Mark J. Titus, former Chief Operations Officer of Garner Services Ltd. (GSL), and his brother-in-law Dominick Fazzio, have been charged in a second superseding indictment returned today by a federal grand jury in New Orleans for defrauding GSL of over $1 million.
The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against the state of Vermont and its chief election official to help ensure that military service members, their family members and U.S. citizens living overseas have the opportunity to participate fully in the Nov. 6, 2012 federal general election.
In anticipation of the upcoming election, the Justice Department today provided information about its efforts, through the Civil Rights and Criminal Divisions, to ensure that all qualified voters have the opportunity to cast their ballots and have their votes counted free of discrimination, intimidation or fraud in the election process.
Attorney General Eric Holder recognizes 282 department employees for their distinguished public service today at the 60th Annual Attorney General’s Awards Ceremony. Fifty-seven other individuals outside of the department are also honored for their work. Held at DAR Constitution Hall, this annual ceremony recognizes both department employees and others for their outstanding dedication to carrying out the Department of Justice’s missions.
The Justice Department announced today that it will monitor portions of the early voting period for the Nov. 6, 2012, general election in Dallas and Harris Counties, Texas, to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Voting Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the election process on the basis of race, color or membership in a minority language group. Early voting in Dallas and Harris Counties begins on Monday, October 22.
Two former officers of Arizona-based residential mortgage loan originator American Mortgage Specialists Inc. (AMS) pleaded guilty today for their roles in a $27 million scheme to defraud North Dakota-based BNC National Bank.
The Justice Department announced today that it has reached an agreement with the State of Vermont to help ensure that military service members, their family members and U.S. citizens living overseas have the opportunity to participate fully in the Nov. 6, 2012, federal general election.
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against the city of Meridian, Miss.; Lauderdale County, Miss.; judges of the Lauderdale County Youth Court; and the state of Mississippi alleging that the defendants systematically violate the due process rights of juveniles.
Emmett McKenzie, 31, from Montezuma, Ga., formerly a sergeant at Macon State Prison in Oglethorpe, Ga., pleaded guilty to conspiring with other correctional officers to violate the civil rights of an inmate in 2010, the Justice Department Announced today. McKenzie, who most recently served as a lieutenant at Dooly State Prison in Unadilla, Ga., is the third officer to plead guilty in the course of the ongoing federal investigation.
Katiran Lee, 39, an Indonesian national who allegedly sold the counterfeit goods while he was living in Duluth, Ga., was charged with two counts of trafficking in counterfeit goods, four counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The Justice Department announced that it has reached agreements with Carroll County and Craig County, Va., that will allow the counties and their political subdivisions to bail out from their status as “covered jurisdictions” under the special provisions of the Voting Rights Act, and thereby exempt these jurisdictions from the preclearance requirements of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
The Department of Justice, the FBI and the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) remind the public there is a potential for disaster fraud in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Suspected fraudulent activity pertaining to relief efforts associated with Hurricane Sandy should be reported to the toll-free NCDF hotline at 866-720-5721.
The Justice Department announced today that it will monitor portions of the early voting period for the Nov. 6, 2012, general election in Miami-Dade County, Fla., to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Voting Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the election process on the basis of race, color or membership in a minority language group.
Bobby Teets, 46, aka “Bull,” pleaded guilty on Dec. 9, 2010, to racketeering aggravated assault for his role in the assault of an applicant for membership in the gang, and was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Ewing Werlein Jr. