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.

A fired information technology director for Transmarx LLC, a Richmond, Va., company, was sentenced today to 27 months in prison for hacking into his former employer’s website.

The Justice Department announced today that it has sued the owners and managers of Park Towers Apartments, a federally-subsidized apartment complex in Waterloo, Iowa, alleging a pattern or practice of sexual harassment in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

Seizure orders have been executed against 82 domain names of commercial websites engaged in the illegal sale and distribution of counterfeit goods and copyrighted works as part of Operation In Our Sites v. 2.0, Attorney General Eric Holder and Director John Morton of the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today.

A former employee of a subsidiary of a financial institution pleaded guilty today for his participation in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies related to contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other municipal finance contracts.

A former employee of a subsidiary of a financial institution was arrested on a criminal complaint at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York yesterday after entering the United States.

Alcatel-Lucent S.A. and three of its subsidiaries have agreed to pay a combined $92 million penalty to resolve a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigation into the worldwide sales practices of Alcatel S.A. prior to its 2006 merger with Lucent Technologies Inc.

Seizure warrants have been executed against 10 domain names of websites engaged in the advertisement and distribution of child pornography.

A Romanian man pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly in Chicago to one count each of wire fraud and conspiracy for his role in moving and hiding the illicit proceeds of an international fraud scheme.

The Department of Justice marked the start of Sunshine Week today with the launch of FOIA.gov, the “flagship initiative” of the department’s Open Government Plan and one of the most significant contributions yet toward making this the most transparent administration in history.

The United States has filed a civil mortgage fraud lawsuit against Deutsche Bank AG and its wholly owned subsidiary, MortgageIT Inc.

The U.S. subsidiary of Belgian pharmaceutical manufacturer UCB SA. pleaded guilty today to the off-label promotion of its epilepsy drug Keppra and will pay more than $34 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising out of its illegal conduct.

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A Romanian man was sentenced today to 48 months in prison for his role in moving and hiding the illicit proceeds of an international fraud scheme.

Bill Melot, a Hobbs, N.M., farmer, was sentenced to five years in prison yesterday to be followed by three years of supervised release for tax evasion, program fraud and other crimes.

A federal grand jury has returned an indictment in Alexandria, Va., charging five individuals with one count of conspiracy and five substantive copyright infringement counts for their involvement with the Internet website NinjaVideo.net.

Guidant LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Boston Scientific Corp. of Natick, Mass., has agreed to pay the United States $9.25 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations.

A Detroit federal grand jury returned an indictment today against three former executives from Panasonic Corporation, a Whirlpool Corporation subsidiary and a Tecumseh Products Company subsidiary for their role in an international conspiracy to fix the prices of refrigerant compressors.

Danfoss Flensburg GmbH has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $3 million criminal fine for its role in an international conspiracy to fix the prices of light commercial compressors.

Scios Inc., a subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, pleaded guilty today to a misdemeanor violation of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act for introducing into interstate commerce its heart failure drug, Natrecor, for a use that was not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Joshua David Evans, 34, of North Bend, Wash., and Jeremy Lynn Andrew, 33, of Eugene, Ore., pleaded guilty today for their roles in NinjaVideo.net, a website that provided millions of users with the ability to illegally download infringing copies of copyright-protected movies and television programs in high-quality formats.

“Through this operation we are aggressively targeting those who are selling counterfeit goods for their own personal gain while costing our economy much-needed revenue and jobs,” said Attorney General Eric Holder.

Hana Amal Beshara, 30, of North Brunswick, N.J., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Matthew David Howard Smith, 24, of Raleigh, N.C., was sentenced today in Alexandria, Va., to 14 months in prison for his role in founding NinjaVideo.net, a website that provided millions of users with the ability to illegally download high-quality copies of copyright-protected movies and television programs.

A federal jury in San Francisco today convicted the largest Taiwan liquid crystal display producer, its subsidiary and their two former executives for their participation in a conspiracy to fix the prices of thin-film transistor-liquid crystal display panels sold worldwide.

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.

Pratt &s first modern military attack helicopter, the Z-10.

TRW Deutschland Holding GmbH, a Koblenz, Germany-based subsidiary of U.S.-based TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., has agreed to plead guilty for its involvement in a conspiracy to fix prices of seatbelts, airbags and steering wheels sold to two German automobile manufacturers, and installed in cars sold in the United States.

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

An Alcatel-Lucent subsidiary, Lucent Technologies World Services Inc. (LTWSI), has agreed to pay the United States $4.2 million to settle False Claims Act allegations that it submitted misleading testing certifications to the Army in connection with the design, construction and modernization of Iraq’s emergency communications system, the Department of Justice announced today.

