“Rooting out fraud and safeguarding taxpayers from illegal conduct are among the Justice Department’s highest priorities,” said Tony West, the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division.

Febe Durango-Rueda, 52, a Colombian national, pleaded guilty on Nov. 20, 2009, to participating in a scheme to defraud the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) of more than $1 million.

Chevron Corporation, Texaco, Unocal Incorporated and their affiliates (the Chevron companies) have agreed to pay the United States $45,569,584.74, to resolve claims that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly underpaying royalties owed on natural gas produced from federal and Indian leases.

The combined $2.13 million settlement represents the second largest monetary payment ever obtained by the department in a fair housing case alleging housing discrimination in the rental of apartments.

A federal judge in Beaumont, Texas, has permanently barred 12 people from promoting an alleged tax fraud scheme involving bogus income tax credits.

Victor Kaganov, who emigrated from Russia and set up numerous shell corporations in Oregon on behalf of Russian clients, was arrested today on charges of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.

Rush University Medical Center has agreed to pay $1,547,200 plus interest to resolve allegations that the facility violated the False Claims Act.

“This forfeiture of more than $40 million in jewelry should remind criminals around the globe that they will be found, prosecuted and stripped of assets that are not theirs to keep,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer.

Westward Seafoods Inc., the operator of a seafood processing plant in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, will pay a $570,000 civil penalty as part of a settlement agreement to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.

The Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) has agreed to implement major capital improvements and upgrades to resolve alleged longstanding violations of the Clean Water Act at 126 drinking water plants across the island and violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act at three others.

Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics Inc. and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation have agreed to pay $72.5 million to resolve civil False Claims Act allegations arising from the marketing of the cystic fibrosis drug TOBI.

Operation Network Raider, a domestic and international enforcement initiative targeting the illegal distribution of counterfeit network hardware manufactured in China, has resulted in 30 felony convictions and more than 700 seizures of counterfeit Cisco network hardware and labels with an estimated retail value of more than $143 million.

A Bulgarian national pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia for his role in laundering money for a transnational criminal group based in Eastern Europe.

Nine hospitals located in Alabama, Indiana, Florida, Michigan, South Carolina, New York and Minnesota have agreed to pay the United States more than $9.4 million to settle allegations that the health care facilities submitted false claims to Medicare.

The Department of Justice has recovered more than $40.2 million in fraud proceeds from a $1 billion Ponzi scheme and is working with the Japanese Ministry of Justice to return the forfeited fraud proceeds to the victims in Japan.

The former managing director of Pamrapo Saving Bank’s investment company was arrested today and charged with allegedly diverting and embezzling more than $600,000.

An Arlington, Texas, couple was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge John H. McBryde for forcing a Nigerian widow to perform domestic labor for them for more than eight years.

429 individuals in 16 states were arrested as part of Project Deliverance, which targeted the transportation infrastructure of Mexican drug trafficking organizations in the United States, especially along the Southwest border.

Lee Bentley Farkas, the former chairman of a private mortgage lending company, Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW), was arrested last night in Ocala, Fla., and charged in a 16-count indictment for his alleged role in a more than $1.9 billion fraud scheme that contributed to the failures of Colonial Bank, one of the 50 largest banks in the United States in 2009, and TBW, one of the largest privately held mortgage lending companies in the United States in 2009.

Guillermo O. Mondino, 47, of Miami, pleaded guilty today to leading a scheme to defraud the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) of more than $24 million.

A Milltown, N.J., man pleaded guilty today to a federal charge of willfully subscribing to a false tax return, admitting he concealed over $2 million in a Swiss bank account.

Ninety-four people have been charged for their alleged participation in schemes to collectively submit more than $251 million in false claims to the Medicare program in the continuing operation of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in Miami; Baton Rouge, La.; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Detroit and Houston.

Jonathan Feeney is charged with using the U.S. mails to execute a scheme involving fraudulent invoices to defraud the U. S. Department of Defense.

Plains All American Pipeline L.P. and several of its operating subsidiaries will spend approximately $41 million over the next three years to prevent and remediate corrosion, improve leak detection practices and capabilities, and enhance pipeline oversight on 10,420 miles of crude oil pipeline operated in the United States.

Forest Pharmaceuticals Inc. has agreed to plead guilty to charges relating to obstruction of justice, the distribution of Levothroid, which at the time was an unapproved new drug, and the illegal promotion of Celexa for use in treating children and adolescents suffering from depression.

