ah ee wasaaradda si loo hubiyo in hay’adaha sharci fulinta ay u hogaansamaan waajibaadkooda luqadda.
Kaaliyaha Xeer Ilaaliyaha Guud Kristen Clarke ee Wasaaradda Cadaaladda Qaybta Xuquuqda Madaniga ah (Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division) ayaa tiri, “Siinta hay’adaha fulinta sharciga agabka ay u baahan yihiin si loo hubiyo helitaanka luuqad waxtar leh oo macno leh waxay kor u qaadaysaa badbaadada weyn ee dadka aqoonta kooban ee afka Ingiriisiga.” “Waxaan awood u yeelan doonaa inaan la wadaagno sida ugu wanaagsan marin-u-heliida luuqad, iyo sida ugu haboon ee loo adeegsan karo hay’adaha fulinta sharciga ee dalka oo dhan anagoo adeegsanayna hindisahan.”
Hindisaha waxaa hogaamin doona Qaybta Xuquuqda Madaniga ee Isku Duwidda iyo Dhaqangelinta Dawladda Federaalka (Civil Rights Division’s Federal Coordination and Compliance) iyada oo lala kaashanayo Xafiisyada Qareenada Maraykanka (U.S. Attorneys’ Office). Gaar ahaan hindisaha:
- Waxay horumarin doontaa agabka kaalmada farsamada iyo agabka caawin kara wakaaladaha fulinta sharciga deegaanka iyo gobolka dadaalka ay ugu jiraan bixinta luuqad macno leh oo ay helaan shaqsiyaadka LEP (dadka aqoonta afka ingiriisiga xadidan) iyo dadyowga ku jira xukunkooda.
- Si dhab ah u hawlgelin doonaa hay’adaha fulinta sharciga ee doonaya inay dib u eegaan, cusboonaysiiyaan, iyo/ama xoojiyaan siyaasadaha marin-u-helka luuqad dooda, qorshayaasha, iyo tababarka.
- Ka faa’iidaysan doontaa wada shaqaynta Xafiisyada Xeer Ilaaliyaha Maraykanka si loo tababaro bulshooyinka dalka oo dhan si loo kordhiyo wacyiga ku saabsan waajibaadka marin-u-helka luuqadda iyo dhiirigelinta ku dhaqanka baahsan ee hababka ugu wanaagsan ee hay’adaha fulinta sharciga.
- Xoojin doonaa xiriirka wasaaradda iyo la shaqaynta daneeyayaasha LEP (dadka aqoonta xadidan ee afka ingiriisiga) iyo dadwaynaha LEP (dadka aqoonta xadidan ee ingriisiga).
Ka sokoow ku dhawaaqista hindisaha manta, Wasaaradda Cadaaladda iyo Xafiiska Xeer Ilaaliya Mareykanka ee Degmada Colorado (U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado) waxay ku dhawaaqeen heshiis lagu xallinayo baaritaanka eedeymaha ah in Booliska Denver ay takoor ku saleysan tahay asalka qaran ee shaqsiyaadka LEP (dadka aqoonta ingiriisiga xadidan) ee xadgudubka xeerka Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Xeerka Title VI wuxuu mamnuucayaa midabtaakoorka midabka iyo asalka qaran ee dadka qaata kaalmada maaliyadeed ee federaalka.
“Matthew Kirsch, Xeer Ilaaliya Mareykanka oo ah Ku Simaha hoos yimaada Maamulka uu bixiyey xeerka 28 U.S.C 515 ee Degmada Colorado wuxuu yiri, “Heshiiskan lala galay Booliska Denver wuxuu ka caawin doonaa saraakiisha booliska inay qabsadaan shaqadooda.” Wuxuu kaloo yiri, “Hadday samaynayso wacyigelin bulsho ama la xirayo shaqsiyaadka lagu eedeeyay inay sharciga jabiyeen hubinta helitaanka diyaarka ah ee adeegyada luuqadda saxda ah waxay awood u siinaysaa saraakisha inay u adeegaan oo ay ilaaliyaan dhamaan xubnaha bulshada iyadoon loo eegayn aqoonta Ingiriisiga.”
Wasaaradda Cadaaladda ayaa bilowday baaritaanka ku saabsan Booliska Denver ka dib markii xubnaha bulshada ay walaac ka muujiyeen dhacdooyin ku lug leh dadka Burmese iyo Ronhingya ku hadla ee ah LEP (dadka aqoonta ingiriisiga xaddidan) ee ku nool agagaarka East Colfax ee Denver. Baarintaanku wuxuu daaha ka qaaday tusaalayaal badan oo saraakiisha booliska Denver ay ku guuldaraysteen inay bixiyaan caawinta luuqadda shaqsiyaadka LEP (dadka aqoonta afka ingiriisiga xaddidan) ama ay bixiyaan caawimaad luqadeed oo aan waxtar lahayn ama aan haboonayn. Tusaale ahaan, baarintaanku wuxuu daaha ka qaaday xaaladaha carruurta, xubnaha qoyska iyo dadka ag jooga lagu tiirsaday caawinta luuqadda oo ay ku jiraan xaalado ay aheed in la bixiyo gargaar luqaddeed oo la isku haleyn karo oo macquul.
Iyada oo qayb ka ah heshiiskan xaalbixinta Booliska Denver wuxuu ogolaaday inuu hirgeliyo isbeddelo taxane ah oo lagu sameeyo helitaanka adeegyada luuqadda, nidaamyada iyo tababarka oo ay ku jiraan:
- Cusboonaysiinta Siyaasaddeeda iyo Qorsheheeda Helitaanka Luuqadda si loo dhiso habraacyo lagula xiriiro shaqsiyaadka LEP (dadka aqoonta ingiriisiga xaddidan) oo ay ku jiraan markhaatiyaasha iyo tuhmanayaasha iyo in la mamnuuco isticmaalka carruurta, xubnaha qoyska ama dadka ag jooga si ay ula xiriiraan shakhsiyaadka LEP (dadka aqoonta ingiriisiga xaddidan) marka laga reebo xaaladaha macquulka ah;
- Magacaabista isku dawaha LEP-ka ugu horeeyay iyo in la dhiso Barta Helintaanka Luuqadda ee Degmo kasta oo Booliskka Denver ah;
- Tababarka dhammaan shaqaalaha Booliska Denver iyo kuwa cusub ee la qorayo aqoonsiga, la xiriirka iyo diiwaan-gelinta isdhexgalka shaqsiyaadka LEP (dadka aqoonta ingiriisiga xaddidan); iyo
- Abuurista Guddi qaabilsan Marin-u-heliddda Luqadda oo ay ku jiraan daneeyayaasha matalaya danaha bulshada LEP (dadka aqoonta ingiriisiga xaddidan).
Macluumaad dheeraad ah oo ku saabsan Qaybta Xuquuqda Madaniga (Civil Rights Division) ah ayaa laga heli karaa shabakadeeda www.justice.gov/crt iyo macluumaadka ku saabsan aqoonta ingiriisiga xaddidan (limited English proficiency) iyo xeerka Title VI waa laga heli karaa www.lep.gov.
Xubnaha dadweynaha waxeey u tebin karaan xadgudubyada xuquuqda madaniga https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/
English
Amharic: አማርኛ
Arabic: العربية
Burmese: မြန်မာဘာသာ
Chinese, Simplified: 简体字
Chinese, Traditional: 簡體字
Farsi: فارسی
French: Français
Karen: ကညီ
Nepali: नेपाली
Rohingya: Ruáingga
Russian: Pусский
Somali: Soomaaliga
Spanish: Español
Vietnamese: Tiếng Việt
Texas Accountant Pleads Guilty to Embezzling Funds from Employer and Filing False Tax ReturnRead the Press Release
A Texas man pleaded guilty today to embezzling funds from his employer and filing a false tax return. The plea was entered before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dustin Howell.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Steven Marquez embezzled more than $700,000 from his employer, an Austin-based company (“Company A”), where he worked as an accountant and cash manager. From at least April 2010 through October 2017, Marquez without authorization caused funds to be transferred from Company A’s bank accounts into an account he controlled. He then used some of this money to pay his credit card bills and other personal expenses. To conceal his embezzlement, Marquez altered the business’s bank statements, and then provided the altered statements to Company A’s bank reconciliation group. Marquez also filed a false tax return for 2017 that did not report the embezzled funds.
Marquez is scheduled to be sentenced on March 9, 2023. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for wire fraud and three years in prison for filing a false tax return. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.
IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
Assistant Chief David Zisserson and Trial Attorney Kavitha Bondada of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.
Readout of Reproductive Rights Task Force MeetingRead the Press Release
On Friday, Dec. 16, Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta convened the full Reproductive Rights Task Force (RRTF). The meeting focused on the work of the RRTF since its creation in July following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, and eliminating the constitutional right to abortion recognized in those cases.
The RRTF provided updates on the Civil Division’s work in both affirmative and defensive litigation to ensure access to reproductive services that are protected under federal law; the Office of Legal Counsel’s work with other federal agencies to support their work on issues relating to reproductive rights and access to reproductive health care; and outreach by the department to reproductive health care providers, including groups representing both clinics providing abortions and pregnancy resource centers, to ensure they know their protections under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act and how to report threats, attacks, or other forms of interference that may violate federal law. The RRTF also discussed challenges ahead and expected work in the new year.
Associate Attorney General Gupta, who chairs the RRTF, thanked the members for their hard work over the prior five months and for their continued work in the year to come. The RRTF is made up of representatives from the department’s Civil Division, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney community, Office of the Solicitor General, Office for Access to Justice, Office of Legal Counsel, Office of Legal Policy, Office of Legislative Affairs, Office of the Associate Attorney General, Office of the Deputy Attorney General and Office of the Attorney General and is supported by dedicated staff.
Le Ministère de la Justice annonce une nouvelle initiative pour assurer l’accès linguistique dans le cadre de l’application de la loiRead the Press Release
Le Ministère de la Justice a annoncé le lancement de l'Initiative d'accès linguistique pour les organismes d'application de la loi, un effort national visant à aider les organismes d'application de la loi à s'acquitter de leurs obligations de fournir une aide linguistique utile aux personnes ayant une maîtrise limitée de l'anglais (limited English proficient, LEP). L’initiative s’appuiera sur le travail de longue date du Ministère pour s’assurer que les organismes d’application de la loi respectent leurs obligations en matière d’accès linguistique.
« Fournir aux organismes d’application de la loi les outils dont ils ont besoin pour assurer un accès linguistique efficace et utile encourage et favorise une plus grande sécurité pour les personnes ayant moins de compétences en anglais », a déclaré la Procureure adjointe Kristen Clarke de la Division des droits civils du Ministère de la Justice. « Grâce à cette initiative, nous serons en mesure de partager ces meilleures pratiques en matière d’accès linguistique et des ressources semblables avec les organismes d’application de la loi partout au pays. »
L’initiative sera dirigée par la Section fédérale de la coordination et de la conformité de la Division des droits civils, en partenariat avec les Bureaux des procureurs des États-Unis. Plus précisément, l’initiative :
- Mettra au point des ressources et des outils d'assistance technique qui peuvent aider les organismes locaux et des États chargés de l’application de la loi à fournir un accès linguistique utile aux personnes et aux populations ayant une maîtrise limitée de l'anglais (limited English proficient, LEP) relevant de leur juridiction ;
- Engagera de manière positive les organismes d’application de la loi qui souhaitent examiner, mettre à jour et / ou renforcer leurs politiques, plans et formations en matière d'accès linguistique ;
- Tirera parti de la collaboration avec les Bureaux des procureurs des États-Unis pour organiser des formations dans les collectivités de tout le pays afin de sensibiliser davantage les organismes d’application de la loi aux obligations en matière d’accès linguistique et d’encourager l’adoption généralisée des meilleures pratiques ; et
- Renforcera les liens et l’engagement du Ministère avec les parties prenantes de la communauté LEP et les populations LEP.
En plus de l’annonce aujourd’hui de cette initiative, le Ministère de la Justice et le Bureau du procureur des États-Unis pour le district du Colorado ont annoncé un accord pour résoudre une enquête sur des allégations de discrimination du service de police de Denver sur la base de l'origine nationale à l'encontre de personnes LEP, en violation du titre VI de la Loi de 1964 sur les droits civils. Le titre VI interdit la discrimination fondée sur la race, la couleur et l'origine nationale de la part des bénéficiaires de l'aide financière fédérale.
« Cet accord avec le service de police de Denver aidera les policiers à faire leur travail », a déclaré Matthew Kirsch, Procureur des États-Unis, agissant en vertu de l'autorité conférée par Section 515 du Titre 28 du Code des États-Unis pour le district du Colorado. « Qu’il s’agisse de mener des activités de sensibilisation communautaire ou d’arrêter des personnes accusées d’avoir enfreint la loi, l’accès facile à des services linguistiques exacts permet aux agents de servir et de protéger tous les membres de la communauté, quelle que soit leur compétence en anglais. »
L’enquête du Ministère de la Justice sur le service de police de Denver a débuté après que des membres de la collectivité ont exprimé des préoccupations au sujet d’incidents impliquant des résidents LEP de langue birmane et de langue rohingya vivant dans le quartier East Colfax à Denver. L’enquête a révélé de nombreux cas où les agents du service de police de Denver n’ont pas fourni d’aide linguistique aux personnes LEP ou ont fourni une aide linguistique inefficace ou inappropriée. Par exemple, l'enquête a permis de découvrir des situations où l'on a fait appel à des enfants, à des membres de la famille et à des passants pour obtenir de l'aide linguistique, y compris dans des circonstances où une aide linguistique plus fiable et plus objective aurait dû être fournie.
Dans le cadre de cet accord de règlement, le service de police de Denver a accepté de mettre en œuvre une série de changements à ses politiques, procédures et formations en matière d'accès linguistique, notamment :
- Mettre à jour sa politique et son plan d'accès linguistique afin d'établir des procédures de communication avec les personnes LEP, y compris les témoins et les suspects, et d'interdire l'utilisation d'enfants, de membres de la famille ou de passants pour communiquer avec les personnes LEP, sauf dans des circonstances urgentes ;
- Nommer son tout premier coordonnateur LEP et établir des points de contact pour l'accès linguistique dans chaque district du service de police de Denver ;
- Former tous les employés et nouvelles recrues du service de police de Denver à identifier des individus LEP et à communiquer avec eux, ainsi qu’à documenter les interactions avec ces derniers ; et
- Créer un comité d’accès linguistique qui comprend des parties prenantes représentant les intérêts de la communauté LEP.
Des informations supplémentaires sur la Division des droits civils sont disponibles sur son site Web à l'adresse www.justice.gov/crt et des informations sur les compétences limitées en anglais et le Titre VI sont disponibles à l'adresse www.lep.gov. Les membres du public peuvent signaler d’éventuelles violations des droits civils à l’adresse https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/.
English
Amharic: አማርኛ
Arabic: العربية
Burmese: မြန်မာဘာသာ
Chinese, Simplified: 简体字
Chinese, Traditional: 簡體字
Farsi: فارسی
French: Français
Karen: ကညီ
Nepali: नेपाली
Rohingya: Ruáingga
Russian: Pусский
Somali: Soomaaliga
Spanish: Español
Vietnamese: Tiếng Việt
Justice Department Announces New Language Access Law Enforcement InitiativeRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced the launch of the Law Enforcement Language Access Initiative, a nationwide effort to assist law enforcement agencies in meeting their obligations to provide meaningful language assistance to limited English proficient (LEP) individuals. The initiative will build on the department’s longstanding work to ensure that law enforcement agencies are complying with their language access obligations.
