The co-owner of a Detroit-area physical therapy company was sentenced today to 48 months in prison for her leading role in a more than $1.9 million Medicare fraud scheme, announced the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Veniamin Gonikman, 56, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Ukraine, was sentenced today in federal court for his role in an international conspiracy to compel Eastern European women to work in exotic dance clubs in the Detroit metropolitan area. U.S. District Court Judge Victoria A. Roberts sentenced Gonikman to 36 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release. He is the ninth and final member of the charged conspiracy to be sentenced.

Detroit-area resident Muhammad “Sib” Ahmad pleaded guilty today for his role in organizing a more than $13 million home health care fraud and money laundering scheme, announced the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Detroit-area resident Louisa Thompson pleaded guilty today for her role in a $16 million fraud scheme.

Detroit-area resident Tariq Mahmud, 54, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn in the Eastern District of Michigan.

Nabeel Shaikh, 30, of Wixom, Mich., pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen of the Eastern District of Michigan.

Miami-area resident Emilio Haber, 53, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Patrick Duggan in the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit.

A Detroit-area adult day care center owner pleaded guilty today for her role in a $10 million psychotherapy fraud scheme, announced the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS) and the FBI.

A federal court has permanently barred a Michigan couple, Damian and Holly Jackson, of Detroit, from preparing federal tax returns for others, preparing their own federal tax returns using false 1099 forms, and promoting an alleged tax-fraud scheme based on the frivolous “redemption” theory, the Justice Department announced today. The civil injunction order, to which the Jacksons consented without admitting the allegations against them, was signed by Judge Paul D. Borman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

The department said that this is the first time website domains involving cell phone app marketplaces have been seized.

Gregory Lawrence, 54, of Detroit, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Court Judge Victoria A. Roberts in the Eastern District of Michigan to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Jawad Ahmad, 42, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen in Detroit to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Four individuals were charged in court documents unsealed today in the Eastern District of Michigan for their participation in a Medicare fraud scheme involving home health services.

Five individuals were charged in court documents unsealed today in the Eastern District of Michigan for their participation in a Medicare fraud scheme involving purported home health and psychotherapy services.

According to a criminal complaint unsealed today in U.S. District Court in Detroit, Dr. Hicham Elhorr, 45, masterminded a $40 million scheme involving the submission of fraudulent claims submitted to Medicare for services that were medically unnecessary and/or never provided through House Calls Physicians (HCP), a physician home visiting service he owned and operated.

Two owners and operators of clinics that claimed to specialize in treating HIV and other conditions pleaded guilty today for their roles in an infusion therapy scheme carried out at two Detroit-area clinics that submitted millions of dollars in fraudulent claims to Medicare.

U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Duggan sentenced Elsayed Kazem “Tom” Safiedine to 21 months in prison and Mary Fawaz to 12 months and one day in prison for tax fraud, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. Safiedine and Fawaz were convicted by a Detroit jury of conspiring to defraud the United States by impeding and impairing the lawful functions of the IRS.

A federal jury in Detroit today convicted a physician, a home health agency owner and a patient recruiter for their participation in a $14.5 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Anthony Parkman, 41, of Southfield, Mich., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen in the Eastern District of Michigan.

Detroit-area resident Ankit Patel pleaded guilty today for his role in a $13.8 million home health care fraud scheme.

The owner of several Detroit-area adult day care centers pleaded guilty today for her role in a $13.2 million psychotherapy fraud scheme.

The owner of several Detroit-area businesses that housed severely mentally-disabled Medicare recipients pleaded guilty today for his role in a $13.2 million fraud scheme.

Six Detroit-area residents and one Chicago-area resident were arrested today by federal agents on charges arising from the ongoing investigation into an alleged $22 million home health care fraud scheme. The indictment was announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade of the Eastern District of Michigan; Special Agent in Charge Robert D. Foley III of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Chicago Regional Office; and Special Agent in Charge Erick Martinez of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Detroit Field Office.

Everett Dwayne Avery, 26, of Detroit, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge John Corbett O’Meara after pleading guilty to committing a hate crime by assaulting a man because the man was gay.

Two men were arrested today on charges of allegedly extorting a Detroit-area restaurant owner.

The Justice Department announced today that it has asked a federal court in Detroit to permanently bar Calvin Carter and brothers Raheen Stroud and Laron Stroud, who do business as E-File Tax Pros LLC and Tax King, from preparing federal tax returns.

