Houston-area residents Basil Kalu and Ju-Ying Qian, and Louisiana resident Darnell Willis pleaded guilty today in connection with their roles in a durable medical equipment Medicare fraud scheme.

– The Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the schedule and panelists for the second joint public workshop on competition and regulatory issues in agriculture, which will be held on May 21, 2010, in Normal, Ala., at the Ernest L. Knight Reception Center at Alabama A & M University.

The Department announced a settlement agreement with ValleyCrest Landscape Companies to resolve charges of hiring discrimination against U.S. citizens and other work-authorized domestic workers at its Virginia locations.

A former employee of a financial services company pleaded guilty today for his participation in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies related to contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other related municipal finance contracts, the Department of Justice announced.

William M. Reece Jr., 54, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Judge David Hittner in U.S. District Court in Houston. 

According to a one-count felony charge filed on May 6, 2010 in U.S. District Court in Sioux City, Iowa, Kent Robert Stewart, aka Kent Stewart, president of a ready-mix concrete company located in Iowa, participated in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for ready-mix concrete sold to various companies in Iowa between approximately January 2008 and August 2009.

The former managing director of Pamrapo Saving Bank’s investment company was arrested today and charged with allegedly diverting and embezzling more than $600,000.

Metropolitan Ambulance & First Aid Corp. (now known as SEZ Metro Corp.), Metro North Ambulance Corp. (now known as SEZ North Corp.) and Big Apple Ambulance Service Inc. (formerly known as United Ambulance) have paid the United States $2.85 million to resolve false claims made to Medicare.

A federal court in Detroit has denied Ford Motor Company’s $445 million complaint against the United States for alleged tax overpayment interest.

Two U.S. military officials deployed to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, two Department of Defense (DOD) contractors and a contracting company were charged late yesterday for their roles in an alleged bribery and money laundering scheme related to the award of a DOD trucking services contract in Afghanistan.

Two Afghan trucking companies pleaded guilty today to paying multiple bribes to U.S. public officials in exchange for unfair advantages in procuring contract work at the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.

Ninety-four people have been charged for their alleged participation in schemes to collectively submit more than $251 million in false claims to the Medicare program in the continuing operation of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in Miami; Baton Rouge, La.; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Detroit and Houston.

Offshore Vessels LLC has entered a plea of guilty to knowingly discharging waste oil from one of its vessels, in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.

Swiss-based freight forwarder Panalpina Inc. has agreed to pay the United States $375,000 to settle allegations that the company paid kickbacks to employees of Kellogg Brown & Root Inc. (KBR).

The Justice Department announced today a settlement with Cuyahoga County, Ohio, to protect the rights of Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican voters under Section 4(e) of the Voting Rights Act.

A former agent of a financial products and services company pleaded guilty today for his participation in fraud conspiracies related to contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other municipal finance contracts.

The owner of a guiding and outfitting company was charged today in a three count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Baton Rouge, La., for illegally hunting a threatened species of alligator, the Justice Department announced.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement with six high technology companies–Adobe Systems Inc., Apple Inc., Google Inc., Intel Corp., Intuit Inc. and Pixar–that prevents them from entering into no solicitation agreements for employees.

The Justice Department and the Department of Transportation announced $55,000 in fines against Tornado Bus Company Inc., of Dallas, for violating passenger carrier accessibility requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

An owner of two Houston health care companies pleaded guilty today in connection with a $6.3 million Medicare fraud scheme, announced the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS).

Panasonic Corporation and a Whirlpool Corporation subsidiary, Embraco North America Inc., have agreed to plead guilty and to pay a total of $140.9 million in criminal fines for their role in an international conspiracy to fix the prices of refrigerant compressors, which are used in refrigerators and freezers in ho mes and businesses.

Six international freight forwarders have agreed to plead guilty and to pay criminal fines totaling $50.27 million for their roles in several conspiracies to fix a variety of fees and charges in connection with the provision of freight forwarding services for international air cargo shipments.

A New Orleans-area medical doctor and the owner and operator of a medical equipment company each pleaded guilty today for their roles in a Baton Rouge-area durable medical equipment (DME) health care fraud scheme.

Princewill Njoku, 51, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Gray Miller in Houston to conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

The Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Attorney’s Office announced today, the settlement of claims against ConocoPhillips Company and Sasol North America Inc. to resolve their liability to EPA under CERCLA for contamination in the Calcasieu Estuary of Louisiana.

