A superseding indictment was returned yesterday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, charging Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (Huawei), the world’s largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer, and two U.S. subsidiaries with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

TULSA, Okla. –A former associate scientist was sentenced Thursday in federal court for stealing proprietary information worth more than $1 billion from his employer, a U.S. petroleum company.

A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned a 16-count indictment against a former Acting Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and a former subordinate for their alleged theft of proprietary software and confidential databases from the U.S. government as part of a scheme to defraud the U.S. government.

Federal authorities announced today that an ongoing cooperative effort between law enforcement and a number of private-sector companies, including multiple internet domain providers and registrars, has disrupted hundreds of internet domains used to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic to commit fraud and other crimes.

On February 21, ICITAP completed the Basic Criminal Investigation Training Course for 29 members of the Belize Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Branch.

2020 marks the 30th anniversary of President George H.W. Bush signing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law. Throughout this 30th anniversary year, the Division is publishing a monthly series of blog posts highlighting the impact that our recent ADA enforcement efforts have made in people’s everyday lives. We celebrate the many ways in which the ADA has transformed American society and enabled a generation of Americans with disabilities to thrive. At the same time, we recognize that too many barriers to equal opportunity remain. We recommit to our work of making the promise of the ADA a reality, enabling all Americans with disabilities to achieve their dreams and reach their full potential.

On February 28, ICITAP completed an intensive two-week engagement to provide the Nepal Police Job Task working group assistance in finalizing the criminal investigator task list, equipment list, and risk analysis lists for criminal investigator position. 

**NEW DATE: April 20**  Agency FOIA professionals are invited to join OIP and OGIS for a joint Best Practices Workshop on FOIA and technology featuring the Chief FOIA Officer Council Technology Subcommittee.

On February 28, ICITAP concluded the Advanced First Aid Course at the National Highway & Motorway Police (NHMP) Training Facility in Kot Ranjit.

On March 4, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the country’s first Manual on Courtroom Security in Terrorism Cases was presented to the Chair of Malaysia’s National Judicial Security Committee (NJSC) for consideration and adoption.

**Now Virtual at New Time** The previously scheduled Best Practices Workshop on FOIA and technology featuring the Chief FOIA Officer Council Technology Committee will now be held online.

As citizens across the nation follow public health instructions to shelter in their homes to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus Disease, victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse are facing increased risk to their own personal safety.

The spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States is having a dire effect on all Americans, but victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking are uniquely burdened by this crisis.

Many victims of domestic abuse are currently left no option than to shelter in place and to stay in their home with their abuser to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. As a result, many communities are implementing creative solutions, often working remotely and incorporating the use of technology, to protect victims and prevent violence.

On April 27, ICITAP’s Central America mission conducted a webinar titled “Pathology and Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) During the COVID-19 Pandemic” for hundreds of subject matter experts from throughout the Western Hemisphere. Chaired by ICITAP-Central America’s Attaché, the 80-minute webinar began with a pre-recorded media interview from the Dominican Republic, which highlighted the critical work currently carried out by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) in Washington, DC.

OIP is now accepting registration for topic-specific FOIA training sessions to be offered online. 

The Department of Justice has released the agenda and list of participants for its March 11, 2020, public workshop to solicit public dialogue on the proposed vertical merger guidelines. The workshop will be the first in a two-part series hosted together with the Federal Trade Commission. The two half-day workshops will allow for a dynamic discussion about the proposed guidelines to complement the written public comments about the proposed guidelines that were submitted to the agencies.

The Department of Justice this week concluded an arbitration that will resolve a civil antitrust lawsuit challenging Novelis Inc.’s proposed acquisition of Aleris Corporation. The lawsuit seeks to preserve competition in the North American market for rolled aluminum sheet for automotive applications, commonly referred to as aluminum auto body sheet. This marks the first time the Antitrust Division has used its authority under the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. § 571 et seq.) to resolve a matter.

Two commercial flooring executives, Robert A. Patrey Jr. and Kenneth R. Smith, pleaded guilty for their role in an antitrust conspiracy to rig bids and fix prices for commercial flooring services and products sold in the United States, the Department of Justice announced. The defendants are cooperating with the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation.

The Department of Justice Antitrust Division announced today that it has adopted a series of temporary changes to its civil merger investigation processes, which will remain in place during the pendency of the coronavirus (COVID-19) event. These changes will ensure that the Antitrust Division will be able to continue operations as its employees carry out their duties to protect American consumers under a mass telework directive, in accordance with health guidance from the CDC, WHO, and other health authorities.

The Department of Justice announced today that it is requiring United Technologies Corporation (UTC) and Raytheon Company (Raytheon) to divest Raytheon’s military airborne radios business and UTC’s military global positioning systems (“GPS”) and large space-based optical systems businesses in order to proceed with their proposed merger.  Without these divestitures, the merger would eliminate competition between two of the primary suppliers of military airborne radios and military GPS systems to the Department of Defense (DoD), and enable the merged firm to lessen competition for multiple components used in reconnaissance satellites sold to DoD and the wider U.S. intelligence community.  

The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that it will not challenge collaborative efforts of McKesson Corporation, Owens & Minor, Inc., Cardinal Health, Inc., Medline Industries, Inc., and Henry Schein, Inc. (together “Medical Supplies Distributors”) to expedite and increase manufacturing, sourcing, and distribution of personal-protective equipment (“PPE”) and coronavirus-treatment-related medication. These collaborative efforts are part of an emergency response developed and led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to address supply needs arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

South Korea-based company Jier Shin Korea Co. Ltd., and its president, Sang Joo Lee, have agreed to pay $2 million to the United States for civil antitrust and False Claims Act violations for their involvement in a bid-rigging conspiracy that targeted contracts to supply fuel to U.S. military bases in South Korea, the Department of Justice announced today.

The Department of Justice announced today that it will not challenge a proposal by the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) to operate an online platform for advertisers to solicit bids from companies that provide production services for commercial advertisements. The Department’s position was stated in a business review letter from Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim for the Antitrust Division to counsel for the AICP.

The Department of Justice announced today that it will not challenge collaborative efforts of AmerisourceBergen Corporation (AmerisourceBergen) to identify global supply opportunities, ensure product quality, and facilitate product distribution of medications and other healthcare supplies to treat COVID-19 patients.

Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute LLC (FCS), an oncology group headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida, was charged with conspiring to allocate medical and radiation oncology treatments for cancer patients in Southwest Florida, the Department of Justice announced.  This charge is the first in the department’s ongoing investigation into market allocation in the oncology industry.

The Department of Justice announced today the conclusion of its investigation into proposed acquisitions by Dairy Farmers of America Inc. (DFA) and Prairie Farms Dairy Inc. (Prairie Farms) of fluid milk processing plants from Dean Foods Company (Dean) out of bankruptcy.  The department’s investigation was conducted against the backdrop of unprecedented challenges in the dairy industry, with the two largest fluid milk processors in the U.S., Dean and Borden Dairy Company, in bankruptcy, and Dean faced with imminent liquidation.

Cengage Learning Holdings II Inc. and McGraw-Hill Education Inc. mutually agreed to abandon their plans to merge after the Department of Justice informed the companies it had serious concerns that the proposed transaction, as structured, would harm competition.

Apotex Corp., a generic pharmaceutical company headquartered in Florida, was charged with fixing the price of the generic drug pravastatin, the Department of Justice announced today.  According to the one-count felony charge filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Apotex and other generic drug companies agreed to increase and maintain the price of pravastatin, a commonly prescribed cholesterol medication that lowers the risk of heart disease and stroke.  The conspiracy began in May 2013 and continued through December 2015.