An eight-member jury has unanimously found that a former Jackson Hewitt tax preparer, Frances Carlson of Bradenton, Fla., prepared 27 federal tax returns that she knew would understate her customers’ tax liabilities, the Justice Department announced today.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco has charged five individuals and five companies with economic espionage and theft of trade secrets for their roles in a long-running effort to obtain U.S. trade secrets for the benefit of companies controlled by the government of the People’s Republic of China.

An indictment filed in the Southern District of Texas and unsealed today charges Mohammed Khan, 62, of Houston, with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay and receive illegal health care kickbacks and five counts of paying or offering to pay health care kickbacks.

Dava Pharmaceuticals Inc. has agreed to pay the United States $11 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by misreporting drug prices in order to reduce its Medicaid Drug Rebate obligations, the Justice Department announced today.

The Justice Department today announced an agreement with the city of Humboldt, Kan., to improve access to all aspects of civic life for individuals with disabilities.

The Department of Justice today filed a notice with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to dismiss its antitrust lawsuit regarding the potential merger of Deutsche Börse AG and NYSE Euronext.

The federal government and 49 state attorneys general today have reached a landmark $25 billion agreement with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers to address mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington has entered a consent decree against Dominguez Foods of Washington Inc. to resolve a food seizure action alleging violations of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), the Justice Department announced today.

A former owner of two Illinois-based technology companies was sentenced today to serve 30 months in prison for her participation in a conspiracy to defraud the federal E-Rate program.

Three Northern California real estate investors have agreed to plead guilty today for their roles in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California.

The settlement agreement with the nation’s five largest servicers announced today by Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice’s federal and state partners includes substantial financial compensation to homeowners who are servicemembers and establishes significant new protections for servicemembers in the future.

"This agreement reflects our commitment – at both the federal and state levels – to ensure justice, and to recover losses, for victims of reckless and abusive mortgage practices," said Attorney General Holder.

Thomas W. Richardson was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle in Dallas to 105 months in prison and ordered to pay $30,649 in restitution, following his guilty plea in August 2011 to one count of theft of government property and one count of aggravated identity theft, the Justice Department announced today.

The Department of Justice announced today that it will require International Paper Company and Temple-Inland Inc. to divest three containerboard mills in order to proceed with their $4.3 billion merger.

Roanne Eye, 57, of Plantation, Fla., was found guilty of tax charges late Thursday after a four-day jury trial, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced

Gregory K. Dupont, 38, of Plaquemine, La., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge, La., to one felony count of illegally guiding out-of-state sport hunters to unauthorized areas to hunt American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) in violation of the Lacey Act, the U.S. Endangered Species Act and Louisiana law.

Capmark Finance LLC in Horsham, Pa., has agreed to pay the United States $3.9 million, to settle a False Claims Act lawsuit, the Justice Department announced today.

The Justice Department, at the request of the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations (FDA-OCI), has charged Gary D. Osborn and his corporation, ApothéCure Inc., with two misdemeanor criminal violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) in connection with their interstate shipment of two lots of misbranded colchicine injectable solution that led to the deaths of three people in the Pacific Northwest.

The Consumer Protection Working Group, formed under President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF), convened its first meeting in Washington, D.C., today to address consumer fraud, which can financially cripple households and can cause extensive losses to our economy.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has entered into a settlement that, if approved by the court, will resolve the department’s allegations that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Department of Correction violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against female applicants for entry-level correction officer and correction program officer positions at the Massachusetts Department of Correction.

"The federal-state agreement contains provisions to ensure that our servicemembers receive the full protection of current law, as well as substantial new benefits," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement with the city of Highland Park, Mich., to resolve allegations that the city willfully violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act by failing to properly reemploy firefighter and U.S. Army reservist Paul A. Baetz in July 2009 when he returned from military service in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that President Obama’s FY 2013 Budget proposal totaling $27.1 billion for the Department of Justice identifies over $1 billion in efficiencies, savings and rescissions while providing resources to sustain critical national security programs, uphold the department’s traditional missions with an increased focus on financial and mortgage fraud and civil rights enforcement, invest in prisons and detention capacity, and assist our state, local and tribal law enforcement partners.

Joseph Tierney, 24, of Wellesley, Mass., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips.

A U.S. citizen and a Canadian citizen were arrested last week in Costa Rica in connection with the operation of a series of fraudulent business opportunities following their indictment by a federal grand jury in Miami on Nov. 29, 2011, the Justice Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service announced.

The co-owner of two Los Angeles-area health care companies was sentenced today to 96 months in prison for his conviction stemming from a nine-year scheme to defraud Medicare.

The Antitrust Division closed its investigations into Google Inc.’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., the acquisitions by Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM) of certain Nortel Networks Corporation patents, and the acquisition by Apple of certain Novell Inc. patents.

Freedman Farms Inc. was sentenced today in federal court to five years probation and ordered to pay $1.5 million in fines, restitution and community service payments for violating the Clean Water Act when they discharged hog waste into a stream that leads to the Waccamaw River.

Gary Rogers, of East Meadow, N.Y., was arrested today after being charged with identity theft and tax fraud after filing more than 200 false tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Justice Department and IRS announced.

"Exactly 60 years ago, before she became one of the most dedicated and effective champions of our nation’s Civil Rights movement – before she became the first African-American elected to the Texas State Senate, and the first African-American woman to represent the South in the United States Congress – Barbara Jordan was a senior at this school and, just like you, a proud Wheatley student," said Attorney General Holder.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today released a new report showing that the government’s health care fraud prevention and enforcement efforts recovered nearly $4.1 billion in taxpayer dollars in Fiscal Year (FY) 2011.

John P. Miller, a Certified Public Accountant, was indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in the Southern District of Florida with obstructing the Internal Revenue laws and preparing false tax returns the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

Sergeant Amasha M. King, 33, of Forsyth, Ga., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Marc T. Treadwell in Macon, Ga., to criminal information charging her with one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Department of Defense.

Two Houston-area nurses and two of their co-conspirators have been sentenced in Houston for their participation in a $5.2 million Medicare fraud scheme.

"In the fight against health-care fraud, our Departments have a long history of working collaboratively – and effectively. The “Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program Annual Report” that we are submitting to Congress today underscores this fact," said Attorney General Holder.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania awarded summary judgment to the government on a finding that Daniel Allgyer, dba Rainbow Acres Farm and Rainbow Valley Farms, violated the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and the Public Health Services Act, the Justice Department announced today.

Roberto Angel Cardona, aka “Little Angelillo,” of El Paso, Texas, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone in the Western District of Texas, El Paso Division.

The department reached a settlement with Gunnison Energy Corporation, SG Interests I Ltd. and SG Interests VII Ltd. that requires the companies to pay a total of $550,000 to the United States for antitrust and False Claims Act violations related to natural gas leases sold at auction by the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management.

Alexander D. Alvarez of Atmore, Ala., pleaded guilty in federal court today to violating the Lacey Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) for illegally selling and possessing the feathers of anhingas and other migratory birds protected under the MBTA.

The Department of Justice announced today the filing of a consent decree with the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections (LDPSC) that resolves allegations of sexual harassment of an office administrator in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (Title VII).

The Justice Department announced today that a federal grand jury in Kentucky returned a 10-count indictment against Barren County Sheriff Christopher Eaton and Sheriff’s Deputies Danny McCown, Aaron Bennett, Adam Minor and Eric Guffey.

Stanley Wardle of Spanish Fork, Utah, was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Salt Lake City with nine counts of filing false claims for income tax refunds, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

Massoud Habibion, 49, aka “Matt Habibion” and “Matt Habi,” a U.S. citizen and co-owner of a Costa Mesa, Calif., company, Online Micro LLC, pleaded guilty today in the District of Columbia to conspiracy to illegally export computers from the United States to Iran through the United Arab Emirates.

Andrew Isaac Chance of Clinton, Md., was sentenced Wednesday to 65 months in prison for filing false claims for tax refunds and for filing a false retaliatory lien against a federal prosecutor.

Five Rhode Island men previously identified as leaders or associates of the New England organized crime family of the La Cosa Nostra have agreed to plead guilty to racketeering-related charges, according to documents filed today with the U.S. district court in Providence, R.I.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called “underwear bomber,” was sentenced today to life in prison as a result of his guilty plea to all eight counts of a federal indictment charging him for his role in the attempted Christmas Day 2009 bombing of Northwest Airlines flight 253.

Glenn E. Morgan Jr., 41, of Detroit, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert H. Cleland to three months in prison followed by two years supervised release after pleading guilty to sending a threatening communication through the mail to a Detroit couple.

A federal court has permanently barred Maria Teresita Viray from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

Danilo Velasquez, aka “Triste,” a local leader of La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, was sentenced yesterday in federal court in San Francisco by U.S. District Judge William H. Alsup to life in prison.

Julius DeSimone of Rome, N.Y., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Utica, N.Y., for conspiring to violate the Clean Water Act and to defraud the United States, and to making false statements to federal law enforcement.