A health care worker who sold Medicare beneficiary information to Detroit-area home health agency operators as part of a $24.7 million home health care fraud conspiracy pleaded guilty today for his role in the scheme, which sought to profit by billing for home healthcare services that were medically unnecessary and not provided.

A registered nurse who fabricated nursing visit forms in connection with a $24 million home health care fraud conspiracy in Detroit pleaded guilty today for her role in the scheme.

A federal jury in Detroit today convicted a home health agency owner and a physical therapist for their participation in a $2.3 million Medicare fraud scheme.

A federal jury in Detroit today convicted the office manager of a home health agency for her participation in a $5.8 million Medicare fraud scheme.

An employee of Detroit medical service companies that fabricated patient visit notes and other documents as part of a $24 million home health care fraud scheme pleaded guilty today for her role in the conspiracy.

The mastermind of a $29.1 million Medicare fraud scheme involving approximately 30 purported medical clinics pleaded guilty today in Detroit for his role in the scheme.

A Detroit-area home health care agency owner was sentenced today to 60 months in prison for causing the submission of over $1 million in false and fraudulent billing to Medicare as part of a $13.8 million health care fraud conspiracy.

A Detroit-area adult day care center owner was sentenced today to serve 40 months in prison for billing for unnecessary psychotherapy services, or services that were not provided, as part of a health care fraud conspiracy which led to more than $19 million in fraudulent Medicare billings.

Muhammad Shahab, the mastermind of an almost $11 million Medicare fraud scheme in Detroit, was sentenced today to 50 months in prison.

Today, I am pleased to be in Detroit to announce that – in addition to our ongoing enforcement of antitrust and consumer protection laws – as part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to supporting the City of Detroit, the Justice Department will take a variety of actions to provide direct assistance to city leaders and local law enforcement authorities in order to improve public safety throughout the metropolitan area.

The owner of a Detroit-area home health care agency was sentenced today to serve 65 months in prison for her leading role in a $2.2 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Twenty Detroit-area residents have been charged for their roles in physician home visit, home health care, chiropractic and psychotherapy schemes to submit more than $34 million in false billing to Medicare.

A home health agency owner who participated in a Medicare fraud scheme that totaled almost $11 million was sentenced in Detroit today to serve 120 months in prison.

Four individuals have been charged in the Northern District of Georgia for their alleged roles in piracy groups engaged in the illegal distribution of copies of copyrighted Android mobile device applications, or “apps.”

A former correctional officer at the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections was sentenced to serve 37 months in prison for attempting to smuggle heroin into the prison where he worked, Bayamón State Penitentiary, in exchange for a $3,000 payment.

Bashar Saroki, a resident of Southfield, Mich., was sentenced today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to serve 30 months in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service announced.

The United States filed a lawsuit today to bar Margaret Brown, a Detroit tax return preparer, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced.

A former Detroit-area physician pleaded guilty today for his role in an $11.5 million health care fraud scheme. Jose Mercado-Francis, 60, formerly of Brownstown Township, Mich., prepared medical documentation that licensed physicians signed as if they had provided services to Medicare beneficiaries, when, in fact, they had not.

A former state marshal and a correctional officer in Puerto Rico were sentenced today for attempting to smuggle heroin to inmates in exchange for payment.

Calling the rise in overdose deaths from heroin and other prescription pain-killers an “urgent public health crisis,” Attorney General Eric Holder vowed Monday that the Justice Department would combat the epidemic through a mix of enforcement and treatment efforts. As an added step, the Attorney General is also encouraging law enforcement agencies to train and equip their personnel with the life-saving, overdose-reversal drug known as naloxone.

A former correctional officer in Puerto Rico was sentenced to serve 37 months in prison for attempting to smuggle heroin into state prison by delivering it to an inmate in the parking lot of the Medical Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Justice Department, the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration announced that Matthew Bender, of Detroit, was convicted today of obstructing the IRS and nine counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false federal income tax returns following a jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

The leader of a piracy group engaged in the illegal distribution of copies of copyrighted Android mobile device applications and a co-conspirator have pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme that distributed more than one million copies of copyrighted apps.

A Detroit-area physician pleaded guilty today for her role in a $7 million health care fraud scheme. Adelina Herrero, 72, of Ann Arbor, Mich., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Paul D. Borman in the Eastern District of Michigan to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.