“Providing law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to ensure effective and meaningful language access promotes and advances greater safety for limited English proficient people,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Through this Initiative, we will be able to share these language access best practices and similar resources with law enforcement agencies all across the country.”
The initiative will be led by the Civil Rights Division’s Federal Coordination and Compliance Section in partnership with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices. Specifically, the initiative will:
- Develop technical assistance resources and tools that can assist local and state law enforcement agencies in their efforts to provide meaningful language access to LEP individuals and populations within their jurisdiction.
- Affirmatively engage law enforcement agencies that want to review, update, and/or strengthen their language access polices, plans and training.
- Leverage collaboration with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to conduct trainings in communities across the country to increase awareness of language access obligations and encourage widespread adoption of best practices by law enforcement agencies.
- Strengthen the department’s ties and engagement with LEP community stakeholders and LEP populations.
In addition to today’s initiative announcement, the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announced an agreement to resolve an investigation into allegations that the Denver Police Department (DPD) discriminated on the basis of national origin against LEP individuals in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VI prohibits race, color, and national origin discrimination by recipients of federal financial assistance.
“This agreement with the Denver Police Department will help police officers do their jobs,” said Matthew Kirsch, Attorney for the United States, Acting under Authority Conferred by 28 U.S.C. §515 for the District of Colorado. “Whether it’s conducting community outreach or arresting individuals accused of breaking the law, ensuring ready access to accurate language services enables officers to serve and protect all members of the community, regardless of English proficiency.”
The Justice Department’s investigation of the DPD began after community members raised concerns about incidents involving Burmese and Rohingya-speaking LEP residents living in the East Colfax area of Denver. The investigation revealed numerous instances where DPD officers either failed to provide language assistance to LEP individuals or provided language assistance that was ineffective or inappropriate. For example, the investigation uncovered situations where children, family members and bystanders were relied upon for language assistance, including in circumstances where more reliable and objective language assistance should have been provided.
As part of this settlement agreement, the DPD has agreed to implement a series of changes to its language access policies, procedures and training, including:
Updating its Language Access Policy and Plan in order to establish procedures for communicating with LEP individuals, including witnesses and suspects, and to prohibit the use of children, family members, or bystanders to communicate with LEP individuals, except in exigent circumstances;
- Appointing its first-ever LEP Coordinator and establish Language Access Points of Contact (LAPCs) in every DPD district;
- Training all DPD employees and new recruits on identifying, communicating with, and documenting interactions with LEP individuals; and
- Creating a Language Access Committee that includes stakeholders representing LEP community interests.
Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt and information about limited English proficiency and Title VI is available at www.lep.gov. Members of the public may report possible civil rights violations at https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/.
Amharic: አማርኛ
Arabic: العربية
Burmese: မြန်မာဘာသာ
Chinese, Simplified: 简体字
Chinese, Traditional: 簡體字
Farsi: فارسی
French: Français
Karen: ကညီ
Nepali: नेपाली
Rohingya: Ruáingga (Audio)
Russian: Pусский
Somali: Soomaaliga
Spanish: Español
Vietnamese: Tiếng Việt
FBI and Partners Issue National Public Safety Alert on Financial Sextortion SchemesRead the Press Release
The FBI, in partnership with Homeland Security Investigations and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, is issuing a national public safety alert regarding an explosion in incidents of children and teens being coerced into sending explicit images online and extorted for money—a crime known as financial sextortion.
Over the past year, law enforcement has received over 7,000 reports related to the online financial sextortion of minors, resulting in at least 3,000 victims, primarily boys, and more than a dozen suicides. A large percentage of these sextortion schemes originate outside of the United States, and primarily in West African countries such as Nigeria and Ivory Coast. As many children enter winter break this holiday season, the FBI and our partners implore parents and caregivers to engage with their kids about financial sextortion schemes so we can prevent them in the first place.
“The FBI has seen a horrific increase in reports of financial sextortion schemes targeting minor boys—and the fact is that the many victims who are afraid to come forward are not even included in those numbers,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The FBI is here for victims, but we also need parents and caregivers to work with us to prevent this crime before it happens and help children come forward if it does. Victims may feel like there is no way out—it is up to all of us to reassure them that they are not in trouble, there is hope, and they are not alone.”“The protection of children is a society’s most sacred duty,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “It calls on each of us to do everything we can to keep kids from harm, including ensuring the threats they face are brought into the light and confronted. Armed with the information in this alert message, parents, caregivers, and children themselves should feel empowered to detect fake identities, take steps to reject any attempt to obtain private material, and if targeted, have a plan to seek help from a trusted adult.”
Financial sextortion schemes occur in online environments where young people feel most comfortable—using common social media sites, gaming sites, or video chat applications that feel familiar and safe. On these platforms, online predators often use fake female accounts and target minor males, between 14 to 17 years old but the FBI has interviewed victims as young as 10 years old.
“The sexual exploitation of children is a deplorable crime. HSI special agents will continue to exhaust every resource to identify, locate, and apprehend predators to ensure they face justice,” said Steve K. Francis, HSI Acting Executive Associate Director. “Criminals who lurk in platforms on the internet are not as anonymous as they think. HSI will continue to leverage cutting-edge technology to end these heinous acts.”
Through deception, predators convince the young person to produce an explicit video or photo. Once predators acquire the images, they threaten to release the compromising material unless the victim sends money or gift cards. Often the predators demand payment through a variety of peer-to-peer payment applications. In many cases, however, predators release the images even if payments are made. The shame, fear, and confusion that victims feel when they are caught in this cycle often prevents them from asking for help or reporting the abuse.
“This is a growing crisis and we've seen sextortion completely devastate children and families,” said Michelle DeLaune, CEO of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. “As the leading nonprofit focused on child protection, we've seen first-hand the rise in these cases worldwide. The best defense against this crime is to talk to your children about what to do if they're targeted online. We want everyone to know help is out there and they're not alone.”
What if you or your child is a victim?
If young people are being exploited, they are victims of a crime and should report it. Contact your local FBI field office, call 1-800-CALL-FBI, or report it online at tips.fbi.gov.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has outlined steps parents and young people can take if they or their child are a victim of sextortion, including:
• Remember, the predator is to blame, not your child or you.
• Get help before deciding whether to pay money or otherwise comply with the predator. Cooperating or paying rarely stops the blackmail and continued harassment.
• REPORT the predator’s account via the platform’s safety feature.
• BLOCK the predator and DO NOT DELETE the profile or messages because that can be helpful to law enforcement in identifying and stopping them.
• Let NCMEC help get explicit images of you off the internet.
• Visit org/IsYourExplicitContentOutThere to learn how to notify companies yourself or visit cybertipline.org to report to us for help with the process.
• Ask for help. This can be a very complex problem and may require help from adults or law enforcement.
• If you don’t feel that you have adults in your corner, you can reach out to NCMEC for support at [email protected] or call NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST.Take a moment to learn how sextortion works and how to talk to your children about it. Information, resources, and conversation guides are available at fbi.gov/StopSextortion.
Epic Games Inc., Developer of Fortnite Video Game, Agrees to $275 Million Penalty and Injunction for Alleged Violations of Children’s Privacy LawRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), today announced a settlement that, if approved by a federal court, will require Epic Games Inc. (Epic Games) to pay $275 million in civil penalties as part of a settlement to resolve alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA Rule), and the Federal Trade Commission Act. Epic Games will also be subject to a permanent injunction regarding children’s personal information that it previously collected. Epic Games is the developer of the online video game “Fortnite.”
In a complaint filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, the government alleged that Epic Games designed and marketed Fortnite for use by children. The government further alleged that Epic Games possessed actual knowledge that it collected personal information from children, including their names, email addresses, and identifiers used to keep track of players’ progress, purchases, settings, and friends lists. Epic Games nonetheless failed to notify parents that it was collecting children’s personal information and to obtain verifiable parental consent for that collection, as required by the COPPA Rule. The government further alleged that Epic Games maintained default privacy settings that were unfair under Section 5 of the FTC Act, in that the default privacy settings publicly broadcast child and teen Fortnite players’ display names and put children and teens in direct, real-time communication with adult Fortnite players.
“The Justice Department takes very seriously its mission to protect consumers’ data privacy rights,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “This proposed order sends a message to all online providers that collecting children’s personal information without parental consent will not be tolerated.”
“Parents have a right to know and to consent before companies collect their children’s personal information,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “The department is committed to enforcing the protections against unauthorized collection of information from consumers, particularly children.”
“As our complaint notes, Epic used privacy-invasive default settings that harmed young Fortnite players,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. “Protecting the public, and especially children and teens, from online privacy invasions is a top priority for the Commission, and this enforcement action makes clear to businesses that the FTC is cracking down on these unlawful practices.”
“This historic civil penalty, totaling over a quarter-billion dollars, lays down a marker for online service providers everywhere,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley for the Eastern District of North Carolina. “The unauthorized collection of personal information from children online violates the law. The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have a strong partnership and are committed to deterring violations.”
In a proposed stipulated order filed today, Epic Games has agreed to pay $275 million in civil penalties, the largest civil penalty ever imposed for a COPPA violation. If approved by the court, the order will prohibit Epic Games from collecting personal information from children in a manner that violates the COPPA Rule. It will also prohibit Epic Games from using children’s personal information that was previously collected unless it obtains verifiable parental consent, and imposes compliance reporting obligations upon Epic Games. Further, the agreement requires Epic Games to maintain default privacy settings that protect children’s and teens’ privacy, to delete certain personal information of children that it previously collected, and to maintain a comprehensive privacy program that protects certain personal information.
This matter was handled by Trial Attorneys Michael Wadden and Josh Fowkes and Assistant Director Lisa Hsiao of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch. Andrew Hasty, James Trilling, and Amanda Koulousias represented the FTC.
For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the FTC, visit its website at https://www.FTC.gov.
El Departamento de Justicia anuncia una nueva iniciativa del orden público para el acceso lingüísticoRead the Press Release
El Departamento de Justicia anunció el lanzamiento de la “Iniciativa del orden público para el acceso lingüístico”, una labor a nivel nacional que busca ayudar a los organismos del orden público a cumplir con sus obligaciones relativas a la provisión de asistencia lingüística importante a las personas cuyo dominio del inglés es limitado (LEP, por sus siglas en inglés). La iniciativa ha de fundamentarse en el trabajo de larga data del Departamento con el objeto de garantizar que los organismos del orden público cumplan con sus obligaciones relativas al acceso lingüístico.
“Brindar a los organismos del orden público las herramientas que necesitan para garantizar el acceso lingüístico eficaz e importante fomenta y potencia una mayor seguridad para las personas cuyo dominio del inglés es limitado”, dijo la fiscal general auxiliar Kristen Clarke de la División de Derechos Civiles del Departamento de Justicia. “Por medio de esta iniciativa, podremos compartir estas mejores prácticas de acceso lingüístico y recursos similares con los organismos del orden público en todo el país”.
La Sección Federal de Coordinación y Cumplimiento de la División de Derechos Civiles dirigirá la iniciativa en colaboración con las fiscalías federales. En concreto, la iniciativa:
- establecerá recursos y herramientas de asistencia técnica que puedan ayudar a los organismos locales y estatales del orden público a brindar acceso lingüístico importante a personas y poblaciones en su jurisdicción cuyo dominio del inglés es limitado;
- implicará de una manera positiva a los organismos del orden público que desean revisar, actualizar o fortalecer sus políticas, planes y capacitación en materia de acceso lingüístico;
- potenciará la colaboración con las fiscalías federales para llevar a cabo sesiones de capacitación en comunidades de todo el país para mejorar la percatación en cuanto a las obligaciones referentes al acceso lingüístico y para urgir la adopción generalizada de las mejores prácticas por parte de los organismos del orden público; y
- fortalecerá los vínculos y el compromiso del Departamento con las partes interesadas de la comunidad de personas y poblaciones cuyo dominio del inglés es limitado.
Además del anuncio de la iniciativa que se efectúa hoy, el Departamento de Justicia y la Fiscalía Federal del Distrito de Colorado anunciaron un acuerdo para resolver una investigación acerca de una denuncia contra el Departamento de Policía de Denver (DPD, por sus siglas en inglés) en la que se argumentó discriminación por parte de ese cuerpo policial y con base en el origen nacional de personas cuyo dominio del inglés es limitado, infringiéndose el título VI de la Ley de Derechos Civiles de 1964. Ese título prohíbe que los beneficiarios de ayuda financiera federal discrimen contra alguien debido a su raza, el color de su piel o su origen nacional.
“Este acuerdo con el Departamento de Policía de Denver ayudará a los agentes de policía a hacer su trabajo”, indicó Matthew Kirsch, fiscal federal del Distrito de Colorado conforme a las facultades que le confiere el artículo 515 del título 28 del Código de los EE. UU. “Ya sea que se trate de realizar actividades de alcance comunitario o de arrestar a individuos acusados de quebrantar la ley, garantizar el acceso fácil a servicios lingüísticos fiables permite a los agentes servir y proteger a todos los miembros de la comunidad, independientemente de su dominio del inglés”.
La investigación del Departamento de Justicia contra el Departamento de Policía de Denver comenzó después de que unos miembros de la comunidad expusieron sus inquietudes con respecto a unos incidentes que tuvieron que ver con unos residentes cuyo dominio del inglés es limitado, cuyos idiomas son el birmano y el rohinyá, y quienes viven en la zona de East Colfax de Denver. Por medio de la investigación se revelaron muchísimos casos en los que agentes del Departamento de Policía de Denver no prestaron ayuda lingüística a personas cuyo dominio del inglés es limitado, o prestaron ayuda lingüística que fue ineficaz o poco apropiada. Por ejemplo, por medio de la investigación se descubrieron situaciones en las que se confió en niños, miembros de la familia y transeúntes para que ayudaran con el idioma, incluso en circunstancias en las que se debería haber prestado ayuda lingüística más fiable y objetiva.
Como parte de este acuerdo de resolución, el Departamento de Policía de Denver ha acordado poner en ejecución una serie de cambios en sus políticas, procedimientos y capacitación relativos al acceso lingüístico como, entre otros:
- actualizar su política y plan de acceso lingüístico con el fin de establecer procedimientos para comunicarse con las personas cuyo dominio del inglés es limitado, incluidos los testigos y los sospechosos, y con el fin de prohibir valerse de niños, familiares o transeúntes para comunicarse con las personas cuyo dominio del inglés es limitado, excepto en último extremo;
- nombrar a su primer coordinador de asuntos relativos a personas y poblaciones cuyo dominio del inglés es limitado y establecer puntos de contacto de acceso lingüístico (LAPC, por sus siglas en inglés) en cada distrito que cubre el Departamento de Policía de Denver;
- capacitar a todos los empleados de este departamento policial y a los empleados recién contratados para que puedan identificar las interacciones con personas cuyo dominio del inglés es limitado, comunicarse con estas y documentar las interacciones; y
- crear un comité de acceso lingüístico que incluya a las partes interesadas que representan los intereses de la comunidad cuyo dominio del inglés es limitado.
Hay más información disponible sobre la División de Derechos Civiles en el sitio web https://www.justice.gov/crt-espanol. También hay información disponible en el sitio web https://www.lep.gov/SPA sobre el dominio limitado del inglés y el título VI. El público puede denunciar las posibles infracciones de derechos civiles en el sitio web https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/.