A federal jury in Utica, N.Y. has found Certified Environmental Services Inc. (CES); two of its managers, Nicole Copeland and Elisa Dunn; and one of its employees, Sandy Allen, guilty of conspiring to aid and abet Clean Air Act violations, commit mail fraud, and defraud the United States.

Lindsey Manufacturing Company, an Azusa, Calif., company and two of its executives were indicted today for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to pay bribes to Mexican government officials at the Comisión Federal de Electricidad, a state-owned utility company.

John T.C. Yeh, the owner of Viable Communications Inc., and his brother, Joseph Yeh, the former vice president for corporate strategy and second in charge for Viable, pleaded guilty today to engaging in a conspiracy to defraud the Federal Communications Commission’s Video Relay Service program.

A Philadelphia man has pleaded guilty for his role in organizing and financing a network of high-tech, indoor marijuana grow facilities stretching from Florida to Connecticut.

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.

Offshore Vessels LLC (OSV) was sentenced to pay a criminal fine of $1,750,000 and remit a payment of $350,000 as community service to the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.

Lauren Stevens of Durham, N.C., was charged with one count of obstructing an official proceeding, one count of concealing and falsifying documents to influence a federal agency, and four counts of making false statements to the Food and Drug Administration.

The Department of Justice, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the state of Rhode Island announced today that Bouchard Transportation Co. Inc. and its affiliates will pay more than $6 million to settle a portion of the federal and state natural resource damages claims for the April 2003 spill of up to 98,000 gallons of oil into Buzzards Bay.

An Atlanta grand jury returned an indictment today against a former executive of Japan Airlines International Co. Ltd. (JAL) and two former executives of Nippon Cargo Airlines Co. Ltd. for participating in a conspiracy to fix and coordinate components of rates for air cargo shipments to and from the United States.

Houston-area residents Oliver Nkuku and Callistus Edozie were sentenced to 120 months in prison and 41 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in a durable medical equipment (DME) Medicare fraud scheme.

Atlas Ship Management Ltd., a Turkish Corporation, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Tampa, Fla. to federal charges of making false statements and knowingly failing to accurately maintain an Oil Record Book as required by international treaty and U.S. law.

A former residential sales manager at a Florida property management company pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with housing repair contracts for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The president of an Iowa ready-mix concrete company pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to fix prices for sales of ready-mix concrete.

A Florida man and two U.K. nationals pleaded guilty Dec.10, 2010, to immigration fraud charges for their roles in a scheme to fraudulently procure visas from the U.S. Embassy in London through a Florida property development company called Royal Development.

Irish pharmaceutical manufacturer Elan Corporation PLC and its U.S. subsidiary Elan Pharmaceuticals Inc. have agreed to pay more than $203 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal promotion of the epilepsy drug Zonegran

A former managing executive of a construction company that had substantial business at Fort Carson, a U.S. Army installation in Colorado Springs, Colo., pleaded guilty to providing an illegal gratuity to a contracting officer.

The Justice Department today announced a $1.25 million agreement with Warren Properties Inc., Warren Village (Mobile) Limited Partnership, and Frank R. Warren, to settle allegations that the defendants violated the Fair Housing Act by refusing to grant a tenant’s requests for a reasonable accommodation.

A New Orleans-area medical doctor and the owner and operator of a medical equipment company were sentenced today to 48 and 30 months in prison.

St. Jude Medical Inc. of St. Paul, Minn., has agreed to pay the United States $16 million to resolve allegations that the company used post-market studies and a registry to pay kickbacks to induce physicians to implant the company’s pacemakers and defibrillators, the Justice Department announced today.

Two owners of a Houston health care company pleaded guilty today in connection with an alleged $5.2 million Medicare fraud scheme.

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.

The former owner of Buddy’s Carpet, Leif D. Rozin, and Alan W. Koehler, the company’s former in-house counsel, were sentenced to prison for their roles in a tax fraud scheme for which they were convicted in 2008.

Five individuals and a Nashville, Tenn., firearms manufacturer have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges relating to international firearms and trafficking violations of the Arms Export Control Act.

Two Iowa ready-mix concrete executives were sentenced to serve jail time and pay criminal fines for their participation in separate conspiracies to fix prices and rig bids for sales of ready-mix concrete.

The owners and operators of a Brooklyn-area durable medical equipment (DME) company pleaded guilty yesterday to defrauding the Medicare program, announced the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS).