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Owner of Insulation Service Company Pleads Guilty to Million Dollar Bid-Rigging and Fraud Conspiracies at New York City Hospital

The owner of a former New York City insulation service company pleaded guilty today to a three-count indictment charging him with conspiring to rig bids on contracts for re-insulation services to New York Presbyterian Hospital, conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and filing a false tax return.



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Hacker Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Role in Two Hacking Schemes Involving a Total of More Than 240,000 Stolen Credit Card Numbers

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.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Former President of Texas Company Indicted for Employee Deaths and Environmental Violations

Port Arthur Chemical and Environmental Services LLC (PACES) and its former president Matthew L. Bowman have been charged with conspiracy to illegally transport hazardous materials, resulting in the deaths of two employees, in an indictment handed down by a federal grand jury in Beaumont, Texas.



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Justice Department Reaches $12 Million Settlement to Resolve Violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act by Capital One

Capital One N.A. and Capital One Bank (USA) N.A. (together Capital One), have agreed to pay approximately $12 million to resolve a lawsuit by the Department of Justice alleging the companies violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.



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German Subsidiary of TRW Automotive Agrees to Plead Guilty to Price Fixing on Automobile Parts Installed in U.S. Cars

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.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Two Former Hospital Employees Plead Guilty to Participating in Kickback Scheme at New York City Hospital

Two former high-ranking employees of facilities operations at New York Presbyterian Hospital (NYPH) pleaded guilty today to an indictment charging them with conspiring to defraud NYPH.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Acting Associate Attorney General Tony West Speaks at the United Neighborhood Centers of America Neighborhood Revitalization Conference

"For more than a century, UNCA has worked to improve conditions in distressed neighborhoods and restore opportunity to those who live there," said Acting Associate Attorney General West.




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New Zealand Fishing Company Found Guilty in Washington, D.C., of Environmental Crimes and Obstruction of Justice

A federal jury in Washington, D.C., today returned guilty verdicts against Sanford Ltd., a New Zealand fishing company, on six counts of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.



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Italian Ship Owner and Chief Engineer Sentenced in Alabama for Crimes Related to Illegal Discharges from Cargo Ship

Giusseppe Bottiglieri Shipping Company S.P.A, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Ginny Granade in the Southern District of Alabama to pay a $1 million criminal fine, serve four years of probation, and make a $300,000 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.



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Yazaki Executive Agrees to Plead Guilty to Price Fixing on Automobile Parts Installed in U.S. Cars

An executive of Tokyo-based Yazaki Corporation has agreed to plead guilty for his role in a conspiracy to fix prices of instrument panel clusters, also known as meters, installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Sinclair Oil to Pay $3.8 Million Penalty and Install Pollution Controls at Wyoming Refineries to Resolve Violations of 2008 Consent Decree

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced a settlement with two subsidiaries of Sinclair Oil Corporation to resolve alleged violations of air pollution limits established in a 2008 consent decree at refineries in Casper and Sinclair, Wyo.



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Justice Department Obtains Comprehensive Agreement Regarding North Carolina Mental Health System

The Justice Department announced today that it has entered into an agreement with the state of North Carolina to ensure the state is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act. The agreement will transform the state’s system for serving people with mental illness. Under the settlement agreement, over the next eight years, North Carolina’s system will expand community-based services and supported housing that promote inclusion and independence and enable people with mental illness to participate fully in community life.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Court Approves Comprehensive Agreement Between US and the Commonwealth of Virginia Regarding the Rights of Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has approved a comprehensive settlement agreement between the United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia, resolving the department’s findings that Virginia’s system for serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The department had found that Virginia was violating the ADA requirement, as interpreted by the Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead v. L.C., to provide people with intellectual and developmental disabilities the opportunity to live and receive services in the community.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Japanese Automobile Parts Manufacturer Agrees to Plead Guilty to Price Fixing on Parts Installed in US Cars

Nagoka, Japan-based Nippon Seiki Co. Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $1 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices of instrument panel clusters, commonly known as meters, installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Justice Department and the City of Portland, Ore., Reach Preliminary Agreement on Reforms Regarding Portland Police Bureau’s Use of Force Against Persons with Mental Illness

The United States and the city of Portland, Ore., announced today that they have reached a preliminary agreement to make changes to Portland Police Bureau policies, practices, training and supervision. This agreement was reached following a comprehensive investigation. Together with the agreement, the Justice Department today announced its findings that the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) has engaged in an unconstitutional pattern or practice of excessive force against people with mental illness. The Justice Department delivered a letter detailing the findings to Portland Mayor Sam Adams and Police Chief Michael Reese, who were cooperative throughout the department’s investigation.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Hospital Chain HCA Inc. Pays $16.5 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations Regarding Chattanooga, Tenn., Hospital

HCA Inc., one of the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chains, has agreed to pay the United States and the state of Tennessee $16.5 million to settle claims that it violated the False Claims Act and the Stark Statute, the Department of Justice announced today.



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Justice Department Sues Owners and Manager of Rental Homes in North Carolina for Engaging in Race Discrimination

The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a Fair Housing Act lawsuit against the owners and manager of approximately two dozen rental homes in Washington, N,C., alleging that the manager, William I. Cochran III, discriminated against African-American tenants.



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New Jersey Glass Manufacturer to Install State-of-the-Art Emissions Controls to Resolve Violations of the Clean Air Act

Under a settlement announced today by the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Durand Glass Manufacturing Company Inc. has agreed to install emissions controls on its three glass furnaces that will reduce more than 173 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and 23 tons of particulate matter (PM) per year.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Three Men and One Company Sentenced in Tennessee for Environmental Crimes

Three men who conspired to violate Clean Air Act workplace safety standards when they demolished a Chattanooga, Tenn., factory containing large amounts of asbestos were sentenced today in federal court.



  • OPA Press Releases

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U.S. District Court Orders Community Notice to Corpus Christi, Texas, Residents Who May Be Victims of Environmental Crimes by Citgo Refinery

Persons living around the CITGO refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, who suffered immediate negative health effects from emissions from two large tanks at the facility that were operated between January 1994 and May 2003 in violation of the federal Clean Air Act, may be crime victims in United States v. CITGO Petroleum Corporation et al.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Justice Department Settles Lawsuit Against City of Selma, Texas, for Retaliating Against Firefighter

The Justice Department announced today that it has entered into a settlement to resolve allegations that the city of Selma, Texas violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by engaging in retaliation against a firefighter for filing a complaint against a superior for using ethnic slurs in the workplace.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Two Former Hospital Employees Sentenced to Serve Time in Prison for Participating in Kickback Schemes at New York City Hospital

Two former high-ranking employees of facilities operations at New York Presbyterian Hospital (NYPH) were sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, in Manhattan, by Judge George B. Daniels today for their participation in two separate conspiracies involving kickbacks.



  • OPA Press Releases

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U.S. Postal Service Mail Carrier Indicted for Involvement with Stolen Identity Refund Fraud Conspiracy

On Oct. 16, 2012, Vernon Harrison, of Montgomery, Ala., was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiring to file false claims, mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and embezzlement from the mail, the Justice Department, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the U.S. Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General (OIG), announced today after the indictment was unsealed.



  • OPA Press Releases

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German Shipping Companies Convicted in Texas and Alaska for Environmental Crimes

Two German shipping companies pleaded guilty today in federal court in Houston to criminal charges that they concealed the illegal dumping of oil at sea from U.S. Coast Guard inspectors.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Missouri Hospital System Agrees to Pay $9.3 Million to Resolve False Claims Act and Stark Law Violations

Freeman Health System, a healthcare provider and hospital system located in Joplin, Mo., has agreed to pay $9,316,139 to resolve allegations that it violated the Stark Law and the False Claims Act by knowingly providing incentive pay to physicians in a manner that violated federal law, the Justice Department announced today.