English
Amharic: አማርኛ
Arabic: العربية
Burmese: မြန်မာဘာသာ
Chinese, Simplified: 简体字
Chinese, Traditional: 簡體字
arsi: فارسی
French: Français
Karen: ကညီ
Nepali: नेपाली
Rohingya: Ruáingga
Russian: Pусский
Somali: Soomaaliga
Spanish: Español
Vietnamese: Tiếng Việt
District Court Orders Oklahoma Drug Compounder to Comply with Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic ActRead the Press Release
A federal court today issued an order prohibiting Qualgen LLC, an Oklahoma company, Shaun P. Riney, Qualgen’s Chief Executive Officer, and Jasen Lavoie, Qualgen’s Director of Quality, from manufacturing and distributing drugs that are not in compliance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).
In a civil complaint filed on Dec. 6, the United States alleged that Qualgen, Riney, and Lavoie violated the FDCA at the company’s facilities in Edmond, Oklahoma, by manufacturing and distributing adulterated drugs. As an outsourcing facility registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Qualgen makes and distributes sterile drug products, including Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy pellets (testosterone, estradiol, and testosterone/anastrozole). The United States alleged that the defendants violated the FDCA by, among other things, failing to follow written procedures applicable to the quality control unit, failing to reject drug products that did not meet specifications, and failing to follow appropriate procedures in handling complaints about its drug products. The complaint also alleged that the FDA inspected the company’s facilities five times, in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2021, and 2022, and that many of the violations were repeat violations the FDA had identified in earlier inspections.
The FDCA’s current good manufacturing practice regulations mandate that manufacturers control the processes and procedures by which their drugs are manufactured, processed, packed, and held, to ensure that the drugs have the identity, strength, quality, purity, and other attributes necessary for their safe and effective use. Drugs not made in conformance with current good manufacturing practice regulations are deemed adulterated under the FDCA. According to the United States’ complaint, the FDA issued Qualgen several warnings, including during meetings with the FDA and in a warning letter to the company in 2016, regarding alleged deficiencies at its facilities.
“Drugs compounded in outsourcing facilities must be manufactured in conformance with applicable regulations,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to work closely with the FDA and take action against compounding drug manufacturers who fail to abide by laws designed to protect public health.”
“Failure to manufacture drugs in strict compliance with FDA requirements endangers the very people who need and rely on the quality of those medications,” said U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester for the Western District of Oklahoma. “We gladly partner with the FDA to enforce their regulations in order to ensure public safety is maintained in the pharmaceutical manufacturing and compounding process.”
“While drugs compounded by outsourcing facilities are not subject to pre-market review and approval by the FDA for safety and effectiveness, they must comply with rigorous manufacturing quality assurance requirements,” said Acting Director Jill P. Furman, J.D. of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Office of Compliance. “The FDA’s commitment to ensuring compliance with current good manufacturing practice requirements is a critical protection for patients. We will remain vigilant and hold all manufacturers accountable to best protect the public health.”
Without admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint, the defendants agreed to settle the suit and be bound by a consent decree of permanent injunction. The negotiated consent decree entered by the court permanently enjoins the defendants from violating the FDCA, and prohibits, among other things, the defendants from manufacturing, compounding, processing, labeling, holding, or distributing adulterated drugs.
Senior Trial Attorney Natalie N. Sanders of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald R. Gallegos for the Western District of Oklahoma handled this matter, with the assistance of Senior Counsel Paige H. Taylor of the FDA’s Office of the Chief Counsel.
Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts may be found at http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.
The claims resolved by the resolution announced today are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.
Bộ Tư Pháp Công Bố Chính Sách Mới Về Việc Cơ Quan Thực Thi Pháp Luật Chủ Động Trong Việc Tiếp Cận Ngôn NgữRead the Press Release
Bộ Tư Pháp công bố việc ban hành chính sách về việc Cơ Quan Thực Thi Pháp Luật Chủ Động Trong Việc Tiếp Cận Ngôn Ngữ, một nỗ lực trên toàn quốc nhằm hỗ trợ các cơ quan thực thi pháp luật hoàn thành nghĩa vụ của mình trong việc cung cấp sự hỗ trợ có ý nghĩa về ngôn ngữ cho những người có trình độ Anh ngữ hạn chế (Limited English Proficient, LEP). Chính sách này dựa trên những nỗ lực từ bấy lâu nay của bộ nhằm đảm bảo rằng các cơ quan thực thi pháp luật đều tuân thủ theo những nghĩa vụ về tiếp cận ngôn ngữ của mình.
“Việc cung cấp cho các cơ quan thực thi pháp luật những công cụ cần thiết để đảm bảo sự tiếp cận ngôn ngữ hữu hiệu và có ý nghĩa đẩy mạnh và nâng cao sự an toàn cho những người có trình độ Anh ngữ hạn chế,” Trợ Lý Tổng Chưởng Lý phụ trách Ban Dân Quyền của Bộ Tư Pháp, Bà Kristen Clarke đã nói. “Thông qua Chính Sách này, chúng ta có thể chia sẻ với các cơ quan thực thi pháp luật trên cả nước những phương pháp hay nhất trong vấn đề tiếp cận ngôn ngữ và những thông tin tương tự.”
Chính Sách này sẽ do Bộ Phận Tuân Thủ và Phối Hợp Liên Bang (Federal Coordination and Compliance Section) của Ban Dân Quyền hợp tác với các Văn Phòng Chưởng Lý Hoa Kỳ cùng hướng dẫn thực hiện. Nói một cách cụ thể, Chính Sách này sẽ:
- Phát triển những nguồn tài nguyên và các công cụ hỗ trợ kỹ thuật có thể trợ giúp những cơ quan thực thi pháp luật địa phương và tiểu bang trong việc nỗ lực cung cấp sự tiếp cận ngôn ngữ có ý nghĩa cho LEP và những cộng đồng thuộc phạm vi thẩm quyền của mỗi cơ quan.
- Ủng hộ những cơ quan thực thi pháp luật muốn xem lại, cập nhật, và/hoặc củng cố các chính sách, kế hoạch, và chương trình huấn luyện về vấn đề tiếp cận ngôn ngữ của mình.
- Thúc đẩy sự hợp tác với các Văn Phòng Chưởng Lý Hoa Kỳ để các cơ quan thực thi pháp luật thực hiện những chương trình huấn luyện trong các cộng đồng trên cả nước nhằm nâng cao nhận thức về nghĩa vụ trong việc tiếp cận ngôn ngữ và khuyến khích việc áp dụng rộng rãi những phương pháp hay nhất.
- Thắt chặt quan hệ và sự tương tác giữa bộ với các cơ quan hữu quan và cộng đồng LEP.
Ngoài việc công bố Chính Sách của ngày hôm nay, Bộ Tư Pháp và Văn Phòng Chưởng Lý Hoa Kỳ Quận Colorado còn công bố thỏa thuận giải quyết cuộc điều tra về những cáo buộc nói rằng Sở Cảnh Sát Denver (Denver Police Department, DPD) có hành vi phân biệt đối xử với những người LEP dựa trên nguồn gốc quốc gia, vi phạm Tiêu Đề VI của Đạo Luật Dân Quyền năm 1964. Tiêu Đề VI nghiêm cấm sự phân biệt đối xử về chủng tộc, màu da, và nguồn gốc quốc gia của những người nhận hỗ trợ tài chính của liên bang.
“Thỏa thuận này với Sở Cảnh Sát Denver sẽ giúp các nhân viên cảnh sát thi hành nhiệm vụ của mình,” Ông Matthew Kirsch, Chưởng Lý Hoa Kỳ tại Quận Colorado, thực thi thẩm quyền được trao chiếu theo mục 515 Bộ Luật Hoa Kỳ 28 (28 U.S.C. §515), đã nói. “Dù là trong quá trình tiếp cận cộng đồng hay bắt giữ những kẻ bị buộc tội vi phạm pháp luật, sự tiếp cận các dịch vụ ngôn ngữ chuẩn xác luôn sẵn có sẽ giúp các viên chức phục vụ và bảo vệ tất cả các thành viên trong cộng đồng, bất kể trình độ ngôn ngữ của họ.”
Cuộc điều tra DPD của Bộ Tư Pháp khởi đầu sau khi các thành viên trong cộng đồng bày tỏ quan ngại về các biến cố liên quan đến những cư dân LEP nói tiếng Miến Điện và Rohingya sống tại vùng East Colfax thuộc Denver. Cuộc điều tra cho thấy nhiều trường hợp các viên chức của DPD đã không cung cấp sự hỗ trợ ngôn ngữ cho những cá nhân LEP hoặc cung cấp sự hỗ trợ ngôn ngữ không có hiệu quả hay không phù hợp. Ví dụ, cuộc điều tra phát hiện ra những trường hợp phải trông cậy vào con cái, người trong gia đình và người ngoài để được sự hỗ trợ ngôn ngữ, bao gồm những tình huống mà lẽ ra phải được sự hỗ trợ ngôn ngữ đáng tin cậy và khách quan hơn.
Theo thỏa thuận dàn xếp này, DPD đồng ý thực hiện một loạt các thay đổi trong chính sách, thủ tục và huấn luyện về tiếp cận ngôn ngữ, bao gồm:
- Cập nhật Chính Sách và Kế Hoạch Tiếp Cận Ngôn Ngữ nhằm thiết lập các thủ tục giao tiếp với những người LEP, bao gồm các nhân chứng và nghi can, và nghiêm cấm việc sử dụng con cái, người trong gia đình, hoặc người ngoài để giao tiếp với những người LEP, trừ trường hợp khẩn cấp;
- Bổ nhiệm Nhân Viên Điều Phối LEP đầu tiên và thiết lập các Điểm Liên Lạc về Tiếp Cận Ngôn Ngữ (Language Access Points of Contact, LAPCs) tại mỗi quận của DPD;
- Huấn luyện tất cả các nhân viên của DPD và những người vừa được tuyển mộ cách nhận biết, giao tiếp với, và ghi chép lại các cuộc trao đổi với những người LEP; và
- Lập nên một Ủy Ban Tiếp Cận Ngôn Ngữ bao gồm các đối tượng hữu quan đại diện cho lợi ích của cộng đồng LEP.
Những thông tin khác về Ban Dân Quyền được đăng tại trang mạng www.justice.gov/crt và thông tin về trình độ Anh ngữ hạn chế và Tiêu Đề VI được đăng tại www.lep.gov. Công chúng có thể trình báo những vụ việc có khả năng là hành vi vi phạm dân quyền tại https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/.
English
Amharic: አማርኛ
Arabic: العربية
Burmese: မြန်မာဘာသာ
Chinese, Simplified: 简体字
Chinese, Traditional: 簡體字
Farsi: فارسی
French: Français
Karen: ကညီ
Nepali: नेपाली
Rohingya: Ruáingga
Russian: Pусский
Somali: Soomaaliga
Spanish: Español
Vietnamese: Tiếng Việt
Bisaror Difármén e Kanun Soñloíyallá Nuwa Zuban Lootfaíbar Monsubar Élan GoíjjeRead the Press Release
Audio fileBisaror Difármén e kanun soñloíyallá nuwa zuban lootfaíbar monsuba salúgorar élan goíjje, zíyan oílde furá decollá kanun soñloíya éjensi ókkolore iítarar zimmadari adaí goítto hom Ingilíc zanoya (LEP) maincore hamdefan zubani modot díbar kucíc. É monsuba gan difárménor daíman hamot taíbo zéne kanun soñloíya éjensi ókkole iítarar zuban lootfaídíbar zimmadari adaí gorágan tagit gorazá.
Bisaror Difárménor Jomhuri Hokukor Divícon ór Nayeb Ethorni General Kristen Clarke hoíyede, “Kanun soñloíya éjensi ókkolore munasef ar hamdefan zuban lootfa tagit goítto iítarar zorurot oóde thúl (saman) díle hom Ingilíc zanoya maincollá becí hefazoti báríbo”. “É monsubar zoríya, añára e zuban loótfaíbar béhtor toriká ar endhillá sáman ókkol kanun soñloíya éjensi ókkolor hase cíiar gorí faíjjum.”
E monsuba gan Amerikar Ethorni ókkolor Ofís ókkolor Jomhuri Hokukor Divícon ór Fedherél Koórdhinécon ar Komplaíns Sekcon or matahte solíbo. Khásgori, monsuba yían zin goríbo:
- Teknikél modot or saman ar thúl ókkol toíyar goribó zin elakaíyi ar estheíth ór kanun soñloíya éjensi ókkolore kucícot modot gore zéne tara nizor matahátor (hom Ingilíc zanoya mainuíc) LEP illá hamdefan zuban loótfaíbar entezam gorífare.
- Kanun soñloíya éjensi ókkolore sóiyi báfe córik gore zara hítarar zuban loótfaíbar polísi, plan, arde thénning foríkka, apdheith, ar/yá mozbut goítto saá.
- Amerikar Ethorni ókkolor Ofís ór fúañti ham gorar moukare estemal gori zuban loótfaíbar zimmar baabote hucíari baraíbollá furá decot comaj ókkolor maze thénning do ar kanun soñloíya éjensi ókkolor torfottú aambafe béhtor toríka ektíarir rokbot doo.
- LEP comajor hossádoya arde LEP maincolloi difárménor rabeta ar cirkotore mozbut goró.
Aíjjar monsuba yíanor élanor baadeyó, Bisaror Difármén arde Colorado District ór Amerikar Ethorni ókkolor Ofís e ekkan razinama élan goíjje zeçe en cekáyotor tahákik goítto faísela loíbo zeçe Denver Police Department (DPD) e 1964 cónor Jomhuri Hokukor Kanun or Title VI (Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) tajawuz goríyore zaator asól saíyore LEP maincore forók goijje. Title VI ye zaat, rong, ar zaator asól loí fedheralor mali modot foyare forók gorá maná gore.
“Denver Police Department loí e razinama gan fulic ofísar ókkolore hítarar zimmadari adaí goítto modot goríbo,” hoíyede Matthew Kirsch ye, zíba Colorado District ólla 28 U.S.C. §515 mozin kémota faíya Amerikar Ethorni, Toítta. “Comajor hase fóilon oók yá kanun amol nogórar cekáyot loí oók, sohí zubani hédmot loótfa tagit goílle ofísar ókkole Ingilíc ór mehéri sinta no gorí comajor har membórore hédmot di ar hefazot gorifaríbo.”
Bisaror Difármén ór torfottú DPD re tahákik gorá cúru oíye zehon comajor maince gothónar baabote mockil tulí doijje zeçe Denver ór East Colfax ót takoíya Bormar arde Ruhaínggya-zubanwala LEP bacinda camel ase. Tahákik ót beci háalot ókkol zana gíye zeçe DPD ofísar ókkol LEP maincor hase zubani modot dí nófare yáto bémunsef yá nakam zubani modot díye. Mesál hísafe, tahákík ót en háalot zana gíye zeçe baícca, fémli membór, ar gobá ókkolor oure zubani modot ólla bórusa gorágil, zeçe en háalot ókkol camel ase zeçe aró bórusa gorífarede arde zaheri zubani modot díya foítto.
E sulánamar hissá hísafe, DPD ye hítarar zuban loótfaíbar polisí, toríka, arde thenning ót kessú tobdil aníto razi oíye, zeçe ase:
- Zuban loótfaíbar Polisí arde Plan apdheith gorá zéne LEP maincolloí rabeta goríbar toríka kayem goráza, zeçe gobá arde cóndogoíjja manuíc camel taíbo, ar baícca, fémli membór yá gobá ókkolore LEP manuíc loi rabetagorá maná goríbo, emarjensi háalot sára.
