A Las Vegas man was arrested yesterday on charges that he defrauded distressed homeowners in Las Vegas who were attempting to refinance or adjust their home mortgages.

CommunityONE Bank N.A. with 45 offices throughout the state has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice related to its failure to file a suspicious activity report and maintain an effective anti-money laundering program.

Karen L. Blyth and David H. M. Phelps were sentenced yesterday in federal court in Mobile, Ala., to 33 months and 24 months in prison, respectively. The pair was also fined $5,000 each, and barred for three years from working in the seafood industry or owning any seafood related business.

Steven Scott Cantrell, of Crane, Texas, pleaded guilty today to hate crime charges stemming from a series of racially-motivated arsons in December 2010, including the arson of a historic African-American church as part of an effort to murder a disabled African-American man.

Maxim Healthcare Services Inc., one of the nation’s leading providers of home healthcare services, has entered into a settlement to resolve criminal and civil charges relating to a nationwide scheme to defraud Medicaid programs and the Veterans Affairs program of more than $61 million.

Lydia Demski, the owner of Deerpath Corp., has agreed to pay the United States $800,000 to resolve allegations that she and her companies knowingly caused false claims to be submitted relating to a contract to provide re-furbishment of equipment at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Plumbrook facility in Sandusky, Ohio.

A Costa Rican company, its president and its auditor were charged in a superseding indictment filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va., for their alleged roles in a $670 million fraud scheme involving victims throughout the United States and abroad.

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit yesterday against a California municipality and a homeowners’ association for discriminating against families with children in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit against the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK), the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska and employees of UNK for violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against students with disabilities.

Steven Scott Cantrell, 26, of Crane, Texas, was sentenced today for hate crime charges stemming from a series of racially-motivated arsons in December 2010, including the arson of a historic African-American church as part of an effort to murder a disabled African-American man.

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.

Allan Wright, 45, of Russellville, Ohio, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Cincinnati to violating the Lacey Act by trafficking in and making false records for illegally harvested white-tailed deer.

The Justice Department today announced a $20,000 consent decree that resolves a lawsuit alleging that a Park City, Utah, condominium association and its management company violated the Fair Housing Act by refusing to grant a resident’s request for a reasonable accommodation.

The Justice Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and 49 state attorneys general announced today the filing of their landmark $25 billion agreement with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers to address mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses.

An executive of DENSO Corporation has agreed to plead guilty and to serve time in prison for his role in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for heater control panels installed in U.S. cars.

Toyota City, Japan-based G.S. Electech Inc. has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $2.75 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix the prices of auto parts used on antilock brake systems installed in U.S. cars

Tokyo-based Fujikura Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $20 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices of automotive wire harnesses and related products installed in U.S. cars.

Stockholm-based Autoliv Inc. has agreed to plead guilty for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices of seatbelts, airbags and steering wheels installed in U.S. cars to one automobile manufacturer and a separate conspiracy to fix prices of seatbelts to another.

Silford Warren, a resident of Queens, N.Y., was sentenced today to 24 months in prison for failure to pay over employment taxes in connection with his ownership of Silford Warren, CPA PC., the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. Judge William F. Kuntz II of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York also ordered Warren to pay $184,263 in restitution to the IRS.

The Justice Department announced today that it reached a settlement agreement with United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI), resolving allegations that the company discriminated under the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), when it impermissibly “reverified” the work authority of lawful permanent residents and required some non-citizen workers to provide specific Form I-9 documentation.

TRW Deutschland Holding GmbH, a Koblenz, Germany-based subsidiary of U.S.-based TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., has agreed to plead guilty for its involvement in a conspiracy to fix prices of seatbelts, airbags and steering wheels sold to two German automobile manufacturers, and installed in cars sold in the United States.

An executive of Tokyo-based Yazaki Corporation has agreed to plead guilty for his role in a conspiracy to fix prices of instrument panel clusters, also known as meters, installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere.

Nagoka, Japan-based Nippon Seiki Co. Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $1 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices of instrument panel clusters, commonly known as meters, installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere.

In a coordinated international takedown, law enforcement officials in Romania, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and Canada, acting on provisional arrest requests made by the United States, arrested six Romanian nationals today for their alleged involvement in a sophisticated multimillion dollar cyber fraud scheme that targeted consumers on U.S.-based Internet marketplace websites.

The Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) signed an agreement today to strengthen coordination on fair lending enforcement and avoid duplication of their respective federal law enforcement efforts.

An Indiana man faces a likely sentence of 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to hate crimes stemming from the arson of the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, the Justice Department announced today.

"Although there is still much work to be done, the United States has made significant strides in developing effective community responses to intimate partner violence that has stolen far too many promising futures – and shattered far too many lives," said Deputy Attorney General Cole.

Frederic Cilins, 50, a French citizen, has been arrested and accused of attempting to obstruct an ongoing investigation into whether a mining company paid bribes to win lucrative mining rights in the Republic of Guinea.

Charges have been unsealed against one current and one former executive of the U.S. subsidiary of a French power and transportation company for their alleged participation in a scheme to pay bribes to foreign government officials.

Richard Castle, 46, a resident of the United Kingdom, has been extradited to the United States where he faces charges of coercion of a minor, travelling with intent to engage in illicit sexual contact with a minor, and transferring obscene material to minors.

Fazliddin Kurbanov, 30, was arrested Thursday morning in Boise, Idaho, as part of a federal terrorism investigation. Federal terrorism charges were filed Thursday afternoon in Boise and Salt Lake City, Utah. Kurbanov, an Uzbekistan national, legally present in the United States, was living in Boise at the time of his arrest.

Two DENSO Corp. executives – Yuji Suzuki and Hiroshi Watanabe – have agreed to plead guilty for their roles in international conspiracies to fix prices and rig bids of certain automotive components installed in U.S. cars, the Department of Justice announced today.

Osaka, Japan-based Diamond Electric Mfg. Co. Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $19 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices of ignition coils installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere.

The United States has filed suit against PharMerica Corp. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. The lawsuit alleges that PharMerica violated the False Claims Act and the Controlled Substances Act by dispensing controlled drugs without valid prescriptions and causing claims for illegally dispensed drugs to be submitted to the Medicare program.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara and Assistant Director-in-Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office George Venizelos announced the unsealing of criminal complaints against Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout for their alleged participation in a conspiracy to hide the true extent of losses in a credit derivatives trading portfolio maintained by the Chief Investment Office (CIO) of JPMorgan Chase & Company (JPMorgan). Martin-Artajo served as a Managing Director and Head of Credit and Equity Trading for the CIO, and Grout was a Vice President and derivatives trader in the CIO.

A federal grand jury in Covington, Ky., has returned an indictment against G.S. Electech Inc. executive, Shingo Okuda for his role in an international conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids of auto parts used on antilock brake systems installed in U.S. cars.

A federal grand jury in Detroit returned an indictment against two Fujikura Ltd. executives for their roles in an international conspiracy to fix prices of auto parts used in automotive wire harnesses sold to Subaru and installed in U.S. cars.

A Detroit federal grand jury returned an indictment against a Panasonic Automotive Systems Corporation executive for his role in an international conspiracy to fix prices of switches and steering angle sensors sold to Toyota and installed in U.S. cars.

Nine Japan-based companies and two executives have agreed to plead guilty and to pay a total of more than $740 million in criminal fines for their roles in separate conspiracies to fix the prices of more than 30 different products sold to U.S. car manufacturers and installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere, the Department of Justice announced today. The department said that price-fixed automobile parts were sold to Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, as well as to the U.S. subsidiaries of Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota and Fuji Heavy Industries–more commonly known by its brand name, Subaru.

The United States has requested that the federal district court in Jackson, Miss., permanently bar Danee Aikens from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

Earlier today, charges were unsealed against Romanian fugitive Nicolae Popescu, the leader of an international organized crime syndicate that ran a multimillion dollar cyber fraud scheme, and six other fugitives charged with participating in the same scheme. Interpol has issued red notices to foreign law enforcement partners seeking assistance in the apprehension of these fugitives, and the FBI has also released “Wanted” posters to facilitate their arrests.

Hospice of the Comforter Inc. (HOTCI) has agreed to pay $3 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to the Medicare program for hospice services provided to patients who were not eligible for the Medicare hospice benefit.

Chairman Carper, Ranking Member Coburn, and distinguished Members of the Committee: Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the Committee today to discuss the Department of Justice’s work regarding virtual currencies.

The Ensign Group Inc., a skilled nursing provider based in Mission Viejo, Calif., that operates nursing homes across the western U.S. has agreed to pay $48 million to resolve allegations that it knowingly submitted to Medicare false claims for medically unnecessary rehabilitation therapy services.

A Cleveland federal grand jury returned an indictment against two executives of a Japanese automotive supplier for their roles in an international conspiracy to fix prices of automotive anti-vibration rubber parts sold to Toyota and installed in U.S. cars.

Osaka, Japan-based Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $120 million criminal fine for its role in two separate conspiracies to fix the prices of automotive components involving anti-vibration rubber and driveshaft parts installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere.

Stanley Electric Co. Ltd., a Tokyo-based company, has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $1.44 million criminal fine for its participation in a conspiracy to fix prices of lamp ballasts installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere.

Two former chief executive officers of PetroTiger Ltd. – a British Virgin Islands oil and gas company with operations in Colombia and offices in New Jersey – have been charged for their alleged participation in a scheme to pay bribes to foreign government officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

Koito Manufacturing Co. Ltd., a Tokyo-based company, has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a total of $56.6 million in criminal fines for its roles in separate price-fixing conspiracies involving automobile lighting fixtures and lamp ballasts installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere.

Bridgestone Corp., a Tokyo, Japan-based company, has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $425 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices of automotive anti-vibration rubber parts installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere.