A former executive of Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS) – a publicly traded company based in Jacksonville, Fla. – pleaded guilty today, admitting her 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.

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.

A federal jury sitting in Santa Ana, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012, convicted Safieh Fard of one count of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and one count of conspiracy to launder the proceeds of bank fraud obtained after submitting fraudulent mortgage applications, the Justice Department and IRS Criminal Investigation announced. Fard’s co-conspirators, her sister Sedigheh Bahramian, and two of her sons, Mohsen Kikalaye and Ahmad Kikalaye, pleaded guilty to related counts of bank fraud in 2010.

Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney David Fein and Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy joined members of law enforcement, public officials, social service providers, community leaders and researchers in New Haven today to launch “Project Longevity,” a comprehensive initiative to reduce gun violence in Connecticut’s major cities.

"By identifying and targeting the groups that are responsible for violence throughout this city – and, eventually, the entire State of Connecticut – Project Longevity will send a powerful message to those who would harm their fellow citizens: that such acts will not be tolerated; that they will be swiftly met with clear, predictable consequences; and that help is available for all those who wish to break the cycle of violence and gang activity," said Attorney General Holder.

The Department of Justice announced today that Amerigroup Corp.’s sale of its subsidiary, Amerigroup Virginia Inc., addresses the department’s concerns with WellPoint Inc.’s proposed acquisition of Amerigroup.

The Justice Department announced today that it reached an agreement with ComForcare In-Home Care & Senior Services, a home care provider for sick and elderly patients in Tigard, Ore. The agreement resolved claims that the provider violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), when it demanded unnecessary documentation from a newly naturalized citizen in response to an initial mismatch in E-Verify and then refused to hire her when she did not produce it.

Gordon Chavez, 35, a probation officer with the New Mexico Corrections Department of Probation and Parole, was arrested today in Albuquerque, N.M., on charges related to the sexual assault of a probationer whom he supervised.

Healthpoint Ltd. and DFB Pharmaceuticals will pay up to $48 million to resolve allegations that Healthpoint caused false claims to be submitted to Medicare and Medicaid for an unapproved drug, Xenaderm, which was ineligible for reimbursement by those programs.

The Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) signed an agreement today to strengthen coordination on fair lending enforcement and avoid duplication of their respective federal law enforcement efforts.

"We recognize that crime rates are high in Indian country and help is not easy to come by, given tribes’ geographical remoteness and scarcity of resources. But tribal victim service providers have shown time and again that their efforts to meet these challenges are unflagging," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Leary.

The United States has sued a Las Vegas-based CPA and two others to stop an alleged tax-fraud scheme, the Justice Department announced today. Named as defendants in the civil injunction suit were CPA Wayne Reeves, Reeves’ wife, Diane Vaoga, and their alleged co-promoter, James Stoll. The government complaint was filed last month in Las Vegas with the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. Announcement of the court filing was delayed until Reeves was served with court papers this week.

Pfizer Inc. will pay $55 million plus interest to resolve allegations that Wyeth LLC illegally introduced and caused the introduction into interstate commerce of a misbranded drug, Protonix, between February 2000 and June 2001, the Justice Department announced today.

A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer, his girlfriend and two of their associates pleaded guilty today in federal court for their participation in multi-year bribery and alien smuggling activities along the U.S./Mexico border.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a consent order of forfeiture today ordering the civil forfeiture of $6,976,924 traced to international money laundering of the proceeds from an offshore Internet gambling operation that illegally targeted U.S. residents.

A Swedish credit card payment processor was sentenced today to 48 months in prison for his role in an international cybercrime ring that netted $71 million by infecting victims’ computers with “scareware” and selling rogue antivirus software that was supposed to secure victims’ computers but was, in fact, useless.

Sanofi-Aventis U.S. Inc. and Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC, subsidiaries of international drug manufacturer Sanofi (collectively, Sanofi US), have agreed to pay $109 million to resolve allegations that Sanofi US violated the False Claims Act by giving physicians free units of Hyalgan, a knee injection, in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute, to induce them to purchase and prescribe the product. The settlement also resolves allegations that Sanofi US submitted false average sales price (ASP) reports for Hyalgan that failed to account for free units distributed contingent on Hyalgan purchases. The government alleges that the false ASP reports, which were used to set reimbursement rates, caused government programs to pay inflated amounts for Hyalgan and a competing product.

A federal grand jury in Albuquerque, N.M., has indicted Gordon Chavez, 35, a probation officer with the New Mexico Corrections Department on charges related to the sexual assault of a probationer whom he supervised. The New Mexico Corrections Department placed Chavez on administrative leave following his arrest on Dec. 4, 2012.

The Department of Justice today announced that it will not challenge a proposal by STARS Alliance LLC (STARS), a group of seven nuclear power plant operators, to procure jointly certain goods and services.

U.S. District Court Judge William P. Johnson entered a consent decree of permanent injunction against Sunland Inc., a Portales, N.M.-based producer of peanut butter, and Jimmie D. Shearer, president and chief executive officer of Sunland, the Justice Department announced today.

Victory Pharma Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company headquartered in San Diego, has agreed to pay $11,420,743 to resolve federal civil and criminal liability arising from its marketing of the pharmaceutical products Naprelan, Xodol, Fexmid and Dolgic, the Justice Department announced today. Under the agreement announced today, Victory entered into a deferred prosecution agreement and paid a criminal forfeiture of $1.4 million to resolve federal Ant-Kickback Statute allegations, and paid $9,938,310 to resolve False Claims Act allegations.

The Department of Justice today announced that it will not challenge a proposal by Columbia Fuel Services Inc. and Lanmar Aviation Inc., the only providers of flight support services at the Groton-New London Airport, in Groton, Conn., to combine their fuel and hangar resources into a newly formed joint venture, Mystic Jet Center.

Florida-based American Sleep Medicine LLC has agreed to pay $15,301,341 to resolve allegations that it billed Medicare, TRICARE – the health care program for Uniformed Service members, retirees and their families worldwide – and the Railroad Retirement Medicare Program for sleep diagnostic services that were not eligible for payment.

A former financial services broker was sentenced today in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, for his participation in conspiracies related to bidding for contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other municipal finance contracts.

Amazon.com; Leon Max Inc., d/b/a Max Studio; Macy’s Inc.; and Sears, Roebuck and Co., Kmart Corporation and Kmart.com (collectively, Sears) have agreed to settle civil lawsuits concerning alleged violations of the Textile Fiber Product Identification Act and the Federal Trade Commission Act.

The Justice Department announced today that it reached an agreement with Centerplate Inc., resolving allegations that the company violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Montell Williams, of Chicago, pleaded guilty today in Hammond, Ind., to violating the Mann Act by transporting a woman across state lines for the purpose of having her engage in prostitution.

Three men, including two former officers with the Police of Puerto Rico, were convicted today by a federal jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico, for their roles in providing security for drug transactions.

The Justice Department announced that yesterday it reached an agreement with Illinois officials to help ensure that military service members, their family members and other U.S. citizens living overseas have an opportunity to participate fully in the upcoming Feb. 26, 2013, special primary election, and the April 9, 2013, special election to fill a vacated seat in the state’s 2nd Congressional District.

"Over the last four years, we've generated tremendous momentum in our work to integrate evidence into our programs and activities. Our leadership – not only at BJS and NIJ, but across OJP – has demonstrated a strong scientific ethic," said Assistant Attorney General Leary.

The Department of Justice today settled a civil complaint against Richard A. Retta, of Rockville, Md, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, for violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.

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.

"For more than a quarter century, Americans from all backgrounds and walks of life have come together each January to pay tribute to Dr. King’s memory, to reflect upon his contributions in the struggle for civil rights, and to rededicate ourselves to the cause that came to define him – and which must remain our common endeavor," said Deputy Attorney General Cole.

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.

A federal court has permanently barred Nafeesah H. Hines and Rodney N. Chestnut from promoting an alleged tax fraud scheme, as well as preparing tax returns for anyone other than themselves.

"One of our top priorities is addressing youth violence. As I’m sure many of you would agree, this is one of the most complex and intractable problems in criminal justice. And because it is so complex, we’ve learned over time that tackling it involves many people – stakeholders from all sectors and from all levels of government," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Leary.

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.

U.S. District Judge David M. Lawson, of the Eastern District of Michigan, entered a consent decree of permanent injunction against Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Green Hope LLC, dba Rosewood Products, and its president, Phil G. Ye.

A federal grand jury in Montgomery, Ala., returned an indictment charging Lea’Tice Phillips for conspiring to file false tax returns using stolen identities.

BP Exploration and Production Inc. pleaded guilty today to 14 criminal counts for its illegal conduct leading to and after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, and was sentenced to pay $4 billion in criminal fines and penalties, the largest criminal resolution in U.S. history.

The Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit today challenging Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (ABI) proposed acquisition of total ownership and control of Grupo Modelo.

The Justice Department today announced a settlement with the city of Lomita, Calif., resolving allegations that the city violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 when it denied the Islamic Center of the South Bay’s application to build a new mosque on its property.

"I’m especially proud of the part that we – at the Office of Justice Programs – have played in improving knowledge about what works in the fields of criminal and juvenile justice. Our National Institute of Justice and Bureau of Justice Statistics have, for many years, made significant contributions to our base of knowledge," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Leary.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona today approved a consent decree filed by the Department of Justice, together with private plaintiffs and the Tucson Unified School District.

Ashu Bhandari, the former president and CEO of GEM Manufacturing LLC, a U.S. Virgin Islands-based company, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I., for felony customs violations for his role in a scheme to illegally import protected black coral into the United States.

The Justice Department reached a settlement agreement today with Avant Healthcare Professionals LLC, a healthcare staffing company based in Casselberry, Fla., resolving allegations that the company posted discriminatory job advertisements on the internet.

A former employee of a Department of Defense contracting company at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, was sentenced today to serve 30 months in prison for attempting to smuggle $150,000 in kickback proceeds he received for steering U.S. government subcontracts to an Afghan company.

Fairfax, Va.-based skilled nursing facility Fairfax Nursing Center (FNC) and its owners have agreed to pay $700,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting or causing the submission to Medicare of false claims for non-reimbursable rehabilitation therapy services.

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.

"We’re here to recognize 18 extraordinary individuals for their quick thinking, selflessness, and exceptional courage. They are law enforcement and corrections officers and firefighters who went beyond the call of duty to risk – and in some cases, to give – their lives for their fellow citizens and colleagues," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Leary.