- Foítto DPD district ót foílabar hísafe LEP Kóordhinéthar mutaíyen gorá ar Rabetagoríbar Zuban Loótfaíbar Hédmotor Zaga (LAPCs) kayem gorá;
- Har DPD hamgoroya arde noya aiccede hamgoroyare LEP manuícor forísoi gorar, rabeta gorar, ar hótabattra dokúmen goríbar baabote thenning díya;
- Uggwá Zuban Loótfaíbar Komithí banon zeçe LEP comajor fáaída tulídoroya hossádoya ókkol camel ase.
Jomhuri Hokukor Divícon ór baabote aró maalumat websaíth ót fazaíbo eçe www.justice.gov/crt ar hom Ingilic ór máheri arde Title VI baabote maalumat fazaíbo eçe www.lep.gov. Aam membór ókkole mumken jomhuri hokukor tajawuzi repouth gorí faríbo eçe https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/.
English
Amharic: አማርኛ
Arabic: العربية
Burmese: မြန်မာဘာသာ
Chinese, Simplified: 简体字
Chinese, Traditional: 簡體字
Farsi: فارسی
French: Français
Karen: ကညီ
Nepali: नेपाली
Rohingya: Ruáingga
Russian: Pусский
Somali: Soomaaliga
Spanish: Español
Vietnamese: Tiếng Việt
United States Sues Michigan-Based NH Learning Solutions Corporation for Submitting False Claims for Inflated Post 9/11 GI-Bill Tuition BenefitsRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today that the United States has filed a complaint under the False Claims Act (FCA) against NH Learning Solutions Corp (NHLS). The complaint, filed in the Eastern District of Michigan, alleges that NHLS violated the FCA by knowingly submitting false claims to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for inflated tuition benefits under the Post-9/11 GI-Bill. Michigan-based NHLS provides technology education courses at approximately 15 locations in the Midwest and Northeast.
“The Post-9/11 GI Bill is an important part of our promise to support our nation’s veterans,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Today’s complaint demonstrates our commitment to hold accountable companies that improperly seek to profit from this promise and the women and men who have served our country.”
“The U.S. government provides veterans with access to programs for higher education through the Post-9/11 GI Bill,” said U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison for the Eastern District of Michigan. “Our office is prepared to pursue those who flout the rules that safeguard the integrity of important veterans’ programs.”
Under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the VA pays tuition and fees directly to qualifying schools on behalf of enrolled students. The VA pays the actual net cost for tuition and fees charged by the school after it has applied any scholarships, waivers, grants or other assistance designed to defray the cost of tuition and fees. This requirement is commonly referred to as the “Last Payer Rule,” and ensures that the VA is the payer of last resort and receives the benefit of any tuition-based, financial support available to a student.
The government’s complaint alleges that NHLS knowingly submitted false claims for inflated tuition and fees in violation of the Last Payer Rule at five of its school locations in Illinois, Ohio and Michigan. More specifically, the complaint alleges that NHLS repeatedly reported tuition and fees to the VA on student invoices where it failed to deduct the tuition scholarships, grants or waivers it provided to certain veterans, thereby causing the VA to overpay NHLS for educational assistance benefits under the Post-9/11 GI-Bill for these veterans.
“Safeguarding Post-9/11 GI Bill education benefit funds is a top priority,” said Special Agent in Charge Gregory Billingsley of Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG)’s Central Field Office. “The VA-OIG is committed to investigating allegations of fraud that would impact VA’s programs and services.”
The lawsuit is captioned United States v. NH Learning Solutions Corp., No. 22-cv-13045 (E.D. Mich.), and is being handled by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch (Fraud Section) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan. The Department of VA-OIG provided substantial assistance in the investigation.
The United States is represented in this matter by Senior Trial Counsel Christopher Wilson of the Civil Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney John Spaccarotella for the Eastern District of Michigan.
The claims asserted against defendants are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.
Parties Agree to Pay $150 Million Toward Clean up of the Lower Passaic River in New JerseyRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today a proposed consent decree with 85 potentially responsible parties, requiring them to pay a total of $150 million to support the cleanup work and resolve their liability for discharging hazardous substances into the Lower Passaic River, which is part of the Diamond Alkali Superfund Site in Newark, New Jersey.
The Justice Department and EPA alleged that these 85 parties are responsible for releases of hazardous substances into the Lower Passaic River, contaminating the 17-mile tidal stretch, including the lower 8.3 miles. The proposed consent decree seeks to hold the parties accountable for their share of the total cost of cleaning up this stretch of the river.
“This agreement holds responsible parties financially accountable for the legacy of pollution in the Lower Passaic River,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The settlement will advance the cleanup of the river for the benefit of those communities living alongside it who have been historically overburdened by pollution.”
“Newark, Harrison, and many other vibrant communities have borne the brunt of pollution along the Lower Passaic River for too long,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna for the District of New Jersey. “This agreement is an important step forward. It will support significant cleanup efforts that restore this historic waterway, advance a new chapter of responsible land use, and return the river to the people of New Jersey.
“This agreement continues our work of ensuring responsible parties pay for or conduct the cleanup of the Passaic River,” said Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia for the EPA Region 2. “Today's agreement requires those responsible for the contamination to pay their fair share for releasing hazardous substances into the Lower Passaic. This work brings us closer to a cleaner healthier river that can be enjoyed by those who live near its banks.”
On behalf of EPA, the Justice Department lodged the consent decree with the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. If and when the settlement becomes final, EPA expects to use the settlement funds to support ongoing efforts to clean up the site, specifically the lower 8.3 miles and the upper 9 miles which make up the entire 17-mile Lower Passaic River Study Area. In addition to the proposed consent decree, EPA has reached several related agreements, including one whereby many parties investigated the 17-mile Lower Passaic River, another whereby Occidental Chemical Corporation, a potentially responsible party, is designing the cleanup chosen for the lower 8.3 miles, and several cost recovery agreements that resulted in payments to EPA of millions of dollars.
This consent decree is subject to a 45-day public comment period and is available for public review on the Justice Department website here.
After the close of the comment period, Justice Department and EPA will evaluate any comments received and prepare a response to the comments. If the government still considers the settlement appropriate, it will seek approval of the consent decree by the court.
For additional information and site background, visit Diamond Alkali Superfund Profile Page.
Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter and Facebook page. For more information about EPA Region 2, visit their website.
Partes concordam em pagar US$ 150 milhões para limpar o rio Lower Passaic em Nova JerseyRead the Press Release
A Agência de Proteção Ambiental dos EUA (EPA) e o Departamento de Justiça dos EUA (DOJ) anunciaram hoje uma proposta de decreto de consentimento com 85 partes potencialmente responsáveis, exigindo que paguem um total de US$ 150 milhões para apoiar o trabalho de limpeza e resolver sua responsabilidade por descarregar resíduos perigosos substâncias no Lower Passaic River, que faz parte do Diamond Alkali Superfund Site em Newark, Nova Jersey.
A EPA e o DOJ alegaram que essas 85 partes são responsáveis por lançamentos de substâncias perigosas no rio Lower Passaic, contaminando o trecho de maré de cerca de 27 KM, incluindo as 13.35 KM inferiores. O decreto de consentimento proposto visa responsabilizar as partes por sua parcela no custo total da limpeza desse trecho do rio.
“Este acordo responsabiliza financeiramente as partes responsáveis pelo legado de poluição no rio Lower Passaic”, disse o procurador-geral adjunto Todd Kim, da Divisão de Meio Ambiente e Recursos Naturais do Departamento de Justiça. “O assentamento promoverá a limpeza do rio em benefício das comunidades que vivem ao longo dele e que foram historicamente sobrecarregadas pela poluição.”
“Este acordo continua nosso trabalho de assegurar que as partes responsáveis paguem ou conduzam a limpeza do rio Passaic. O acordo de hoje exige que os responsáveis pela contaminação paguem sua parte justa pela liberação de substâncias perigosas no Lower Passaic", disse a Administradora Regional Lisa F. Garcia, “Este trabalho nos aproxima de um rio mais limpo e saudável que pode ser usufruído por quem mora perto de suas margens.”
“Newark, Harrison e muitas outras comunidades vibrantes suportaram o impacto da poluição ao longo do rio Lower Passaic por muito tempo”, disse o primeiro procurador-assistente dos Estados Unidos, Vikas Khanna, para o distrito de Nova Jersey. “Este acordo é um passo importante. Ele apoiará esforços significativos de limpeza que restauram esta hidrovia histórica, avançam em um novo capítulo de uso responsável da terra e devolvem o rio ao povo de Nova Jersey.
Em nome da EPA, o DOJ apresentou o decreto de consentimento ao Tribunal Distrital dos EUA para o Distrito de Nova Jersey. Se e quando o acordo se tornar definitivo, a EPA espera usar os fundos do acordo para apoiar os esforços contínuos para limpar o local, especificamente as 13.35 KM inferiores e as 14.48 KM superiores que compõem toda a Área de Estudo do Rio Passaic de cerca de 27 KM. Além do decreto de consentimento proposto, a EPA chegou a vários acordos relacionados, incluindo um em que muitas partes investigaram os cerca de 27 KM do Lower Passaic River, outro em que a Occidental Chemical Corporation, uma parte potencialmente responsável, está projetando a limpeza escolhida para os 813.35 KM mais baixos, e vários acordos de recuperação de custos que resultaram em pagamentos à EPA de milhões de dólares.
Este decreto de consentimento está sujeito a um período de comentários públicos de 45 dias e está disponível para revisão pública no site do Departamento de Justiça.
Após o encerramento do período de comentários, o DOJ e a EPA avaliarão quaisquer comentários recebidos e prepararão uma resposta aos comentários. Se o governo ainda considerar o acordo apropriado, ele buscará a aprovação do decreto de consentimento pelo tribunal.
Para saber informações adicionais e histórico do site, visite a página do Perfil do Diamond Alkali Superfund.
Siga a Região 2 da EPA no Twitter e a página do Facebook. Para saber mais informações da Região 2 da EPA, visite nosso site.
Las partes acuerdan pagar $150 millones para la limpieza de la cuenca inferior del río Passaic en Nueva JerseyRead the Press Release
La Agencia de Protección Ambiental (EPA) de Estados Unidos y el Departamento de Justicia (DOJ) de Estados Unidos han anunciado hoy una propuesta de decreto de consentimiento con 85 partes potencialmente responsables, exigiéndoles el pago de un total de $150 millones para apoyar los trabajos de limpieza y resolver su responsabilidad por el vertido de sustancias peligrosas en la cuenca inferior del río Passaic, que forma parte del sitio Superfund Diamond Alkali en Newark, Nueva Jersey.
La EPA y el DOJ alegaron que estas 85 partes son responsables del vertido de sustancias peligrosas en la cuenca inferior del río Passaic, que ha contaminado un tramo de marea de 17 millas, incluyendo las 8,3 millas inferiores. El decreto de consentimiento propuesto pretende hacer responsables a las partes de su participación en el costo total de la limpieza de este tramo del río.
"Este acuerdo hace que las partes responsables respondan financieramente por el legado de contaminación en la cuenca inferior del río Passaic," dijo el fiscal general adjunto Todd Kim de la División de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales del Departamento de Justicia. "El acuerdo hará avanzar la limpieza del río en beneficio de las comunidades que viven junto a él y que históricamente se han visto perjudicadas por la contaminación."
"Este acuerdo continúa nuestra labor de asegurar que las partes responsables paguen o lleven a cabo la limpieza del río Passaic. El acuerdo de hoy exige a los responsables de la contaminación que paguen la parte que les corresponde por el vertido de sustancias peligrosas en la cuenca inferior del río Passaic," declaró la administradora regional Lisa F. García. "Este trabajo nos acerca a un río más limpio y sano que puedan disfrutar quienes viven cerca de sus orillas."
"Newark, Harrison y muchas otras pujantes comunidades han soportado durante demasiado tiempo el peso de la contaminación a lo largo de la cuenca inferior del río Passaic," declaró el primer fiscal federal adjunto del distrito de Nueva Jersey, Vikas Khanna. "Este acuerdo es un importante paso adelante. Apoyará los esfuerzos de limpieza necesarios para recuperar este cauce histórico, impulsará un nuevo capítulo de uso responsable del suelo y devolverá el río a la población de Nueva Jersey."
En nombre de la EPA, el DOJ presentó el decreto de consentimiento ante el Tribunal de Distrito de Estados Unidos para el Distrito de Nueva Jersey. En caso de que el acuerdo sea definitivo, la EPA espera utilizar los fondos del acuerdo para apoyar los esfuerzos en curso para limpiar el sitio, concretamente las 8,3 millas inferiores y las 9 millas superiores que conforman el área de estudio de 17 millas de la cuenca inferior del río Passaic. Además del decreto de consentimiento propuesto, la EPA ha celebrado varios acuerdos relacionados, incluido uno por el que muchas partes investigaron las 17 millas de la cuenca inferior del río Passaic, otro por el que Occidental Chemical Corporation, una parte potencialmente responsable, está diseñando la limpieza elegida para las 8,3 millas inferiores, y varios acuerdos de recuperación de costos que resultaron en pagos de millones de dólares a la EPA.
Este decreto de consentimiento está sujeto a un periodo de comentarios del público de 45 días y se encuentra a disposición para revisión pública en el sitio web del Departamento de Justicia.
Una vez finalizado el periodo de comentarios, el DOJ y la EPA evaluarán los comentarios recibidos y elaborarán una respuesta. Si el gobierno sigue considerando adecuado el acuerdo, solicitará la aprobación del decreto de consentimiento por parte del tribunal.
Para más información y antecedentes del sitio, visite la página de perfil del Superfund Diamond Alkali.
Siga a la Región 2 de la EPA en Twitter y en Facebook. Para obtener más información sobre la Región 2 de la EPA, visite nuestro sitio web.
Justice Department Secures Settlement with San Bernardino City School District to Protect the Rights of English Learner StudentsRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today it has secured a settlement agreement with the San Bernardino City Unified School District to resolve the department’s investigation into the district’s educational program for English learners. The department investigation, conducted jointly by the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, concluded that the district was not providing English learners with the necessary services and supports to become fluent in English, or to meaningfully participate in core content classes like math, science or social studies. The district has agreed to improve its services so that English learners have access to the same crucial educational opportunities as their peers.
“Education is a fundamental part of achieving the American dream, but for many students learning English across the country, their school districts do not provide the services and support they need,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Division will fight to hold districts to their obligations under federal law to provide all their students, regardless of language ability, with a full and meaningful education.”
“Federal laws protect the rights of English learners to fully participate in the classroom,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California. “Today’s agreement is an important step in ensuring that students learning English receive the programming they need to progress towards fluency and to participate in school on an equal basis with their peers. This agreement will improve the services and support offered to English learners.”
The department’s investigation identified failures to ensure that all teachers providing English language instruction were qualified. In addition, teachers of core subjects like math, science and social studies were often not trained and qualified to provide the supports that English learner students need to learn grade-level material, among other concerns.
Under the settlement, the district will provide language instruction to English learners to help them develop fluency in English, and will ensure that its teachers are trained and certified to provide that instruction. The district will also provide training to teachers of core classes, such as math, science and social studies, on the use of tools that help English learners understand the content of those courses. And The district will also effectively monitor student progress and identify whether students need additional services or supports to guarantee that English learners have access to gifted and talented programs and advanced courses, including Advanced Placement classes. The department will monitor the district’s compliance with the settlement for three years.