Murphy Oil USA has agreed to spend more than $142 million to install new and upgraded pollution reduction equipment at its two petroleum refineries in Wisconsin and Louisiana as part of a comprehensive Clean Air Act settlement.

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation has agreed to pay $422.5 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal marketing of certain pharmaceutical products.

Seventy-three defendants, including a number of alleged members and associates of an Armenian-American organized crime enterprise, were charged in indictments unsealed today in five judicial districts with various health care fraud-related crimes involving more than $163 million in fraudulent billing.

A former Pittsfield, Mass., man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to his role in a series of frauds and attempts to avoid paying taxes over more than a decade, as well as lying to federal authorities and financial institutions about his illegal activities.

A Virginia man was sentenced today to 18 months in prison in connection with a scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Defense of more than $450,000.

Nelson Santos, aka “Nelly” and “King Nelly,” 27, of Silver Spring, Md., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr. to 190 months in prison for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise and being a felon in possession of a firearm, in connection with his gang activities as a member of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation.

The United States has sued Iliana Sorensen of Hialeah, Fla., and Gerald A. Poynter II of Kansas City, Mo., seeking to bar them from preparing federal tax returns for others.

A securities attorney and a former stock broker were sentenced today to 188 months and 151 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in an extensive pump-and-dump stock manipulation scheme.

A global freight forwarding company, as well as five oil and gas service companies and subsidiaries, have all agreed to resolve investigations of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations.

The Department of Justice, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the state of Rhode Island announced today that Bouchard Transportation Co. Inc. and its affiliates will pay more than $6 million to settle a portion of the federal and state natural resource damages claims for the April 2003 spill of up to 98,000 gallons of oil into Buzzards Bay.

Fang Ping Ding was sentenced in federal court late yesterday to 37 months in prison for confiscating the passport, visa and other documents of a woman from the People’s Republic of China in order to maintain control over the victim and force her to work as an unpaid, live-in domestic servant.

Two Michigan construction companies have agreed to pay the United States $1.407 million to resolve allegations that they knowingly submitted false claims relating to a federally funded construction project at Detroit Wayne County Metropolitan Airport.

Kos Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Abbott Laboratories, has agreed to pay more than $41 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from conduct relating to its drugs Advicor and Niaspan.

Seven hospitals located in Florida, Mississippi, Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina and Alabama have agreed to pay the United States a total of more than $6.3 million to settle allegations that the health care facilities submitted false claims to Medicare.

In fiscal year 2010, the Department of Justice secured approximately $2.072 billion in judgments and settlements as a result of enforcement actions led by the Criminal Division, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.

One hundred and two members and associates of transnational organized criminal groups operating in the United States have been charged in indictments unsealed today in Los Angeles; Santa Ana, Calif.; Miami and Denver.

The Medicare Fraud Strike Force today charged 111 defendants in nine cities, including doctors, nurses, health care company owners and executives, and others, for their alleged participation in Medicare fraud schemes involving more than $225 million in false billing.

The office manager of a Los Angeles durable medical equipment (DME) company pleaded guilty today to conspiring with her former church pastor to run a power wheelchair scheme that defrauded Medicare of more than $6 million, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS) announced.

General Communication Inc. (GCI) has paid $1,556,075 to settle allegations that Alaska DigiTel LLC, a former Alaska limited liability company now owned by GCI, submitted false claims to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Low Income Support Program, the Justice Department announced today.

Victor Kaganov, who emigrated from Russia and set up numerous shell corporations in Oregon on behalf of Russian clients, pleaded guilty today to charges of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.

A Las Vegas woman pleaded guilty today to falsely representing to Medicare that she owned a Los Angeles-area durable medical equipment (DME) company that was actually owned and operated by her brother, and used by her brother and others to submit more than $3.5 million in false claims to Medicare.

The former managing director of the Pamrapo Service Corporation (Service Corporation), the investment arm of the former Pamrapo Savings Bank, was convicted today of embezzling more than $571,000 in commissions and fees belonging to the Service Corporation through a mail fraud scheme.

Charles Douglas Johnson, 47, of Garden Valley, Calif., was sentenced today to 10 years and one month in prison for receiving child pornography.

A Los Angeles woman has pleaded guilty to using fraudulent medical clinics and the stolen identities of physicians to defraud Medicare of more than $6.2 million.

A Miami-area resident pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Miami for her role in managing a community mental health care fraud scheme that resulted in the submission of more than $100 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare.