A Bulgarian national was sentenced today to 15 months in prison for his role as a money launderer for a transnational criminal group based in Eastern Europe, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.

Zachary Adam Chesser, 20, of Fairfax County, Va., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady to a three-count criminal information that included charges of communicating threats against the writers of the South Park television show, soliciting violent jihadists to desensitize law enforcement, and attempting to provide material support to Al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

A global freight forwarding company, as well as five oil and gas service companies and subsidiaries, have all agreed to resolve investigations of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations.

Steven W. Allen, a practicing attorney from Mesa, Ariz., and Allen Goodmansen, a certified public accountant, also from Mesa, were sentenced to prison for tax fraud by Phoenix federal district court Judge Roslyn O. Silver.

"The Justice Department is firmly committed to investigating and prosecuting foreign bribery wherever it occurs – because rooting out foreign bribery matters," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.

U.S. District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle also ordered Heliber Toro Mejia, 52; Humberto Toro Mejia, 60; and Luz Elena Acuna Rios, 53; all of Bogotá, to serve three years of supervised release following their prison terms.

Restitution trust funds for the benefit of two minor victims of sex tourism in the Philippines were executed and implemented yesterday through the signing of trust documents by Filipino social welfare authorities and a U.S. based trustee.

RAE Systems Inc., a publicly-traded U.S. corporation headquartered in San Jose, Calif., has entered into an agreement with the Department of Justice to pay a $1.7 million penalty for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Alcatel-Lucent S.A. and three of its subsidiaries have agreed to pay a combined $92 million penalty to resolve a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigation into the worldwide sales practices of Alcatel S.A. prior to its 2006 merger with Lucent Technologies Inc.

The former controller of a Miami-Dade County, Fla., telecommunications company was sentenced to 24 months in prison for his participation in a conspiracy to pay and conceal bribes to former Haitian government officials.

Maxwell Technologies Inc. has agreed to pay an $8 million criminal penalty to resolve charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for bribing Chinese government officials to secure sales of Maxwell’s products to state-owned manufacturers of electric-utility infrastructure in several Chinese provinces.

Tyson Foods Inc. has agreed to pay a $4 million criminal penalty to resolve an investigation into improper payments by company representatives to government-employed inspection veterinarians in Mexico.

An Ohio man residing in Switzerland was charged by information in the Northern District of Ohio for filing false personal income tax returns for the years 2004 through 2008, the Department of Justice announced today.

Edward Gurary, formerly of Orange Village, Ohio, pleaded guilty today in federal court in the Northern District of Ohio to filing false personal income tax returns for the years 2004 through 2008.

JGC Corporation has agreed to pay a $218.8 million criminal penalty to resolve charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for its participation in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts.

Comverse Technology Inc., a New York City headquartered corporation, has agreed to pay a $1.2 million penalty for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has agreed to pay a $21.4 million criminal penalty as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice to resolve improper payments by J&J subsidiaries to government officials in Greece, Poland and Romania in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA.

A Bulgarian national pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia for his role in laundering money for a transnational criminal group based in Eastern Europe.

The Justice Department’s National Security Division today announced the launch of a system for the electronic filing of registration statements and supplements with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

Flavio Ricotti, a former executive of Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.-based valve company Control Components Inc. (CCI), has pleaded guilty for his participation in a conspiracy to secure contracts by paying bribes to officials of foreign state-owned companies as well as officers and employees of foreign and domestic private companies.

Tenaris S.A., a publicly traded corporation headquartered in Luxembourg, has agreed to pay a $3.5 million penalty for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and has entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice.

A Boston venture capitalist and director at Boston Private Bank and Trust Company was charged with failing to report his foreign bank account and income to the Department of the Treasury.

Jorge Granados, the former chief executive officer of Miami-based telecommunications company Latin Node Inc. (LatiNode), pleaded guilty today to conspiring to pay bribes to government officials in Honduras.

A Romanian national pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia for leading a money laundering network for a transnational criminal group based in Eastern Europe.

Dr. Arvind Ahuja of Greendale, Wis., was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Milwaukee on four counts of willfully filing materially false tax returns and four counts of failing to file Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts.

Cinergy Telecommunications Inc., Cinergy’s president and director, the president of Florida-based Telecom Consulting Services Corp. and two former Haitian government officials have been charged in a superseding indictment for their alleged roles in a foreign bribery, wire fraud and money laundering scheme.

Armor Holdings Inc. has entered into an agreement with the Department of Justice to pay a $10.29 million penalty to resolve violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

A former chief executive officer of Florida-based telecommunications company Latin Node Inc. (LatiNode) was sentenced yesterday to 46 months in prison for paying bribes to former government officials in Honduras.

Bridgestone Corporation has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $28 million criminal fine for its role in conspiracies to rig bids and to make corrupt payments to foreign government officials in Latin America related to the sale of marine hose and other industrial products manufactured by the company and sold throughout the world.

Three individuals were charged in an indictment returned today by a federal grand jury in Utah for their alleged roles in a bribery and fraud scheme involving federal procurement contracts.

"The FCPA is an important mechanism for holding individuals and corporations accountable for fostering corruption abroad, and for motivating others to act responsibly," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.

A federal grand jury in San Jose, Calif., Wednesday indicted Ashvin Desai of San Jose on three counts of tax evasion, two counts of willfully aiding the preparation of materially false tax returns and three counts of failing to file Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts.

Eight former executives and agents of Siemens AG and its subsidiaries have been charged for allegedly engaging in a decade-long scheme to bribe senior Argentine government officials to secure, implement and enforce a $1 billion contract with the Argentine government to produce national identity cards.

Aon Corporation, a publicly traded corporation headquartered in Chicago and one of the largest insurance brokerage firms in the world, has entered into an agreement with the Department of Justice to pay a $1.76 million penalty to resolve violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The department filed a criminal information against Magyar Telekom and a two-year deferred prosecution agreement in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia today.

Marubeni Corporation has agreed to pay a $54.6 million criminal penalty to resolve charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for its participation in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts.

Phoenix-area businessmen Stephen M. Kerr and Michael Quiel and former San Diego attorney Christopher M. Rusch were charged in Phoenix with conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for concealing millions of dollars in assets in numerous secret Swiss bank accounts held at UBS and elsewhere, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

Smith & Nephew Inc. has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice to resolve improper payments by the company and certain affiliates in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

Albert “Jack” Stanley, a former chairman and chief executive officer of Kellogg, Brown & Root Inc. (KBR), was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by participating in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts and for conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud as part of a separate kickback scheme.

Alexander Beltran Herrera, 35, aka Jhon Alexander Beltrain Herrera, aka Rodrigo Pirinolo, an accused member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), has been extradited from Colombia to face hostage taking and terrorism charges in the United States.

BizJet International Sales and Support Inc., a provider of aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services based in Tulsa, Okla., has agreed to pay an $11.8 million criminal penalty to resolve charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for bribing government officials in Latin America to secure contracts to perform aircraft MRO services for government agencies.

Biomet Inc. has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice to resolve improper payments by the company and its subsidiaries in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Stuart Carson, the former president of Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.-based valve company Control Components Inc. (CCI), and Hong “Rose” Carson, the former CCI director of sales for China and Taiwan, have pleaded guilty to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

Direct Resource Inc. has agreed to pay the government $450,000 to resolve allegations that the company falsely claimed payment in violation of the Trade Agreements Act (TAA), which prohibits the sale of products to federal agencies from countries that do not have a reciprocal trade agreement with the United States, the Justice Department announced today. The Columbus, Ohio, company allegedly knowingly sold products from China, a country that does not have such an agreement with the United States.

Paul Cosgrove, the former Head of Worldwide Sales at Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.-based valve company Control Components Inc. (CCI) pleaded guilty today to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

"Respect for tribal sovereignty, which inspires the title of this Symposium, underlies all of the work that the Department of Justice does to further tribal justice and public safety," said Deputy Attorney General Cole.

David Edmonds, the former vice president of worldwide customer service at Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.-based valve company Control Components Inc., pleaded guilty today to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

Data Systems &s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil H. MacBride.

NORDAM Group Inc., a provider of aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services based in Tulsa, Okla., has entered into an agreement with the Department of Justice to pay a $2 million penalty to resolve violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Two foreign nationals have pleaded guilty for their roles in a scheme to traffic the identities of Puerto Rican U.S. citizens and corresponding identity documents.