The Spanish version of the press release is available here. The enforcement of the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 is a top priority of the Civil Rights Division. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt, and additional information about the work of the Educational Opportunities Section is available at https://www.justice.gov/crt/educational-opportunities-section. Members of the public may report possible civil rights violations at https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/.
El Departamento de Justicia llega a un acuerdo con un distrito escolar de la Ciudad de San Bernardino para proteger los derechos civiles de estudiantes que están aprendiendo inglésRead the Press Release
El Departamento de Justicia anunció hoy que ha llegado a un acuerdo conciliatorio con el Distrito Escolar Unificado de la Ciudad de San Bernardino, el cual resuelve la investigación del Departamento del programa del distrito escolar para sus estudiantes que están aprendiendo inglés. La investigación del Departamento, que se llevó a cabo entre la División de Derechos Civiles y la Fiscalía Federal para el Distrito Centro de California, concluyó que el distrito no estaba proveyendo a estudiantes que están aprendiendo inglés con los servicios y apoyos necesarios como para llegar a dominar el inglés, ni tampoco para poder participar, de manera significativa, en clases de contenido básico, como matemáticas, ciencias o estudios sociales. El distrito ha acordado mejorar sus servicios para que estudiantes que están aprendiendo inglés tengan acceso a las mismas oportunidades educativas esenciales que sus compañeros de clase.
«La educación es una parte fundamental del logro del sueño americano, pero para muchos estudiantes que están aprendiendo inglés por todo el país, sus distritos escolares no proporcionan los servicios y apoyo que necesitan», comentó Kristen Clarke, la Fiscal General Auxiliar de la División de Derechos Civiles del Departamento de Justicia. «La División de Derechos Civiles luchará por garantizar que los distritos cumplan con sus obligaciones en virtud de las leyes federales a brindar a todos sus estudiantes, independientemente de sus habilidades lingüísticas, una educación completa y significativa».
«Las leyes federales protegen los derechos de estudiantes que están aprendiendo inglés a participar plenamente en el aula», declaró Martin Estrada, el Fiscal Federal para el Distrito Centro de California. «El acuerdo de hoy representa un paso importante hacia garantizar que los estudiantes que están aprendiendo inglés reciban la enseñanza que necesitan para avanzar y dominar el inglés y para participar en la escuela de la misma forma que sus compañeros de clase. El acuerdo mejorará los servicios y el apoyo que se ofrecen a los estudiantes que están aprendiendo inglés».
La investigación del Departamento identificó que no se garantizó que todos los maestros que enseñan el idioma inglés estuvieran debidamente calificados. Además, en muchos casos, los maestros de asignaturas básicas como matemáticas, ciencias y estudios sociales no estaban capacitados o calificados como para proporcionar los apoyos que estudiantes que están aprendiendo inglés necesitan para aprender materias apropiadas para su grado, entre otras preocupaciones.
Conforme el acuerdo, el distrito ofrecerá enseñanza lingüística a estudiantes que están aprendiendo inglés para ayudarles a dominar el inglés y asegurará que sus maestros sean capacitados y certificados en la provisión de tal enseñanza. Por otra parte, el distrito ofrecerá capacitación a los maestros de asignaturas básicas, tales como matemáticas, ciencias y estudios sociales, en lo que se refiere al uso de herramientas que ayudan a estudiantes que están aprendiendo inglés a entender el contenido de tales asignaturas. Además, el distrito supervisará, de manera eficaz, el progreso de los estudiantes e identificará si los estudiantes necesitan servicios o apoyos adicionales para garantizar que los estudiantes que están aprendiendo inglés tengan acceso a programas de estudiantes dotados y cursos avanzados, incluyendo las asignaturas de Advanced Placement [clases avanzadas con crédito universitario]. El Departamento supervisará el cumplimiento del distrito con el acuerdo durante un período de tres años.
La versión en inglés del comunicado de prensa está disponible aquí: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-secures-settlement-san-bernardino-city-school-district-protect-rights La ejecución de la ley de Igualdad de Oportunidades Educativas de 1974 es una de las prioridades principales de la División de Derechos Civiles. Para más información sobre la División de Derechos Civiles, puede visitar su sitio web en www.justice.gov/crt. Para más información sobre la labor de la Sección de Oportunidades Educativas, vaya a https://www.justice.gov/crt/educational-opportunities-section. Miembros del público también pueden informar de posibles vulneraciones de derechos civiles en https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/.
Defendant Sentenced for Role in Sophisticated International Scheme to Steal Money from American Consumers’ Bank AccountsRead the Press Release
A U.S. citizen who previously resided in Ukraine was sentenced to 42 months in prison and five years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
According to court documents, Harold Sobel, 69, was a member of an international criminal enterprise that unlawfully debited money from the bank accounts of unknowing U.S. victims. Members of the criminal enterprise created shell companies for the purpose of receiving victim funds and created fake websites for the shell companies that claimed to offer products or services, such as cloud storage. Members then executed unauthorized debits against victims’ bank accounts, while falsely representing to banks that the debits were authorized by the victims.
“The department will vigorously pursue and prosecute individuals who steal from American consumers’ bank accounts and deceive U.S. banks to conceal and continue their schemes,” said Principal Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Today’s sentence demonstrates our commitment to bringing fraudsters to justice, even when they commit their crimes from foreign countries.”
“The Justice Department and our law enforcement partners will investigate and prosecute offenders who defraud Americans and U.S. financial institutions,” said U.S. Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada. “Our office will diligently work with the Department’s Consumer Protection Branch and law enforcement to use every tool at our disposal to hold fraudsters accountable regardless of where they reside and to bring justice for victims.”
“Global criminal enterprises that span multi-continent distances and operate from beyond our borders might feel they are safe from the reach of U.S. Postal Inspectors. But they are wrong,” said Postal Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of Criminal Investigations. “Scammers who defraud American citizens and banks are in our sights. Working with our partners in the Department of Justice, we will track them down and bring them to justice.”
Unauthorized debits against victim accounts, caused by the conspirators, resulted in returned transactions and high return rates that often generated scrutiny from the banks. To both conceal and continue making these unauthorized debits, members of the criminal enterprise made misrepresentations to the financial institutions about the transactions, claiming that they were authorized. In some cases, members of the criminal enterprise caused the accounts used by the criminal enterprise to also make “micro debits” against other bank accounts controlled and funded by or for the criminal enterprise. The “micro debits” were used to artificially lower the return rates to levels that conspirators believed would reduce bank scrutiny and thereby lessen the likelihood of closure of the accounts used by the criminal enterprise. The criminal enterprise also operated a call center that fielded complaints from victims of the unauthorized debits. The call center sought to dissuade victims from making reports to the victims’ banks and to government agencies.
As part of the enterprise, Sobel opened bank accounts in the United States at the direction of a co-conspirator who organized and conducted the affairs of the enterprise from outside the United States. For example, on or about Oct. 16, 2019, Sobel opened four business deposit accounts at a bank branch in Las Vegas, Nevada. Sobel opened the accounts for a shell company called “Silver Safe Box” and listed himself as the sole member and authorized signer in the account opening documentation. The criminal enterprise then funded “micro debits,” designed to lower return rates through the Silver Safe Box accounts. Between approximately December 2019 and January 2021, the Silver Safe Box accounts funded over 800,000 “micro debits” in amounts ranging from $0.99 to $1.85. Sobel also recruited at least two associates in the United States to help the foreign co-conspirator, among other things, open additional bank accounts and register shell companies.
Sobel’s participation also involved providing support for the activities of the criminal enterprise’s call center in Ukraine. Sobel devised a script to be used in response to complaints from victims by the call center’s personnel to retain as much of the criminal enterprise’s proceeds as possible and – only on those occasions where those efforts failed – to then issue full refunds, in order to dissuade victims from making reports to the victims’ banks and government agencies. Sobel also devised a metric by which he and the foreign co-conspirator could evaluate the effectiveness of the call center’s personnel. As part of his guilty plea, Sobel admitted that more than $1.5 million in victim debits were reasonably foreseeable to him.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case.
Trial Attorneys Meredith Healy and Wei Xiang of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mina Chang of the District of Nevada prosecuted the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas provided substantial assistance.
Readout of U.S.-EU Justice and Home Affairs MinisterialRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland today attended the U.S.-EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial co-hosted by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas at the Department of Homeland Security’s St. Elizabeths Campus. European Union participants included Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior of the Czech Republic Vit Rakusšan, and Minister of Justice of the Czech Republic Pavel Blažek.
The participants discussed Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine, commended the Ukrainian people’s determination to fight for their country, and underscored the horrifying human suffering and economic devastation caused by the invasion. They agreed to continue their close cooperation in response to Russia’s aggression.
The officials shared perspectives on current and emerging threats, including international and domestic terrorism, violent extremism, ransomware and other forms of cybercrime, organized crime, and the harm from illegal narcotics, including synthetic drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamine. To counter these threats, they affirmed their intent to share additional information and leverage their law enforcement authorities collectively and individually.
The Ministers issued a communiqué at the end of the Ministerial and plan to meet again in Stockholm in June.
Owner of Durable Medical Equipment Companies Arrested for $17 Million Kickback ConspiracyRead the Press Release
A New York woman was arrested today for allegedly offering and paying illegal health care kickbacks and money laundering.
According to court documents, Alexandra Stchastlivtseva, 52, of New York, owned several durable medical equipment companies. Stchastlivtseva allegedly offered and paid kickbacks and bribes to several purported telemedicine companies and marketing companies in exchange for completed doctors’ orders of medically unnecessary orthotic braces and continuous glucose monitors for Medicare beneficiaries. Stchastlivtseva and her co-conspirators allegedly concealed the fraud by entering into sham contracts and producing false invoices characterizing the kickbacks and bribes as payments for “marketing.” In total, Medicare paid more than $17.3 million based on false and fraudulent claims that Stchastlivtseva allegedly submitted and caused to be submitted to Medicare. Stchastlivtseva and others then laundered the proceeds of the kickback scheme.
Stchastlivtseva is charged in an indictment filed in the District of New Jersey with conspiracy to defraud the United States and to offer and pay health care kickbacks, five counts of offering and paying health care kickbacks, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. She is scheduled for her initial court appearance today. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and offer and pay health care kickbacks, ten years in prison on each count of offering and paying health care kickbacks, and ten years in prison on the count of money laundering conspiracy. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division, Assistant Director in Charge Michael J. Driscoll of the FBI New York Field Office, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Susan Frisco of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement.
The FBI and HHS-OIG are investigating the case.
Trial Attorney Darren C. Halverson of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is prosecuting the case.
The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, comprised of 15 strike forces operating in 24 federal districts, has charged more than 4,200 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $19 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Ocenture LLC and Carelumina LLC Settle Allegations of False Claims for Unnecessary Genetic TestingRead the Press Release
Ocenture LLC, a privately held company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and its subsidiary, Carelumina LLC (collectively, “Ocenture”), have agreed to pay $3 million to resolve allegations that they caused the submission of false claims to Medicare by paying and receiving kickbacks in connection with genetic testing samples.
The United States alleged that Ocenture participated in a genetic testing fraud scheme with other marketers and clinical laboratories. As part of the alleged scheme, Ocenture solicited genetic testing samples from Medicare beneficiaries directly and through other marketers. Ocenture then paid physicians to falsely attest that the genetic testing was medically necessary and arranged for the laboratories to process the tests and receive reimbursement from Medicare, with a portion of that reimbursement being paid to Ocenture.
“The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits paying or receiving remuneration for referring services paid for by federal health care programs,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The department will hold accountable those who undermine the integrity of these programs by knowingly engaging in illegal kickback schemes that distort physician decision-making and waste taxpayer dollars.”
“Kickback schemes corrupt the clinical judgments of providers and may lead to unnecessary medical services paid for by taxpayers,” said U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida Roger Handberg. “The resolution of this civil case confirms our district’s resolve in protecting our federal health programs from these fraudulent practices.”
“Entities involved in kickbacks that bilk Medicare funds threaten the program’s fiscal stability and abuse patients’ trust,” said Special Agent in Charge Omar Pérez-Aybar for the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “With our partners, HHS-OIG without relent investigates providers that allegedly distort the practice of genetic testing to defraud federal health care programs.”
The civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Christopher Improta and Peter Brandt, two marketers who were approached by Ocenture to participate in the alleged kickback scheme. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. The qui tam case is captioned U.S. ex rel. Improta, et al. v. Ocenture, et al., Civil Action No. 3:19-cv-358 (M.D. Fla.). As part of today’s resolution, Messrs. Improta and Brandt will receive approximately $570,000.
The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, with assistance from the HHS-OIG and the FBI.
The investigation and resolution of this matter illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).
The matter was handled by Senior Trial Counsel Laurie A. Oberembt and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronnie S. Carter.
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Justice Department Secures Settlement in Race Discrimination Lawsuit Against Public Housing Authority and Property Owners in AlabamaRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama has approved a consent decree resolving the department’s Fair Housing Act lawsuit alleging race discrimination by the Housing Authority of Ashland, Alabama. The consent decree also resolves the department’s claims against Southern Development Company of Ashland Ltd., Southern Development Company of Ashland #2 Ltd., and Southern Development Company LLC, the private owners and agent of two of the eight low-income housing communities managed by the Housing Authority.
“Racial steering is a patently unlawful practice that destabilizes communities, fuels racial tensions, and perpetuates modern day racial segregation in communities across the country,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Civil Rights Division. “Racial steering violates federal law, and runs contrary to the principles of equal housing opportunity that animated the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who fought to bring an end to practices that locked Black people out of certain communities. This resolution should send a strong message to housing providers — both public and private — that they will be held responsible when they engage in unlawful conduct that violates the Fair Housing Act.”
“The consent decree entered today ensures access to housing opportunities for individuals and families without fear of discrimination,” said U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona for the Northern District of Alabama. “My office will continue to devote resources to vigorously pursue housing providers who deny equal housing opportunities to applicants or separate tenants based on their race.”
The lawsuit, filed in December 2020, alleged that since at least 2012, the defendants maintained largely segregated housing and steered residents to different housing communities based on race. For example, the defendants steered Black applicants away from four overwhelmingly white communities (known as Ashland Heights I, Ashland Heights II, East Side, and Clay Circle) that are located in predominately white neighborhoods to two predominantly Black communities (known as West Side and Pine View) that are located in predominately Black neighborhoods.
In investigating and litigating this case, the department conducted over 100 interviews with former and current tenants and other longtime residents of the Ashland area. The tenants and residents repeatedly highlighted the deep psychological stigma and harm suffered by hundreds of Black families who have lived in segregated housing for generations.
Under the court-approved decree, the defendants are required to pay $275,000 in damages to 23 current or former tenants who were allegedly harmed by the defendants’ conduct and pay a civil penalty to the United States; implement policies and procedures to remedy the alleged segregation and to ensure nondiscrimination, transparency and consistency in processing applications and offering units to applicants; contact a group of approximately 145 individuals who are disproportionately Black who applied to Ashland Heights I or II but were not placed on the waiting list(s), and offer them spots on the waiting list based on their original dates of application if they still qualify; undergo fair-housing training; and submit periodic compliance reports to the Justice Department.
This case was jointly litigated by attorneys in the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, and disability. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the civil rights laws it enforces is available at www.justice.gov/crt. Individuals may report housing discrimination by calling the Justice Department at 1-833-591-0291, emailing [email protected], or submitting a report online. Individuals also may report discrimination by contacting HUD at 1-800-669-9777, or by filing a complaint online.
