District Not Recorded

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts today filed a complaint and a proposed consent decree with the City of Springfield, Massachusetts, to resolve its investigation of the Springfield Police Department’s Narcotics Bureau. This is the first pattern or practice police investigation to be resolved through a settlement under the Biden Administration.

The settlement agreement, in the form of a proposed consent decree, which must be approved by a federal District Court Judge, would resolve the United States’ claim that the City and the Narcotics Bureau of the Springfield Police Department engaged in a pattern or practice of excessive force that deprived individuals of their rights under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.  

Under the agreement, the Springfield Police Department will improve policies and training related to officers’ use of force. These improvements will ensure that officers avoid force whenever possible through the use of de-escalation tactics; that officers know when force can and cannot be used; and that officers report all instances where force is used. In addition, the Springfield Police Department will provide better supervision to officers and improve internal investigations of complaints of officer misconduct. When officers violate use-of-force policies, the agreement will ensure that the Springfield Police Department holds officers accountable.  

The agreement also provides for the federal judge to appoint an independent monitor, with the title of Compliance Evaluator, based on the recommendation of the parties. The Compliance Evaluator will assess Springfield’s implementation of the agreement’s requirements and file public reports with the court on Springfield’s progress.  

“The public’s trust in law enforcement is a critical component of promoting public safety,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Excessive force erodes that trust and makes our communities less safe. This consent decree will rebuild the public’s trust by ensuring that Springfield officers who use excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment are held accountable. We look forward to working with city officials to ensure constitutional policing in every corner of the Springfield community and fostering better relationships between law enforcement and the community.”  

“When communities don’t trust or fear law enforcement, it undermines public safety,” said U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins for the District of Massachusetts. “Some within the Springfield Police Department, through their sustained and documented constitutional violations, have tarnished the name of the many upstanding and decent police officers working in Springfield. Today is the first step in repairing the harm and mistrust their misconduct and violence caused. After lengthy negotiations, we are pleased to have reached an agreement that includes significant and sustainable reforms to ensure effective and constitutional policing going forward in the City of Springfield. This is the first police misconduct settlement agreement entered during the Biden Administration. Our U.S. Attorney’s Office will always protect the constitutional rights of Massachusetts residents.”

The Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts initiated the investigation of the Springfield Police Department in April 2018 under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. This law authorizes the Attorney General to file a lawsuit to address a pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers that deprives individuals of their rights under the Constitution or federal law. In July 2020, the department announced findings that officers in SPD’s Narcotics Bureau, which has since been renamed the Firearms Investigation Unit, engaged in a pattern or practice of excessive force. The department found that Narcotics Bureau officers often failed to report use of force incidents. At times officers’ reports were inconsistent with available evidence, including video and photographs. 

This investigation was conducted jointly by the Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section and the Civil Rights Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt. For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Civil Rights Unit, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-ma/civil-rights.

Today, the Department of Justice announced that it has reached an agreement to settle claims in four civil cases arising from the June 1, 2020, law enforcement response to racial justice demonstrations in Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C.

As part of the settlement, the United States Park Police (USPP) and the United States Secret Service (USSS) agreed to update and clarify their policies governing demonstrations, and to implement the policy changes within 30 days of today’s settlement. The plaintiffs, Black Lives Matter D.C. and individuals who attended the protests, agreed to dismiss their claims for equitable relief against the United States.

Changes to the agency’s policies include more specific requirements for visible identification of officers, limits on the use of non-lethal force and procedures to facilitate safe crowd dispersal. 

“The federal government is committed to the highest standards for protecting civil rights and civil liberties in any federal law enforcement response to public demonstrations,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “These changes to agency policies for protest responses will strengthen our commitment to protecting and respecting constitutionally protected rights.”

“From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to the White House sidewalk, the National Park Service takes immense pride in caring for some of our nation’s most storied civic spaces,” said Director Chuck Sams of the National Park Service. “We hope this updated policy can serve as a model for others to uphold civil rights and facilitate safe demonstrations. It is good for the public and good for our officers. The United States Park Police is committed to ensuring people can gather safely to express our most fundamental and cherished right to free speech. This updated policy is designed to be accessible and understandable to both our officers and the public, further strengthening that commitment.”

“We appreciate the Park Police and Secret Service for their efforts to constantly review and revisit their law enforcement policies to evolve and protect those that seek to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia. “These revisions to our law enforcement partners’ policies will further protect those rights.” 

USPP’s updated policy, which it released today, will:

• Require officers to wear fully visible badges and nameplates including on outerwear, tactical gear and helmets;
• Implement guidelines concerning the use of non-lethal force, including de-escalation tactics;
• Adopt clearer procedures for issuing dispersal warnings and permitting demonstrators to disperse; and
• Strengthen pre-event planning and on-site coordination between USPP and other law enforcement agencies. 

Within the next 30 days, the USSS will:

• Amend its policies to provide that the fact that some demonstrators have engaged in unlawful conduct does not ordinarily provide blanket grounds for use of force, crowd dispersal or declaration of unlawful assembly.

This case was handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Justice Department’s Civil Division.

In an indictment unsealed today, a federal grand jury in Chicago charged an Illinois woman with conspiring to defraud the United States and helping clients file false tax returns with the IRS.

According to the indictment, Stephanie Fagairo, of Frankfort, owned Double Vision Tax Service, a return preparation business. From 2014 through 2017, Fagairo and one of her employees allegedly conspired to file false tax returns for a number of Double Vision clients. They allegedly did so by including on client tax returns false Schedules C, which reported to the IRS fabricated business income and loss amounts in order to generate inflated refunds the clients were not entitled to receive. Fagairo also allegedly instructed other individuals on how to prepare false tax returns for clients.

Fagairo’s initial court appearance has not yet been scheduled. If convicted, Fagairo faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy count and three years in prison for each of 11 counts of helping her clients file a false tax return. 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 and U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch, Jr. for the Northern District of Illinois made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Assistant Chief Andrew Kameros and Trial Attorney Eric Taffet of the Justice Department’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

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

Gregory Evans, 50, a former Captain with the Madison County Detention Center, in Richmond, Kentucky, pleaded guilty today to using unreasonable force against a detainee, thereby violating the detainee’s civil rights. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Carlton S. Shier IV made the announcement.

According to court documents and admissions made during the plea hearing, Evans was escorting the victim, E.B., down a hallway when Evans grabbed E.B. out of anger, strangled him, and repeatedly punched him. Evans’s assault caused E.B. to lose consciousness, and Evans then punched E.B. in the back and face while E.B. was unconscious. E.B. suffered a broken jaw as a result of the assault. Evans was aware that chokeholds were banned at Madison County Detention Center and that punching and strangling E.B. out of anger was an unreasonable use of force. Following the assault, Evans falsified an incident report and made false statements to the FBI. Specifically, Evans falsely claimed that he had ordered E.B. to turn around prior to the assault, that E.B. ignored his commands, and he deliberately omitted the fact that he had strangled E.B.

“The defendant is being held accountable for using excessive force to assault and strangle a man out of anger,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Division will continue to investigate and prosecute law enforcement officials who deprive individuals of their Constitutional rights.”

“When members of law enforcement engage in excessive force, they not only victimize an individual but do grave disservice to the dedicated work of so many others who honorably serve the public,” said U.S. Attorney Carlton S. Shier IV for the Eastern District of Kentucky. “Investigating and prosecuting this conduct is critically important, both to the victims and the Constitutional rights of all individuals.”  

“Corrections officers have extremely difficult jobs; however, our community demands these officers conduct themselves professionally,” said Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the FBI Louisville Field Office. “Today’s guilty plea is a reminder that the FBI and the Department of Justice will aggressively investigate and prosecute public officials found to have abused those they have been sworn to protect.”

The crime Evans pleaded guilty to carries a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. Evans is scheduled to be sentenced on July 29.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Lexington RA, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Dembo for the Eastern District of Kentucky and Trial Attorney Andrew Manns of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

A federal jury convicted a Florida woman today in a health care fraud scheme that billed private health insurers more than $58 million for services that were never provided and were not medically necessary.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Carie Lyn Beetle, 44, of Lake City, with others, unlawfully billed health insurers for over $58 million of addiction treatment services that were never rendered and/or were medically unnecessary at two facilities she operated: Real Life Recovery Delray LLC (RLR), a substance abuse treatment center, and A Safe Place LLC, dba Halfway There Florida LLC (HWT), a related recovery residence, also referred to as a “sober home.” 

The evidence showed that Beetle and her co-conspirators recruited patients by providing them with kickbacks and bribes in the form of free or reduced rent, payment for travel, and other benefits in exchange for those patients agreeing to reside at HWT, attend drug treatment at RLR, and submit to regular and random drug testing (typically two or three times per week) at RLR and HWT. Beetle and her co-conspirators then billed the patients’ insurance plans for the substance abuse treatment and urine testing services the patients were purportedly receiving. In many instances, individual patients did not attend the billed treatment session. On such occasions, Beetle and her co-conspirators caused employees and patients of HWT/RLR to forge patients’ signatures on sign-in sheets to make it appear as though absent patients had attended treatment. In addition, Beetle and her co-conspirators caused expensive medically unnecessary urine testing to be billed for patients knowing that the tests were excessive, not used in treatment, and not reviewed by medical professionals.

The evidence further showed that Beetle laundered the proceeds knowing they derived from fraud and other crimes when she deposited a check from RLR. 

Beetle was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, and one count of money laundering. She is scheduled to be sentenced later this year and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on the conspiracy count and up to 10 years in prison on the money laundering 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’s Criminal Investigative Division; Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office; Deputy Chief James D. Robnett of IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI); and Special Agent in Charge Matthew D. Line of IRS-CI’s Miami Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI, IRS-CI, the Florida Bureau of Insurance Fraud, and Amtrak Office of Inspector General investigated the case.

Senior Litigation Counsel Jim Hayes and Trial Attorneys Ligia Markman and Reginald Cuyler Jr. of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

The National Rapid Response Strike Force and Los Angeles Strike Force lead the Department of Justice’s Sober Homes Initiative, which was announced in the 2020 National Health Care Fraud Takedown to prosecute defendants who exploit vulnerable patients seeking treatment for drug and/or alcohol addiction.

Note: The defendants in this case, Lawrence O'Brien, Bruce LaRoche and Thomas Dailey, were acquitted by a jury of the charges alleged in the indictment described in the press release below.

A federal grand jury in the Middle District of Florida returned an indictment, which was unsealed today, charging three Florida men with conspiring to rig bids for customized promotional products to the U.S. Army and charging two of them with conspiring to defraud the United States. Two of the men were arrested early this morning, and all three appeared in court for initial appearances this afternoon.

According to court documents, Lawrence O’Brien, Bruce LaRoche and Thomas Dailey conspired to eliminate competition among their companies and secure sales for a pre-arranged winner. To carry out this scheme, they exchanged their company’s bid templates and submitted bids to military customers on each other’s behalf.

“Bid-rigging and fraud schemes targeting the military will not be tolerated – they are an affront to competition and the American taxpayer,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Consistent with a whole-of-government approach, the Antitrust Division will continue working closely with our law enforcement partners and Procurement Collusion Strike Force to protect taxpayer funds from collusion and fraud.”

“This indictment is another example of our commitment to protecting the contracting process from those who attempt to rig the system in their favor,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Michael Curran of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division’s (CID) Major Procurement Fraud Field Office. “CID and our law enforcement partners will continue to protect the integrity of the contracting process.”

“Bid rigging is not a victimless crime; it cheats taxpayers out of the benefits of competition,” said Special Agent Paul Wachsmuth, Director of the Office of Procurement Fraud Investigations, U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI), Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, D.C. “OSI is committed to working with the Antitrust Division and our law enforcement partners to hold companies and individuals accountable for practices that erode public trust and confidence in the government’s acquisition process.”

The indictment also alleges that LaRoche participated in a conspiracy to defraud the United States. According to the charge, LaRoche created shell companies, then he or his co-conspirators would submit sham bids from those companies. The bids appeared to be competitive because, for example, each listed a different salesperson, price or product description, despite the fact that all of the bids were drafted by the co-conspirators and the companies were owned or controlled by LaRoche. Additionally, the indictment alleges that O’Brien participated in a conspiracy with his own set of shell companies.

All three men are charged with violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. The maximum penalty for that charge is 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine. LaRoche and O’Brien each face separate charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States. The maximum penalty for that charge is five years in prison and a $250,000 criminal fine.

The Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal I Office is prosecuting the case, which was investigated with the assistance of the U.S. Army CID and U.S. Air Force OSI.

In November 2019, the Department of Justice created the Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF), a joint law enforcement effort to combat antitrust crimes and related fraudulent schemes that impact government procurement, grant and program funding at all levels of government – federal, state and local. In fall 2020, the Strike Force expanded its footprint with the launch of PCSF: Global, designed to deter, detect, investigate and prosecute collusive schemes that target government spending outside of the United States. To learn more about the PCSF, or to report information on market allocation, price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct related to defense-related spending, go to https://www.justice.gov/procurement-collusion-strike-force.

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

A Louisiana man was sentenced today to three years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $1,000 fine for possession of an animal in an animal fighting venture.

Clay Turner, 61, of Loranger, pleaded guilty to possession of an animal for use in an animal fighting venture on June 30, 2021. According to court documents, Turner possessed and trained dogs for the purpose of having them participate in animal fighting ventures. On telephone calls obtained via court-authorized wiretaps, Turner and others discussed gambling on dog fights, arranging and participating in dog fights, sponsoring and exhibiting dogs in dog fights, training and housing dogs for the purposes of dog fighting, commerce in and transport of fighting dogs and the promotion of dog fights.

In October 2017, a federal law enforcement team consisting of agents from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General (USDA-OIG), the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and other agencies executed a search warrant on Turner’s residence in Loranger. During the search, 33 dogs were found on the property, many of which had injuries, scarring and fresh wounds. Law enforcement also discovered a large collection of dog fighting paraphernalia, including:

• a water tank equipped to force dogs to swim to condition them for fighting;
• an electrified prod used in conjunction with the water tank;
• two treadmills equipped to force dogs to run to condition them for fighting;
• ledgers containing the weights and prices of dogs;
• “break sticks” and “flirt poles,” training equipment intended to enhance dogs’ jaw strength;
• pedigrees for the fighting dogs Turner bred; and
• photographs of dogs in inhumane conditions.

“Dog fighting is a particularly cruel form of animal abuse,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Turner bred dogs solely to abuse them, through inhumane training methods and violent fights that left them scarred, severely injured or dead. These dogs deserved better. As this prosecution demonstrates, those who engage in this abhorrent conduct will be brought to justice.”

“This case lifts the veil on the brutal realities associated with this heinous activity,” said U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans of the Eastern District of Louisiana. “This federal crime exploits animals for the sake of human entertainment and ill-gotten financial gains. Collectively, local, state and federal law enforcement partners are actively engaged in ending this criminal industry by holding accountable perpetrators who engage in dog fighting and rescuing victimized dogs from this appalling pastime.”

“The provisions of the Animal Welfare Act were designed to protect animals from being used in illegal fighting ventures, which often entail other forms of criminal activity involving drugs, firearms and gambling,” said Special Agent in Charge Dax Roberson of USDA-OIG. “Together with the Department of Justice, animal fighting is an investigative priority for USDA-OIG, and we will work with our law enforcement partners to investigate and assist in the criminal prosecution of those who participate in animal fighting ventures.”

“Animal cruelty is a heinous crime that deserves our ultimate condemnation and serious legal consequences for those who engage in it for ‘sport’ and/or profit,” said Special Agent in Charge Douglas A. Williams Jr. of the FBI New Orleans Field Division. “Today’s sentencing should serve​as a reminder to those like Mr. Clay Turner who commit such criminal activity, that they will be held accountable. For their outstanding cooperation and great work, we thank our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Louisiana, the USDA-OIG, and the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section in the criminal prosecution of those who participated in animal fighting ventures.” 

Trial Attorneys Matthew D. Evans, Christopher Hale and former Senior Trial Attorney Jennifer L. Blackwell of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Shih for the Eastern District of Louisiana prosecuted the case.