Tyco International Ltd. – together with a subsidiary that pleaded guilty this morning to a criminal charge for conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) – has agreed to pay more than $26 million to resolve the conspiracy charge with the Department of Justice and charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a consent decree between the United States and a company that operates fan club websites for popular recording artists such as Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, the Justice Department announced today. The government’s complaint, filed in connection with the decree, charges the company with violating both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule. The company has agreed to pay a $1 million penalty to settle these charges.

In one of the first False Claims Act settlements involving Medicare’s Prescription Drug Program, known as Part D, RxAmerica LLC. has entered into a civil settlement agreement with the United States in which it has agreed to pay the government $5.25 million to resolve allegations that it made false submissions to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Justice Department announced today. RxAmerica, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CVS Caremark Corporation, provides prescription drug benefits to Medicare beneficiaries pursuant to a prescription drug plan.

Orthofix International NV, has agreed to pay the United States $30 million to settle allegations that an Orthofix subsidiary, Blackstone Medical Inc., paid illegal kickbacks to physicians in order to induce use of the company’s products, the Justice Department announced today. Orthofix, which manufactures spinal implants and other spinal surgery products, is a publicly traded company headquartered in Curacao.

Beatrix Boka, 34, of Hungary, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Aleta A. Trauger in the Middle District of Tennessee to one count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud.

Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS), a publicly traded mortgage servicing company based in Jacksonville, Fla., has agreed to pay $35 million in criminal penalties and forfeiture to address its participation in a six-year scheme to prepare and file more than 1 million fraudulently signed and notarized mortgage-related documents with property recorders’ offices throughout the United States.

Hungarian nationals Beatrix Boka and Aleksandar Kunkin were sentenced today to serve 36 months and 48 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in moving approximately $550,000 in illicit proceeds derived from an international online marketplace fraud scheme.

Charges were unsealed today against four former executives of BizJet International Sales and Support Inc., the U.S.-based subsidiary of Lufthansa Technik AG, which provides aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services, for their alleged participation in a scheme to pay bribes to government officials in Latin America.

A former executive of the U.S. subsidiary of a French power and transportation company was charged in a superseding indictment for his alleged participation in a scheme to pay bribes to foreign government officials.

Manssor Arbabsiar, aka “Mansour Arbabsiar,” was sentenced today in New York City federal court to 25 years in prison for participating in a plot to murder the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the U.S. while the Ambassador was in the U.S..

Boston Scientific Corp. and its subsidiaries, Guidant LLC, Guidant Sales LLC and Cardiac Pacemakers Inc. (Guidant), have agreed to pay $30 million to settle allegations that, between 2002 and 2005, Guidant knowingly sold defective heart devices to health care facilities that in turn implanted the devices into Medicare patients.

Pamela B. Reid pleaded guilty last night to one count of filing a false individual income tax return for the 2006 tax year, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

The Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz announced today that they have moved to intervene in National Federation of the Blind et al v. HRB Digital LLC et al, a private lawsuit alleging disability discrimination by HRB Digital LLC and HRB Tax Group Inc., subsidiaries of H&R Block Inc.

Three subsidiaries of Weatherford International Limited (Weatherford International), a Swiss oil services company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange, have agreed to plead guilty to anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and export controls violations under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA)

A brokerage subsidiary of ConvergEx Group LLC pleaded guilty today to charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud.

A subsidiary of Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) pleaded guilty today and has agreed to pay more than $17 million in criminal fines to resolve charges that it paid bribes through vendors to Ukrainian government officials.

Bill Melot, a farmer from Hobbs, N.M., was sentenced to serve 14 years in prison today to be followed by three years of supervised release for tax evasion, program fraud and other crimes, the Justice Department, Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General announced.

Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (Alpha), one of the nation’s largest coal companies, Alpha Appalachian Holdings (formerly Massey Energy), and 66 subsidiaries have agreed to spend an estimated $200 million to install and operate wastewater treatment systems and to implement comprehensive, system-wide upgrades to reduce discharges of pollution from coal mines in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels of the Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz of the District of Massachusetts announced today that they have entered into a consent decree with HRB Digital LLC and HRB Tax Group Inc., subsidiaries of H&R Block Inc., to remedy alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

LSB Industries Inc. (LSB), the largest merchant manufacturer of concentrated nitric acid in North America, and four of its subsidiaries have agreed to reduce harmful emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) by meeting emission limits that are among the lowest for the industry in the nation.