Justice Department Finds Alaska Unnecessarily Segregates Children with Behavioral Health Disabilities in InstitutionsRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice announced today that it found reasonable cause to believe that the State of Alaska violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to provide community-based services to children with behavioral health disabilities, relying instead on segregated, institutional settings — specifically, psychiatric hospitals and psychiatric residential treatment facilities. This finding comes at the conclusion of the department’s investigation into whether Alaska subjects children with behavioral health disabilities to unnecessary institutionalization in violation of Title II of the ADA.
“Each year, hundreds of children, including Alaska Native children in significant number, are isolated in institutional settings often far from their communities,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Most of these children could remain in family homes if provided appropriate community-based services. We look forward to working with Alaska to bring the State into compliance with federal law and prevent the unnecessary institutionalization of children.”
Children who are segregated in psychiatric residential treatment facilities commonly stay there longer than six months, and some of them are sent to states as distant as Texas and Missouri, thousands of miles from their families.
The department’s investigation found that Alaska’s system of care is heavily reliant on institutions and that key community-based services and supports needed to serve children with behavioral health disabilities in family homes, such as home-based family treatment, crisis services and therapeutic treatment home services, are often unavailable. As a result, many children with behavioral health disabilities, including a substantial number of Alaska Native children, are forced to endure unnecessary and unduly long admissions to psychiatric hospitals and psychiatric residential treatment facilities both within Alaska and in states across the country.
With today’s announcement, the department has concluded its third investigation in 2022 involving the unnecessary institutionalization of children with behavioral health disabilities.
Additional information about the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt.
Washington Man Charged with Hate Crimes for Arsons of Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom HallsRead the Press Release
A Washington man was indicted by a federal grand jury in Seattle in connection with three arsons that damaged or destroyed Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Halls.
Mikey Diamond Starrett, aka Michael Jason Layes, 50, of Olympia, Washington, was charged in a superseding indictment with three counts of damage to religious property, including the use of fire, and three counts of using fire to commit a federal felony. The defendant was previously charged with one count of damage to religious property, including the use of a dangerous weapon, and one count of use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, in connection with a shooting that damaged a separate Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall. The defendant was also previously charged with one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm.
According to the superseding indictment, the defendant set fire to three Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Halls: the Kingdom Hall of Tumwater, Washington on March 19, 2018; the Kingdom Hall of Olympia, Washington on March 19, 2018; and the Kingdom Hall of Olympia, Washington, on July 3, 2018. The superseding indictment alleges the defendant defaced, damaged and destroyed religious real property at the Kingdom Halls because of the religious character of the properties.
If convicted, Starrett faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison on each charge of damage to religious property. Starrett faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted on the unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm charge. If convicted, Starrett faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison to run consecutive to any sentence imposed for each of the remaining offenses.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Nick Brown for the Western District of Washington made the announcement.
The ATF Seattle Field Division, the FBI Seattle Field Office, the Tumwater, Washington Police Department, and the Olympia Police Department investigated the matter. Trial Attorney Matthew Tannenbaum of the Civil Rights Division’s Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca S. Cohen for the Western District of Washington are prosecuting the case.
For more information and resources about the department’s work to combat hate crimes, visit www.justice.gov/hatecrimes.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law
Physician and Office Manager Agree to Pay over $420,000 to Settle Kickback Allegations Involving New Jersey, Texas and South Carolina LaboratoriesRead the Press Release
Vijesh Patel, M.D. and his office manager and wife Laju Patel, both of Port Neches, Texas, have agreed to pay $422,789 to resolve False Claims Act allegations that they received illegal kickbacks in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute in return for referring patients for laboratory testing, and both have agreed to cooperate with the Department of Justice’s investigations of, and litigation against, other participants in the alleged schemes.
“Kickbacks can undermine a physician’s medical judgment, result in unnecessary testing, and increase health care costs borne by taxpayers,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We will continue to pursue physicians, laboratories, and others responsible for schemes that violate rules intended to safeguard the integrity of federal health care programs.”
The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits offering, paying, soliciting, or receiving remuneration to induce referrals of items or services covered by Medicare, Medicaid and other federally funded healthcare programs. The Anti-Kickback Statute is intended to ensure that medical providers’ judgments are not compromised by improper financial incentives and are instead based on the best interests of their patients.
The settlement announced today resolves allegations that Dr. and Mrs. Patel received kickbacks in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute in return for Dr. Patel’s referrals to three laboratories:
- Texas Laboratory. From December 2016 to July 2018, Dr. Patel allegedly received thousands of dollars in payments from a purported management service organization (MSO) named Indus MG LLC (Indus) in return for ordering laboratory tests from True Health Diagnostics LLC (True Health), a clinical laboratory in Frisco, Texas. The Indus MSO’s payments to Dr. Patel allegedly were disguised as investment returns but in fact were based on, and offered in exchange for, his referrals to True Health.
- New Jersey Laboratory. From August 2018 to August 2021, Dr. Patel allegedly received thousands of dollars in kickbacks disguised as investment returns from a purported MSO named Avior Group LLC (Avior) in return for ordering laboratory tests from RDx Bioscience, Inc. (RDx), a clinical laboratory in Kenilworth, New Jersey. RDx allegedly funded remuneration to Dr. Patel in the form of volume-based commissions paid to an independent contractor recruiter, Corum Group LLC, which used an associated company, Avior, to pay kickbacks to Dr. Patel and other physicians in return for their referrals. In addition, from December 2018 to August 2022, Mrs. Patel allegedly received kickbacks from RDx in the form of commercially unreasonable fees to purportedly collect urine specimens for testing that Dr. Patel referred to RDx.
- South Carolina Laboratory. From August 2019 to December 2021, Dr. Patel allegedly received hundreds of dollars per month in inflated space rental payments in return for ordering laboratory tests from Labtech Diagnostics LLC (Labtech), a clinical laboratory in Anderson, South Carolina. Labtech’s rental payments allegedly were for a commercially unreasonable amount of space and excessive days and time.
“Patients deserve to know that the decisions their health care providers are making are based solely on their medical needs, not on some profit-making scheme,” said U.S Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey. “Our office will continue to pursue anyone responsible for actions that have the potential to corrupt the medical decision-making process.”
“This settlement demonstrates the Eastern District of Texas’s firm and continued commitment to pursuing all persons responsible for engaging in kickback schemes that inevitably harm the taxpayers, increase costs to care, and decrease access to health care,” said U.S Attorney Brit Featherston for the Eastern District of Texas. “We remain vigilant in our pursuit to put a stop to those who partake in kickback schemes of this kind and to hold them accountable for the collective harm they caused.”
“Patients should be able to trust that their doctor’s medical recommendation is in their best interest and not influenced by the doctor’s financial gain,” said U.S. Attorney Adair F. Boroughs for the District of South Carolina. “Our office has and will continue to hold accountable those that give and receive illegal kickbacks, both to maintain the public’s trust in the healthcare system and to ensure taxpayer money is properly spent.”
“Health care providers engaging in kickback schemes corrupt the provider-patient relationship and impose hidden costs on the health care system,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Susan A. Frisco with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “Alongside our law enforcement partners, our agency is committed to safeguarding the integrity of federal health care programs by holding individuals who unlawfully bill the programs accountable for their actions.”
“Today’s outcome demonstrates the steadfast determination of the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Inspector General’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) and our investigative partners to root out fraud perpetrated against TRICARE,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Gregory P. Shilling for the DCIS Southwest Field Office. “DCIS remains focused on protecting and preserving valuable taxpayer dollars by holding those accountable who attempt to defraud the DoD.”
The settlement was the result of a coordinated effort between the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Eastern District of Texas, District of New Jersey, and District of South Carolina, with assistance from HHS-OIG and DCIS. To date, the United States has recovered over $32 million relating to conduct involving True Health or MSO kickbacks to physicians in Texas, including False Claims Act settlements with 34 physicians, two health care executives, one office manager, and one laboratory. In addition, the United States has filed a lawsuit under the False Claims Act against former True Health CEO Christopher Grottenthaler and others, which is captioned United States ex rel. STF, LLC v. True Health Diagnostics, LLC, et al., No. 4:16-cv-547 (E.D. Tex.). A defendant who violates the act is liable for three times the amount of the government’s losses plus applicable penalties.
The settlement announced today was handled by Senior Trial Counsel Christopher Terranova in the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch (Fraud Section), Assistant U.S. Attorney Kruti Dharia for the District of New Jersey, Assistant U.S. Attorneys James Gillingham, Adrian Garcia and Betty Young for the Eastern District of Texas, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Beth C. Warren for the District of South Carolina.
The government’s pursuit of this matter illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating healthcare fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services, at 1-800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Maryland Security Guard Convicted of Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
A federal jury convicted a Maryland security guard today of tax evasion.
According to court statements and evidence presented in court, Gaston Gilberto Reyes, of Germantown, did not file income tax returns with the IRS for the years 2015 through 2020. During this period, he did not report more than $1.15 million in total wages from employment at eight different security firms in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Reyes also submitted false Forms W-4 to his employers on which he claimed he was exempt from federal income tax withholding, causing the employers to withhold little or no federal income taxes from his wages. At trial, the evidence established that Reyes did not pay approximately $200,000 in income taxes over the six-year period.
Reyes is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 21, 2023. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on each of six charges of tax evasion. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.
Trial Attorneys Melissa S. Siskind and George Meggali of the Justice Department’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case.
Lab Owner Convicted in $463 Million Genetic Testing Scheme to Defraud MedicareRead the Press Release
A federal jury in the Southern District of Florida convicted a Georgia man today for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare by submitting over $463 million in genetic and other laboratory tests that patients did not need and that were procured through the payment of kickbacks.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Minal Patel, 44, of Atlanta, owned LabSolutions LLC (LabSolutions), a lab enrolled with Medicare that performed sophisticated genetic tests. Patel conspired with patient brokers, telemedicine companies, and call centers to target Medicare beneficiaries with telemarketing calls falsely stating that Medicare covered expensive cancer genetic tests. After the Medicare beneficiaries agreed to take a test, Patel paid kickbacks and bribes to patient brokers to obtain signed doctors’ orders authorizing the tests from telemedicine companies. To conceal the kickbacks, Patel required patient brokers to sign contracts that falsely stated that they were performing legitimate advertising services for LabSolutions.
The telemedicine doctors approved the expensive testing even though they were not treating the beneficiaries and often did not even speak with them. From July 2016 through August 2019, LabSolutions submitted more than $463 million in claims to Medicare, including for medically unnecessary genetic tests, of which Medicare paid over $187 million. In that timeframe, Patel personally received over $21 million in Medicare proceeds.
Patel was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, three counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive illegal health care kickbacks, four counts of paying illegal health care kickbacks, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 7, 2023, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the first conspiracy count, 10 years on each health care fraud count, five years on the second conspiracy count, 10 years on each kickback count, and 20 years on the third conspiracy count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division; Special Agent in Charge Robert M. DeWitt of the FBI Miami Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Omar Pérez Aybar of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office made the announcement.
The FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case.
Trial Attorneys Jamie de Boer, Emily Gurskis, Reginald Cuyler Jr., and Katherine Rookard of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.
The case was brought as part of Operation Double Helix, a federal law enforcement action led by the Health Care Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, focused on fraudulent genetic cancer testing that has resulted in charges against dozens of defendants associated with telemedicine companies and cancer genetic testing laboratories for their alleged participation in one of the largest health care fraud schemes ever charged.
Justice Department Seeks to Shut Down Dallas Area Licensor of Tax Preparation BusinessesRead the Press Release
The United States filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on Dec. 12 seeking to bar a Dallas-area licensor of tax preparation businesses, and his business, from franchising or licensing the tax preparation business and from assisting in the preparing of federal income tax returns for others.
The complaint alleges that Kevin Murphy, through his tax preparation licensing business Umbrella Financial Services LLC, has had over one hundred licensees in a dozen states across the country. The complaint contends that some Umbrella Financial Services licensees have engaged in misconduct by preparing tax returns for customers, which report fictitious businesses, inflate business expenses for legitimate businesses, claim improper education credits, and report false income in order to claim inflated tax credits. The complaint also alleges that Umbrella Financial Services improperly shared Electronic Filing Identification Numbers and that some preparers associated with Umbrella Financial Services did not use a properly assigned Preparer Tax Identification Numbers.
The complaint also seeks an injunction against Ashley Fisher to bar her from preparing tax returns for others. As alleged in the complaint, Fisher is Umbrella Financial Services’ Chief Knowledge Officer and also owns an Umbrella-licensed tax preparation business.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.
Taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant against unscrupulous tax preparers. The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax return preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers. The IRS also offers 10 tips to avoid tax season fraud and ways to safeguard their personal information.
Justice Department Secures Settlement with New Jersey IT Recruiting Firm to Resolve Immigration-Related Discrimination ClaimsRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today that it has secured a settlement agreement with Secureapp Technologies LLC (Secureapp), a New Jersey IT recruiting and labor staffing company. The settlement resolves the department’s determination that Secureapp violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by posting discriminatory job advertisements that solicited applications only from non-U.S. citizens who sought temporary work visa sponsorship or who had immigration statuses associated with certain employment-based temporary visas.
“When employers invite applications only from candidates with specified immigration statuses, they deter individuals from applying and deny them a fair chance to be considered,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Division is committed to knocking down these unlawful discriminatory barriers.”
The department’s investigation determined that starting in January 2019 and continuing for more than a year, Secureapp posted at least 12 facially discriminatory job advertisements that sought only non-U.S. citizens seeking sponsorship to work or who already possessed an employment-based visa. In so doing, Secureapp deterred U.S. citizens and other workers with permission to work in the United States without sponsorship (including asylees, refugees and lawful permanent residents) from applying to the job advertisements and receiving fair consideration for the employment opportunities. The INA’s anti-discrimination provision generally prohibits employers from recruiting or refusing to hire workers based on their citizenship or immigration status.
Under the settlement, Secureapp will pay $26,000 in civil penalties to the United States. The agreement also requires Secureapp to train its recruiters on the INA’s requirements, revise its employment policies and be subject to departmental monitoring and reporting requirements.
The Civil Rights Division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. Among other things, the statute prohibits discrimination based on citizenship status and national origin in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; retaliation; and intimidation.
Learn more about IER’s work and how to get assistance through this brief video. Find more information on how employers can avoid citizenship status discrimination on IER’s website. Applicants or employees who believe they were discriminated against based on their citizenship, immigration status or national origin in hiring, firing, recruitment or during the employment eligibility verification process (Form I-9 and E-Verify); or subjected to retaliation, may file a charge. The public can also call IER’s worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); call IER’s employer hotline at 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); email [email protected]; sign up for a free webinar; or visit IER’s English and Spanish websites. Subscribe to GovDelivery to receive updates from IER. View the Spanish translation of this press release here.
Justice Department Secures Landmark Agreement with City and Police Department Ending “Crime-Free” Rental Housing Program in Hesperia, CaliforniaRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today it has secured a landmark agreement to resolve a race and national origin discrimination lawsuit against the City of Hesperia, California, and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. The department’s lawsuit alleged that the City and Sheriff’s Department engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against Black and Latinx individuals and communities in Hesperia, in violation of the Fair Housing Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, through the adoption and enforcement of a so-called “crime-free” rental housing program. This is the Justice Department’s first resolution requiring the complete end of a “crime-free” rental housing program.
