“As demonstrated by today’s charges and arrests, we will strike back against those whose fraudulent schemes not only undermine a program upon which 45 million aged and disabled Americans depend, but which also contribute directly to rising health care costs that all Americans must bear,” said Attorney General Holder.

A federal court has permanently enjoined Reinhold Sommerstedt, a Las Vegas-based promoter of a sham trust tax scam.

There is no tension between a sentencing scheme that is effective and fair and one that is tough and equitable. We must work toward these twin goals and we must do so now.

UBS client, Steven Michael Rubinstein of Boca Raton, Fla., pleaded guilty today to filing a false tax return for tax year 2004. On April 1, 2009, Rubinstein was charged with filing a false tax return that intentionally failed to disclose the existence of a Swiss bank account maintained by UBS of which he was the beneficial owner and failed to report any income earned on that account.

The co-owner of a Martinsville, N.J., landscaping company pleaded guilty to participating in a fraud conspiracy at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-designated Superfund site, Federal Creosote, located in Manville, N.J. Frederick Landgraber pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey today to one count of conspiracy to defraud the EPA from approximately March 2002 until approximately June 2005 at the Federal Creosote site.

Tijani Ahmed Saani, a former civilian employee of the U.S. Department of Defense, pleaded guilty today to filing false tax returns for tax years 2003 through 2007. Saani, 53, a former resident of Kuwait City, Kuwait, worked as a contracting officer in Kuwait from 1994 until his arrest in May 2008. According to the indictment to which Saani pleaded guilty, he worked on detail from 2002 to 2007 at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.

The Dallas Independent School District (DISD) has agreed to settle claims that the school district violated the False Claims Act in connection with the Federal Communications Commission’s E-Rate program. Under the terms of the settlement, the DISD will relinquish more than $150 million in requests for federal funds, and will pay a total of $750,000.

Following an investigation of alleged false claims and contract fraud, J Squared Inc., d/b/a University Loft Company, has reached a settlement with the United States. Indiana-based University Loft Company has agreed to pay the United States $400,000. The settlement resolves allegations that the company knowingly sold Malaysian-made furniture to government purchasers in violation of the Trade Agreements Act (TAA).

The Department announced a simultaneous lawsuit and settlement with the state of Texas concerning the care given to residents of the state’s 13 facilities for persons with developmental disabilities. Along with the settlement agreement, the Department will file a complaint initiating a lawsuit against the state in federal court. An independent monitor will be appointed to oversee the state’s compliance with the settlement agreement and the court will retain ultimate jurisdiction.

A former executive of Philadelphia-based Nexus Technologies Inc. pleaded guilty today in connection with his participation in a conspiracy to bribe Vietnamese government officials in exchange for lucrative contracts to supply equipment and technology to Vietnamese government agencies, in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

Miami physician Roberto Rodriguez, 54, was sentenced today to 97 months in prison for his role in a Medicare fraud scheme involving HIV infusion services.

The Department today filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas against Stonescape Pavers LLC alleging that the company willfully violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) by firing Matthew T. Denning without cause when he returned from active duty.

A former Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) social work associate was sentenced to three years in prison for her role in a scheme to defraud the United States of her honest services in connection with her work finding suitable housing and daily care for mentally ill and disabled military veterans and then obstructing the VA’s investigation into the fraudulent scheme.

Jeffrey Davis, a former employee of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Atlanta to engaging in a felony conflict of interest by collecting fees from customers of a company he owned and operated for services he performed as part of his official duties at NARA.

The chief executive officer of a former Virginia marine products company pleaded guilty and has agreed to pay a $100,000 criminal fine and serve time in jail for his role in a conspiracy to rig bids and allocate customers with respect to marine products purchased by the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard, and other public and private entities.

Herbert L. Corn, the former superintendent of the city of Rochester Wastewater Treatment Plant in Rochester, Ind., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in South Bend, Ind., to falsifying monthly discharge monitoring reports that concealed violations of the Clean Water Act at the Rochester plant.