  • OPA Press Releases

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BP Exploration and Production Inc. Agrees to Plead Guilty to Felony Manslaughter, Environmental Crimes and Obstruction of Congress Surrounding Deepwater Horizon Incident

BP Exploration and Production Inc. (BP) has agreed to plead guilty to felony manslaughter, environmental crimes and obstruction of Congress and pay a record $4 billion in criminal fines and penalties for its conduct leading to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 people and caused the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history, Attorney General Eric Holder announced today.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Program Director and Therapist from Miami-Area Mental Health Care Corporation Convicted for Participating in $205 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme

Program director Lydia Ward, 47, and therapist Nichole Eckert, 35, were each found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Group of Owned and Affiliated Florida Hospitals Agree to Pay US $10.1 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations

Morton Plant Mease Health Care Inc. and its affiliated hospitals (Morton Plant) have agreed to pay $10,169,114 to the federal government to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims for services rendered to Medicare patients, the Justice Department announced today. Morton Plant owns and operates, or is affiliated with, Morton Plant Hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Morton Plant North Bay Hospital, St. Anthony’s Hospital, Mease Countryside Hospital and Mease Dunedin Hospital. These hospitals are part of the BayCare Health System in Florida’s Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Two Plead Guilty in Miami for Roles in $63 Million Mental Health Care Fraud Scheme

–A registered nurse pleaded guilty today and a former program coordinator pleaded guilty yesterday in connection with a health care fraud scheme involving defunct health provider Health Care Solutions Network Inc.



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Louisiana Generating to Install Pollution Controls and Pay $14 Million in Penalties and Projects to Resolve Clean Air Act Violations

Louisiana Generating, an electric generating company owned by NRG Energy Inc., has agreed to a settlement at its Big Cajun II coal-fired power plant in New Roads, La., which will result in the elimination of over 27,300 tons of harmful emissions per year.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Leader of $63 Million Mental Health Fraud Scheme Pleads Guilty in Miami

The owner of a string of community mental health centers pleaded guilty today in connection with a health care fraud and money laundering scheme involving defunct health care provider Health Care Solutions Network Inc. (HCSN).



  • OPA Press Releases

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Former Heber City, Utah Resident Convicted of Filing False Claims for Tax Refunds Totaling More Than $2.2 Million

April J. Rampton, 41, formerly of Heber City, Utah, was convicted yesterday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City of nine counts of filing false claims for income tax refunds, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Rampton, who was indicted on Sept. 14, 2011, was released following the verdict. She is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Dee Benson on Feb. 27, 2013. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on six similar counts.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Justice Department Settles Immigration-Based Discrimination Claim Against New York Hospital

The Justice Department announced today that it reached an agreement with Holliswood Hospital, a hospital in Queens, N.Y., resolving claims that the hospital violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), when it required newly hired lawful permanent residents to provide more or different documents during the Form I-9 employment eligibility verification process.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Transocean Agrees to Plead Guilty to Environmental Crime and Enter Civil Settlement to Resolve U.S. Clean Water Act Penalty Claims from Deepwater Horizon Incident

Transocean Deepwater Inc. has agreed to plead guilty to violating the Clean Water Act (CWA) and to pay a total of $1.4 billion in civil and criminal fines and penalties, for its conduct in relation to the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Department of Justice announced today



  • OPA Press Releases

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Justice Department Obtains Comprehensive Agreement to Resolve Long Standing Litigation Regarding the Rights of People with Developmental Disabilities

Today, the Justice Department announced that yesterday afternoon it filed in federal court a comprehensive agreement that will resolve long running litigation with the state of Tennessee originally concerning conditions of care at the former Arlington Developmental Center (ADC).



  • OPA Press Releases

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New Zealand Fishing Company and Chief Engineer Sentenced for Environmental Crimes and Obstruction of Justice

A New Zealand fishing company that owned and operated the tuna fishing vessel San Nikunau, and a former chief engineer on the ship, were sentenced in federal court today for environmental crimes and obstruction of justice.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez Speaks at the Conference on the Transformation of Security and Fundamental Rights Legislation – Rights and Responsibilities: Between Hope and Challenges on “Legislating National Harmony”

"Our Declaration of Independence declared in 1776 that “all men are created equal,” but it took 100 years and a civil war that took hundreds of thousands of lives to end slavery; another hundred years to create legal equality for African Americans; and we struggle to this day to make equality a reality. I see this every day in my work as the chief civil rights law enforcement official for the United States," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.




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Department of Justice Will Not Challenge Proposed New York Hospital Association Gainsharing Program

The Department of Justice announced today that it will not challenge a proposal by the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) to offer a gainsharing program to member hospitals in New York.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez Speaks at the Conference on the Transformation of Security and Fundamental Rights Legislation on “Transforming the Law on Freedom of Expression”

"The United States was able to become more inclusive not because we changed our principles, which reflect universal and timeless values, but because we learned to apply our principles more consistently. Over time, we also developed tools that help us to better apply our principles," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.




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Federal Court Permanently Bars Virginia Company’s Promotion of Tool Reimbursement and Tool Rental Schemes

The Justice Department announced today that a federal court has permanently barred Cash Management Systems, a Virginia corporation, from promoting two tax schemes that allegedly involve disguising wages as tool-reimbursement or tool-rental payments.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Four Sentenced to Prison in Florida Community Mental Health Center Case

The owners of three Miami-area assisted living facilities and an affiliated psychologist were sentenced to prison today in connection with a health care fraud scheme, involving now-defunct Miami-area health provider Health Care Solutions Network Inc. (HCSN), in which Medicare was billed for mental health treatments that were unnecessary or not provided.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Former Program Director and Marketers Sentenced to Prison in Florida in $205 Million Community Mental Health Fraud Scheme

The former program director and two former marketers for Miami-based mental health care company American Therapeutic Corporation (ATC) have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a $205 million Medicare fraud and kickback scheme in which patients were forced to attend inappropriate treatment programs.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Office on Violence Against Women Acting Director Bea Hanson Speaks at the D.C. Office of Victim Services’ National Stalking Awareness Month Event

"These realities indicate that stalking is a serious issue for every community across the United States that requires a multidisciplinary approach – Fortunately, many of the agencies that are needed to appropriately address and respond to the crime of stalking are represented on this panel today," said Acting Director Hanson.




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Miami-Area Therapist Sentenced to Prison in Florida in $205 Million Community Mental Health Fraud Scheme

Miami-area resident Nichole Eckert, former therapist at the mental health care company American Therapeutic Corporation (ATC), was sentenced today to serve 48 months in prison for participating in a $205 million Medicare fraud scheme.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Former Executive Convicted for Role in Price-Fixing Conspiracy Involving Coastal Freight Services Between the Continental United States and Puerto Rico

Following a two-week trial, a federal jury in Puerto Rico today convicted a former executive of a Florida-based coastal water freight transportation company for his participation in a conspiracy to fix rates and surcharges for water transportation of freight between the continental United States and Puerto Rico.



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Maryland’s St. Joseph’s Medical Center Agrees to Pay $4.9 Million for Medically Unnecessary Hospital Admissions

St. Joseph’s Medical Center, a hospital located in Towson, Md., has reached a settlement with the United States to pay $4.9 million in connection with its submission of false claims to Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Former Registered Nurse Sentenced in Miami to 111 Months in Prison in Connection with $63 Million Mental Health Care Fraud Scheme

A former registered nurse was sentenced today to serve 111 months in prison for his role in a health care fraud scheme involving defunct health provider Health Care Solutions Network Inc. (HCSN).



  • OPA Press Releases

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Justice Department Reaches Settlement with Virginia Dental Office to Stop HIV Discrimination

The Justice Department announced today that, as part of its Barrier-Free Health Care Initiative, it has reached a settlement with Woodlawn Family Dentistry, of Alexandria, Va., under the Americans with Disabilities Act.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Justice Department Reaches Settlement with FTD Inc. to Resolve Immigration-Related Retaliation Claim

The Justice Department announced today that it reached an agreement with FTD Inc., to resolve allegations that the company retaliated against a man for asserting rights under the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act.



  • OPA Press Releases

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United States Joins Lawsuit Alleging Lance Armstrong and Others Caused the Submission of False Claims to the U.S. Postal Service

The Department of Justice announced today that the government has joined a civil lawsuit alleging that Lance Armstrong, Johan Bruyneel and Tailwind Sports LLC and Tailwind Sports Corporation submitted or caused the submission of false claims to the U.S. Postal Service in connection with its sponsorship of a professional bicycle racing team by regularly employing banned substances and methods to enhance their performance, in violation of the USPS sponsorship agreements.



  • OPA Press Releases