“The Justice Department is committed to ensuring housing policies do not discriminate against individuals based on their race, including so-called ‘crime-free’ programs,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “In addition to promoting fair access to housing, today’s resolution will protect individuals who call for emergency or law enforcement assistance from retaliation.”
“So-called ‘crime-free’ ordinances are often fueled by racially discriminatory objectives, destabilize communities and promote modern-day racial segregation,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “These ordinances can uproot lives, force families into homelessness and result in loss of jobs, schooling and opportunities for people who are disproportionately low-income people of color. ‘Crime-free’ ordinances may also constitute a discriminatory solution in search of a problem and run afoul of the core goals underlying the Fair Housing Act. As this settlement makes clear, the Justice Department will continue to fight discriminatory and unlawful ‘crime-free’ ordinances across the country and work to ensure that everyone has fair and equal access to housing.”
“The right to fair housing is fundamental and should not be infringed,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California. “This important settlement with Hesperia prevents the so-called ‘crime-free’ program from devastating individuals and families with the emotional upheaval and financial hardship that accompanies evictions that occur with little notice. Today’s agreement and consent order will bring real change to Hesperia and beyond.”
“Discriminatory housing policies based on race and national origin, including those sanctioned and implemented by local governments, have no place in our society,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Demetria L. McCain of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “This agreement sends a strong message that HUD and DOJ will continue to work together to vigorously enforce our nation’s fair housing laws.”
United States’ Lawsuit
The department’s lawsuit, filed in 2019 based on an investigation by HUD, alleged that the City of Hesperia, with substantial support from the Sheriff’s Department, enacted a “crime-free” program with the intent of addressing what one City Councilmember called a “demographical problem:” Hesperia’s increasing Black and Latinx population.
The program required all rental property owners to evict tenants upon notice by the Sheriff’s Department that the tenants had engaged in any alleged “criminal activity” on or near the property — regardless of whether those allegations resulted in an arrest, charge, or conviction. In addition, the program encouraged housing providers to evict entire families when only one household member engaged in purported criminal activity and even notified landlords to evict survivors of domestic violence. It also required all landlords to screen potential tenants through the Sheriff’s Department, which would notify landlords whether the applicant had “violated” the rules of the program in the past. The City of Hesperia also later passed an ordinance relating to business licenses for rental housing properties that made registration in the “crime-free” program mandatory and imposed excessive fees.
The department’s complaint relied in part on analysis conducted by HUD, which showed that Black renters were almost four times more likely, and Latinx renters 29% more likely, to be evicted under the program than white renters. HUD’s analysis also showed that over 96% of individuals and households evicted under the “crime-free” ordinance lived in majority-minority Census blocks, even though only 79% of rental households in Hesperia live in such blocks.
The department’s lawsuit alleged that hundreds of people were targeted under Hesperia’s “crime-free” ordinance.
The program had real and devastating impacts on families across the City of Hesperia:
- For example, a Black woman living in Hesperia called the police repeatedly to come to her home because she did not feel safe with her boyfriend. The Sheriff’s Department notified her landlord about the numerous domestic disturbance calls and threatened the landlord with a misdemeanor. The landlord then forced the woman and her children out of their home. With nowhere to go, the family moved into a motel and attempted to rent another home in Hesperia, but the applications were repeatedly denied. Unable to rent another home for her family in Hesperia, she was forced to uproot her life, leave a house full of furniture behind and move across the country.
- The program also impacted a Latina woman living in Hesperia who called the police to get assistance for her boyfriend, who was experiencing a mental health crisis at her home. When the Sheriff’s Department arrived before the paramedics, her boyfriend was arrested. The woman then received a notice to vacate based on the supposed violation of the ordinance, and she was forced to temporarily move into a motel.
- One Black family was torn apart after a mother’s call to the police for help got them kicked out of their home and placed on the violators list, making it impossible to find another rental in Hesperia. The parents moved away and made the impossible decision to leave their teenage daughter behind to finish high school.
Consent Order
As part of the resolution of this case, Hesperia already has repealed its “crime-free” ordinance, modified the rental housing business license ordinance, and reduced the fees associated with rental housing business licenses. The Sheriff’s Department also has agreed to stop enforcement of Hesperia’s “crime-free” program.
Under the proposed consent order, which still must be approved by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the defendants will spend $950,000 and commit to significant injunctive relief to remedy the effects of the “crime-free” and business license programs, including: a settlement fund of $670,000 to compensate individuals harmed by the program; the payment of $100,000 in civil penalties; funding of $95,000 for affirmative marketing to promote fair housing in Hesperia; funding of $85,000 for partnerships with community-based organizations; notifications to property managers, landlords and owners of the changes to the ordinances and fee schedule; submission of certain policies, procedures and ordinances for the United States’ review and approval prior to adoption; adoption of non-discrimination policies and complaint procedures; designation of civil rights coordinators; anti-discrimination training; a fair housing needs assessment; and regular reporting to the court and the United States during the order’s five-year term.
Individuals who believe they were harmed by Hesperia’s “crime-free” program may be entitled to compensation under the settlement fund and should contact the Justice Department at [email protected] or 1-833-223-1571.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin and disability. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the ground of race, color, or national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the civil rights laws it enforces is available online at https://www.justice.gov/crt. Individuals may report housing discrimination by submitting a report online at https://civilrights.justice.gov, calling the Justice Department at 1-833-591-0291, or emailing [email protected]. Individuals may also report discrimination by contacting HUD at 1-800-669-9777, or by filing a complaint online at https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/online-complaint.
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Houston Resident Sentenced After Pleading Guilty to Violating the Federal Controlled Substances ActRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – ALEJANDRO MUNOZ, age 47, a resident of Houston, Texas, was sentenced on December 8, 2022 by U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon to a term of twenty (20) months’ imprisonment followed by a term of three (3) years’ supervised release and a 100.00 mandatory special assessment fee after pleading guilty to a one-count indictment that charged him with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and five kilograms or more of cocaine hydrochloride, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A), and 846, announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.
According to court documents, beginning in October of 2014, Special Agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration, through an investigation, identified MUNOZ as a supplier of heroin and cocaine hydrochloride to customers in Houston, Texas and New Orleans.
This prosecution is part of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). OCDETF is a joint federal, state, and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration offices in New Orleans, Louisiana and Houston, Texas, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the New Orleans Police Department, and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. The prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorney André Jones.
El Departamento de Justicia llega a un acuerdo histórico con la Ciudad y el Departamento de Policía para suspender el programa de vivienda de alquiler “libre de delitos” en Hesperia, CaliforniaRead the Press Release
El Departamento de Justicia anunció hoy que ha llegado a un acuerdo histórico para resolver una demanda de discriminación racial y de origen nacional contra la Ciudad de Hesperia, California y el Departamento del Alguacil del Condado de San Bernardino. La demanda del Departamento alegó que la Ciudad y el Departamento del Alguacil incurrieron en un patrón o práctica de discriminación contra individuos y comunidades afroestadounidenses y latinos en Hesperia, en contra de la ley de Vivienda Justa y el título VI de la ley de Derechos Civiles de 1964, mediante la adopción y aplicación de un llamado programa de vivienda de alquiler “libre de delitos”. Esta es la primera resolución del Departamento de Justicia que requiere la suspensión total de un programa de vivienda de alquiler “libre de delitos”.
“El Departamento de Justicia está comprometido a garantizar que las políticas de vivienda no discriminen contra individuos por motivos raciales, incluyendo los llamados programas ‘libre de delitos’”, afirmó la Fiscal General Asociada Vanita Gupta. “Además de promover el acceso justo a vivienda, la resolución del día de hoy protegerá a los individuos que solicitan ayuda de emergencia o la asistencia de las fuerzas del orden público ante las represalias”.
“Las llamadas ordenanzas ‘libre de delitos’ a menudo son impulsadas por objetivos discriminatorios, desestabilizan a comunidades y promueven la segregación racial actual”, manifestó Kristen Clarke, la Fiscal General Auxiliar de la División de Derechos Civiles del Departamento de Justicia. “Estas ordenanzas pueden desarraigar las vidas de las personas, empujar a familias a quedarse sin hogar y dar lugar a la pérdida del empleo, la escuela y las oportunidades para las personas que son, de manera desproporcionada, personas de color de bajos ingresos. Las ordenanzas “libre de delitos” podrían también constituir una solución discriminatoria en busca de un problema y contravenir los objetivos principales que fundamentan la ley de Vivienda Justa. Como deja claro este acuerdo, el Departamento de Justicia seguirá luchando contra las ordenanzas discriminatorias e ilegales “libre de delitos” en todo el país y trabajando para garantizar que todos tengan acceso justo y equitativo a la vivienda”.
“El derecho a una vivienda justa es fundamental y no debe vulnerarse”, declaró el Fiscal Federal del Distrito Central de California, Martin Estrada. “Este importante acuerdo con Hesperia evita que el llamado programa ‘libre de delitos’ devaste a individuos y familias con la conmoción emocional y las dificultades financieras que acompañan a los desalojos que se producen con poca antelación. El acuerdo de hoy y la orden por consentimiento traerán un cambio real a Hesperia y más allá”.
“Las políticas de vivienda discriminatorias con base en la raza y el origen nacional, incluyendo las sancionadas y aplicadas por los gobiernos locales, no tienen lugar en nuestra sociedad”, expresó Demetria L. McCain, la Secretaria Auxiliar Adjunta Principal de la Oficina de Vivienda Justa y Equidad de Oportunidades del Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano (HUD). “Este acuerdo envía un fuerte mensaje que HUD y DOJ seguirán trabajando juntos para enérgicamente aplicar las leyes de vivienda justa de nuestra nación”.
La demanda de los Estados Unidos
La demanda del Departamento, presentada en 2019 con base en una investigación de HUD, alegó que la Ciudad de Hesperia, con el apoyo sustancial del Departamento del Alguacil, promulgó un programa “libre de delitos” con la intención de abordar lo que un concejal de la Ciudad llamó un “problema demográfico”: la población creciente de afroestadounidenses y latinos en Hesperia.
El programa obligaba a todos los propietarios de viviendas de alquiler a desalojar a inquilinos cuando el Departamento del Alguacil les notificara que éstos habían participado en cualquier presunta “actividad delictiva” en la propiedad o en sus inmediaciones, independientemente de que esas alegaciones hubieran dado lugar a una detención, imputación o condena. Además, el programa animaba a los proveedores de vivienda a desalojar a familias enteras cuando solo un miembro de la unidad familiar participara en una supuesta actividad delictiva e incluso notificaba a los propietarios que debían desalojar a los supervivientes de violencia doméstica. También exigía a todos los propietarios que investigaran a los posibles inquilinos a través del Departamento del Alguacil, que notificaría a los propietarios si el solicitante había “violado” las normas del programa en el pasado. La Ciudad de Hesperia también aprobó posteriormente una ordenanza relativa a las licencias comerciales para viviendas de alquiler que hacía obligatoria la inscripción en el programa “libre de delitos” e imponía honorarios excesivos.
La demanda del Departamento se basó en parte en el análisis realizado por HUD, que mostró que los inquilinos afroestadounidenses tenían casi cuatro veces más probabilidades, y los inquilinos latinos un 29% más, de ser desalojados en virtud del programa que los inquilinos blancos. El análisis de HUD también mostró que más del 96% de las personas y los hogares desalojados en virtud de la ordenanza “libre de delitos” vivían en bloques censales de minorías mayoritarias, a pesar de que solo el 79% de los hogares de alquiler en Hesperia viven en tales bloques.
La demanda del Departamento alegó que cientos de personas fueron objeto de la ordenanza “libre de delitos” de Hesperia.
El programa tuvo impactos reales y devastadores en las familias de toda la Ciudad de Hesperia:
- Por ejemplo, una mujer afroestadounidense que vivía en Hesperia llamó repetidamente a la policía para que acudiera a su casa porque no se sentía segura con su novio. El Departamento del Alguacil le notificó al propietario de las numerosas llamadas por disturbios domésticos y le amenazó con un delito menor. El propietario obligó entonces a la mujer y a sus hijos a abandonar su casa. Sin ningún lugar a donde ir, la familia se mudó a un motel e intentó alquilar otra vivienda en Hesperia, pero las solicitudes fueron denegadas repetidamente. Al no poder alquilar otra vivienda para su familia en Hesperia, se vio obligada a desarraigar su vida, dejar atrás una casa llena de muebles y mudarse al otro lado del país.
- El programa también afectó a una mujer latina residente en Hesperia que llamó a la policía para pedir ayuda para su novio, que estaba sufriendo una crisis de salud mental en su casa. Cuando el Departamento del Alguacil llegó antes que los paramédicos, su novio fue detenido. La mujer recibió entonces un aviso de desalojo con base en la supuesta violación de la ordenanza, y se vio obligada a trasladarse temporalmente a un motel.
- Una familia afroestadounidense se vio separada después de que la llamada de ayuda de una madre a la policía contribuyera a que fueran desalojados de su hogar y enumerados en la lista de infractores, lo que hizo que les fuera imposible encontrar otro alquiler en Hesperia. Los padres se mudaron del área y tomaron la imposible decisión de dejar atrás a su hija adolescente para que finalizara la escuela superior.
Orden de consentimiento
Como parte de la resolución de este caso, Hesperia ya ha revocado su ordenanza “libre de delitos”, ha modificado la ordenanza de licencias de negocios de alquiler de viviendas y ha reducido los honorarios asociados con las licencias de negocios de alquiler de viviendas. El Departamento del Alguacil también ha acordado poner fin a la aplicación del programa “libre de delitos” de Hesperia.
Según la orden por consentimiento propuesta, que aún debe ser aprobada por el Tribunal Federal de Distrito para el Distrito Central de California, los demandados gastarán $950,000 y se comprometerán a importantes medidas cautelares para remediar los efectos de los programas “libre de delitos” y de licencias comerciales, entre las que se incluyen: un fondo de conciliación de $670,000 para compensar a las personas perjudicadas por el programa; el pago de $100,000 en sanción civil; financiación de $95,000 para mercadeo afirmativo con el fin de promover la vivienda justa en Hesperia; financiación de $85,000 dólares para asociaciones con organizaciones comunitarias; notificaciones a los administradores de propiedades, arrendadores y propietarios de los cambios en las ordenanzas y en la lista de honorarios; presentación de determinadas políticas, procedimientos y ordenanzas para su revisión y aprobación por los Estados Unidos antes de su adopción; adopción de políticas de no discriminación y procedimientos de queja; designación de coordinadores de derechos civiles; capacitación contra la discriminación; evaluación de las necesidades de vivienda justa; e informes periódicos al tribunal y a los Estados Unidos durante los cinco años de vigencia de la orden.
Las personas que crean haber sido perjudicadas por el programa “libre de delitos” de Hesperia pueden tener derecho a una indemnización con cargo al fondo de conciliación y deben ponerse en contacto con el Departamento de Justicia en [email protected] o en 1-833-223-1571.
La Ley federal de Vivienda Justa prohíbe la discriminación en la vivienda por motivos de raza, color de piel, religión, género, condición familiar, origen nacional o discapacidad. El título VI de la Ley de Derechos Civiles de 1964 prohíbe la discriminación por motivos de raza, color de piel u origen nacional en los programas y actividades que reciben ayuda financiera federal. Para más información acerca de la División de Derechos Civiles y las leyes que hace cumplir, vaya a https://www.justice.gov/espanol. Las personas pueden reportar incidentes de discriminación en la vivienda en línea en https://civilrights.justice.gov/, llamando a la línea informativa del Departamento de Justicia al 1-833-591-0291, enviando un correo electrónico a [email protected]. También se puede reportar tal discriminación llamando a HUD al 1-800-669-9777 o sometiendo un formulario de queja en https://portalapps.hud.gov/FHEO903/Form903/Form903Start.action?lang=es.