Kenneth J. Buck, Ph.D., the former Executive Director of the Office of Management Integration at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has agreed to pay $10,000 to resolve allegations that he violated conflict-of-interest rules in connection with a DHS contract following his departure from the agency in 2016. The settlement, which is based on his ability to pay, also resolves allegations that Buck violated the False Claims Act by submitting, or causing others to submit, false invoices to DHS to conceal his involvement with the contract following his departure from DHS.  

Among other things, the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 imposes post-employment restrictions on certain federal officials, including a mandatory one-year “cooling off period” during which former officials are prohibited from communicating directly with their former agency on behalf of another party with the intent to influence agency action. The settlement announced today resolves allegations that Buck violated this rule by communicating directly with a now-former DHS official with the intent to influence agency action regarding a DHS contract with Intelligent Fiscal Optimal Solutions LLC (iFOS), under which Buck was engaged as a subcontractor. According to the government’s allegations, Buck informed a now-former DHS official that he planned to leave DHS and accept an engagement with iFOS, and less than one week later that other DHS official selected iFOS for a no-bid contract. The government alleged that, during his one-year cooling off period, Buck had extensive communications with the DHS official on behalf of iFOS, which Buck and the other DHS official sought to conceal. Finally, the government alleged that Buck and iFOS violated the False Claims Act by submitting false invoices to DHS in which work performed by Buck was billed under the name of another iFOS employee, despite the fact that Buck had not completed a mandatory background investigation required for all personnel who worked on the DHS contract. 

“The federal government’s conflict-of-interest rules are essential to ensuring that the federal government’s operations, including the award of contracts, are conducted fairly and free of undue influence,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The department will hold accountable those who violate these important safeguards, whether they are current or former federal government employees.”

“We appreciate our partnership with the Department of Justice,” said Inspector General Dr. Joseph V. Cuffari of DHS. “This settlement sends a clear message that corruption in the ranks at DHS will not be tolerated.”

The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the DHS Office of Inspector General’s Major Fraud and Corruption Unit. The matter was handled by Senior Trial Counsel Alicia J. Bentley of the Civil Division, with substantial investigative assistance from Special Agent Asher Shapiro of DHS-OIG. 

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

A Florida man was sentenced to 51 months in prison today for his role in a nationwide tax fraud scheme that involved more than 200 participants in at least 19 states.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Aaron Aqueron, of Clermont, recruited clients to the fraud scheme by convincing them that their mortgages and other debts entitled them to tax refunds. Aqueron collected tax and financial information from the clients to send to co-conspirators, who prepared tax returns and other tax documents to submit to the IRS. These tax returns falsely claimed that banks and other financial institutions had withheld large amounts of income tax from the participants, thereby entitling the clients to a refund. In reality, the financial institutions had not paid any income to, or withheld any taxes from, these individuals. In total, the tax returns filed by Aqueron’s clients sought more than $14.6 million in tax refunds and caused the IRS to actually pay out more than $7.6 million.

As part of his plea, Aqueron admitted he and his co-conspirators received fees from his clients ranging from $10,000 to $15,000 each. Aqueron further admitted he did not report on his 2015 individual tax return the income he received from the scheme. Aqueron also personally filed false tax returns for other years on which he fraudulently claimed that he was entitled to tax refunds. In response to one of these false tax returns, the IRS issued Aqueron a refund of $193,347.97.

Aqueron further admitted that, pursuant to the fraud scheme, he attempted to obstruct the IRS’s efforts to collect the tax refunds it issued to his clients. Aqueron and his co-conspirators coached clients on ways to obstruct IRS collection efforts. For example, after learning one client had begun to receive letters from the IRS about collections, Aqueron instructed the client: “Make sure you move money out of your name and out of the banking institutions and be smart.” Aqueron also attempted to obstruct IRS efforts to collect his own fraudulently-obtained refund, including by transferring money into a trust.

Last month, the main promoter of the fraud scheme, Iran Backstrom, was sentenced to more than eight years in prison. Backstrom’s second-in-command, Mehef Bey, was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

In addition to the term of imprisonment, the district judge also ordered Aqueron to serve three years of supervised release and pay approximately $5.9 million in restitution to the IRS.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg and U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Melissa S. Siskind, Kavitha Bondada and Isaiah Boyd III of the Tax Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chauncey A. Bratt for the Middle District of Florida, are prosecuting the case. 

The Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island today announced a settlement agreement with CVS Pharmacy Inc., under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that will eliminate barriers preventing people with certain disabilities from getting information about COVID-19 vaccinations and booking vaccination appointments online. CVS is the country’s largest retail pharmacy, with nearly 10,000 locations. Today’s resolution is the department’s fifth agreement on the critical issue of COVID-19 vaccination website accessibility, following settlement announcements with Rite Aid Corporation, Hy-Vee Inc., The Kroger Co. and Meijer Inc. 

The department found that CVS’s COVID-19 vaccine registration portal, currently located at https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine, was not accessible to people with certain disabilities, including those who use screen reader software or have trouble using a mouse. For instance, the types of vaccine appointments offered (which included influenza, pneumonia, and others, in addition to the COVID-19 vaccine) were not read audibly to screen reader users at the beginning of the scheduling process. Further, on the page where users pick a time for their appointment, screen reader users were told that all available times were “checked,” even though the user had not made any selection. Additionally, people who use the “Tab” key instead of a mouse to navigate websites were not able to navigate past a request for insurance information in the registration process. 

“Now more than ever, we must ensure web accessibility for people with disabilities seeking access to critical needs and services,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We are working aggressively to identify and remove barriers that prevent people with disabilities from privately and independently securing potentially life-saving COVID-19 vaccines. We will continue to work towards the ADA’s promise of equal access during the ongoing global pandemic.”

“While web accessibility is always important, when it comes to critical health services like COVID-19 vaccination, making sure that everyone — regardless of disability — can access information and care is essential,” said U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Cunha for the District of Rhode Island. “This office is committed to vigorously enforcing the ADA to eliminate unnecessary barriers that stand in the way of lifesaving care.” 

Under today’s settlement, CVS will conform web content about the COVID-19 vaccine, including the forms for scheduling an appointment to get the vaccine, to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), Version 2.1, Level AA. WCAG is a set of voluntary industry guidelines for making information on a website accessible to users with disabilities. CVS also must regularly test the pages of its website that include vaccine scheduling and information about the COVID-19 vaccine, and quickly fix any problems that keep people with disabilities from being able to use these pages.

This matter was handled jointly by the Disability Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island. Title III of the ADA requires public accommodations like drugstores to provide individuals with disabilities with full and equal enjoyment of goods and services, such as vaccines. The ADA also requires public accommodations to ensure effective communication with people with disabilities, including by using auxiliary aids and services like accessible technology.

For more information on the Civil Rights Division, please visit www.justice.gov/crt. For more information on the ADA, please call the department’s toll-free ADA information line at 800-514-0301 (TDD 800-514-0383) or visit www.ada.gov. ADA complaints may be filed online at www.ada.gov/complaint. Anyone in the District of Rhode Island may also report civil rights violations directly to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island at https://www.justice.gov/usao-ri-civil-rights-enforcement or (401) 709-5000.

Today, the Department of Justice announced that it has submitted to the Federal Register the “Frame or Receiver” Final Rule, which modernizes the definition of a firearm. Once implemented, this rule will clarify that parts kits that are readily convertible to firearms are subject to the same regulations as traditional firearms. These regulatory updates will help curb the proliferation of “ghost guns,” which are often assembled from kits, do not contain serial numbers, and are sold without background checks, making them difficult to trace and easy to acquire by criminals.

“One year ago, the Department committed to address the proliferation of ghost guns used in violent crimes,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “This rule will make it harder for criminals and other prohibited persons to obtain untraceable guns, will help ensure that law enforcement officers can retrieve the information they need to solve crimes, and will help reduce the number of untraceable firearms flooding our communities. I commend all our colleagues at the ATF who have worked tirelessly over the past 12 months to get this important rule finalized, and to do it in a way that respects the rights of law-abiding Americans.” 

The rule goes into effect 120 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register, and once implemented, will address the proliferation of these un-serialized firearms in several ways. These include:

1. To help keep guns from being sold to convicted felons and other prohibited purchasers, the rule makes clear that retailers must run background checks before selling kits that contain the parts necessary for someone to readily make a gun.
2. To help law enforcement trace guns used in a crime, the rule modernizes the definition of frame or receiver, clarifying what must be marked with a serial number – including in easy-to-build firearm kits.
3. To help reduce the number of unmarked and hard-to-trace “ghost guns,” the rule establishes requirements for federally licensed firearms dealers and gunsmiths to have a serial number added to 3D printed guns or other un-serialized firearms they take into inventory.
4. To better support tracing efforts, the rule requires federal firearms licensees, including gun retailers, to retain records for the length of time they are licensed, thereby expanding records retention beyond the prior requirement of 20 years. Over the past decade, ATF has been unable to trace thousands of firearms – many reportedly used in homicides or other violent crimes – because the records had already been destroyed. These records will continue to belong to, and be maintained by, federal firearms licensees while they are in business.

As the final rule explains, from January 2016 to December 2021, ATF received approximately 45,240 reports of suspected privately made firearms recovered by law enforcement, including in 692 homicide or attempted homicide investigations. The chart below demonstrates the total annual numbers of suspected PMFs recovered by law enforcement over the past six years:

Today’s announcement marks one year since the Attorney General directed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to issue a proposed rule within 30 days that would address the proliferation of unmarked firearms increasingly being used in crimes. On May 7, 2021, the Department of Justice issued a notice of proposed rulemaking, and during the 90-day open comment period, the ATF received more than 290,000 comments, the highest number of comments submitted to a proposed rule in ATF’s history. Today’s announcement is also the latest in a series of steps the department has taken to address violent crime and gun violence.

The final rule, as submitted to the Federal Register, can be viewed here: https://www.atf.gov/rules-and-regulations/definition-frame-or-receiver

To learn more about the rulemaking process, please see: https://www.federalregister.gov/uploads/2011/01/the_rulemaking_process.pdf

For more information, see the attached fact sheet.

A former Acting Branch Chief of the Information Technology Division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS-OIG) was convicted today by a jury of multiple federal charges stemming from the theft of proprietary software and sensitive databases from the U.S. government.

Murali Y. Venkata, 56, of Aldie, Virginia, was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, theft of government property, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and obstruction. Venkata, along with co-conspirators Charles K. Edwards, who previously served as the Acting Inspector General of DHS-OIG, and Sonal Patel, another official at DHS-OIG, executed a scheme to steal confidential and proprietary software from the government along with the personally identifying information (PII) of hundreds of thousands of federal employees. Venkata worked for DHS-OIG from June 2010 until he was placed on administrative leave in October 2017 following the charges in this case, including serving for a period as an Acting Branch Chief in the Information Technology Division. Before he joined DHS-OIG, Venkata worked at the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG). At both agencies, Venkata had access to software systems, including one used for case management and other systems holding PII of federal employees.

Edwards pleaded guilty in January 2022 and Patel pleaded guilty in April 2019 to stealing property from the U.S. government for the purpose of developing a commercial version of a case management system to be offered for sale to government agencies. Venkata was convicted for his role in the conspiracy, which included exfiltrating proprietary source code and sensitive databases from DHS-OIG facilities, as well as assisting Edwards in setting up three computer servers in Edwards’s residence so that software developers in India could access the servers remotely and develop the commercial version of the case management system.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia, Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari of DHS-OIG, and Inspector General Tammy Whitcomb of USPS-OIG made the announcement.

Senior Litigation Counsel Victor R. Salgado and Trial Attorney Celia Choy of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine M. Macey, of the Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney David B. Kent, also of the Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights Section for the District of Columbia, provided significant assistance in the investigation of this matter.

A former contract manager for the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) pleaded guilty today for his role in a bid-rigging and bribery scheme involving Caltrans improvement and repair contracts.

According to a plea agreement filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in Sacramento, Choon Foo “Keith” Yong and his co-conspirators engaged in a conspiracy, from early 2015 through late 2019, to thwart the competitive bidding process for Caltrans contracts to ensure that companies controlled by Yong’s co-conspirators submitted the winning bid and would be awarded the contract. Yong is also charged with accepting bribes while working for Caltrans, a California state agency that receives significant federal funding. Yong received the bribes in the form of cash payments, wine, furniture and remodeling services on his home. The total value of the payments and benefits Yong received exceeded $800,000. In addition to his guilty plea, Yong agreed to pay restitution and cooperate with the ongoing investigation.

“Today’s guilty plea is the first in the Antitrust Division’s ongoing investigation into bribery and bid rigging at Caltrans,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Given the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s $1.2 trillion authorization and the critical role of transportation infrastructure in our nation, rooting out bid-rigging schemes that cheat the competitive bidding process remains a top priority for the division and its Procurement Collusion Strike Force partners.” 

Yong received more than $800,000 of bribes in the form of cash payments, wine, furniture, and remodeling services on his home. 

Yong is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 22 by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller. For the bid-rigging conspiracy, Yong faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years of incarceration and a fine of up to $1 million or twice the gross pecuniary gain or twice the gross pecuniary loss resulting from the offense. For bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, Yong faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years of incarceration and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross pecuniary gain or twice the gross pecuniary loss resulting from the offense. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

Today’s guilty plea is the first to result from a joint investigation being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California, and the FBI’s Sacramento Field Office as part of the Justice Department’s Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF). 

In November 2019, the Department of Justice created the Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF), a joint law enforcement effort to combat antitrust crimes and related fraudulent schemes that impact government procurement, grant and program funding at all levels of government – federal, state and local. In fall 2020, the Strike Force expanded its footprint with the launch of PCSF: Global, designed to deter, detect, investigate and prosecute collusive schemes that target government spending outside of the United States. To learn more about the PCSF, or to report information on market allocation, price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct related to defense-related spending.

FALLS CHURCH, VA – The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) today announced the appointment of Mary Cheng as the agency’s Deputy Director. Judge Cheng has served EOIR since 2009, including as a Deputy Chief Immigration Judge for the past five years.

“Judge Cheng brings a welcome combination of experience and expertise, preparing her for certain success as EOIR’s deputy director,” EOIR Director David L. Neal said. “Her experience on the immigration bench, her expertise as a managing judge, and her appreciation for the view from both counsels’ tables perfectly position her to help lead the agency to a reinvigorated commitment to our mission and to public service.”

As Deputy Director, Judge Cheng will assist Director Neal in supervising and managing all EOIR components, and developing and implementing agency policies and short- and long-term strategies.

Since April 2021, Judge Cheng has served as the Regional Deputy Chief Immigration Judge for the Eastern Region at EOIR. She previously served as a Deputy Chief Immigration Judge from 2017 to 2021, and she was the Acting Principal Deputy Chief Immigration Judge from August 2020 to February 2021. Judge Cheng has also served in the New York Immigration Court both as an Assistant Chief Immigration Judge from 2015 to 2017, and as an Immigration Judge from 2009 to 2015. Before joining EOIR, she served as Assistant Chief Counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, from 2002 to 2009; and before that, she practiced immigration law in New York from 2000 to 2002. Judge Cheng received her Bachelor of Arts from New York University and a Juris Doctor from the New York Law School. She is a member of the New York State Bar.

A Washington state man pleaded guilty to hate crime and false statement charges in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Jason DeSimas, 47, of Tacoma, pleaded guilty to one crime of committing a hate crime for his participation in the assault of T.S., a Black man, which occurred because of his race. DeSimas assaulted T.S. at a bar in Lynnwood, Washington, on Dec. 8, 2018. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Nicholas W. Brown of the Western District of Washington made the announcement.

In his plea agreement, DeSimas admitted that, at the time of the assault, he was a prospective member of a white supremacist group. On Dec. 8, 2018, DeSimas entered a bar in Lynnwood, Washington, with others, including members of the white supremacist hate group and its support group. While in the bar, DeSimas assaulted T.S, a Black man who was serving as the disc jockey at the bar.  DeSimas called T.S. a racial slur, and punched him in the face, knocking T.S. to the floor. Others punched, kicked, and/or stomped on T.S., while continuing to call T.S. racial slurs. Two bystanders attempted to intervene to help T.S. and stop the assault. Both bystanders were assaulted by members of the group, and both sustained injuries.

