The former director of accounting and the former outside auditor of Arizona-based residential mortgage loan originator American Mortgage Specialists Inc. pleaded guilty in Arizona to conspiracy to defraud BNC National Bank and obstruction of justice, respectively.

The founder and president of the National Association of Special Police and Security Officers (NASPSO) – which represents private security guards assigned to protect federal buildings in the metropolitan Washington area – was convicted yesterday in Washington federal court, following a jury trial, of 18 counts related to his theft of union treasury and pension funds.

A medical doctor and the president of two Brooklyn, N.Y., medical clinics pleaded guilty today for his role in a scheme resulting in more than $11.7 million in fraudulent Medicare claims.

"This “new patriotism” should not countenance through procedural abuses – which are sadly found in our history, but nowhere in our founding documents – mechanisms that frustrate the desire of our fellow citizens to exercise their most fundamental, and uniquely American, rights," said Attorney General Holder.

April J. Rampton, 41, formerly of Heber City, Utah, was convicted yesterday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City of nine counts of filing false claims for income tax refunds, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Rampton, who was indicted on Sept. 14, 2011, was released following the verdict. She is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Dee Benson on Feb. 27, 2013. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on six similar counts.

U.S. District Court Judge William P. Johnson entered a consent decree of permanent injunction against Sunland Inc., a Portales, N.M.-based producer of peanut butter, and Jimmie D. Shearer, president and chief executive officer of Sunland, the Justice Department announced today.

Mary and Christian Young and Octavious Reeves were indicted by a federal grand jury in the Middle District of Alabama on a variety of charges stemming from an identity theft and tax fraud conspiracy.

A federal grand jury in Macon, Ga., returned an indictment charging Kimberly Michelle Banks, a resident of Cordele, Ga., with crimes involving the use of stolen identities on false federal income tax returns in order to obtain refunds to which Banks was not entitled.

Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS), a publicly traded mortgage servicing company based in Jacksonville, Fla., has agreed to pay $35 million in criminal penalties and forfeiture to address its participation in a six-year scheme to prepare and file more than 1 million fraudulently signed and notarized mortgage-related documents with property recorders’ offices throughout the United States.

Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder today awarded the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor to 18 public safety officers who exhibited exceptional courage in saving and protecting others and whose heroic actions were above and beyond the call of duty.

Today President Barack Obama granted pardons to the following seventeen individuals.

Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder today announced grants to 12 programs across the country to target the urgent need to reduce domestic violence homicides.

"It has indeed changed – but it has not changed as much as we would like, or as indigent defendants need, to achieve justice," said Acting Senior Counselor Leff.

A federal jury in Montgomery, Ala., found James Timothy Turner, also known as Tim Turner, guilty late Friday of conspiracy to defraud the United States, attempting to pay taxes with fictitious financial instruments, attempting to obstruct and impede the Internal Revenue Service, failing to file a 2009 federal income tax return and falsely testifying under oath in a bankruptcy proceeding.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and European Commission Vice President Viviane Reding met today in Washington, D.C. They had cordial discussions on a wide range of fields of collaboration between the Department of Justice and the European Commission.

Charges were unsealed today against four former executives of BizJet International Sales and Support Inc., the U.S.-based subsidiary of Lufthansa Technik AG, which provides aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services, for their alleged participation in a scheme to pay bribes to government officials in Latin America.

The founder and president of the National Association of Special Police and Security Officers (NASPSO) was sentenced to 76 months in prison today for stealing union treasury and pension funds.

Ashraf Hassan-Gouda, a former resident of Mays Landing, N.J., pleaded guilty to one count of assisting in the preparation of a false federal individual income tax return.

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.

A former San Francisco investment banker and his college friend both pleaded guilty today for their roles in an insider trading scheme involving two impending corporate mergers.

Several residents of Montgomery, Ala., were indicted by a federal grand jury for their involvement in a conspiracy to receive fraudulent tax refunds into their bank accounts.

Bridgette Rivers, a resident of Montgomery, Ala., was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy and theft of government funds related to her participation in a scheme to use stolen identities to file fraudulent tax returns.

A former executive of the U.S. subsidiary of a French power and transportation company was charged in a superseding indictment for his alleged participation in a scheme to pay bribes to foreign government officials.

The former president of Port Arthur Chemical and Environmental Services, LLC (PACES) has pleaded guilty in federal court to occupational safety crimes which resulted in the death of an employee.

Two Spring Hill, Tenn., men pleaded guilty in federal court today for their involvement in a racially-motivated conspiracy to interfere with the housing rights of African-American residents of the Spring Lake subdivision of Spring Hill.

Bridgette Rivers, a resident of Montgomery, Ala., pleaded guilty to her involvement in a conspiracy to use stolen identities to file fraudulent tax returns.

A former employee at the Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany (MCLB-Albany) and two local businessmen were sentenced today for their roles in a bribery scheme related to the award of contracts for machine products that resulted in approximately $907,000 in fraudulent overcharges to the U.S. Marines.

Two individuals were arrested on a federal warrant alleging that they operated a series of fraudulent businesses targeting Spanish-speaking consumers.

A federal grand jury in Salt Lake City today returned an indictment charging a resident of Sandy, Utah, with five counts of presenting false, fictitious and fraudulent claims to the United States, and three counts of passing fictitious obligations.

A jury in El Paso, Texas, today convicted Keith Nicholas Aiken, 31, of making false statements to law enforcement while serving as a civilian military employee stationed in Afghanistan.

Three individuals charged in connection with operating a series of fraudulent business opportunity companies were arrested Friday following their indictment by a federal grand jury in Miami on June 25, 2013, the Justice Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service announced today.

The Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that Anthony Chaudhuri and Margaret Chaudhuri, of Naples, Fla., pleaded guilty today to one count each of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced today that they, along with plaintiff adult home residents, entered into a comprehensive settlement agreement with the state of New York under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

A former San Francisco investment banker and his college friend were sentenced yesterday to 16 months in prison for their roles in an insider trading scheme involving two impending corporate mergers, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag of the Northern District of California.

A grand jury in the Southern District of Florida issued an indictment for two individuals on charges of conspiracy, fraud and extortion alleging they operated a series of fraudulent businesses targeting Spanish-speaking consumers.

Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Anne M. Tompkins announced today that the United States has filed a civil lawsuit against Bank of America Corporation and certain of its affiliates, including Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner &Bank of America”).

The Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today that Jimmie Duane Ross of Lehi, Utah, and formerly of Sevierville, Tenn., was convicted today of five counts of tax evasion following a jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

The Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that April J. Rampton, 42, formerly of Heber City, Utah, was sentenced today to 21 months in prison for filing false claims for income tax refunds.

Kathryn Keneally, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, and Kerry B. Harvey, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, jointly announced today that James S. Faller II, of Russell Springs, Ky., was indicted by a federal grand jury in Bowling Green, Ky.

The Justice Department announced today the unsealing of a superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Sacramento, Calif., charging Teresa Marie Marty, Charles Tingler and Victoria Tingler, all of Placerville, Calif., with conspiracy to defraud the United States and filing multi-million dollar liens against government officials.

A Brooklyn, N.Y., resident pleaded guilty today for his role as a patient recruiter in a $13 million kickback and health care fraud scheme, the fourth defendant to plead guilty in the scheme based at the Cropsey Medical Care PLLC clinic in Brooklyn.

A Maine resident pleaded guilty today in federal court to engaging in a type of cyberstalking known as “sextortion.”

Jing Wang, 51, of Del Mar, Calif., a former Executive Vice President and President of Global Business Operations for Qualcomm Inc., was charged with insider trading in shares of both Qualcomm and Atheros Communications Inc. using a secret brokerage account and an offshore shell company in the British Virgin Islands. Wang was also charged with conspiring with his brother, co-defendant Bing Wang, 53, and his former stock broker to obstruct an ongoing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation and laundering the proceeds of his insider trading using a second offshore shell company and secret brokerage account.

Five Miami residents have been charged for their alleged roles in a $48 million home health Medicare fraud scheme.

Two Miami-area residents were indicted in connection with their alleged participation in a $190 million Medicare fraud scheme.

The following message from the Attorney General was emailed to Justice Department employees on October 1, 2013.

Boston Scientific Corp. and its subsidiaries, Guidant LLC, Guidant Sales LLC and Cardiac Pacemakers Inc. (Guidant), have agreed to pay $30 million to settle allegations that, between 2002 and 2005, Guidant knowingly sold defective heart devices to health care facilities that in turn implanted the devices into Medicare patients.

The following message from the Attorney General was emailed to Justice Department employees on October 17, 2013.

The former president of Port Arthur Chemical and Environmental Services LLC (PACES) has been sentenced for occupational safety crimes which resulted in the death of an employee, announced Robert G. Dreher, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and John M. Bales, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas.

Two individuals charged in connection with the operation of a fraudulent lottery scheme were arrested today in south Florida following their indictment by a federal grand jury in Miami on Oct. 31, 2013.