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Academy Mortgage Corporation Agrees to Pay $38.5 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations Related to Mortgages Insured by the Federal Housing AdministrationRead the Press Release
Mortgage company Academy Mortgage Corporation (Academy), based in Draper, Utah, has agreed to pay $38.5 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by improperly originating and underwriting mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).
The settlement announced today resolves a lawsuit filed and litigated by former Academy underwriter Gwen Thrower (Thrower) against Academy under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit a private party (known as a relator) to file a lawsuit on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery.
In her lawsuit filed in the Northern District of California, Thrower alleged that from January 2008 through April 2017, Academy had an underwriting process that led employees to disregard FHA rules and falsely certify compliance with underwriting requirements. Thrower further alleged that, as a result of Academy’s knowingly deficient mortgage underwriting practices, the government paid insurance claims on loans improperly underwritten by Academy.
“Lenders that knowingly cause the government to guarantee loans that are materially deficient put both homeowners and the public fisc at risk,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The settlement announced today is a result of the relator’s efforts to develop this case in litigation and complements the department’s actions to prevent abuse of government programs designed to foster home ownership.”
Under the terms of the settlement, Academy will pay $38,500,000 to the United States. Thrower will receive $11,511,500 as her share of the settlement proceeds.
The case is captioned United States of America ex rel. Gwen Thrower v. Academy Mortgage Corporation, No. 3:16-cv-2120-EMC, and was monitored by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California and the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch.
The department has recovered billions of dollars under the False Claims Act from other lenders accused of knowingly violating FHA underwriting requirements.
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.
United States Files False Claims Act Complaint Against Chiropractor, Modern Vascular Office-Based Labs and Modern Vascular Corporate EntitiesRead the Press Release
The United States filed a complaint under the False Claims Act against Yury Gampel, a chiropractor, 15 Modern Vascular office-based labs located throughout the United States primarily owned by Gampel, and five Modern Vascular-affiliated companies owned by Gampel, for engaging in allegedly illegal financial relationships and transactions. Office-based labs, such as the ones named as defendants here, are an extension of a physician’s office where physicians conduct examinations and procedures on an ambulatory basis.
“Improper financial arrangements between health care providers and referring physicians can lead to overutilization and increase the cost of health care services paid by taxpayers,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We will continue to ensure that health care decisions are based on the needs of patients and not the financial interests of providers.”
The United States’ complaint alleges that from at least Jan. 1, 2018, through June 30, 2022, Gampel and the Modern Vascular defendants offered physicians the opportunity to invest in Modern Vascular office-based labs to induce them to refer their Medicare and TRICARE patients to Modern Vascular for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease. The complaint also alleges that Gampel pressured vascular surgeons and interventional radiologists employed at the Modern Vascular office-based labs to increase the number of invasive surgical procedures performed by tracking procedures and setting aggressive weekly and monthly goals for such procedures.
The entities named as defendants in connection with Gampel’s alleged schemes are Nobility Management LLC; Modern Vascular LLC; Modern Vascular of South Florida LLC; Modern Vascular Management LLC; Modern Vascular Management – East LLC; Modern Vascular Management – West LLC; Modern Vascular Institute LLC; Modern Vascular of Mesa LLC; Modern Vascular of Glendale LLC; Modern Vascular of Sun City LLC; Modern Vascular of Tucson LLC; San Antonio Vascular Specialists Corp. dba Modern Vascular; Fort Worth Vascular Specialists Corp. dba Modern Vascular; Modern Vascular of Denver LLC; Modern Vascular - Navajo LLC; Modern Vascular of Fairfax LLC; Modern Vascular of Housto LLC; Modern Vascular of Indianapolis LLC; Modern Vascular of Southaven LLC; Modern Vascular of St. Louis LLC; and Modern Vascular of Kansas LLC.
“As part of our mission to protect the American people, the FBI remains committed to safeguarding patients who rely on our healthcare systems,” said Deputy Assistant Director Aaron Tapp of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to investigate those who abuse our healthcare systems, place patients at risk, and waste taxpayer dollars.”
The United States filed its complaint in three consolidated lawsuits pending in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act. Under the Act, a private citizen can sue on behalf of the government and share in any recovery. The United States is also entitled to intervene in the lawsuits, as it did in these cases.
This matter is being handled by the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona. The FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service provided substantial assistance in the investigation.
The consolidated cases are U.S. ex rel. Radhakrishnan, et al. v. Gampel, et al., No. CV-20-00176-PHX-GMS (D. Ariz.); U.S. ex rel. Terry, et al. v. Modern Vascular of Glendale, LLC, No. CV-21-00010-PHX-GMS (D. Ariz.); and U.S. ex rel. Jane Doe v. Modern Vascular, LLC, et al. No. CV-21-01206-PHX-GMS (D. Ariz.).
The United States is represented in this matter by Fraud Section Trial Attorneys Jared S. Wiesner and Adithi S. Grama, in conjunction with the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.
The claims asserted in this action are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.
Three Sentenced in Paul Girard’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt OrganiztionRead the Press Release
St. Croix, VI – United States Attorney Delia L. Smith announced today that Shaquielle Correa, 27, James Cruz, 28, and Shermyra Gumbs, 27, all of St. Croix, were sentenced by District Court Judge Timothy J. Savage for their roles in a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) led by Paul Girard from his prison cell. In handing down the sentences, Judge Savage characterized the Girard Enterprise as a lawless, reckless, cruel and merciless gang. “The Paul Girard Criminal Enterprise was a vicious and lawless gang that terrorized and victimized the people of the Virgin Islands for years,” stated United States Attorney Delia Smith. “The tremendous work of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Virgin Islands Police Department, and attorneys from my office and the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division delivered the ultimate reward to the people of our Territory – just and lengthy sentences of imprisonment to those involved.”
"First, I want to thank the United States Attorney's Office for the District of the Virgin Islands for their great work and invaluable support in this investigation. I also want to highlight the work of the Virgin Islands Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Postal Service, Homeland Security Investigations, the Virgin Islands Marshal Service and the U.S. Office of Probation. Their support was instrumental to the dismantlement of this violent criminal enterprise. Today, the people of the Virgin Islands can rest a little easier, but there is more work to be done,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Joseph Gonzalez who oversees FBI operations in the Virgin Islands.
According to court documents, on July 17, 2014, Shaquielle Correa and two other members of the Girard Enterprise, all wearing black ski masks and two wielding firearms, entered the cash cage area of the Divi Racino and demanded money. Correa and his co-conspirators fled the scene with approximately $110,804.00, which they later divided among themselves and other members of Girard’s Enterprise, including an incarcerated Girard who helped plan the robbery. Several days later, Correa's share of the robbery proceeds went missing and he believe Eddie Harriette, the brother of his girlfriend, had stolen his money to buy a new car. On July 21, 2014, Correa and other enterprise members approach Harriette after he stopped at a gas station near the St. Croix Agricultural Fairgrounds in his new car.
Thereafter, Correa fired several shots into Harriette’s vehicle killing him and injuring two of his passengers. Correa fled on foot and was later picked up by members of Girard’s Enterprise. Approximately ten days after Harriette’s murder, Virgin Islands Police Officers stopped Correa and co-defendant Shaquan Prentice in a vehicle that contained a 7.62 caliber AK-47-style Romania rifle and two high-capacity magazines, each containing 30 rounds of ammunition. The rifle’s serial number was obliterated. Correa entered a plea agreement where he admitted committing the armed robbery of the Divi Racino. Correa also admitted to murdering Harriette and to unlawfully possessing an AK-47 firearm, and possession with intent to distribute marijuana. He was sentenced to 272 months which was adjusted to 211 months by Judge Savage to account for time already served by Correa on the armed robbery conviction.Trial testimony further revealed that on December 21, 2014, enterprise member James Cruz and three other individuals kidnapped a bank employee. At the direction of Girard and a now deceased enterprise member, Cruz and his co-conspirators accosted the banker at gunpoint around midnight as she walked from her car to her front door. They forced the banker into her home where they gathered her two daughters, one of whom was pregnant, and her son and forced them to remain in the living room. Girard, who participated by cellphone from his prison cell, directed Cruz to enter the home to force the banker to take the enterprise members to her bank where she would give them access to the bank’s vault. After several hours of the banker explaining why their plan would not work, Cruz and the other assailants finally gave up and fled the scene. For his role, Cruz was sentenced to 144 months of imprisonment after pleading guilty to the kidnapping. As part of his plea agreement, Cruz further admitted that on May 26, 2014, he attempted to commit a carjacking with other enterprise members. During the attempted carjacking, enterprise member Lenn Williams shot at the driver who defended himself by returning fire with his licensed firearm. Williams was hit with the return fire and declared dead upon arrival at the Juan Luis Hospital.
Enterprise member Shermyra Gumbs was also sentenced to 100 months of imprisonment for her role in the September 4, 2015, murder of Jermaine “Bird” Williams. In her plea agreement, Gumbs admitted that she served as a lookout while enterprise members, including Robert Brown, shot Williams multiple times as he sat in his vehicle outside the St. George Christian Academy Head Start in St. Croix. As the murder was being committed, Gumbs was reporting the events by cellphone to an incarcerated Girard who ordered the murder. After Williams’ murder, Gumbs and another enterprise member returned the vehicle used in the homicide to an enterprise member who had rented the vehicle.
“These defendants terrorized the U.S. Virgin Islands through violence and theft,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “These sentences demonstrate that the Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners are committed to combating the threat of gang violence.”
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Virgin Islands Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Meredith Edwards and Criminal Division Trial Attorneys Christopher Taylor, Organized Crime and Gang Section, and Marie Zisa, Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section. The investigation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
Readout of U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland’s Meeting with Vietnamese Prosecutor General Le Minh TriRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland met yesterday in Washington with Prosecutor General Le Minh Tri of the Supreme People’s Procuracy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
In the meeting, Attorney General Garland and Criminal Division Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. welcomed Prosecutor General Le on his first official visit to the United States, and thanked Prosecutor General Le for Vietnam’s assistance in law enforcement matters.
Attorney General Garland and Assistant Attorney General Polite discussed with Prosecutor General Le the importance of both countries’ efforts to combat transnational organized crime, cyber and cyber-enabled crimes, public corruption, and human trafficking. The leaders also committed to further strengthening the bilateral law enforcement partnership, including on mutual legal assistance.
Left to Right: Deputy Prosecutor General Nguyen Hai Tram, U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, Prosecutor General Le Minh Tri, and Vietnamese Ambassador to the United States Nguyen Quoc DzungReadout of Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco’s Trip to OklahomaRead the Press Release
Yesterday, Deputy Attorney General (Deputy AG) Lisa O. Monaco visited Oklahoma to highlight the Justice Department’s work to increase public safety and reduce violent crime.
The Deputy AG provided the keynote address at the opening session of the 2022 National Public Safety Partnership (PSP) Violent Crime Reduction Summit. PSP provides a framework for cities to benefit from federal resources and programming to target public safety challenges, with 23 active sites across the nation. Yesterday, for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Summit brought together, in-person, approximately 500 federal, state and local law enforcement leaders to share strategies and best practices for keeping communities safe.
In her remarks the Deputy AG highlighted how, across the country, PSP sites are implementing new strategies, engaging with communities, opening lines of communication and fostering partnerships. In the Deputy AG’s words, “the presence of so many law enforcement and community leaders from across the nation speaks volumes about the commitment we all share to uniting our experience and our expertise to join forces and keep our communities safe.”
The Deputy AG stressed the need for significant additional resources to reduce violent crime, and described the Justice Department’s fight for resources through the President’s budget for 2023, which includes a request for almost $11.2 billion for the Department to tackle violent crime.
The Deputy AG also announced a new policy to increase use of the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN) — a unique resource of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that provides timely intelligence from ballistics evidence. Moving forward, all firearms and fired cartridge casings recovered in connection with every Department criminal investigation, including Department-funded task force operations, must be swiftly entered into NIBIN and analyzed.
On her trip, the Deputy AG visited the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern and Eastern Districts of Oklahoma, where she met U.S. Attorneys Clinton Johnson and Christopher Wilson, as well as their leadership teams, prosecutors and professional staff to thank them for their hard work and commitment to justice. She also met with the heads of federal law enforcement partners, as well as the Attorneys General of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the Cherokee Nation and discussed collaborative efforts to address violent crime and public safety challenges in the wake of McGirt v. Oklahoma.
Group photo from the PSP Summit Deputy Attorney General Monaco meeting with Tribal Attorneys General and U.S. Attorney Clinton JohnsonMissouri Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Hate Crime and Arson Charges for Burning Down Islamic CenterRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced that a Missouri man pleaded guilty to hate crime and arson violations for burning down the Cape Girardeau Islamic Center (the Center) in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
According to court documents, on April 24, 2020, which was the first morning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, at approximately 4:50 a.m., Nicholas John Proffitt, 44, set fire to the Islamic Center at 298 Northwest End Boulevard, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The Center’s video security system showed Proffitt throwing multiple objects through the building’s glass window, causing it to break. Proffitt threw two containers into the Center through the broken window and stepped through the window to enter the Center. He then poured the contents of two gallon-sized containers throughout the foyer and down the hallway. Proffitt lit two fires that immediately spread through the inside of the building. The Islamic Center building suffered severe damage that rendered it unsuitable for use as a religious center. Proffitt admitted that he set the fire to the Islamic Center because of the religious character of the building.
“Attacks on houses of worship, like the Cape Girardeau Islamic Center, strike at the very heart of religious freedom and observance,” said Assistant Attorney Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’ Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will continue to vigorously investigate and prosecute individuals who violently target religious institutions and communities.”
“This is the second time Nicholas Proffitt attacked the Islamic Center in Cape Girardeau, and his third attack against a house of worship,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming for the Eastern District of Missouri. “He placed the occupants of that building at risk of death or serious injury, and he will be held responsible for his actions with a significant prison sentence.”
“The FBI just released the 2021 statistics on reported hate crime incidents nationwide. In Missouri, incidents reported to law enforcement jumped by almost 70%,” said Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg of the FBI St. Louis Field Office. “The FBI elevated investigating hate crimes as one of the top priorities for the Bureau because of the alarming increases in recent years. As such, the FBI and our law enforcement partners left no stone unturned to bring Nicholas Proffitt and other perpetrators to justice.”
“The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has a long tradition of fire and arson investigation. In no case is that expertise more critical than a fire such as this,” said Special Agent in Charge Fred Winston of the ATF Kansas City Field Division. “When a house of worship is intentionally damaged by fire, it is not only that congregation that suffers, but the entire community. Religious centers, churches and mosques are often at the center of our neighborhoods, offering sanctuaries of peace and caring to those in need. Today’s guilty plea is a direct result of local, state and federal law enforcement working together to ensure justice in this unthinkable act.”
Sentencing is scheduled for May 2, 2023. Proffitt faces up to 20 years in prison for damage to religious property and a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence, for using fire to commit a federal felony. Proffitt also faces a fine of up to $250,000 with respect to each charge.
The Cape Girardeau Police Department, the FBI St. Louis Field Office, the ATF, the Missouri State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Perryville Police Department investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Hahn for the Eastern District of Missouri and Trial Attorney Noah Coakley II of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section prosecuted the case.
For more information and resources on the department’s efforts to combat hate crimes, visit www.justice.gov/hatecrimes.