In addition to the hate crime charge, DeSimas pleaded guilty to making false statements to FBI agents about circumstances surrounding the assault. Specifically, DeSimas falsely claimed to the agents that neither he nor anyone else called T.S. a racial slur during the assault. This statement was false, in that DeSimas knew he and others called T.S. a racial slur before, during, and after the assault. DeSimas made this false statement to the FBI because he wanted to cover up the motive for the assault, which was the bias that he and others had against T.S.’s race.

DeSimas will be sentenced on July 8. The hate crime charge carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison. The false statement charge carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison.  

DeSimas was charged in an indictment that was unsealed on Dec. 18, 2020. The seven-count indictment also charged three other men, each aiding and abetting one another, with punching and kicking T.S. while making derogatory comments about his race. The indictment further charged DeSimas and the three other men with assaulting two men who intervened to protect T.S. during the attack, as well as with making false statements to the FBI during the course of their investigation. One of these three men, Daniel Dorson, previously pleaded guilty in this matter.

This case was investigated by the FBI, with the support of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. Trial Attorney Christine M. Siscaretti of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Cohen for the Western District of Washington are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and the two remaining defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The Sanitary District of Highland, Indiana, and the Town of Griffith, Indiana, have agreed to construction projects and capital investments that will eliminate discharges of untreated sewage from their sewer systems into nearby water bodies, including the Little Calumet River.

In two separate consent decrees, Highland and Griffith have each agreed to implement plans that will significantly increase the amount of wastewater they send to the neighboring town of Hammond for treatment and eliminate points in their sewer systems that overflow when their systems become overloaded. Together, the towns will spend about $100 million to improve their sewer systems. In addition, Highland will pay a civil penalty of $175,000 and Griffith will pay a civil penalty of $33,000.

The two consent decrees would resolve the violations alleged in the underlying complaint filed by the United States and the state of Indiana. The complaint alleges that Highland’s sanitary sewage collection system overflowed on 257 days since 2012, resulting in discharges of untreated sewage into the Little Calumet River or a tributary to the river. The complaint also alleges that Griffith discharged sewage into a wetland adjacent to the Little Calumet River on 16 days since 2013. Finally, the complaint alleges that both Highland and Griffith failed to comply with previous orders by EPA to stop these illegal discharges. The defendants were joined in the same cause of action because the claims against Highland and Griffith are similar in nature and both communities rely on the Sanitary District of Hammond to treat all of their wastewater.

“Cities and towns must invest in adequate infrastructure to protect the integrity of our nation’s waters,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “These settlements require meaningful investments that will improve the health of the Little Calumet River and surrounding areas.”

“Highland and Griffith are part of an area of northwest Indiana historically overburdened by pollution,” said Acting Assistant Administrator Larry Starfield of the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “These infrastructure improvements will prevent untreated sewage from entering the region’s waterbodies, thereby improving water quality as well as the quality of life for the people who live here.

“These consent decrees are an excellent example of how communities can work together to provide a cleaner healthier environment for the citizens of Northwest Indiana to use and enjoy.” said Commissioner Brian Rockensuess of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. 

Under the proposed consent decrees, Highland and Griffith will also implement plans that will improve operations and maintenance of their sewer system and ability to address and respond to any unforeseen sanitary sewer overflows in the future. Highland and Griffith will submit semi-annual progress reports to the United States and the state until all work has been completed and all of the reports and deliverables required will be available to the public on their municipal websites.

The implementation of these consent decrees will prevent hundreds of thousands of gallons of raw sewage carrying harmful pollutants, such as E. coli, from being discharged to the Little Calumet River. These reductions in pollutants will improve water quality in the Little Calumet River.

The proposed agreements are subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval after publication in the Federal Register.

To view the consent decrees or to submit a comment, visit the Department of Justice website at: www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.

U.S. District Court Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Joshua Lankford, aka “20-20,” aka “Light Bright,” aka “Yellow,” age 33, of Manchester, Maryland, was sentenced to 17 years in prison with five years of supervised release and $2,320 in restitution for kidnapping in relation to a sex trafficking conspiracy.

According to court documents, Lankford led and organized a conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and to commit kidnapping. The evidence indicated that Lankford recruited the victim, a young adult woman, to engage in prostitution under fraudulent pretenses. Lanford knew that the victim was addicted to heroin and withheld drugs from her when she did make enough money for him engaging in commercial sex. When the victim attempted to escape, Lankford and his three co-defendants drove the victim to a rural road on Maryland’s Eastern Shore where they beat, whipped and choked her with a belt, and then drove her to a hotel in Delaware to engage in prostitution. While incarcerated, Lankford told a co-conspirator that he intended to kill the victim to prevent her from testifying against them at trial.

“This defendant preyed on a vulnerable young woman and cruelly exploited her for his profit,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Sex trafficking is a heinous crime that has no place in our society. This sentence reflects the defendant’s horrific crime – a crime that deprives some of society’s most vulnerable members of their freedom and dignity. The Civil Rights Division will continue its vigorous enforcement of our human trafficking laws to hold perpetrators accountable and to seek justice for survivors of these heinous crimes.”

“Lankford exploited a young woman’s drug dependency and desire to establish a better life for herself and her child to enslave her and deprive her of human rights and dignity for his own profit,” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron for the District of Maryland. “Further, he attempted to continue the abuse the victim and sabotage our justice system by conspiring to kill the victim in the effort to derail the federal prosecution of his dehumanizing crimes” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron for the District of Maryland. “Let this sentence serve as a light to survivors impacted by human trafficking and as a deterrent to those conspiring to commit heinous human trafficking crimes.”

“Joshua Lankford’s crimes were nothing short of horrific; he kidnapped and victimized a vulnerable woman then plotted to kill her in order to save himself,” said Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of HSI Baltimore. “The atrocities of his crimes are clearly reflected in the severity of his sentence, and today, he will begin to pay his debt to society. HSI Baltimore remains committed to investigating human trafficking organizations as they prey upon the most vulnerable populations in our communities.”

This case was investigated by law enforcement agencies that are members of the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, formed in 2007 to discover and rescue victims of human trafficking while identifying and prosecuting offenders. Members include federal, state and local law enforcement, as well as victim service providers and local community members. For more information about the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/human-trafficking.

Report suspected instances of human trafficking and sex trafficking to HSI's tip line at 866-DHS-2ICE (1-866-347-2423) or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

The guilty plea was announced by Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke; U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron for the District of Maryland; Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; Colonel Woodrow W. Jones III, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; Chief Michael McDermott of the Federalsburg Police Department; and Colonel Melissa Zebley of the Delaware State Police Department.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore, the Maryland State Police, the Federalsburg Police Department, and the Delaware State Police. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Setzer for the District of Maryland and Trial Attorney Leah L. Branch of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.

Former supervisory corrections officer Kenan Lister, 43, pleaded guilty today to two civil rights offenses: one count of deprivation of rights under color of law for using unlawful force on an inmate and one count of being deliberately indifferent to the inmate’s medical needs. 

The facts admitted in the plea agreement establish that, on Aug. 30, 2019, Lister assaulted an inmate in a holding cell at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Facility in Hartsville, Tennessee. At the time, Lister was on duty as the facility’s security threat group coordinator. While the inmate was sitting calmly in a holding cell, Lister punched the inmate in the head, knocking him to the ground. Lister then kicked, punched, and struck the inmate multiple times in his head, chest, and torso after he was on the ground and not resisting. The assault fractured the inmate’s ribs and punctured his lung. After the assault, Lister knew that the inmate had serious medical needs. Despite this knowledge, Lister failed to provide medical care to the inmate or obtain medical care from others. Instead, Lister left the inmate locked in a holding cell and filed a report that omitted any mention of his assault.

“The defendant abused his power as a supervisory corrections officer by brutally assaulting a person in his custody,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Officers who willfully use excessive force in our jails and prisons not only violate the Constitution, they erode the public trust in law enforcement. The Justice Department is committed to prosecuting these abuses of power and upholding the Constitutional rights that protect us all.”

“All persons, including prison inmates, are guaranteed under the Constitution the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment,” said U.S. Attorney Mark H. Wildasin for the Middle District of Tennessee. “I commend our partners at the FBI and the prosecution team for their diligent work in bringing this case and ensuring accountability for the unlawful actions of a prison guard.”

“When a correctional officer violates the civil rights of an inmate whose safety he is charged with, it undermines the respect and reputation of all law enforcement officers," said Special Agent in Charge Douglas Korneski of the FBI Memphis Field Office. “The FBI will vigorously investigate and bring to justice any law enforcement officer who violates the constitution and the trust of the people."

Sentencing is scheduled for August 17. Lister faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, as well as a maximum of three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

The case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda J. Klopf for the Middle District of Tennessee and Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Michael J. Songer.

A former Managing Director of The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (Goldman Sachs) was convicted today by a federal jury in the Eastern District of New York for conspiring to commit bribery, to circumvent internal accounting controls, and to commit money laundering in connection with a multibillion-dollar scheme involving Malaysia’s state-owned investment and development fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). 

“Roger Ng participated in a massive bribery and money laundering scheme involving the corruption of high-level foreign officials in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This trial demonstrates the commitment by the Department of Justice to prosecute and hold accountable individuals who engage in corruption and use our financial system to launder funds related to their illicit schemes. We will continue to pursue criminal wrongdoers and will seek to bring them to justice, wherever they are, deprive them of their ill-gotten gains, and, wherever possible, return corrupt proceeds to those harmed by corruption — as we have throughout our longstanding investigation into the 1MDB scheme.”

Following an eight-week trial, Ng Chong Hwa, aka Roger Ng, of Malaysia, was found guilty of conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by paying bribes to a dozen foreign officials in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, conspiring to violate the FCPA by circumventing the internal accounting controls of Goldman Sachs, and conspiring to launder billions of dollars related to the scheme.

“Today’s verdict is a resounding victory for justice and for the people of Malaysia who are the victims of this massive scheme carried out in a frenzy of greed by the defendant and his co-conspirators to get rich by stealing millions of dollars from the 1MDB fund intended to benefit that country’s economy,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. “The Department of Justice and this office are committed to addressing corporate culture by vigorously combating white-collar crime and holding corrupt individuals accountable for violating U.S. laws here and abroad in order to enrich themselves.”

“The FBI and our domestic and international law enforcement partners maintain an unwavering commitment to combating international corruption,” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “This conviction serves a reminder that the FBI will always hold accountable those who abuse the U.S. financial system to further their corrupt schemes, as well as the persons and companies that enable them.”

“Today’s conviction of Roger Ng demonstrates the cooperation of law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies around the world to combat foreign corruption,” said Special Agent in Charge Ryan L. Korner of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Los Angeles Field Office. “Roger Ng and his co-conspirators enriched themselves while depriving the citizens of Malaysia of billions of dollars that were supposed to be invested on their behalf. The Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation is proud to stand with our law enforcement partners in the United States and around the world who participated in this most significant investigation.”

1MDB is a Malaysian state-owned and controlled fund created to pursue investment and development projects for the economic benefit of Malaysia and its people. 

Ng was employed as a Managing Director by various subsidiaries of Goldman Sachs and acted as an agent and employee of Goldman Sachs from approximately 2005 to May 2014, and was also a stockholder of Goldman Sachs. 

According to evidence presented at trial, between approximately 2009 and 2014, Ng and his co-conspirators laundered billions of dollars misappropriated and fraudulently diverted from 1MDB, including funds 1MDB raised in 2012 and 2013 through three bond transactions it executed with Goldman Sachs, known as “Project Magnolia,” “Project Maximus” and “Project Catalyze.” As part of the scheme, Ng and others, including Tim Leissner, the former Southeast Asia Chairman and participating managing director of Goldman Sachs, conspired to and did pay more than $1 billion in bribes to 12 government officials in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates to obtain and retain lucrative business for Goldman Sachs, including the 2012 and 2013 bond deals. They also conspired to and did launder the proceeds of their criminal conduct through the U.S. financial system, including funding major Hollywood films such as “The Wolf of Wall Street” and purchasing, among other things, a $51 million Jean-Michael Basquiat painting from New York-based Christie’s auction house, a $23 million diamond necklace from a New York jeweler, millions of dollars in Hermès handbags from a dealer based on Long Island, and a luxury real estate property in Manhattan.

Ng and his co-conspirators, including co-defendant Low Taek Jho, aka Jho Low, a wealthy Malaysian socialite, used Low’s close relationships with high-ranking government officials in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates to obtain and retain business for Goldman Sachs through the promise and payment of hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes. In the course of executing the scheme, Ng conspired with others at Goldman Sachs to and did circumvent the investment bank’s internal accounting controls. Through its work for 1MDB during that time, Goldman Sachs received approximately $600 million in fees and revenues, while Ng received $35 million for his role in the bribery and money laundering scheme. In total, Ng and the other co-conspirators misappropriated more than $2.7 billion from 1MDB. 

Low remains a fugitive. In August 2018, Leissner pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder money and conspiring to violate the FCPA by both paying bribes to various Malaysian and United Arab Emirates officials and circumventing the internal accounting controls of Goldman Sachs. Leissner agreed to forfeit $43 million and shares of stock valued at more than $200 million, and is awaiting sentencing.

In October 2020, Goldman Sachs and Goldman Sachs (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. (GS Malaysia), its Malaysian subsidiary, admitted to conspiring to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA in connection with the scheme. Goldman Sachs entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS), and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. GS Malaysia pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Goldman Sachs paid more than $2.9 billion as part of a coordinated resolution with criminal and civil authorities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and elsewhere.

The investigation was jointly conducted by the FBI’s International Corruption Unit and IRS-Criminal Investigation. The government’s criminal case is being handled by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, MLARS, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. Co-Principal Deputy Chief Brent Wible of the Fraud Section, Bank Integrity Unit Chief Jennifer E. Ambuehl of MLARS, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alixandra E. Smith, Drew G. Rolle, and Dylan Stern of the Eastern District of New York are prosecuting the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided critical assistance. 

The department appreciates the significant assistance provided by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, including the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; the Government of Malaysia, including the Attorney General’s Chambers of Malaysia, the Royal Malaysia Police and NCB Interpol Malaysia; the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority; the United Kingdom Prudential Regulation Authority; the United Kingdom National Crime Agency (NCA); the Attorney General's Chambers of the Territory of the British Virgin Islands; the Attorney General’s Office of the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Guernsey Economic Crime Division; the International Anti-Corruption Coordinate Centre; the Attorney General’s Chambers of Singapore; the Singapore Police Force - Commercial Affairs Division; the Monetary Authority of Singapore; the Office of the Attorney General and the Federal Office of Justice of Switzerland; the judicial investigating authority of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Criminal Investigation Department of the Grand-Ducal Police of Luxembourg; and the Ministry of Justice of France.

The Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting FCPA matters. Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.

The Bank Integrity Unit in MLARS investigates and prosecutes complex, multi-district, and international criminal cases involving financial institutions. The unit’s prosecutions focus on banks and other financial institutions, including their officers, managers, and employees, whose actions threaten the integrity of the individual institution or the wider financial system.

Note: Click to view a video statement from AAG Polite.

The Justice Department announced that Ulysses Oliver Jr., 47, a former Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) Sergeant, was sentenced in federal court to this morning to 30 months of imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Oliver previously pleaded guilty to assaulting two inmates at ADOC’s Elmore Correctional Facility.

According to court documents, on Feb. 16, 2019, Oliver went to an observation room holding the two inmate victims, who were handcuffed and sitting quietly. Oliver pulled the first victim from the observation room into an adjacent hallway, where he struck the victim multiple times with his fists and feet, and then used his collapsible baton to strike the victim approximately 19 times. After assaulting the first victim, Oliver returned to the observation room and pulled the second victim into the hallway. Oliver kicked the second victim and used his baton to strike the victim approximately 10 times. During the assaults, the victims were handcuffed behind their backs, did not resist and posed no threat. Afterward, Oliver returned to the observation room where the victims were being held and shoved the tip of his baton into the face of one of the victims, lacerating the victim’s face. Oliver assaulted the victims as punishment because he believed that the victims had brought contraband into the facility. Oliver assaulted the victims in the presence of, or within earshot of, other ADOC correctional officers, who did not intervene to prevent the assaults.   

Two other former corrections officers have pleaded guilty in connection with this incident, and a third was convicted at trial. Former ADOC correctional officers Bryanna Mosley and Leon Williams pleaded guilty in May and July 2019, respectively, to failing to intervene to stop the assaults. Another officer, former ADOC correctional lieutenant Willie Burks, who was the shift commander during the Feb. 16, 2019 incident, was convicted by a federal jury on July 21, 2021, of failing to intervene to stop Oliver from assaulting the second inmate.

“The Constitution forbids cruel and unusual punishment, which includes malicious uses of force by correctional officers,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice will hold to account officers who brutalize incarcerated persons.”

“The actions of Mr. Oliver and his co-defendants run completely counter to the responsibilities and trust given to correctional officers,” said U.S. Attorney Sandra J. Stewart for the Middle District of Alabama. “Oliver knew that the use of force in this case was unnecessary and excessive, and so did the other officers involved. While I fully support the difficult and dangerous jobs that these officers undertake each day, my office remains committed to holding those that ignore their oaths accountable.”

"Corrections officers are expected to safeguard the civil rights of prisoners,” said Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown for the FBI’s Mobile Field Office. “These officers ignored their duties and must be held to account for their actions. The FBI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate violations of people’s civil rights."

“The ADOC has zero tolerance for violence within its facilities, including excessive use-of-force by staff,” said Chief Law Enforcement Officer Arnaldo Mercado of the Alabama Department of Corrections Law Enforcement Services Division. “Excessive use-of-force is not acceptable under any circumstances, and preventing these incidents is a high priority for the department. When an allegation of excessive force is made, or an incident of such nature is reported or discovered, the department conducts a thorough investigation. Employees who are found to have violated the highest standards of law enforcement, to which the ADOC is steadfastly committed, will be referred for prosecution and the LESD will support prosecution to the full extent of the law.”

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Mobile Division and ADOC’s Law Enforcement Services Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Counts for the Middle District of Alabama and Trial Attorney David Reese of the Civil Rights Division prosecuted the case.

A Texas woman was sentenced today to 70 months in prison for her scheme to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of over $1.9 million in loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Lola Shalewa Barbara Kasali, 24, of Houston, submitted two fraudulent loan applications to two different lenders on behalf of her companies, Lola’s Level and Charm Hair Extensions. Through these loan applications, Kasali sought over $3.8 million in PPP loan funds. Kasali falsely represented the number of employees and payroll expenses in each of the PPP loan applications. To support these applications, Kasali also submitted fraudulent tax records. Kasali ultimately received over $1.9 million in PPP loan funds. The Justice Department, along with its law enforcement partners, seized the funds that Kasali fraudulently obtained.

A federal jury in Houston found Kasali guilty of two counts of bank fraud and two counts of making false statements to a financial institution on Dec. 8, 2021.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Jennifer Lowery for the Southern District of Texas; Special Agent in Charge Catherine Huber of the Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG) – Central Region; Special Agent in Charge Sharon Johnson of the SBA Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG) – Central Region; and Acting Inspector in Charge Dana Carter of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service – Houston Division made the announcement.

FHFA-OIG, SBA-OIG, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case.

Assistant Chief Jonathan Robell of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Trial Attorney Matthew Grisier of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Forfeiture Section are prosecuting the case, with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim McAlister for the Southern District of Texas.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s prosecution of fraud schemes that exploit the PPP. Since the inception of the CARES Act, the Fraud Section has prosecuted over 150 defendants in more than 95 criminal cases and has seized over $75 million in cash proceeds derived from fraudulently obtained PPP funds, as well as numerous real estate properties and luxury items purchased with such proceeds. More information can be found at https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/ppp-fraud.

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

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

A federal court in the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, has permanently enjoined two tax return preparers doing business in Lawrenceville, Georgia, from preparing federal income tax returns for others. 

According to the court’s April 5 order, Ramon Maduro and Blanca Dalila Elvir Alvarenga, individually and doing business as Maduro Tax Services Corp. and Maduro Global Service Firm Inc., prepared and filed numerous false tax returns that understated the tax their customers owe and improperly claimed tax refunds to which they were not entitled. The court found that defendants (1) misidentified the person preparing tax returns; (2) manipulated head of household filing status selections; (3) claimed ineligible dependents on tax returns to manipulate filing statuses, generate false Child Tax Credits and Additional Child Tax Credits and produce artificially inflated Earned Income Tax Credits; (4) included false information on Schedule C of Forms 1040; (5) manipulated income to generate false or inflated credits; and (6) misrepresented their due diligence efforts to determine customer eligibility for the credits they claimed. The court further found that the defendants engaged in this conduct on a continued and repeated basis and absent an injunction, the United States is highly likely to face irreparable injury as a result of this ongoing practice.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.

Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’ Dirty Dozen Tax Scams and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. (More information can also be found here.) The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax preparer, has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers, and offers information on how to avoid “ghost” tax preparers, whose refusal to sign a return should be a red flag to taxpayers. The IRS also has a checklist of things to remember when filing income tax returns in 2022.

In addition, IRS Free File, a public-private partnership, offers free online tax preparation and filing options on IRS partner websites for individuals whose adjusted gross income is under $73,000. For individuals whose income is over that threshold, IRS Free File offers electronical federal tax forms that can be filled out and filed online for free. The IRS has tips on how seniors and individuals with low to moderate income can get other help or guidance on tax return preparation, too.

In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.

A former Congressional staffer pleaded guilty today to theft of public funds in connection with his scheme to fraudulently inflate his salary and bonus payments, thereby paying himself more than he was legitimately owed. 

According to court documents, Sterling Carter, 24, of Glenwood, Georgia, was employed as the Director of Operations by a Member of Congress. In that position, Carter was responsible for managing the office’s budget and processing payroll and bonus payments for all employees in the office. Between November 2019 and January 2021, Carter submitted fraudulent paperwork which purported to authorize a higher salary and bonus payments for himself. Carter concealed this theft from the Congressperson and the office’s Chief of Staff by falsely representing, in both communications and a budget spreadsheet, that he was only being paid what he was legitimately owed. In total, Carter received $79,491.67 in unauthorized salary and bonus payments.  

Carter pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to theft of public funds. Carter will be sentenced on July 28 and faces up to 10 years in prison. 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, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia; and Assistant Director in Charge Steven M. D’Antuono of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI investigated this matter. Trial Attorneys Nicole Lockhart and Jordan Dickson of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and the Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia are prosecuting the case.

An Oklahoma woman pleaded guilty today in the Western District of New York for a scheme to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of over $43.8 million in COVID-19 relief loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

According to court documents, Amanda J. Gloria, 45, of Altus, admitted that she conspired to submit at least 153 fraudulent PPP applications seeking a total of approximately $43.8 million on behalf of at least 111 entities between approximately May 2020 and June 2021. Gloria admitted that she falsified or aided and assisted with falsifying various information on these loan applications, including the number of employees, payroll expenses and documentation, and federal tax filings. Gloria then submitted or aided and assisted with the submission of the fraudulent PPP applications to financial institutions. In total, the recipient entities unlawfully obtained approximately $32.5 million in PPP funds. From those fraudulently obtained funds, Gloria personally received at least approximately $1.7 million.

Gloria also admitted that she conspired with Adam D. Arena to submit a fraudulent PPP loan application seeking approximately $954,000 for ADA Auto Group LLC, a previously inactive Florida-based business owned and controlled by Arena. After fraudulently obtaining the PPP loan, Gloria directed Arena to launder the proceeds, including by transferring nearly $25,000 to a bank account held in the name of WildWest Trucking LLC, an Oklahoma-based business owned and controlled by Gloria. Gloria also admitted that she submitted and fraudulently obtained a separate PPP loan for WildWest Trucking LLC for approximately $421,000. Arena pleaded guilty in November 2021 to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of engaging in a monetary transaction with criminally derived proceeds in a related case.

Gloria is scheduled to be sentenced on July 20 and faces up to 30 years in prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and up to 10 years in prison for money laundering. A federal district 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; U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross for the Western District of New York; Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; Special Agent in Charge Stephen Belongia of the FBI’s Buffalo Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Thomas Fattorusso of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS‑CI) made the announcement.

The FBI and IRS-CI are investigating the case.

Assistant Chief Cory E. Jacobs and Trial Attorney Jennifer Bilinkas of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura A. Higgins for the Western District of New York are prosecuting the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s prosecution of fraud schemes that exploit the PPP. Since the inception of the CARES Act, the Fraud Section has prosecuted over 150 defendants in more than 95 criminal cases and has seized over $75 million in cash proceeds derived from fraudulently obtained PPP funds, as well as numerous real estate properties and luxury items purchased with such proceeds. More information can be found at https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/ppp-fraud.

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

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866‑720‑5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

Attorney General Garland this afternoon tested positive for COVID-19 through antigen tests. He asked to be tested after learning that he may have been exposed to the virus. At the time, he is not experiencing symptoms. The Attorney General is fully vaccinated and boosted.

In accordance with CDC guidelines, the Attorney General will isolate at home for at least five days. He will work virtually during this period and will return to the office following a negative test for the virus. The department will conduct contact tracing in accordance with CDC protocols.

A California-licensed naturopathic doctor pleaded guilty today in the Northern District of California for scheming to sell homeoprophylaxis immunization pellets and for falsifying COVID-19 vaccination cards by making it appear that customers had received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-authorized Moderna vaccine.

“This doctor violated the public’s trust and reliance on health care professionals – during a time when integrity was needed most,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Instead of providing sage information and guidance, Mazi profited from peddling unapproved remedies, stirring up false fears, and generating fake proof of vaccinations. The Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners are committed to protecting the American people during this national emergency, including protecting trust in the medical developments allowing us to emerge from the pandemic.”

According to court documents, in April 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) received a complaint from a member of the public that Juli A. Mazi, 41, of Napa, was offering homeoprophylaxis immunization pellets which she claimed would provide lifelong protection from COVID-19. Mazi also provided fake CDC COVID-19 vaccination record cards with instructions on how to complete the cards to make them falsely appear to be records of the FDA-authorized Moderna vaccine. The investigation revealed that Mazi provided fake CDC COVID-19 vaccination cards for more than 200 individuals.

According to court documents, Mazi also offered homeoprophylaxis immunization pellets in place of childhood vaccinations required for attendance at school. Mazi provided her patients with deceptive “immunization” cards which she knew would be submitted to schools, and which fraudulently indicated that authorized vaccines had been administered. The investigation revealed that Mazi provided these fake immunization cards to more than 100 individuals.

“Juli Mazi has admitted that she engaged in a scheme to sell fake health care records to her customers,” said U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hinds for the Northern District of California. “Mazi made profits by selling false immunization cards she knew would be used to mislead schools into believing students had been immunized from childhood illnesses as required by law. Mazi also sold fake COVID-19 Vaccination Record Cards suggesting she administered the Moderna vaccine to her customers when, in fact, she had not. Mazi’s fake health care records scheme endangered the health and well-being of students and the general public at a time when confidence in our public health system is of critical importance.”

“During a time when the public has been heavily reliant on our medical professionals for advice and guidance, Mazi has brazenly violated the trust of the public by instilling fear and spreading misinformation surrounding COVID-19 immunizations and treatments,” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “There is no place for fraudulent activity, and the FBI will continue to investigate and pursue those who abuse their positions of authority to try and profit in this criminal manner.”

“By falsifying vaccine cards, providers not only undermine important measures to address the ongoing public health emergency; they can also endanger the health of their patients and the public,” said Special Agent in Charge Steven Ryan of HHS-OIG. “HHS-OIG is proud to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that all health care providers who misuse their medical professional status for financial gain are held accountable.”

Mazi pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of making false statements related to health care matters. She is scheduled to be sentenced on July 29. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

HHS-OIG’s San Francisco Regional Office and the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office are investigating the case. 

Trial Attorney Sridhar Babu Kaza of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section’s National Rapid Response Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Lloyd-Lovett for the Northern District of California are prosecuting the case.

The case was brought in coordination with the Health Care Fraud Unit’s COVID-19 Interagency Working Group, which is chaired by the National Rapid Response Strike Force and organizes efforts to address illegal activity involving health care programs during the pandemic.

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 collectively have billed the Medicare program for more than $19 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

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

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

The Fraud Section uses the Victim Notification System (VNS) to provide victims with case information and updates related to this case. Victims with questions may contact the Fraud Section’s Victim Assistance Unit by calling the Victim Assistance phone line at 1-888-549-3945 or by emailing Victimassistance.fraud@usdoj.gov. To learn more about victims’ rights, please visit: https://www.justice.gov/criminal-vns/victim-rights-derechos-de-las-v-ctimas.  

The Department of Justice urges taxpayers to choose their return preparers wisely as the April 18th federal tax filing deadline approaches. Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’ Dirty Dozen Tax Scams. Unscrupulous preparers who include errors or false information on a tax return could leave a taxpayer open to liability for unpaid taxes, penalties and interest.

“Taxpayers are responsible for what is on their return, even when it is prepared by someone else,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “If your preparer asks you to sign a blank return, will not let you review your return before filing it, or is depositing your refund in a way that is not clear to you, consult the IRS’s website to make sure you are not exposing yourself to trouble.”

“Tax preparers contemplating filing false returns for their clients should know that our criminal prosecutors are prepared for the filing season too,” said Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “As the division’s work this past year reflects, we have the expertise and resources to identify and hold preparers fully accountable for their criminal conduct.”

Over the last year, the Tax Division has worked with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices around the country to bring civil and criminal actions against dishonest tax preparers, seeking civil injunctions to stop ongoing fraud, civil penalties or disgorgement of ill-gotten proceeds, and criminal penalties. The department’s message has been clear: those who prepare fraudulent returns will face serious and lasting consequences.

Examples of civil injunctions obtained by the Tax Division over the last year include:

• On Feb. 15, 2022, a federal district court in the Northern District of Illinois permanently barred Melissa Gasca individually and doing business as Su Familia Income Tax, as well as FinancialPlus Services Inc., from preparing returns for others and from owning or operating a tax return preparation business in the future. The court also ordered defendants to disgorge approximately $30,000.
• On Oct. 5, 2021, a federal district court in the Western District of Michigan, permanently barred Stanley Meyer (dba I-Tax Services) and Rosa Linda Meyer (dba Su Casa Income Tax Service), husband and wife, from preparing returns for others and from owning, operating or franchising any tax return preparation business in the future.
• On May 13, 2021, a federal district court in the Northern District of Mississippi permanently barred Kathy Moton and K & M Tax Essentials LLC from preparing returns for others and from owning, operating or franchising any tax return preparation business in the future. The court order also required defendants to send notice of the injunction to each person for whom they prepared federal tax returns, other tax forms or claims for refund after Jan. 1, 2018, and to publicize the injunction for one year on all social media that defendants earlier used to advertise their services.

The Tax Division has also sought to strip fraudulent preparers of ill-gotten gains and to hold in contempt those who attempt to flout court-ordered restraints on further fraudulent activity. Over the last year, the division has brought these cases to court, including:

• On Feb. 3, 2022, a federal court in the Southern District of Florida permanently barred Wendell Devallon, Berald Dominique and their business, Tax Time Group Inc., from preparing federal income tax returns in the future. The court also ordered defendants to disgorge $353,000 to the United States. The disgorgement amount was based on defendants’ misconduct before the government sued as well as their violations of a preliminary injunction entered in January 2021 while the suit was ongoing.
• On Nov. 10, 2021, a federal court in the Southern District of Texas required Levett Camarena to disgorge $40,000 earned in violation of the October 2017 order that permanently barred her from preparing returns for others, advising in the preparation of those returns and representing customers before the IRS.
• On Sept. 29, 2021, a federal court in the Southern District of Florida required Milagros Espinal to pay $400,000 as a contempt sanction for violating the court’s February 2011 order that permanently barred Espinal from acting as a return preparer. In ordering the sanctions, the court found that Espinal continued to prepare returns despite being barred from doing so and, furthermore, that the returns she prepared contained fraudulent claims. The sanctions were calculated to compensate the U.S. Treasury for the harm Espinal caused, to strip Espinal of ill-gotten fees obtained in violation of the court’s earlier ban, and to reimburse the costs the United States incurred to investigate and prosecute her contempt.

Criminal convictions against fraudulent preparers obtained by the Tax Division over the last year include:

• On March 22, 2022, Fred Pickett Jr., of Belle Glade, Florida, was sentenced to 97 months in prison after being convicted at trial of 22 counts of preparing false tax returns for his clients. According to evidence presented at trial, Pickett prepared tax returns for some of his clients claiming they owned fictitious businesses that lost tens of thousands of dollars each year. Pickett included these nonexistent companies, as well as other false deductions and tax credits, on his clients’ returns to generate refunds they were not entitled to receive. Pickett had already been permanently barred in October 2017 from further work as a tax return preparer.
• On Feb. 8, 2022, Adrienne Williams, of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, was sentenced to 50 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States. According to court documents and statements made in court, between 2009 and 2017, Williams and at least two employees at Ultimate Tax Service, a tax return preparation service she owned and operated, prepared false tax returns for clients. The returns claimed fraudulent refunds by including, among other falsities, bogus federal income tax withholdings. In all, Williams and her co-conspirators sought to defraud the IRS of more than $3.5 million.
• On May 7, 2021, Karen Marie Jones, of Durham, North Carolina, was sentenced to 22 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States. According to court documents and statements made in court, from 2012 through 2017, Jones and two other return preparers who worked at the tax return preparation business she owned conspired to prepare false returns for clients. The returns fraudulently lowered the clients’ tax liabilities or inflated their refunds by claiming false education credits or dependents or by manipulating the clients’ income to qualify for larger earned income tax credits. Under the scheme, some clients were charged up to $3,000 for preparing returns. Based on an analysis of the falsely claimed education credits, the tax loss is approximately $1.2 million.

The Tax Division reminds taxpayers that the IRS has information and tips on its site, see here and here, for choosing a tax preparer, has launched a free directory of credentialed federal tax preparers, and offers information on how to avoid “ghost” tax preparers, whose refusal to sign a return should be a red flag to taxpayers. The IRS also has a checklist of things to remember when filing income tax returns for tax year 2021.

In addition, IRS Free File, a public-private partnership, offers free online tax preparation and filing options on IRS partner websites for individuals whose adjusted gross income is under $73,000. For individuals whose income is over that threshold, IRS Free File offers electronical federal tax forms that can be filled out and filed online for free. The IRS has tips on how seniors and individuals with low to moderate income can get other help or guidance on tax return preparation, too.

In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.

A Florida man was sentenced today in the Southern District of Florida to 200 months in prison for illegally distributing opioids at his pain management clinic in Miami, Florida.

According to court documents, Habib Geagea Palacios, 40, of Miami, owned General Care Center Inc., a cash-only pain management clinic in Miami. At General Care, Palacios paid doctors to prescribe opioids to nearly all patients who visited the clinic, resulting in the illegal distribution of more than three million oxycodone pills and generating $9 million in cash. Seven doctors who worked at General Care have been charged in connection with their unlawful prescribing practices at the clinic, and six have pleaded guilty to date.    

Palacios pleaded guilty on Nov. 9, 2021, to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and one count of distributing a controlled substance. In addition to the term of imprisonment, Palacios was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release. 

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez of the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Omar Pérez Aybar of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Miami Regional Office; Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Deanne Reuter of the DEA’s Miami Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Brian Swain of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

The HHS-OIG, FBI, DEA, and USSS are investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Alexander Thor Pogozelski of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin J. Larsen for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.

On April 5 and 6, in Mexico City, Mexico, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico hosted a collaborative Regional Smuggling Forum and Roundtable event to promote the Bicentennial Agreement. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)’s Office of Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) led the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL)-funded workshop to bring together human smuggling investigators and prosecutors from El Salvador, Honduras, and the United States; investigators from Guatemala; and prosecutors from Mexico. During this event, in which Deputy Chief of Mission Stephanie Syptak-Ramnath delivered opening remarks, participants shared best practices, discussed recent trends and obstacles, and coordinated strategies during roundtable discussions. This forum was designed to increase successful collaborations between regional partners in combating transnational human smuggling organizations.   

The region is currently experiencing historic irregular migration flows, which are in part the result of the exploitation of migrants by transnational criminal organizations. The criminal organizations and the smugglers they employ utilize increasingly dangerous means to avoid detection and apprehension placing exploited migrants at significant risk. These networks begin their operation in Central American countries, operate through Mexico and up into the United States. Many of these same migrants find themselves victims of sex trafficking, forced labor, and other exploitative schemes during or shortly following their journeys. 

“This innovative forum in Mexico City helps ensure that the United States and our international partners are positioned to develop joint strategies and best practices to counter transnational human smuggling organizations,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The partnership between the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and State is crucial to disrupting, dismantling, and prosecuting trafficking networks that exploit migrants, enrich organized crime, and pose a threat to national security.”

Reducing current migration flows is amongst the highest priorities for the Biden administration.

“This two-day regional event in Mexico City helps ensure that the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are able to partner together to develop joint strategies and best practices to counter these dangerous transnational human smuggling organizations,” said U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar. “We are stronger when we work together.”

This collaborative event brought together U.S. federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Mexico, Guatemala and Washington D.C.; U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Mexico, Guatemala, and Washington D.C.; and resident legal advisors of the U.S. Department of Justice’s OPDAT Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. The forum also included partners from Mexico Attorney General’s Office’s “Fiscalía General de la República” (FGR) Mexico’s Unidad de Investigación de Delitos para Migrantes (IUIDPM) and FEMDO’s Unidad Especializada en Investigación de Tráfico de Menores, Personas y Órganos (UEITMPO), as well as prosecutors specializing in human smuggling cases from El Salvador and Honduras, and investigators from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate on a high impact crime that affects so many citizens of our countries,” said Director Alfredo Higuera Bernal of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office on Organized Crime (SEIDO) in Mexico. “It is clear that we have to continue working together to achieve more successes like the ones we have already reached.”

Prosecutors and law enforcement agents from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), a DOJ-U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) anti-human smuggling international joint task force, attended and participated. JTFA, established by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in June 2021, was created to enhance U.S. enforcement efforts against the most prolific human smuggling and trafficking networks operating in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. JTFA partners with OPDAT to fulfill their joint mandate to strengthen the capacity of Central American and Mexican counterparts to prosecute human smuggling networks in their own courts. 

This strategy session event served as an opportunity to increase case cooperation to collaboratively work cases and ultimately dismantle human smuggling networks. This event strengthened communication amongst U.S., Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to fulfill the goals of the Bicentennial Agreement.  

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5 y 6 de abril de 2022, en la Ciudad de México, México, la Embajada de los Estados Unidos en dicho país organizó un foro regional colaborativo y una mesa redonda para promover los objetivos establecidos en el Marco Bicentenario de Seguridad entre ambos países. La Oficina Internacional para el Desarrollo de Sistemas de Procuración de Justicia (OPDAT) del Departamento de Justicia (DOJ) encabezó el taller financiado por la Oficina de Asuntos Internacionales de Narcóticos y Aplicación de la Ley (INL) del Departamento de Estado, a través del cual se reunieron investigadores y fiscales especializados en el tráfico de personas de El Salvador, Honduras y los Estados Unidos; investigadores de Guatemala; y fiscales de México. La jefa de Misión Adjunta, Stephanie Syptak-Ramnath, dio un mensaje de apertura y reconoció la importancia de la cooperación regional para acabar con las redes del tráfico de personas. Los participantes compartieron las mejores prácticas, abordaron las tendencias y obstáculos recientes, y promovieron la coordinaron regional durante el diálogo que se generó en la mesa redonda. El objetivo del evento fue aumentar las colaboraciones exitosas entre los socios regionales en la lucha contra las organizaciones transnacionales de tráfico de personas.  

La región vive actualmente flujos históricos de migración irregular, que, entre otras razones, son el resultado de las altas ganancias que surgen de la explotación de los migrantes por parte de organizaciones criminales transnacionales. Esto puede constatarse en los últimos años a través de los múltiples casos en los que se ha puesto en peligro a los migrantes, teniendo como resultado la pérdida de vidas, principalmente en México y en los Estados Unidos, en donde los traficantes cada vez utilizan medios más peligrosos para evitar su detección y aprehensión. Estas redes comienzan su operación en países centroamericanos y operan en México con la meta de llegar a los Estados Unidos. Muchos de estos migrantes pueden ser víctimas de tráfico sexual, trabajo forzado y otros esquemas de explotación durante sus viajes o poco después de éstos.

“Este foro innovador en la Ciudad de México ayuda a garantizar que los Estados Unidos y nuestros socios internacionales estén posicionados para desarrollar estrategias conjuntas y mejores prácticas para contrarrestar a las organizaciones transnacionales de tráfico de personas,” dijo el fiscal general adjunto Kenneth A. Polite Jr. de la División Criminal del Departamento de Justicia. “La alianza entre los Departamentos de Justicia, Seguridad Nacional y Estado, es crucial para interrumpir y desmantelar las redes de tráfico, así como para enjuiciar a quienes explotan a los migrantes, enriquecen el crimen organizado y representan una amenaza para la seguridad nacional.”

Reducir los flujos migratorios actuales es una de las prioridades más altas para la Administración Biden.

“Este evento regional de dos días en la Ciudad de México es histórico y ayuda a garantizar que los Estados Unidos, México, Guatemala, Honduras y El Salvador puedan trabajar juntos para desarrollar estrategias compartidas y replicar las mejores prácticas para cortar las redes de estas peligrosas organizaciones transnacionales de tráfico de personas que lucran con el dolor y la necesidad de la gente,” dijo el embajador de Estados Unidos en México, Ken Salazar. “Somos más fuertes cuando trabajamos juntos.”

Gracias a este evento colaborativo se reunieron agentes federales estadounidenses de Investigaciones de Seguridad Nacional (HSI) en México, Guatemala y Washington D.C.; Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza de los Estados Unidos (CBP) México y Washington D.C.; y Asesores Legales Residentes de la OPDAT del Departamento de Justicia de los Estados Unidos en México, Guatemala, Honduras y El Salvador. El foro también incluyó a socios de la Fiscalía General de la República (FGR) de la Unidad de Investigación de Delitos para Migrantes (IUIDPM) de México y de la Unidad Especializada en Investigación de Tráfico de Menores, Personas y Órganos (UEITMPO) de La Fiscalía Especializada en Materia de Delincuencia Organizada (FEMDO), así como fiscales especializados en casos de tráfico de personas de El Salvador y Honduras, e investigadores de Guatemala, Honduras y El Salvador.

“Estamos agradecidos por esta oportunidad de colaborar sobre un crimen de alto impacto que afecta a miles de personas en nuestros países,” dijo Alfredo Higuera Bernal, Fiscal Especializado en la Materia de Delincuencia Organizado (FEMDO). “Es evidente que tenemos que seguir trabajando juntos para lograr más éxitos como los que hemos alcanzado.”

A su vez, participaron fiscales y agentes de la ley de la Fuerza de Tarea Conjunta Alpha (JTFA) del Departamento de Justicia de los Estados Unidos, una fuerza de tarea conjunta internacional contra el contrabando de personas del Departamento de Justicia y el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de los Estados Unidos (DHS). La JTFA, establecida por el fiscal general Merrick B. Garland en junio del año 2021, se creó para mejorar los esfuerzos de aplicación de la ley en los Estados Unidos contra las redes de tráfico y trata de personas más prolíficas que operan en México, Guatemala, El Salvador y Honduras. La JTFA trabaja con la OPDAT para cumplir con su mandato conjunto de fortalecer la capacidad de sus contrapartes centroamericanas y mexicanas para procesar a las redes de tráfico de personas en sus propios tribunales.

El evento estratégico sirvió como una oportunidad para aumentar la cooperación y trabajar en colaboración en los casos y, en última instancia, desmantelar las redes de tráfico de personas. Este evento fortaleció la comunicación entre los Estados Unidos, México, Guatemala, Honduras y El Salvador para cumplir con las metas del Acuerdo del Bicentenario.

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Two New York residents were sentenced for selling and conspiring to transfer false identification documents on the darknet marketplaces AlphaBay Market and Dream Market. According to court documents, from at least from May 2015 until October 2017, defendants Andrea Alessandrini and Evan Hayes sold New York state driver’s licenses, fraudulent identity information for individuals (including fake social security numbers and birthdates), credit card holograms, and ATM skimmers on the darknet, all in exchange for cryptocurrency.

Yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California sentenced Evan Hayes, 28, of Buffalo, New York, to 18 months in prison, and on April 5, 2021, Alessandrini, 34, of Italy, was sentenced to 20 months in prison, for their roles in the charged identity fraud conspiracy. Alessandrini and Hayes pleaded guilty to the offenses on Nov. 16, 2020, and July 12, 2021, respectively.

According to court filings and statements made in connection with the defendants’ guilty pleas, Alessandrini created and operated the vendor account PlasticA on numerous darknet marketplaces, including AlphaBay Market and Dream Market. With his business partner, Hayes, Alessandrini sold over 300 fraudulent New York identity cards, four social security cards, 15 false birth certificates, 28 state identity card holograms, one ATM skimmer, and 410 “farmed” (i.e., stolen or fraudulently produced) identity packages to buyers in the Eastern District of California and elsewhere. Alessandrini operated the primary darknet accounts used to make these sales, while Hayes produced and mailed most of the fraudulent documents sold. On AlphaBay alone, Alessandrini and Hayes conducted between $250,000 and $400,000’s worth of transactions between May 2015 and October 2017.

In connection with the case, the United States seized evidence concerning the wide range of fraudulent identity documents created and sold to buyers throughout the United States, evidence which has been shared with a range of law enforcement agencies for use in additional investigations. Finally, the United States forfeited the proceeds of the offense conduct, which included approximately $134,881 in U.S. currency, 14.78 Bitcoins, 285 ounces of silver, four ounces of gold, and 22 prepaid Visa gift cards.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert for the Eastern District of California made the announcement.

The FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case.

Senior Counsel Louisa K. Marion of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Hemesath for the Eastern District of California prosecuted the case.

A North Dakota man, formerly the executive vice president of U.S. operations at a publicly traded Canadian oil-services company, was sentenced yesterday to three years in prison for perpetrating a scheme to fraudulently inflate the company’s reported revenue that resulted in shareholder losses in excess of $886 million. 

According to court documents, Joseph A. Kostelecky, 61, of Dickinson, engaged in a scheme to defraud while serving as the highest-ranking U.S. executive of Poseidon Concepts Corporation (Poseidon) from approximately November 2011 to December 2012. Kostelecky previously pleaded guilty on Oct. 13, 2021, admitting that, in his role, he caused Poseidon to falsely report approximately $100 million in revenue from purported long-term contracts with oil and natural gas companies that were Poseidon’s customers.

Kostelecky’s misconduct included fraudulently directing Poseidon’s accounting staff at the U.S. corporate headquarters in Denver, Colorado, as well as its field office in Dickinson, to record revenue from such contracts and then assuring management that the associated revenue was collectable, when he knew that the contracts either did not exist or that the associated revenue was not collectable. After Poseidon reported a partial write-down of uncollectable accounts in its financial statements, resulting in a drop in the company’s stock price, Kostelecky fraudulently caused the issuance of a public filing falsely reporting that he had purchased a substantial number of shares of the company when, in fact, he had made no such purchase. Kostelecky admitted that when the inflated revenue came to light at the end of 2012, Poseidon’s stock price plunged and the company was forced into bankruptcy, causing over $886 million in shareholder losses. Kostelecky further admitted that he perpetrated the scheme to inflate the value of the company’s stock price in order to enrich himself through the continued receipt of compensation and appreciation of his own stock and stock options.

In addition to the prison sentence, Kostelecky was ordered to pay approximately $406.2 million in restitution. 

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Criminal Investigations Group made the announcement.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service Criminal Investigation Group’s DOJ Mail Fraud Team investigated the case.

Assistant Deputy Chief Anna G. Kaminska and Trial Attorney Jason M. Covert of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of North Dakota provided valuable assistance.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has published guidance on how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects people with opioid use disorder (OUD) who are in treatment or recovery, including those who take medication to treat their OUD. The publication, “The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Opioid Crisis: Combating Discrimination Against People in Treatment or Recovery,” is intended to help people with OUD who are in treatment or recovery understand their rights under federal law and to provide guidance to entities covered by the ADA about how to comply with the law.