Sheri Redekker Barry and Warren Thomas Barry, a wife and husband who are both real estate agents in Fort Myers, Fla., have been sentenced to prison for conspiracy and failure to file tax returns. U.S. District Court Judge John E. Steele on Monday sentenced Sheri Barry to 36 months in prison and Warren Barry to 24 months in prison. The court also ordered the Barrys to pay restitution in the amount of $555,728.

Roderick Prescott, a resident of Orem, Utah, and a former principal of National Trust Services (NTS) in San Jose, Calif., and later Selma, Ore., pleaded guilty today to tax evasion. Prescott admitted to evading at least $550,000 in personal income taxes for 1998 and 1999. Prescott was scheduled to begin trial on July 7, 2009, before Chief U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in Eugene, Ore.

"Keeping guns out of the hands of the Mexican drug warlords is a top priority for the Department. It is a priority that the President and the Attorney General have promised to address quickly and aggressively."

Ronald Weich, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Office of Legislative Affairs today announced two new members of the Office’s leadership team. Mark D. Agrast and Judith Appelbaum have been appointed as Deputy Assistant Attorneys General.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced the appointment of Brian M. O’Leary as the Executive Office for Immigration Review’s (EOIR) Chief Immigration Judge. Prior to his appointment, Judge O’Leary served as an immigration judge from May 2007 to June 2009 at the Arlington, Va., Immigration Court. He served as a temporary board member on the Board of Immigration Appeals from May 2006 to May 2007 and as a deputy chief immigration judge in the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge from March 2003 to May 2006.

John Reece Roth, 72, of Knoxville, Tenn., was sentenced to 48 months in prison for violating the Arms Export Control Act by conspiring to illegally export, and actually exporting, technical information relating to a U.S. Air Force (USAF) research and development contract.

Arthur Sease IV, a former Memphis Police Department officer, was sentenced today to a prison term of life plus 255 years by Chief Judge Jon P. McCalla in Memphis, Tenn. A jury convicted Sease in February 2009 of 44 counts of civil rights, narcotics, robbery, and firearms offenses.

A retired U.S. military official pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy charges relating to Department of Defense (DOD) contracts in Afghanistan. According to the plea agreement, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago today, First Lieutenant Robert Moore (Ret.) pleaded guilty to conspiracy and bribery charges.

A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted a physician assistant late yesterday for his role in a $7.7 million Medicare fraud scheme.

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.

As part of a multi-site settlement, G-I Holdings Inc. has agreed to address asbestos contamination caused by its past operation of the largest chrysotile asbestos mine and mill in the country. The 1,673-acre abandoned mine site in Vermont, known as the Vermont Asbestos Group Mine Site (VAG Site) is the most significant of the contaminated sites covered by the settlement, which includes 12 other industrial sites across the country where G-I may have disposed of hazardous waste.

Joseph McNealy, a former Jackson, Miss., computer systems administrator, was sentenced today to 70 months in prison for receiving and possessing images of child pornography.

A Kansas woman pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the FBI during an investigation into allegations of fraud against the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) E-Rate program. According to the plea agreement, filed today in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., Mary Jo LaDuron, aka Mary Jo Gault, of Leavenworth, Kan., lied to FBI agents who were investigating allegations of fraud against the E-Rate program.

A former executive of Bennett Environmental Inc. (BEI), a Canadian-based company that treats and disposes of contaminated soil, pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to pay kickbacks and commit fraud at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-designated Superfund site, Federal Creosote, located in Manville, N.J. The former executive also pleaded guilty to participating in a money laundering conspiracy and impeding a proceeding before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Paul Tillis, a former Florida Department of Corrections officer, was sentenced today in federal court in Jacksonville, Fla., on a federal civil rights charge related to assaulting an inmate.

An individual pleaded guilty today in federal court in Detroit for his role in creating and marketing software designed and used to send bulk commercial e-mails, known as "spam," in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act.

A 35-year-old Minneapolis man was sentenced today in federal court on one count of conspiring to provide material support and resources to al-Qaeda. In Minneapolis, U.S. District Court Judge John Tunheim sentenced Mohammed Abdullah Warsame to 92 months in prison and three years of supervised release.

The Department filed a lawsuit against the city of Milwaukee alleging it violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) by refusing to provide Michael Crivello, then an incumbent Milwaukee police officer, with a make-up promotional examination for detective that he missed while away on active duty military service with the Air National Guard and thereby failing to properly determine his reemployment status as a police officer eligible for promotion to detective.

A fourth individual pleaded guilty today to illegally accessing numerous confidential passport application files.

Dustin I. Nix, 21, of Donaldson, Ark., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Hot Springs, Ark., to two federal civil rights charges for his role in a conspiracy to force a woman and her young children from their home in Donaldson because she associated with African Americans.

Everett Cooney waived indictment and pleaded guilty in court in Little Rock, Ark., to a federal charge of sex trafficking an underage female. Chief U.S. District Judge J. Leon Holmes accepted Cooney’s guilty plea.

Frederic A. Bourke Jr., 63, was found guilty today by a federal jury in Manhattan of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the Travel Act, and making false statements to the FBI.

An employee of a Sewell, N.J., sub-contractor that provided temporary electrical services was sentenced today to serve 20 months in jail for his role in a kickback and fraud scheme at an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-designated Superfund site in New Jersey. The sub-contractor was also ordered to pay $154,597 in restitution to the EPA, jointly and severally with his co-conspirators.

Endoscopic Technologies Inc. (Estech), a medical device manufacturer, has agreed to pay the United States $1.4 million to resolve civil claims in connection with the alleged promotion of its surgical ablation devices. Surgical ablation devices use focused energy to create controlled lesions or scar tissue on a patient’s heart or other organs.

Attorney General Eric Holder today announced more than $8.7 million in Recovery Act funds for three communities in California to use in fighting crime and drug trafficking as part of the Justice Department’s Southwest Border Strategy.

The former director of information technology for a non-profit organ and tissue donation center was sentenced today to two years in prison for hacking into her former employer’s computer network.

A Greek citizen, Panagiotis Lekkas, the captain of the bulk cargo ship the M/V Theotokos, pleaded guilty today to four felony counts in federal court in New Orleans for violating anti-pollution laws, ship safety laws and obstructing a U.S. Coast Guard investigation.

Paul Richard Arceneaux, a resident of Church Point, La., was sentenced today to prison for failing to file his personal tax returns for 2003 and 2004 and corruptly interfering with the due administration of the Internal Revenue laws. The Honorable Walter J. Gex III, U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi, sentenced Arceneaux to 46 months in prison and three years of supervised release. The court also ordered Arceneaux to pay restitution of $176,616.18.

Attorney General Eric Holder today announced that $500,000 in Recovery Act funds have been awarded to the Support for Harbor Area Women’s Lives (SHAWL) House, a program of the Volunteers of America of Los Angeles (VOALA).

The Department released a new technical assistance fact sheet on legal requirements relating to admitting individuals with HIV or AIDS to occupational training schools and granting state licensure in occupations such as barbering, massage therapy and home health care assistance.

The United States has sued four Hialeah, Fla., tax return preparers –Alberto Alem, Beatriz Sardinas and Pilar Medina and their company, PCPS Corp. – seeking to put them out of business. The civil injunction suit was filed in Miami with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. According to the civil injunction complaint, the defendants prepare federal income tax returns with fabricated claims for the federal fuel tax credit.

Panagiotis Stamatakis, the chief engineer on the Cyprus-flagged M/V Myron N, and the second engineer, Dimitrios Papadakis, both citizens of Greece, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Trenton, N.J., to using falsified records that concealed improper discharges of untreated bilge waste from the cargo ship.

Dr. Gabriel DeCandido, a physician practicing internal medicine in Largo, Fla., has agreed to pay the United States $1.7 million to settle allegations that he defrauded the Medicare program. In a complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, United States ex rel. Michael Flanery v. Dr. Gabriel DeCandido, et al., the United States alleged that Dr. DeCandido violated the False Claims Act by billing the Medicare program for higher levels of service than he actually rendered to patients and by billing for services not provided.

Feliciano Sanchez, 34, a former officer with the Bell, Calif., Police Department, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Los Angeles to a federal civil rights charge for sexually assaulting a female motorist. Sanchez admitted that on May 16, 2007, he sexually assaulted the victim by forcing her to provide oral sex after stopping her for a traffic violation, according to documents filed in court.