The United States has sued four Certified Public Accounts (CPA), 27 tax preparers and one other individual, seeking to bar them from promoting an alleged tax scam involving bogus income tax credits claimed for sham sales of methane from landfills.

A federal court has barred a Chicago tax preparation firm, El Caminante, Inc. and its principal operator, Maria Colica, from preparing federal income tax returns claiming false tax credits. The company and Colica agreed to the injunction. The Government civil injunction complaint filed in the case alleged that Colica fraudulently claimed fuel tax credits for customers who were not entitled to them.

A federal court in Savannah, Ga., today permanently barred Ophelia Kelley, of Vidalia, Ga., from preparing federal income tax returns for others. According to the government complaint, Kelley operated two return preparation firms in Vidalia – Kelley Tax Service and City and Country Girl Tax Service. Kelley agreed to the civil injunction order.

A federal judge in Tampa, Fla., has permanently barred eight men – including five tax preparers and two Certified Public Accountants (CPA) – from promoting an alleged tax fraud scheme involving bogus income tax credits.

The forfeiture is the largest ever entered against an entity for IEEPA violations.

"The U.S. financial system is built on trust and transparency. Our banks must know what payments they are processing and for whom. Credit Suisse’s decades-long scheme to flout the rules that govern our financial institutions robbed our system of the legitimacy that is fundamental to it success."

The United States has asked a federal court to stop two Miami-based tax return preparers from improperly claiming the First-Time Home Buyer Credit.

A federal judge in Beaumont, Texas, has permanently barred 12 people from promoting an alleged tax fraud scheme involving bogus income tax credits.

Juan Javier Cardenas was charged in a three-count indictment returned today by a federal grand jury in Miami with conspiracy to buy, sell and use stolen credit card information.

Vladislav Anatolievich Horohorin, 27, aka “BadB” of Moscow, Russia, was indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2009 on charges of access device fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Juan Javier Cardenas of Miami pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to traffic in and possess unauthorized credit card numbers with intent to defraud, and one count of trafficking in unauthorized credit card numbers, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer for the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Michael K. Fithen of the U.S. Secret Service, Miami Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Kenneth T. Jenkins Jr., of the U.S. Secret Service, Criminal Investigative Division.

Cesar Carranza, a resident of Long Beach, Calif., was sentenced today to 72 months in prison for his role in laundering $2.5 million dollars in proceeds derived from several stolen credit card information schemes.

A federal court in Miami has permanently barred Alberto Camejo and his business, ABCY Star Service LLC, from claiming the First-Time Homebuyer Credit on returns they prepare unless ensuring that the taxpayer is entitled to claim the credit.

Juan Javier Cardenas of Miami was sentenced today in the Southern District of Florida to 121 months in prison for buying, trafficking and possessing stolen credit card information.

The United States has filed six lawsuits in five states to stop tax return preparers from fraudulently claiming the first-time homebuyer tax credit and the earned-income tax credit.

A federal court has barred a Philadelphia tax preparation firm and its owner from preparing federal tax returns claiming first-time-homebuyer tax credits and tax deductions for certain expenses.

Rogelio Hackett Jr., 26, of Lithonia, Ga., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga in Alexandria, Va., to trafficking in counterfeit credit cards and aggravated identity theft.

The United States has sued an Orange County, Calif., man to stop him from selling bogus tax credits.

Rogelio Hackett Jr., 25, of Lithonia, Ga., was sentenced today to 120 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga in Alexandria, Va., for trafficking in counterfeit credit cards and aggravated identity theft.

A Hammond, Ind., man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., to 14 years in prison for operating an online business that sold counterfeit credit cards encoded with stolen account information.

Adrian-Tiberiu Oprea, 27, of Constanta, Romania; Iulian Dolan, 27, of Craiova, Romania; Cezar Iulian Butu, 26, of Ploiesti, Romania; and Florin Radu, 23, of Rimnicu Vilcea, Romania, were charged in a four-count indictment filed in the District of New Hampshire with conspiracy to commit computer fraud, wire fraud and access device fraud.

A Brooklyn, N.Y., man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., to 12 years in prison for operating a credit card fraud ring that used counterfeit credit cards encoded with stolen account information up and down the East Coast of the United States.

A federal court in Los Angeles has permanently barred Lamar Ellis of Brea, Calif., from promoting a scheme involving sales of bogus federal tax credits.

Edward Arakelyan, 21, and Arman Vardanyan, 22, were each charged in a criminal information filed on March 5, 2012, in U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif., with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, one count of bank fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft.

The seizures are the result of Operation Wreaking hAVoC, an FBI and Justice Department operation targeting the sale of stolen credit card numbers via the Internet.

Adrian-Tiberiu Oprea, 28, of Constanta, Romania, was extradited to the United States and appeared in federal court in New Hampshire today, to face federal charges relating to his alleged participation in an international multimillion dollar scheme to remotely hack into and steal payment card data from hundreds of U.S. merchants’ “point of sale” computer systems.

Vladislav Anatolievich Horohorin, aka “BadB” of Moscow, an alleged international credit card trafficker thought to be one of the most prolific sellers of stolen credit card data, has been extradited from France to the United States to face criminal charges filed in the District of Columbia and in the Northern District of Georgia.

Aleksandr Suvorov, of Estonia, was sentenced today to seven years in prison for his role in two separate hacking schemes involving a total of more than 240,000 stolen credit card numbers.

Eduard Arakelyan, 21, and Arman Vardanyan, 23, were each sentenced yesterday to serve 36 months in prison on bank fraud and conspiracy charges, and an additional, consecutive 24 months in prison for the identity theft charge.

A company that marketed public records about consumers to employers making hiring decisions agreed to settle charges that it violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act and pay $2.6 million in civil penalties, the Justice Department announced.

Peter Borgia Jr., 22, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema.

The United States has filed a complaint against three related companies that bought and sold consumer credit reports, the Justice Department announced today. The government’s complaint charges these companies with violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The companies have agreed to pay a $1.2 million civil penalty to resolve these charges.

Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group Co-Chair New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today filed a Martin Act complaint against Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and its affiliates for making fraudulent misrepresentations and omissions to promote the sale of RMBS to investors.

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.

The United States has asked a federal court in Florence, S.C., to permanently bar Susann Allen of Darlington County, S.C., and Rachel D. Watson of Florence County, S.C., from preparing federal income tax returns for others.

A federal court has permanently barred Crystal Ireland, of Detroit, who does business as Master Mind Preparation, from preparing federal tax returns that claim the earned income tax credit.

Vladislav Anatolievich Horohorin, aka “BadB,” was sentenced today to serve 88 months in prison for trafficking in millions of stolen credit and debit cards and for his role in the theft of more than $9 million dollars from an Atlanta-based credit card processor.

Michigan-based Cadillac Asphalt LLC (Cadillac) and Michigan Paving and Materials Co. (MPM), have agreed to pay $3.8 million to resolve allegations that they falsely claimed Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) credits on a number of federally funded transportation projects.

Credit Suisse AG pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to aid and assist U.S. taxpayers in filing false income tax returns and other documents with the Internal Revenue Service.

"This case shows that no financial institution, no matter its size or global reach, is above the law. When the Department of Justice conducts investigations, we will always follow the law and the facts wherever they lead."

"While today’s action is a significant milestone in our law enforcement efforts, our work in the offshore area is far from done, and we expect additional public actions in this area in the coming months."

"The central mission of the Tax Division is to enforce our nation’s tax laws fairly and consistently. This is a responsibility that we owe to every honest taxpayer who pays his or her fair share. As part of this mission, we are committed to using all enforcement tools against those who seek to avoid their legal obligations, and their responsibilities to their fellow citizens and taxpayers, by hiding their assets in foreign bank accounts."

Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally for the Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden for the District of Nevada announced today that Damon Boswell of Las Vegas pleaded guilty to conspiracy to submit false federal income tax returns.

A Massachusetts man was charged today with allegedly hacking into computer networks around the country – including networks belonging to law enforcement agencies, a local police department and a local college – to obtain highly sensitive law enforcement data and alter academic records.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in McAllen, Texas, permanently barred Maria I. Cantu from preparing federal tax returns for others.

The Justice Department’s Civil Division announced today that RMCN Credit Services Inc. (RMCN), of McKinney, Texas, and the Texas residents who own it, Doug and Julie Parker, have agreed to settle a federal court case charging them with falsely disputing negative information on consumers’ credit reports and collecting illegal upfront fees from customers

The Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today announced a settlement to resolve allegations that GE Capital Retail Bank, known as of this month as Synchrony Bank, engaged in a nationwide pattern or practice of discrimination by excluding Hispanic borrowers from two of its credit card debt-repayment programs

A Massachusetts man pleaded guilty today to hacking into computer networks around the country – including networks belonging to law enforcement agencies, a local police department and a local college – to obtain highly sensitive law enforcement data and alter academic records

A Russian national indicted for hacking into point of sale systems at retailers throughout the United States and operating websites that distributed credit card data of thousands of credit card holders appeared today for arraignment in U.S. federal court, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan of the Western District of Washington and Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division

The United States has asked a federal court in Miami to permanently bar a South Florida man and his two Miami businesses, Ebenezer Tax Services Inc. and Primo Tax Service Inc., from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. He is alleged to have defrauded the government out of more than $20 million