“The opioid epidemic continues to pose an extraordinary challenge to communities across our country, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this crisis,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “People who have stopped illegally using drugs should not face discrimination when accessing evidence-based treatment or continuing on their path of recovery. The Justice Department is committed to using federal civil rights laws such as the ADA to safeguard people with opioid use disorder from facing discriminatory barriers as they move forward with their lives.” 

The guidance document explains how the ADA protects people with OUD who are in treatment or recovery from discrimination in a number of settings, including employment, healthcare and participation in state or local government services and programs. The publication is part of the department’s comprehensive response to the opioid crisis, which promotes prevention, enforcement and treatment.

The Civil Rights Division, together with U.S. Attorneys’ offices, has been working to remove discriminatory barriers to recovery for individuals who have completed, or are participating in, treatment for OUD. Through outreach, technical assistance and enforcement under the ADA, the Civil Rights Division seeks to ensure that those in treatment and recovery can successfully participate in their communities and the workforce. For example:

• On March 25, the department issued a letter finding that the Indiana State Board of Nursing violated the ADA by denying a nurse the opportunity to participate in a substance use disorder rehabilitation program because she takes medication for OUD. The program is required for the individual to reinstate her nursing license.
• On March 24, the department into a Settlement Agreement with the Massachusetts Trial Court to resolve allegations that its drug court violated the ADA by discriminating against individuals with OUD.
• On March 17, the department entered into a Settlement Agreement with Ready to Work, a Colorado-based employment, residential and social services program for individuals experiencing homelessness, resolving allegations that the program denied admission to an individual because she takes medication for OUD.
• On Feb. 24, the department filed a lawsuit against the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania, alleging that it prohibits or otherwise limits participants in its court supervision programs from using medication to treat OUD.

For more information on the Civil Rights Division, please visit www.justice.gov/crt. For more information on the ADA, please call the department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (TDD 800-514-0383) or visit www.ada.gov. Individuals who believe that they may have been victims of disability discrimination may file a complaint at www.ada.gov/complaint.

A federal jury convicted a Texas husband and wife yesterday for a $1 million Medicare fraud scheme, including violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Lindell King, 52, and Ynedra Diggs, 44, both of Missouri City, were patient recruiters who owned and operated group homes in which Medicare beneficiaries lived. In exchange for sending their group home residents to Behavioral Medicine of Houston (BMH), a community mental health center that purported to provide partial hospitalization services, BMH paid Diggs, King, and other patient recruiters kickbacks in cash and by check, often concealed as payment for “transportation” or other sham services. Over the course of the conspiracy, BMH billed approximately $1 million to Medicare based on kickbacks paid to Diggs and King.

Both Diggs and King were convicted of a conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks, and several substantive violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute. Diggs and King are both scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 4. King faces up to 20 years in prison on all charges and Diggs faces up to 15 years in prison on all charges. 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; U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery of the Southern District of Texas; Special Agent in Charge Miranda Bennett of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Dallas Region; Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; Special Agent in Charge James H. Smith III of the FBI’s Houston Field Office; and Major William Marlowe of the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) made the announcement.

The HHS-OIG, FBI, and MFCU investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Monica Cooper and Brynn Schiess of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are 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 collectively have billed the Medicare program for more than $19 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

ESI Energy Inc. (ESI) was sentenced today in Cheyenne, Wyoming, for violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), announced Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Attorney L. Robert Murray for the District of Wyoming.

ESI is a wholly owned subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources LLC, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc. ESI owns other companies, many of which operate wind energy generation facilities throughout the United States, including in Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, North Dakota and Michigan, as well as other states.

ESI pled guilty to three counts of violating the MBTA, each based on the documented deaths of golden eagles due to blunt force trauma from being struck by a wind turbine blade at a particular facility in Wyoming or New Mexico, where ESI had not applied for the necessary permits. ESI further acknowledged that at least 150 bald and golden eagles have died in total since 2012, across 50 of its 154 wind energy facilities. 136 of those deaths have been affirmatively determined to be attributable to the eagle being struck by a wind turbine blade.

The court sentenced ESI, pursuant to a plea agreement, to a fine of $1,861,600, restitution in the amount of $6,210,991, and a five-year period of probation during which it must follow an Eagle Management Plan (EMP). The EMP requires implementation of up to $27 million (during the period of probation; more thereafter if a written extension is signed) of measures intended to minimize additional eagle deaths and injuries, and payment of compensatory mitigation for future eagle deaths and injuries of $29,623 per bald or golden eagle.  ESI also must over the next 36 months apply for permits for any unavoidable take of eagles at each of 50 of its facilities where take is documented or, in the case of four facilities not yet operational, predicted.

“The Justice Department will enforce the nation’s wildlife laws to promote Congress’s purposes, including ensuring sustainable populations of bald and golden eagles, and to promote fair competition for companies that comply,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “For more than a decade, ESI has violated those laws, taking eagles without obtaining or even seeking the necessary permit. We are pleased to see ESI now commit to seeking such permits and ultimately ceasing such violations.” 

“Wyoming is graced with abundant natural resources – including both eagles and strong winds,” said U.S. Attorney L. Robert Murray for the District of Wyoming. “The sentencing today shows our commitment to both maintaining and making sustainable use of our resources. It also ensures a level playing field for business in Wyoming and ensures those receiving federal tax credits are complying with federal law.”

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has a long history of working closely with the wind power industry to identify best practices in avoiding and minimizing the impacts of land-based wind energy facilities on wildlife, including eagles,” said Edward Grace, Assistant Director of the USFWS’ Office of Law Enforcement. “This agreement holds ESI and its affiliates accountable for years of unwillingness to work cooperatively with the Service and their blatant disregard of wildlife laws, and finally marks a path forward for the benefit of eagles and other wildlife resources entrusted to the Service’s stewardship.”         

“This prosecution and the restitution it secures will protect the ecologically vital and majestic natural resources of our bald eagle and golden eagle populations,” said U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert for the Eastern District of California. “California has been awarded more than $4.6 million in restitution under this plea agreement for the deaths of at least 92 eagles within the state caused by the defendant and affiliated companies.”

The MBTA prohibits the “taking” of migratory birds, including bald and golden eagles, without a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior. “Take” is defined by regulation to mean “to pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect” or to attempt to do so.

Bald and golden eagles are also protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (the Eagle Act) which, like the MBTA, prohibits killing and wounding eagles without a permit from USFWS. USFWS is authorized to issue such eagle take permits (ETPs) only where: (1) the predicted take is compatible with the preservation of bald and golden eagles; (2) it is necessary to protect an interest in a particular locality; (3) the take is associated with, but not the purpose of, the activity; and (4) the take could not practicably be avoided. Permit applicants are required to avoid and minimize take to the maximum extent practicable, and to pay compensatory mitigation for unavoidable takes.

According to documents filed in court, it is the government’s position that ESI’s conduct violated both the Eagle Act and the MBTA, but the government accepted the company’s guilty plea to only MBTA counts due in large part to ESI’s agreement to apply for permits at 50 facilities and its prior efforts to minimize and mitigate for eagle fatalities.

ESI’s and its affiliated companies’ actions in Wyoming and New Mexico were taken under an admitted nationwide posture and alleged corporate policy of not applying for ETPs.

According to the information filed in this case:

• ESI and its affiliates deliberately elected not to apply for or obtain any ETP intended to ensure the preservation of bald and golden eagles, and instead chose to construct and operate facilities it knew would take eagles, and in fact took eagles, without any permits authorizing that take.
• Because ESI did not seek any ETPs, it avoided any immediate federal obligation to avoid and minimize eagle take to the maximum degree practicable and to pay for compensatory mitigation for the eagle deaths.
• Because some other wind energy companies (1) altered proposed operations as required to avoid and minimize take levels to the maximum degree practicable, (2) applied for ETPs, (3) obtained ETPs that in some cases were impacted by take levels caused by ESI’s unpermitted facilities, and/or (4) paid mitigation for eagle takings, ESI, by not doing these things, gained a competitive advantage relative to those wind energy companies.
• ESI and its affiliates began commercial operations at new facilities on a schedule intended to meet, among other things, power purchase agreement commitments and qualifying deadlines for particular tax credit rates for renewable energy, and with production amounts not impacted by avoidance and minimization measures that might have been required under an eagle take permit. ESI and its affiliates received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal tax credits for generating electricity from wind power at facilities that it operated, knowing that multiple eagles would be killed and wounded without legal authorization, and without, in most instances, paying restitution or compensatory mitigation.

According to documents filed in court, between 2018 and 2019, ESI authorized subsidiary Cedar Springs Transmission LLC (CST) to develop a multi-facility commercial wind power project in Converse County, Wyoming, consisting of the Cedar Springs I, II and III wind power facilities (collectively, the project).

On March 28, 2019, USFWS informed the defendant, through a letter to its agents, that Cedar Springs I and II, based on CST’s consultant’s calculations, could result in the collision mortality of 44 golden eagles and 23 bald eagles over the first five years of operations, and recommended that, because of the unusually high number of occupied golden eagle nests, the proposed wind facilities not be built. USFWS further stated that, if the facilities were built, the company should apply for an ETP under the Eagle Act as soon as possible. The defendant continued the development of the Cedar Springs facilities.

On July 17, 2019, representatives of CST met with USFWS representatives. During that meeting, USFWS recommended that, consistent with the recommendation made by USFWS in February, the wind project not be constructed due to the risk of avian fatalities. USFWS also recommended that, if the wind project was built, the project should implement seasonal curtailment during daylight hours. The defendant did not implement the recommended curtailment.

Between Sept. 10 and Sept. 23, 2019, USFWS sent additional letters to the defendant’s agents, each noting that the defendant’s parent company had documented that the project was anticipated to kill eagles and recommending that the facilities apply for an ETP. USFWS reiterated for the third time its recommendation that a wind project should not be constructed in the proposed area for the Cedar Springs project.

On or about Sept 28, 2020, the defendant’s affiliates began some turbine operations at Cedar Springs II. Between approximately Nov 29, 2020, and Dec 1, 2020, two golden eagle carcasses were found near wind turbines at Cedar Springs II (after which it was sold).

On or about Dec. 6, 2020, the defendant authorized the commercial operation of Cedar Springs I to commence. Between April 2021 and January 2022, seven golden eagle carcasses were found near wind turbines at Cedar Springs I.

On or about Dec. 15, 2020, the defendant authorized the commercial operation of Cedar Springs III to commence. On approximately Jan. 30, 2022, a golden eagle carcass was found near a wind turbine at Cedar Springs III.

Between 2018 and 2019, ESI authorized a subsidiary, Roundhouse Renewable Energy LLC (RRE), to develop a commercial wind power facility in Laramie County, Wyoming.

In a letter dated March 28, 2019, USFWS stated that, based on RRE’s consultant’s calculations, Roundhouse could result in the collision mortality of 19 golden eagles and 4 bald eagles over the first five years of operation, and recommended that RRE apply for an ETP under the Eagle Act. The defendant continued the development of Roundhouse.

In a letter dated Aug. 27, 2019, USFWS provided recommendations on opportunities to avoid and minimize impacts to eagles using the available data. USFWS again stated that the facility was predicted to take eagles even if all USFWS recommendations were implemented, however, and recommended that an ETP be sought.

On June 12, 2020, the defendant authorized the commercial operation of Roundhouse to commence. Between approximately Sept. 17, 2020, and April 17, 2021, four golden eagle carcasses were found near wind turbines at Roundhouse.

In 2003, ESI authorized a subsidiary, FPL Energy New Mexico Wind LLC (NMW), to begin operations at a commercial wind power facility in De Baca and Quay Counties, New Mexico. On or about Dec. 29, 2020, two golden eagle carcasses were found near a wind turbine at NMW.

No ETP was sought by or issued to ESI in connection with the operations or repowering of any of the above wind power facilities.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement. The prosecutions were handled by the Environmental Crimes Section of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division with assistance from the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Eastern District of California, the District of Wyoming and the Northern District of California.

The Justice Department filed an amended complaint today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, alleging that 14 entities designed and constructed five condominium and apartment complexes in Hawaii without accessible features required by the Fair Housing Act. Two of the properties — Kahului Town Terrace, in Kahului, Maui; and Palehua Terrace, in Kapolei, Oahu — were built with financial assistance from the federal government’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. The other three properties are Napilihau Villages and Napili Villas, in Lahaina, Maui; and Wailea Fairway Villas, in Kihei, Maui.

The government’s original complaint named the general contractor for all five properties and the architects of four of the properties. The amended complaint adds the following defendants, alleging that each contributed to the Fair Housing Act violations: Stanford Carr Development LLC; SCD Wailea Fairways LLC; Sato & Associates Inc.; Ronald M. Fukumoto Engineering Inc.; Rojac Construction Inc.; Delta Construction Corp.; Warren S. Unemori Engineering Inc.; and GYA Architects Inc.

“Companies behind the mass development of condominiums, apartment complexes and other forms of multifamily housing must ensure that these properties are designed and built to be accessible to people with disabilities,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Federal accessibility rules have been in place for more than three decades, and we will hold accountable developers, architects, contractors and other entities that fail to comply with these legal obligations.”

The amended complaint alleges the same accessibility violations as the original complaint. For example, many covered units are inaccessible to persons using wheelchairs because the routes to the entrances include stairs or steep slopes; many routes to public and common areas are inaccessible because of missing sidewalks, missing curb ramps or steep slopes; and many units have inaccessible hardware at entry doors, interior doors that are too narrow and insufficient space in kitchens and bathrooms to maneuver in a wheelchair. The requested relief includes a court order requiring the defendants to retrofit the five properties to bring them into compliance with the Fair Housing Act, as well as monetary damages to compensate victims.

Individuals who may have been affected by the lack of accessibility at these properties should call the Civil Rights Division’s Housing Discrimination Hotline at 1-833-591-0291, press 1 for English, press 6 for this case, and leave a message, or send an email to fairhousing@usdoj.gov.

The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of disability, race, color, religion, sex, familial status and national origin. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.justice.gov/crt. Individuals who believe they have been victims of housing discrimination should contact the Department of Justice toll-free at 1-833-591-0291, by email at fairhousing@usdoj.gov, or submit a report online at https://civilrights.justice.gov/. Individuals may also contact the Department of Housing and Urban Development at 1-800-669-9777, or online at https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp.

The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division today announced updates to its Leniency Policy and issued a revised set of frequently asked questions (FAQs). The Antitrust Division also launched a new dedicated email address to make it easier for companies and individuals to apply for leniency. These changes reaffirm the Antitrust Division’s commitment to transparency, predictability and accessibility in criminal enforcement.

The Antitrust Division Leniency Policy allows the first individual or company to self-report its involvement in an antitrust cartel to avoid prosecution if it cooperates with the Division’s investigation and prosecutions, and meets other conditions. The updated policy announced today now also requires that a corporate applicant promptly self-report after discovering its wrongful conduct and undertake remedial measures to prevent reoffending.

“It’s important for the rules of the road to be clear so the business community knows what to expect and appreciates the costs of losing the race for leniency,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Antitrust Division. “Corporate boards and executives, and the counsel advising them, should understand that sitting on their hands after detecting an antitrust crime will have real ramifications — losing out on leniency means severe consequences.”

As part of the updates, the Leniency Policy was centralized in the Antitrust Division’s chapter of the Justice Manual, 7-3.000 - Criminal Enforcement | JM | Department of Justice. The revised FAQs, available at Leniency Program (justice.gov), include nearly 50 new questions and answers about the Division’s practices concerning leniency. They are written in plain language and provide guidance to outside and in-house counsel, and businesspeople in all sectors of the economy and at all levels of sophistication.

Anyone seeking to apply for leniency should contact the Division at antitrust.leniency@usdoj.gov or 202-307-0719.

A New Jersey man was sentenced to life in prison today for murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, cocaine, and heroin; and possession with intent to distribute heroin.

Miguel Angel Corea Diaz aka Reaper, 41, of Long Branch, a leader in the transnational criminal enterprise La Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13, was convicted by a federal jury on Nov. 23, 2021, after a four-week trial. Co-defendant Junior Noe Alvarado-Requeno aka Insolente and Trankilo, 24, of Landover, Maryland, was also convicted at trial and faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 25.

According to court documents, MS-13 is a transnational gang composed primarily of immigrants or descendants from El Salvador. MS-13 has branches or “cliques” that operate throughout Frederick County, Anne Arundel County, Prince George’s County, and Montgomery County, Maryland and elsewhere on the East Coast. 

“The brutality of Corea Diaz is almost unfathomable,” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron for the District of Maryland. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to remove these violent gang members to keep our communities safe from the violence perpetrated by MS-13. With the help of members of our communities we will work to bring to justice those MS-13 members who commit these horrible crimes.”

“As members of MS-13, Corea Diaz and his co-conspirators were ruthless and showed no regard for human life by extorting innocent people, tampering with witnesses, and ordering a murder over a drug dispute,” said Assistant Director in Charge Steven M. D’Antuono of the FBI Washington Field Office. “With today’s sentence, Corea Diaz will no longer be able to commit senseless violence and homicidal acts on our streets. The FBI remains steadfast in our resolve to work with our partners to ensure that individuals like Corea Diaz are held accountable for their crimes and to eliminate MS-13's violence from our communities.”

“The ruthlessness of MS-13 in pursuit of profits shows a clear link between violence and the illicit drug trade,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “Today’s sentence won’t undo the harm Diaz is responsible for, but it ensures that for the rest of his life, he will no longer be a direct threat to the communities he terrorized for so long. DEA will continue to work tirelessly with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to ensure violent criminals like Diaz are taken off the streets, helping to make American communities safer and healthier.”

“Any time we can get a notorious gang member off the streets, it is a victory for both law enforcement and law-abiding citizens,” said Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore. “In this case, the criminal is particularly violent, and now he will face the consequences of his crimes.  HSI is grateful to have worked with our partnering federal and local law enforcement agencies to make the communities safer for the citizens of Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia.”

According to evidence presented at trial, between 2015 and 2018, Corea Diaz and his co-defendant Alvarado-Requeno controlled and operated the Sailors Locos Salvatruchos Westside (S.L.S.W. or Sailors) Clique. This Sailors Clique was involved in a host of significant criminal activity including murder, extortion, drug trafficking, money laundering, and witness tampering. Evidence showed that the gang ran a “protection” scheme in and around its home base in Langley Park, Maryland, and extorted local businesses by charging them “rent” for the privilege of operating in MS-13 “territory.” The gang also trafficked in illegal drugs, including heroin and cocaine. A large share of the proceeds of the gang’s illegal activities were sent to gang leadership in El Salvador using structured transactions and intermediaries to avoid law enforcement scrutiny.

According to evidence presented at trial, the Sailors Clique committed acts of violence against suspected rival gang members, as well as against its own membership for breaking gang rules. In March 2017, a member of the Sailors Clique who was hiding from law enforcement in the Lynchburg, Virginia, area had a dispute with a local high school student over marijuana. In response, Corea-Diaz and Alvarado-Requeno organized a squad of MS-13 members to drive down to Lynchburg and murder the minor. The gang members kidnapped the student from his front lawn and cut his hand off before killing him. After the murder, Corea Diaz and Alvarado-Requeno helped to hide and protect the killers from law enforcement.

The FBI and HSI investigated the case, with valuable assistance provided by the DEA’s Washington and New York Field Divisions, the Prince George’s County Police Department, the Montgomery County Police Department, the Bedford County Sherriff’s Office, and the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.

Trial Attorneys Julie Finocchiaro and Alexander Gottfried of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and U.S. Attorney Timothy Hagan for the District of Maryland prosecuted the case.

The Justice Department today is seeking to join the lawsuit Doe et al. v. Schuylkill County et al., filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The plaintiffs in this case are four female employees of Schuylkill County who allege that County Commissioner George F. Halcovage Jr., sexually harassed them and that they experienced retaliation when they opposed Halcovage’s sexual harassment. The allegations in the United States’ complaint in intervention, as described in detail below, include multiple incidents of sexual advances and of coercion of sexual intercourse, and inappropriate sex-based comments occurring over many years.

“When an elected official abuses their power and position to sexually harass public servants in the workplace they can and must be held accountable,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This lawsuit sends a clear message that the Department of Justice will not tolerate sexual harassment and will vindicate the rights of survivors.”

“No one should be forced to endure sexual harassment and then have that injury compounded by suffering retaliation for complaining about that harassment in the workplace,” said U.S. Attorney John C. Gurganus for the Middle of Pennsylvania. “Our office will work diligently with the Civil Rights Division to enforce the right to be free from unlawful workplace harassment and retaliation.” 

The United States’ complaint in intervention alleges that Schuylkill County violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act when it subjected the four women to Halcovage’s sexual harassment and retaliated against them because they opposed his sexual harassment. Halcovage used his power as a County Commissioner to coerce one of the women, identified in the lawsuit as Jane Doe, to have sex with him numerous times. Halcovage sexually harassed the other three women through among other things, crude sexual comments, obscene jokes and spreading a false rumor that he had had sex with one of them. High-ranking Schuylkill County officials were aware of Halcovage’s sexual harassment, but failed to take any actions to stop it until one of the women filed a written complaint. After the County investigated the written complaint, it determined that Halcovage had violated the County’s sexual harassment policy. Despite this finding, the County took no disciplinary action against him and he continues to serve as a Schuylkill County Commissioner. The County retaliated against the four women because of their opposition to Halcovage’s sexual harassment by, among other things, moving two of them to less desirable office locations and demoting the other two. Despite a clear conflict of interest and his obvious motive to retaliate against them, Halcovage cast the decisive vote to demote the two women.

The United States’ complaint in intervention is based on charges of discrimination filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Philadelphia District Office, which investigated the charges and found reasonable cause to believe Schuylkill County violated Title VII. After unsuccessful conciliation efforts, the EEOC referred the charges to the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. The Justice Department’s proposed intervention in this lawsuit is part of a joint effort to enhance collaboration between the department and the EEOC in the vigorous enforcement of Title VII.

This lawsuit is also part of the Civil Rights Division’s Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Initiative. The initiative is aimed at eradicating sexual harassment in state and local government workplaces. It focuses on litigation, outreach, and development of effective remedial measures to address and prevent future sex discrimination and harassment.

This lawsuit is being handled by Trial Attorneys Allan Townsend and Amber Trzinski Fox of the Civil Rights Division’s Employment Litigation Section and by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Butler for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The full and fair enforcement of Title VII is a top priority of the Civil Rights Division’s Employment Litigation Section. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division and the Employment Litigation Section is available on its websites www.justice.gov/crt and www.justice.gov/crt/employment-litigation-section.

The Justice Department filed a Statement of Interest today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York explaining how policies that exclude rental housing applicants because they do not speak English may violate the Fair Housing Act. 

The Statement of Interest was filed in CNY Fair Housing v. Swiss Village LLC, et al., a lawsuit alleging that the defendants violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by refusing to rent apartments to applicants who are limited English proficient (LEP) unless someone who speaks and reads English lives in the unit. The defendants own and manage apartments in Dewitt, New York.  The lawsuit further alleges that the defendants refused the applicants’ offers to bring their own interpreters to translate lease documents and assist with communications.    

“Refusing to rent to people who do not speak English makes finding safe and affordable housing especially hard for people who come to the United States from countries where English is not the primary language,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “When housing providers ban prospective tenants who do not speak English well, their actions may violate the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination based on national origin, race and other protected characteristics. As we celebrate Fair Housing Month, the Department of Justice underscores its commitment to fighting for fair housing across our nation and ensuring that housing providers respect the federal civil rights of people who do not read or speak English fluently.”

“The right to housing is fundamental to full participation in society,” said U.S. Attorney Carla Freedman for the Northern District of New York. “When landlords engage in practices or enact policies that disparately impact people who have come to America from non-English speaking countries, these actions must be strictly scrutinized for potential violations of the Fair Housing Act. My office is proud to partner with the Civil Rights Division in regard to this matter.”

“HUD commends the Justice Department for pursuing the housing rights of those who call America home,” said Demetria L. McCain, HUD’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.

Relying on recent Census data, CNY Fair Housing’s complaint alleges that the defendants’ LEP exclusion policy imposes an unjustified disparate impact on the basis of national origin and race. The complaint also alleges that the defendants’ restrictive language policy was a pretext to discriminate against applicants based on their national origin and race. 

Among its protections, the FHA prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of national origin or race. The Statement of Interest explains how a restrictive language policy may violate the FHA when it has a disparate impact or is used as a proxy or pretext for discrimination based on national origin or race, as alleged in plaintiff’s complaint. It also discusses how the plaintiff’s allegations are consistent with the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Guidance on Fair Housing Act Protections for Persons with Limited English Proficiency, which clarifies how restrictive language policies may run afoul of the FHA. 

CNY Fair Housing v. Swiss Village et al. was filed in the Northern District of New York in November 2021. The defendants have moved to have the case dismissed. CNY Fair Housing opposes that motion, and the Justice Department’s Statement of Interest agrees that dismissal of the complaint would be inappropriate. The motion is now pending before the court.

The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status (having one or more children under 18), national origin and disability. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.justice.gov/crt.

Individuals who believe they have been victims of housing discrimination submit a report online at www.civilrights.justice.gov. Such individuals also may contact the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development at 1-800-669-9777 or by filing a complaint online.

A federal court in the Northern District of Illinois has permanently enjoined two Chicago-area tax return preparers from preparing returns for others and from owning or operating any tax return preparation business in the future.

The civil complaint filed in the case alleged that Patricia Rivers, of Country Club Hills, Illinois her daughter-in-law, Ki’esha Gary, of South Holland, Illinois, and her company, Alpha II Omega Tax, prepared federal income tax returns that made false and fraudulent claims to reduce her customers’ tax liabilities and increase their tax refunds, primarily through a scheme to fabricate sole proprietorship business losses on the customers’ returns. The complaint also alleged that Rivers, Gary and Alpha II Omega inflated their customers’ tax refunds by reporting false charitable donations and exaggerated or bogus unreimbursed employee expenses, bogus rental deductions, inflated tax withholding and overstated education credits. On at least one occasion, Rivers was alleged to have falsely reported her own home address as a rental property to generate losses on her customer’s income tax return. Another customer alleged that Rivers amended a customer’s return without consent to retaliate against her by increasing her tax liability. 

In an order entered on March 31, the court found that the tax loss to the government from the 2018 returns of just 38 of Rivers’ customers was $278,461 and that, given that this was “only a small number of the thousands of income tax returns prepared by Rivers,” the actual loss to the United States was higher.

The court found that Rivers repeated and continuously prepared income tax returns in a manner that violates federal law, and that because her intentional disregard for tax laws continues, a permanent bar on tax preparation activities was warranted. Thus, the Court entered a permanent injunction preventing Rivers, Gary, and Alpha II Omega Tax from preparing income taxes or engaging in tax-related business in the future.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.

Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’ Dirty Dozen Tax Scams and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. (More information can also be found here.) The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax preparer, has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers, and offers information on how to avoid “ghost” tax preparers, whose refusal to sign a return should be a red flag to taxpayers. The IRS also has a checklist of things to remember when filing income tax returns in 2022.

In addition, IRS Free File, a public-private partnership, offers free online tax preparation and filing options on IRS partner websites for individuals whose adjusted gross income is under $73,000. For individuals whose income is over that threshold, IRS Free File offers electronical federal tax forms that can be filled out and filed online for free. The IRS has tips on how seniors and individuals with low to moderate income can get other help or guidance on tax return preparation, too.

In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland today released the following statement in honor of International Transgender Day of Visibility:

“Protecting civil rights was one of the founding purposes of the Justice Department over 150 years ago. Today, that remains central to our mission. On this International Transgender Day of Visibility, the Justice Department is committed to protecting the civil and constitutional rights of transgender individuals.

“We are committed to combatting the hate crimes that target and terrorize the transgender community – particularly transgender women of color. And we are committed to ensuring the equal protection of transgender people under the law.

“Transgender individuals deserve to be able to live free from discrimination, harassment, violence, and threats of violence. Transgender youth deserve to be loved and protected. And members of the transgender community deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

“The Justice Department will continue to work tirelessly to make real the promise of equal justice under law for everyone in our country.”

The Justice Department announced today that it issued a letter to all state attorneys general reminding them of federal constitutional and statutory provisions that protect transgender youth against discrimination, including when those youth seek gender-affirming care.

“The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that all children are able to live free from discrimination, abuse and harassment,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Today’s letter reaffirms state and local officials’ obligation to ensure that their laws and policies do not undermine or harm the health and safety of children, regardless of a child’s gender identity.”   

The letter advises states that laws and policies that prevent individuals from receiving gender-affirming medical care may infringe on federal constitutional protections under the Equal Protection Clause and Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The letter also discusses federal statutes that impose nondiscrimination obligations, including Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

The letter was issued on the International Transgender Day of Visibility in recognition of the contributions and accomplishments of transgender and gender non-conforming people, as well as their continued struggle to live free from violence and discrimination.

A copy of today’s letter can be found here. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division’s work to uphold and protect the civil and constitutional rights of LGBTQI+ individuals is available online at https://www.justice.gov/crt/lgbtqi-working-group. Complaints about discriminatory practices may be reported to the Civil Rights Division through its internet reporting portal at https://civilrights.justice.gov.

A Virginia resident was sentenced today to 37 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to federal charges resulting from a lengthy investigation into a significant multi-state dog fighting conspiracy.

According to court documents, Raymond L. Johnson, 41, of Henrico, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to participate in an animal fighting venture and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition. Beginning in November 2019, law enforcement investigated a criminal organization involved in dog fighting based out of Richmond, and extending into Baltimore, Maryland. In late 2020, law enforcement agents executed three residential search warrants in Virginia and one residential search warrant in Maryland, and seized numerous dogs that were being used for organized dog fighting, together with dog fighting paraphernalia, firearms and ammunition.

During the investigation, Johnson communicated with his co-conspirators about breeding and fighting dogs, past dog fights, coordination of upcoming dog fights, and other topics detailing the business and the brutality of dog fighting. Johnson hosted two dog fights at his residence, videos of which were recovered by law enforcement. Agents executed a search warrant at Johnson’s Henrico residence on Nov. 19, 2020, and recovered nine pit bull terrier-type dogs with scarring consistent with dog fighting. Agents also seized other evidence of dog fighting activities at Johnson’s residence, including dog collars, medications, supplies and supplements and a treadmill used to train dogs for fighting.

Agents also recovered firearms and ammunition from Johnson’s residence, including an AK47 style rifle. As a convicted felon, it was illegal for Johnson to possess those firearms and ammunition.

“Raymond Johnson actively participated in a multi-state criminal enterprise that caused the needless suffering of innocent animals,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Johnson’s sentence demonstrates that dog fighting is a serious crime, which deserves a substantial penalty.”

Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division; U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Special Agent in Charge Stanley M. Meador for the FBI’s Richmond Field Office made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Virginia Office of the Attorney General Animal Law Unit, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service, the Virginia Animal Fighting Task Force and Henrico County Police Animal Protection.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen E. Anthony for the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorneys Banu Rangarajan and William Shapiro of Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section are prosecuting the case.

A southern California businessman was sentenced yesterday to one year and one day in prison for illegally brokering the sales of embargoed defense articles from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and filing a false corporate tax return.

According to court documents, Tuqiang Xie, aka Tony Xie, 60, of Irvine, pleaded guilty in 2019 to one count of violating the Arms Export Control Act and one count of filing a false tax return. Xie admitted in a plea agreement that through his company, Bio-Medical Optics LLC in Irvine, California, he served as a broker for the shipment of defense articles on the U.S. Munitions List (USML) and the U.S. Munitions Import List (USMIL). The items on these lists are regulated components and systems used in U.S. military equipment. Federal law requires that individuals involved in the business of manufacturing or exporting defense articles must obtain a license and register with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) at the Department of State. Xie never obtained a license or registered with the DDTC. Moreover, the United States since 1989 has imposed an arms embargo on the PRC, restricting imports or exports of arms between the two countries.

Despite the arms embargo and the lack of a license or registration, Xie admitted in his plea agreement that in 2014 and 2015, he located a manufacturer in the PRC to produce defense articles for one of his clients. Over time, Xie earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions or fees based on his role in shipments to and from the PRC.

Xie also pleaded guilty to filing a false corporate tax return for Bio-Medical Optics LLC for 2013. Xie admitted in the plea agreement that he also filed false corporate tax returns for Bio-Medical Optics LLC for 2009 through 2012, causing a total tax loss to the IRS of more than $100,000.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division; U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch Jr. for the Northern District of Illinois; Special Agent-in-Charge Angie Salazar of Homeland Security Investigations, Chicago Office; and the Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Central Field Office made the announcement. 

Trial Attorney Matthew R. Hoffman of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur for the Northern District of Illinois prosecuted the case.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia today announced a two-count indictment charging Lauren Handy, 28, of Alexandria, Virginia; Jonathan Darnel, 40, of Arlington, Virginia, Jay Smith, 32, of Freeport, New York; Paulette Harlow, 73, of Kingston, Massachusetts; Jean Marshall, 72, of Kingston, Massachusetts; John Hinshaw, 67, of Levittown, New York; Heather Idoni, 61, of Linden, Michigan; William Goodman, 52, of the Bronx, New York; and Joan Bell, 74, of Montague, New Jersey, with federal civil rights offenses in connection with an alleged reproductive healthcare clinic invasion in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 22, 2020. The defendants were charged with conspiracy against rights and a FACE Act offense.

The indictment returned by a federal grand jury alleges that the nine defendants engaged in a conspiracy to create a blockade at the reproductive health care clinic to prevent the clinic from providing, and patients from receiving, reproductive health services. According to the indictment, as part of the conspiracy, Smith, Harlow, Marshall, Hinshaw, Idoni, Goodman and Bell traveled to Washington, D.C., from various northeast and midwestern states, to participate in a clinic blockade that was directed by Handy and was broadcast on Facebook by Darnel. According to the indictment, Handy, Smith, Harlow, Marshall, Hinshaw, Idoni, Goodman and Bell forcefully entered the clinic and set about blockading two clinic doors using their bodies, furniture, chains and ropes. Once the blockade was established, Darnel live-streamed footage of his co-defendants’ activities. The indictment also alleges that the nine defendants violated the FACE Act by using a physical obstruction to injure, intimidate and interfere with the clinic’s employees and a patient, because they were providing or obtaining reproductive health services.

If convicted of the offenses, the defendants each face up to a maximum of 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $350,000.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington, D.C. Field Office. The case is being prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. The U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the District of New Jersey, District of Massachusetts, Eastern District of Michigan, Eastern District of New York and Southern District of New York; and FBI Field Offices in Newark, New York City, Boston and Detroit provided valuable assistance.

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

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland today announced the appointment of 12 U.S. Attorneys to serve on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys (AGAC). Created in 1973, the AGAC advises the Attorney General on matters of policy, procedure, and management impacting the Offices of the U.S. Attorneys and elevates the voices of U.S. Attorneys in Department policies. The first meeting of the AGAC will take place later this spring.

The appointees include U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York; U.S. Attorney Cindy K. Chung for the Western District of Pennsylvania; U.S. Attorney Darcie McElwee for the District of Maine; U.S. Attorney Trini Ross for the Western District of New York; U.S. Attorney Sandra Hairston for the Middle District of North Carolina; U.S. Attorney Brandon Brown for the Western District of Louisiana; U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison for the Eastern District of Michigan; U.S. Attorney Gregory Harris for the Central District of Illinois; U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger for the District of Minnesota; U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino for the District of Arizona; U.S. Attorney Cole Finegan for the District of Colorado; and U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves for the District of Columbia. An appointee from a district within the jurisdiction of the Eleventh Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals will be announced at a later date, once the Senate has confirmed nominees.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams will serve as the Chair of the AGAC, and U.S. Attorney Cindy Chung will serve as the Vice Chair.

“These United States Attorneys will represent the views of dedicated federal prosecutors across the country, and provide advice and insight into essential matters facing the Department,” said Attorney General Garland. “I look forward to working alongside them in carrying out the Department’s core priorities of upholding the rule of law, keeping our country safe, and protecting civil rights.”

A brief bio on each appointee is below:

Damian Williams (Chair)

The Senate confirmed Damian Williams’ appointment as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in October 2021. Williams began his legal career as a law clerk to then-Judge Merrick Garland when he served in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2007 to 2008. Williams then served as a law clerk for Justice John Paul Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court from 2008 to 2009. From 2009 to 2012, he was a litigation associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. From 2012 to 2021, he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. In the role, he served as a chief of the securities and commodities fraud task force from 2018 to 2021. He received his Bachelor of Arts in economics from Harvard University in 2002, a Master of Philosophy in international relations from Emmanuel College at the University of Cambridge in 2003, and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 2007, where he was also an editor of the Yale Law Journal.

Cindy K. Chung (Vice Chair)

The Senate confirmed Cindy K. Chung’s appointment as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania in November 2021. In 2002 and 2003, Chung served as a law clerk for Judge Myron H. Thompson in the Middle District of Alabama. She then joined the New York County District Attorney’s Office in 2003, serving as an assistant district attorney until 2007 and as investigation counsel in the Official Corruption Unit from 2007 to 2009. From 2009 to 2014, Chung served as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. She later joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, serving as deputy chief of the major crimes division. From 2014 to 2021, she served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. Chung earned a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University in 1997 and a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School in 2002.

Darcie McElwee

The Senate confirmed Darcie McElwee’s appointment as U.S. Attorney for the District of Maine in October 2021. McElwee began her legal career as an assistant district attorney for the Penobscot and Piscataquis counties in Maine from 1998 to 2002. Between 2005 and 2008, McElwee was an adjunct professor of advanced trial advocacy at the University of Maine School of Law. From 2002 to 2021, she served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine. Since 2005, she has been the coordinator of Project Safe Neighborhoods. McElwee received her Bachelor of Arts from Bowdoin College in 1995 and her Juris Doctor from the University of Maine School of Law in 1998.

Trini Ross

The Senate confirmed Trini Ross’s appointment as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York in September 2021. Ross began her career as an appellate attorney for the New York Supreme Court. She was an associate at Hiscock & Barclay LLC before joining the Office of Professional Responsibility as assistant counsel. From 1995 to 2018, Ross served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York. She has also been an adjunct professor of law at Buffalo Law School. She has also served as director of the investigations for the National Science Foundation Office of Inspector General since 2018. Ross earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Fredonia in 1988, a Master of Arts from Rutgers University in 1990, and a Juris Doctor from the University at Buffalo Law School in 1992.

Sandra Hairston

The Senate confirmed Sandra Hairston as U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina in November 2021. Hairston previously served as an assistant district attorney in Columbus County, North Carolina, from 1987 to 1989 and as a special assistant district attorney in Guilford County, North Carolina from 1989 to 1990. From 1994 to 1996, she served as Chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina before returning to the Middle District of North Carolina in 1996. She joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina in 1990 as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. Hairston previously held the position of First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina from 2014 to 2021. From March 1, 2021, until her Senate confirmation, she served as the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina. Hairston received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1981 and her Juris Doctor from North Carolina Central University School of Law in 1987.

Brandon Brown

The Senate confirmed Brandon Brown as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana in December 2021. From 2007 to 2012, Brown served as an assistant prosecuting attorney in the Ouachita Parish District Attorney’s Office. He was also an associate at Hammonds, Sills, Adkins & Guice LLP in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Since 2012, he has served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana. Brown earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2002 and a Master of Business Administration in 2004 from Louisiana Tech University, followed by a Juris Doctor in 2007 from the Southern University Law Center.

Dawn N. Ison

The Senate confirmed Dawn N. Ison as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan in December 2021. In 1989 and 1990, Ison was a prehearing attorney for the Michigan Court of Appeals. From 1990 to 2002, she was an attorney in private practice when she focused on criminal matters as well as a range of civil matters. In 2002, Ison began serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan. She also served as chief of the Drug Enforcement Task Force Unit. Ison earned a Bachelor of Arts from Spelman College and a Juris Doctor from the Wayne State University Law School.

Gregory Harris

The Senate confirmed Gregory Harris as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois in December 2021. Harris began his career as a lawyer for the Office of the State Appellate Defender in 1976 where he represented indigent criminal defendants on appeal. From 1979 to 1980, he served as legal counsel for the Illinois Governor’s Office of Manpower and Human Development and later as a staff attorney for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Development. From 1980 to 1988, he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois. From 1988 to 2001, he was a lawyer for Giffin, Winning, Cohen & Bodewes in Springfield, Illinois. He later rejoined the Central District of Illinois in 2001, where he served as chief of the Criminal Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney. Harris was born in Washington, D.C. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Howard University in 1971 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law in 1976.

Andrew Luger

The Senate confirmed Andrew Luger as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota in March 2022. He previously served in that role during the Obama administration and briefly during the Trump administration from 2014 to 2017. Prior to his appointment, Luger was a partner in the Minneapolis office of Jones Day from 2017 – 2022. Luger has also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, from 1989 to 1992, and for the District of Minnesota from 1992 to 1995, where he prosecuted a wide variety of narcotics and violent crimes, as well as complex white collar frauds. In 1995, Luger joined the law firm of Greene Espel in Minneapolis, where he was a partner until 2014. Luger earned a Bachelor’s degree from Amherst College and a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center.

Gary Restaino

The Senate confirmed Gary Restaino as U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona in November 2021. From 1991 to 1993, Restaino served in Paraguay with the Peace Corps. From 1996 to 1999, he provided legal services to seasonal farm workers as a lawyer with Community Legal Services. From 1999 to 2003, he served as a civil rights lawyer in the Arizona Attorney General's Office. He then served as a trial attorney in the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division. Restaino joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona in 2003. He was nominated to serve as U.S. Attorney in October 2021. Restaino earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Haverford College in 1990 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1996.

Cole Finegan

The Senate confirmed Cole Finegan as U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado in November 2021. From 1991 to 1993, Finegan served both as Chief Legal Counsel and Director of Policy and Initiatives for Colorado Governor Roy Romer. From 1993 to 2003, Finegan was a partner for Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck’s Denver office. Finegan joined Hogan Lovells (then Hogan & Hartson) in 2007 as a partner. Finegan acted as an adviser to Governor Hickenlooper and U.S. Senator Michael Bennet. Finegan attended the University of Notre Dame from 1974 to 1978, earning a degree in English. Finegan earned a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center in 1986.

Matthew Graves

The Senate confirmed Matthew Graves as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia in October 2021. After graduating law school, Graves began his legal career as a law clerk for Judge Richard W. Roberts of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. From 2002 to 2007, he was an associate at WilmerHale. From 2007 to 2016, Graves worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia, where he served in the office’s fraud and public corruption section, ultimately serving as the acting chief of the section. Since 2016, he has been a partner at DLA Piper. Graves earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington and Lee University in 1998 and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 2001.

A federal jury in Greenbelt, Maryland, convicted a North Carolina woman and a Maryland man yesterday for conspiring to defraud the United States, helping file false tax returns, and stealing government funds.

According to evidence presented at trial, between 2013 and 2016, Sandra Denise Curl, of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Percy Leroy Jacobs, of Prince Frederick, Maryland, filed tax returns on behalf of multiple fraudulent trusts they owned, seeking refunds to which they were not entitled. Curl and Jacobs also filed false individual tax returns in their own names, claiming fictitious false tax withholdings in order to generate refunds. In total, the defendants attempted to defraud the IRS of more than $2.2 million.

Curl and Jacobs are scheduled to be sentenced on July 7. Both defendants face a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States, three years in prison for each count of aiding and assisting the filing of a false tax return, and 10 years in prison for theft of government property. 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 and U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron for the District of Maryland made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Jeffrey McLellan and George Meggali of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Morgan for the District of Maryland are prosecuting the case.

Cargotec Corporation (Cargotec) confirmed today that it has abandoned its intended merger of equals with Konecranes Plc (Konecranes) one day after the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division informed the parties that the settlement proposal was not sufficient to address concerns that the proposed combination would eliminate important competition in four types of shipping container handling equipment used by port customers to move goods in the global supply chain. 

“The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division will vigorously investigate potential violations of our antitrust laws, no matter the industry, no matter the company, and no matter the individual,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The proposed merger of these two shipping equipment giants would have harmed American consumers. It threatened the global supply chain and the free and fair markets upon which the integrity of our economy depends. I commend the outstanding work of our Antitrust attorneys and investigators that led to this outcome and the cooperation of our enforcement partners around the world.”

“Cargotec’s and Konecranes’ proposed merger threatened to harm competition in the sale of container handling equipment to U.S. port customers and terminal operators that move consumer products, medicines, and other important goods through the global supply chain,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “The combination of Cargotec and Konecranes would have been the culmination of decades of consolidation — and the companies proposed to accomplish it by extracting and retaining the strongest parts of both businesses and selling off the least desirable assets to placate the department. But the Clayton Act is clear: acquisitions that create or entrench market power are illegal. The department will not accept patchwork settlements that do not replace the competition that is lost by a merger.”

The proposed transaction would have eliminated intense competition between Cargotec and its closest rival, Konecranes, in markets that are already highly concentrated. In particular, the merger would have led to illegal consolidation in the manufacture and supply of four types of container handling equipment: straddle carriers, rubber-tired gantry cranes, automated stacking cranes, and rail-mounted gantry cranes. Each piece of equipment has a unique design that allows the equipment to move containers between different modes of transportation in the supply chain. Cargotec and Konecranes are also at the forefront of automating port operations and reducing carbon emissions by electrifying equipment — megatrends that are likely to drive purchasing decisions from port customers in the coming years.

The department expresses thanks to its enforcement partners, including the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the European Commission, and the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority, for their close and constructive collaboration on this matter.

Cargotec Corporation, operating under the Finnish name Cargotec Oyj, is a public limited company headquartered in Helsinki, Finland. Cargotec earned revenues of approximately $900 million in the United States in 2021.

Konecranes Plc, operating under the Finnish and Swedish names Konecranes Oyj and Konecranes Abp, is a Finnish public limited company headquartered in Hyvinkää, Finland. Konecranes earned revenues of approximately $1.1 billion in the Americas in 2021. 

A federal jury convicted a California man yesterday for submitting fraudulent applications seeking money from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), submitting false statements to a financial institution, and money laundering. 

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Robert Benlevi, 53, of Encino, submitted 27 PPP loan applications to four banks between April and June 2020 on behalf of eight companies solely owned by Benlevi. In the applications, Benlevi sought a total of $27 million in forgivable PPP loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. In his fraudulent applications, Benlevi represented that each of his companies had 100 employees and average monthly payroll of $400,000, even though he knew that the companies did not have any employees or payroll expenses. The evidence further showed that Benlevi also submitted fabricated IRS documents falsely stating that each of the companies had an annual payroll of $4.8 million.

Based on Benlevi’s fraudulent loan applications, three of Benlevi’s companies — 1Stellar Health LLC, Bestways2 Health LLC, and Joyous-Health4U LLC — obtained $3 million in PPP funds. Although Benlevi falsely represented that the funds sought through the PPP loan applications would be used to pay payroll and certain other business expenses, the evidence showed that he instead used them for personal expenses, including cash withdrawals, payments on his personal credit cards, transfers to other personal and business accounts he controlled, and renting an oceanfront apartment in Santa Monica. In a single day, Benlevi withdrew from the Bestways2 Health account $248,000 of PPP funds in cashier’s checks, which were deposited into other accounts that Benlevi controlled.

Benlevi was convicted of bank fraud, false statements to a financial institution, and money laundering. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 27 and faces up to 30 years in prison for each of the bank fraud and false statement charges, and up to 10 years in prison for each count of money laundering. 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; U.S. Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison of the Central District of California; Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division; Assistant Director in Charge Kristi K. Johnson of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey D. Pittano of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG); and Special Agent in Charge Weston King of the SBA Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG) Western Region made the announcement.

The FBI, SBA-OIG, and FDIC-OIG investigated the case. 

Trial Attorneys Emily Culbertson and Justin Givens of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

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

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