Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney of the Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz today signed an antitrust memorandum of understanding with China’s three antitrust agencies to promote communication and cooperation among the agencies in the two countries.

"By establishing a framework for enhanced cooperation among our agencies, the Memorandum of Understanding also allows us to move to the next chapter in our collaboration on competition law and policy matters," said Assistant Attorney General Varney.

Attorney General Eric Holder and other administration officials met this week with tribal leaders and advocates to discuss issues of tribal safety and domestic violence in Rapid City, S.D., and Pine Ridge Reservation, S.D.

"Nearly half a century ago, following his tenure as Attorney General, Robert Kennedy traveled to Pine Ridge to learn about the conditions here, to shine a light on the struggles so many faced, and to signal the U.S. government’s commitment to ensuring peace, security, opportunity, and – above all – justice on tribal lands."

The United States has filed a civil lawsuit against Robert S. Luce, founder and president of MDR Mortgage Corp., a mortgage lending business located in Palatine, Ill.

The Department of Justice announced today that, in order for VeriFone Systems Inc. to complete its acquisition of Hypercom Corp., it must divest Hypercom’s U.S. point-of-sale terminals business to an entity sponsored by Gores Group LLC, a private equity fund.

The Justice Department announced today that former Contract Security Officer Edwin Rodriguez, 30, pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual abuse of a female detainee under his supervision and control.

Shaoxiong Zhou and Shaoxia Huang, both of Shantou, Guangdong, China, have pleaded guilty to trafficking in counterfeit perfume.

A Brooklyn, N.Y., man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., for his role in managing a credit card fraud operation that operated throughout the East Coast of the United States.

Eric Scott Hamilton, 40, of Pelzer, S.C., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs in the District of South Carolina to a criminal information charging him with two counts of conspiracy to steal public property.

Under the terms of a settlement filed today in federal court, the city of Newport has agreed to eliminate illegal discharges of sewage into Narragansett Bay from its wastewater treatment plant and wastewater collection system.

A former owner and operator of a Florida-based airline fuel supply service company and a former owner and operator of an Indiana-based flight management services company pleaded guilty today to participating in separate schemes to defraud Ryan International Airlines, a charter airline company located in Rockford, Ill.

Jacinda Jones, 31, of Ypsilanti, Mich., also was ordered by U.S. District Court Judge David M. Lawson in Detroit to serve three years of supervised release following her prison term and to pay $441,035 in restitution.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement that will require Regal Beloit Corporation (RBC) to divest its U.S. business for electric motors for pool and spa pumps to SNTech Inc. and to divest A.O. Smith Corporation’s (AOS) development work and related assets for draft inducers for high-efficiency furnaces to Revcor Inc., in order to proceed with RBC’s acquisition of AOS’s electric motor business.

Scott Robertson pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brooke C. Wells in Salt Lake City to one count of making and subscribing a false tax return for 2003.

Online search engine Google Inc. has agreed to forfeit $500 million for allowing online Canadian pharmacies to place advertisements through its AdWords program targeting consumers in the United States, resulting in the unlawful importation of controlled and non-controlled prescription drugs into the United States.

Richard Rosaire Routhier of Lake Worth, Fla., was sentenced to 60 months in prison and ordered to pay $1,243,574 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

Braynert Marquez of Miami pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging him with aiding and assisting in the preparation and filing of a false employment tax return.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement with the city of Winchester, Va., to resolve allegations that the city violated the reemployment rights of U.S. Marine Corps reservist Jon Fultz.

The United States has partially intervened in a lawsuit under the False Claims Act against Halifax Hospital Medical Center and Halifax Staffing Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

A Hammond, Ind., man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., to 14 years in prison for operating an online business that sold counterfeit credit cards encoded with stolen account information.

Thomas Aram Manok, 50, of Chantilly, Va., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga in the Eastern District of Virginia.

John Walter Kaber, a resident of Bloomfield, Mich., was sentenced to 37 months in prison for tax evasion.

Lydia Demski, the owner of Deerpath Corp., has agreed to pay the United States $800,000 to resolve allegations that she and her companies knowingly caused false claims to be submitted relating to a contract to provide re-furbishment of equipment at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Plumbrook facility in Sandusky, Ohio.

Professional duck hunter and guide Jeffrey B. Foiles was sentenced today by a federal judge in Springfield, Ill., to 13 months in prison.

A federal jury in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., yesterday found Manuel Rodriguez guilty of fraud in connection with a coffee machine business opportunity scheme.

Alexander Otis Matthews, a Virginia real estate businessman, was sentenced today to 10 years in prison in connection with mortgage and investment schemes to obtain more than $12 million in fraudulent loans.

A settlement agreement has been reached for the cleanup of the Midnite Mine Superfund Site, located on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Northeastern Washington.

The Department of Justice issued a statement today after the Department of Transportation (DOT) issued its order involving US Airways’ and Delta Airlines’ acquisition of slots at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport and New York’s LaGuardia Airport.

Billy Wade Carroll, 51, of Dayton, Ohio, was found guilty today in U.S. District Court in Riverside, Calif., for his participation in an online child pornography bulletin board.

A former owner and operator of a Florida-based airline services company pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach, Fla., to participating in a kickback scheme to defraud Ryan International Airlines.

Kexue Huang, a Chinese national and a former resident of Carmel, Ind., pleaded guilty today to one count of economic espionage to benefit a component of the Chinese government and one count of theft of trade secrets.

The Department of Justice today reached a settlement with Grupo Bimbo S.A.B. de C.V., BBU Inc. and the Sara Lee Corporation that requires them to divest brands of sliced fresh bread and associated assets, in order to proceed with Grupo Bimbo and BBU’s acquisition of Sara Lee’s North American Fresh Bakery business.

The U.S. government has filed civil forfeiture complaints against approximately $70.8 million in real and personal property, which the government alleges is the proceeds of foreign corruption offenses and was laundered in the United States.

According to his plea agreement, from approximately December 2006 through August 2008, Terry Lee Nolley, 47, and others conspired to operate “Country Lounge,” a secure web-based bulletin board dedicated to trading images of child pornography.

DFine Inc. of San Jose, Calif., has agreed to pay the United States $2.39 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that the company paid kickbacks to induce physicians to use certain of the company’s devices that are used in treating spinal fractures.

A former owner and operator of a Florida-based airline fuel supply service company and a former owner and operator of an Indiana-based flight management services company were sentenced today to serve prison time and to pay restitution for conspiring to commit wire fraud and honest services fraud in separate schemes to defraud Ryan International Airlines.

The former asphalt facilities manager of Pelican Refining Company LLC (PRC), pleaded guilty today to the crime of negligent endangerment under the Clean Air Act in federal court in Lafayette, La.

A former executive of Ryan International Airlines, a charter airline company located in Rockford, Ill., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach, Fla., to participating in kickback schemes to defraud Ryan.

Arthur Lee Ong of Honolulu was convicted by a federal jury Monday of conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax evasion.

Michael Eisenberg, a resident of Long Island, N.Y., was sentenced Monday in connection with a series of fraudulent business opportunity ventures.

Marsha Elmore of Wetumpka, Ala., the owner of a tax preparation business called Community Tax, pleaded guilty today to charges related to her use of stolen identities to fraudulently obtain tax refunds.

Former Tuscaloosa, Ala., Sheriff’s Sergeant, Althea Mallisham, 52, pleaded guilty today in a federal court in Birmingham, Ala., to three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon while acting under color of law for wrongfully using a Taser during three separate incidents over a four month period in 2008.

Sea Star Line LLC has agreed today to plead guilty and to pay a $14.2 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices in the coastal water freight transportation industry. Additionally, a federal grand jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico, returned an indictment against Frank Peake, the former president of Sea Star Line, for his role in the same conspiracy.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Sharis Pozen of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Jon Leibowitz today met with a delegation from China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) to discuss antitrust merger enforcement.

A former Massachusetts scientist and businessman was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Rya W. Zobel in Boston to one year and one day in federal prison for executing a fraud scheme involving a multi-million dollar federal research grant.

A former executive of a Peruvian airline pleaded guilty today for his role in a conspiracy to fix surcharges on air cargo shipments from the United States to South and Central America following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

“The tragedy at Upper Big Branch will never be forgotten, and the families affected by it will never be made completely whole again. Today’s agreement represents the largest-ever resolution in a criminal investigation of a mine disaster and will ensure appropriate steps are taken to improve mine safety now and will fund research to enhance mine safety in the future,” said Attorney General Holder.

Louis Alba pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, N.Y., to failing to pay over to the Internal Revenue Service employment taxes.

Manuel Rodriguez, 47, of Lafayette, La., was sentenced today to 120 months in prison and three years supervised release for committing fraud in connection with a coffee machine business opportunity scheme.