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Owner of New York Construction Company Indicted for Tax Fraud

The Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that Tomas Olazabal, of Fresh Meadows, N.Y., was arrested today following his indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on Aug. 8, 2013, on multiple tax crimes.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Federal Officials Close the Investigation into the Death of Carlos LaMadrid

The Justice Department will not pursue federal criminal civil rights or other federal criminal charges against the United States Border Patrol (USBP) agent involved in the shooting incident that resulted in the death of Carlos LaMadrid, the Department announced today.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Federal Officials Close the Investigation into the Death of Ramses Barron-Torres

The Justice Department will not pursue federal criminal civil rights or other federal criminal charges against the United States Border Patrol (USBP) agent involved in the shooting incident that resulted in the death of Ramses Barron-Torres, the department announced today.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Attorney General Eric Holder Delivers Remarks at the Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association's House of Delegates

"Today, a vicious cycle of poverty, criminality, and incarceration traps too many Americans and weakens too many communities. And many aspects of our criminal justice system may actually exacerbate these problems, rather than alleviate them," said Attorney General Holder.




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Justice Department Files Antitrust Lawsuit Challenging Proposed Merger Between US Airways and American Airlines

The Department of Justice, six state attorneys general and the District of Columbia filed a civil antitrust lawsuit today challenging the proposed $11 billion merger between US Airways Group Inc. and American Airlines’ parent corporation, AMR Corp.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Ninth Individual Sentenced in Connection with Costa Rica-based Business Opportunity Ventures That Defrauded Americans

Michael Kerry Deevy, a Canadian citizen, was sentenced today in connection with a series of business opportunity fraud ventures based in Costa Rica, the Justice Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service announced. Beginning in 2006, Deevy and his co-conspirators in Costa Rica are alleged to have fraudulently induced purchasers in the U.S. to buy business opportunities from companies known as Cards-R-Us Inc., Premier Cards Inc. and Nation West. The business opportunities cost purchasers thousands of dollars each, with most paying at least $10,000. Today’s sentencing forms part of the government’s continued nationwide crackdown on business opportunity fraud.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Health Care Clinic Owners Plead Guilty in Miami for Roles in $8 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme

Two health care clinic owners pleaded guilty today in connection with an $8 million health care fraud scheme involving the now-defunct home health care company Flores Home Health Care Inc.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Justice Department Resolves Lawsuit Alleging Discrimination on Basis of Race and National Origin in Minneapolis

The Justice Department today announced a settlement of its lawsuit alleging that Highland Management Group Inc., Edina Park Apartments LLC, and Amy Koch violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by discriminating against Somali prospective renters at Edina Park Apartments in Edina, Minn. a suburb of Minneapolis.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Former Owner of Liquor Store Pleads Guilty to Tax Crime and Selling Cutting Agents to Local Drug Dealers

Southfield, Mich., resident Bashar Saroki pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return and selling drug paraphernalia, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Justice Department Reaches Settlement with Homeowners Association and Property Management Company in Fair Housing Lawsuit Involving Occupancy Limits

The Justice Department announced today that the Townhomes of Kings Lake HOA Inc. (HOA) and Vanguard Management Group Inc. have agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act (FHA).



  • OPA Press Releases

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Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer at the Conference Call Regarding the Justice Department’s Lawsuit Challenging Us Airways’ Proposed Merger with American Airlines

Consumers will also pay more on routes where US Airways and American today offer competing nonstop service. We know from prior mergers that elimination of head-to-head competition on nonstop routes results in substantial price increases for consumers.




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Individual Arrested in Florida in Connection with a Lottery Scam in Jamaica

Jamaican citizen charged in connection with the operation of a fraudulent lottery was arrested Tuesday in Orlando, Fla., following his indictment by a federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Aug. 9, 2012, the Justice Department, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Marshals Service announced today.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Justice Department Announces Charges Filed Against Two Derivatives Traders in Connection with Multi-Billion Dollar Trading Loss at JPMorgan Chase & Company

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara and Assistant Director-in-Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office George Venizelos announced the unsealing of criminal complaints against Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout for their alleged participation in a conspiracy to hide the true extent of losses in a credit derivatives trading portfolio maintained by the Chief Investment Office (CIO) of JPMorgan Chase & Company (JPMorgan). Martin-Artajo served as a Managing Director and Head of Credit and Equity Trading for the CIO, and Grout was a Vice President and derivatives trader in the CIO.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Kentucky Resident Charged with Tax Evasion and Other Tax Fraud Charges

Kathryn Keneally, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, and Kerry B. Harvey, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, jointly announced today that James S. Faller II, of Russell Springs, Ky., was indicted by a federal grand jury in Bowling Green, Ky.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Two Idaho Men Sentenced to Prison for Asbestos Violations

Bradley Eberhart, 51, of Garden Valley, Idaho, and Douglas Greiner, 53, of Eagle, Idaho, were sentenced this week in federal court for violating the asbestos work practice standards of the Clean Air Act, announced Robert G. Dreher, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Wendy J. Olson, U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Justice Department Settles Immigration-related Discrimination Claim Against Forever 21

The Justice Department announced today that it reached an agreement with Forever 21 resolving allegations that the company violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) when it rejected a work-authorized individual’s Department of Homeland Security-issued Employment Authorization Document (EAD), and required her to produce a Permanent Resident Card (commonly known as a “Green Card”) as a condition of employment.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Justice Department Settles Immigration-related Discrimination Claim Against SOS Employment Group

The Justice Department today reached an agreement with SOS Employment Group, based in Salt Lake City resolving claims that the company violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).



  • OPA Press Releases

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Alabama State Employee Sentenced to Prison for Stolen Identity Refund Fraud

Chequlia Motley of Montgomery, Ala., was sentenced yesterday to serve 36 months in prison for conspiracy and aggravated identity theft, announced Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama George L. Beck Jr. Motley pleaded guilty to those charges in May 2013.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Justice Department Files Lawsuit in Delaware Against Regal Contractors LLC Et Al., to Enforce the Employment Rights of Air Force Reserve Member

The Justice Department and U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware Charles M. Oberly III announced today the filing of a lawsuit alleging that Regal Contractors LLC, Regal Builders LLC and Noble Pond Homes willfully violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) by terminating U.S. Air Force Reserve Member Lon Fluman following his return from required military training with his reserve unit.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Pulaski County Sheriff’s Deputy Indicted for Federal Civil Rights Violation

U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky David J. Hale and Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Jocelyn Samuels announced that Steven Molen, a Sheriff’s Deputy with the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office, was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury on one count of violating the civil rights of a victim by using excessive force in August 2008.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Michigan Physical Therapist and Home Health Agency Owner Pleads Guilty for Role in Medicare Fraud Scheme

A greater Detroit-area physical therapist who was also an owner of a home health agency pleaded guilty yesterday for his role in a $22 million home health care fraud scheme.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Operators of Louisiana Home Health Company Sentenced for $17.1 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme

The owner of South Louisiana Home Health Care Inc. and the director of nursing for the Louisiana home health agency were sentenced today for their roles in a Medicare fraud scheme involving the payment of kickbacks and the falsification of documents.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Long Island Fisherman and Fish Dealer Plead Guilty to Wire Fraud and Records Falsification

The operator of the dragger F/V Norseman and an associated fish dealer pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Central Islip, N.Y., to federal violations stemming from their role in systematically underreporting fluke (summer flounder) that was being harvested as part of the federal Research Set-Aside Program, the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division announced.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Department of Justice Reaches Agreement to Improve Conditions at St. Tammany Parish Jail in Louisiana

The Justice Department announced today that it has entered into a comprehensive agreement with the Parish of St. Tammany, La., and the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff to correct conditions of confinement at the St. Tammany Parish Jail and to ensure that improvements made since the Department’s investigation will be maintained.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Three Members and One Associate of Violent North Carolina Latin Kings Gang Sentenced to Prison

Three members and one associate of the North Carolina Almighty Latin King/Queen Nation (ALKQN) have been sentenced this week in federal court in the Middle District of North Carolina.



  • OPA Press Releases

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MS-13 Leader Sentenced for Multiple Racketeering Offenses

Jose Armando Bran, aka “Pantro,” was sentenced today to serve two consecutive life sentences for his role in a murder and maiming that he ordered while he was an MS-13 gang leader in Richmond, Va.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Fourteen More Army National Guard Recruiters and Soldiers Charged in Ongoing Bribery and Fraud Investigation

Fourteen current and former recruiters and soldiers of the U.S. Army National Guard have been charged in the Southern District of Texas for engaging in a multi-year scheme to defraud the U.S. Army National Guard Bureau, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Former Lorain County, Ohio, Corrections Officer Charged for Assaulting an Inmate

Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Jocelyn Samuels, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio Steven M. Dettelbach and Special Agent in Charge for the FBI Cleveland Field Office Stephen D. Anthony, announced today that former Lorain County, Ohio corrections officer Marlon Taylor, 47, of Vermilion, Ohio, was charged in the U.S. Court for the Northern District of Ohio with one count of deprivation of rights under color of law.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Justice Department Reaches Interim Olmstead Settlement with the State of Texas

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced today that it has joined with private plaintiffs in entering an interim settlement agreement with the state of Texas intended to enable Texans with intellectual and other developmental disabilities to live in community settings rather than nursing facilities.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Shands Healthcare to Pay $26 Million to Resolve Allegations Related to Inpatient Stays at Six Florida Hospitals

Shands Teaching Hospital & Clinics Inc., Shands Jacksonville Medical Center Inc. and Shands Jacksonville Healthcare Inc., which operates a network of health care providers in Florida, will pay the government and the state of Florida a total of $26 million to settle allegations that six of its health care facilities submitted false claims to Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health care programs for inpatient procedures that should have been billed as outpatient services.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Retired Educator Sentenced to Prison for Fraud

The Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that Gloria Donoghue was sentenced today in federal court in the Eastern District of New York to18 months in prison for using the mail in her tax refund scheme.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Federal Court Permanently Bars Indiana Instant Tax Service Franchisee from Tax Preparation

A federal court in Indianapolis permanently barred David Franklin and his company, Instant Refund Tax Service (IRTS), from preparing tax returns and from operating a tax-preparation business, the Justice Department announced today.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Northern California Residents Indicted for Filing False Liens Against IRS Employees and Tax Fraud

The Justice Department announced today the unsealing of a superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Sacramento, Calif., charging Teresa Marie Marty, Charles Tingler and Victoria Tingler, all of Placerville, Calif., with conspiracy to defraud the United States and filing multi-million dollar liens against government officials.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Alabama Tax Return Preparers and 19 Foreign Nationals Charged with Conspiring to Defraud the United States, Identity Theft and Money Laundering

Justice Department announced that a 14-count superseding indictment was unsealed today, charging JB Tax Professional Services Inc., Jacqueline J. Arias and Jose Bayron Estrada, of Spruce Pine, Ala., along with 19 foreign nationals, many of whom resided in the New Orleans area, with conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud by filing fraudulent income tax returns.



  • OPA Press Releases

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New York Maintenance and Construction Company Owner Pleads Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to Failing to Pay Payroll Taxes

Kathryn Keneally, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division, announced today the guilty plea of Thomas Nastasi III, 46, of Mt. Kisco, N.Y., to one count of willful failure to pay the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) the payroll taxes of his company, Nastasi Maintenance & Construction LLC.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Justice Department Settles Fair Housing Lawsuit with Multi/Tech Engineering Services Inc.

The Justice Department announced today that Multi/Tech Engineering Services Inc., an engineering firm based in Salem, Ore., has agreed to pay more than $60,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging that it had violated the Fair Housing Act by designing Gateway Village Apartments with steps and other features that made it inaccessible to people with disabilities.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Long Island Physician to Pay U.S. $388,000 to Settle False Claims Act Allegations Related to Overbilling Medicare

Richard S. Obedian, a Long Island, N.Y., orthopedic surgeon, will pay the government $388,000 to settle allegations that he violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to Medicare for minimally invasive spine procedures.



  • OPA Press Releases

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United States and the Commonwealth of Kentucky Reach Agreement with AK Steel Corporation to Resolve Clean Air Act Violations

The United States and the Commonwealth of Kentucky have reached a settlement with the AK Steel Corporation (AK Steel) in Ashland, Ky., resolving alleged violations of the Clean Air Act, AK Steel’s title V permit, and the Kentucky State Implementation Plan, announced the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).



  • OPA Press Releases

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Therapy Staffing Company Owner and Patient Recruiter Plead Guilty in $7 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme

A patient recruiter and a therapy staffing company owner pleaded guilty today in connection with a $7 million health care fraud scheme involving the now defunct home health care company Anna Nursing Services Corp.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Two Plead Guilty to Involvement in Aryan Brotherhood of Texas Racketeering Murder

An Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) gang member and an ABT associate have pleaded guilty to charges related to the May 2008 murder of Mark Davis Byrd Sr. in Atascosa County, Texas.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Justice and Education Departments Announce New Research Showing Prison Education Reduces Recidivism, Saves Money, Improves Employment

Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced research findings showing that, on average, inmates who participated in correctional education programs had 43 percent lower odds of returning to prison than inmates who did not.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Houston Investment Manager Pleads Guilty in Utah for Role in $72 Million Fraud Scheme

Robert Andres, 62, an investment manager based in Houston, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Salt Lake City for his role in a $72 million investment fraud scheme.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Statement of the Attorney General on Resignation of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil H. MacBride

Attorney General Eric Holder issued the following statement today on the resignation of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil H. MacBride:



  • OPA Press Releases

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Florida Woman Sentenced for Role in Reverse Mortgage Fraud Scheme

A Miami title agent and former mortgage broker was sentenced today for her role in a reverse mortgage loan fraud scheme.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Justice Department to File New Lawsuit Against State of Texas Over Voter I.D. Law

The Department of Justice announced today that it will file a new lawsuit against the State of Texas, the Texas Secretary of State, and the Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety over the State’s strict voter photo identification law (SB 14).



  • OPA Press Releases

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Texas-Based School Chain to Pay Government $3.7 Million for Submitting False Claims for Federal Student Financial Aid

ATI Enterprises Inc. will pay the government $3.7 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations that it falsely certified compliance with federal student aid programs’ eligibility requirements and submitted claims for ineligible students.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Alleged Members of Violent Loan Sharking and Illegal Gambling Organization Charged in Philadelphia

An indictment was unsealed today charging nine people in a loan sharking and illegal gambling ring allegedly run out of several Philadelphia businesses.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Big West Oil to Pay Penalty and Spend $18 Million on Emission Controls to Resolve Clean Air Act Violations at North Salt Lake Refinery

Big West Oil LLC has agreed to pay a $175,000 penalty and to spend approximately $18 million to install emission controls at its refinery in North Salt Lake, Utah, announced the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today. Big West Oil will also invest $253,000 to improve the monitoring and management of potential releases of hydrofluoric acid at the facility.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Texas Tax Preparer Is Permanently Barred from Tax Preparation for Allegedly Falsifying Returns for Overseas Customers and Impeding Audits

The Justice Department announced that yesterday a federal court in Ft. Worth, Texas permanently barred Karena Mondrianh, of Southlake, Texas, from preparing tax returns and from operating a tax-preparation business.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Attorney General Eric Holder Delivers Remarks at the National Action to Realize the Dream March

Each of these brave men and women displayed a profound love of country that must always be appreciated. It is to these people that we owe the greatest debt – Americans of all races, genders, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and backgrounds who risked everything in order that their fellow citizens, and their children, might truly be free.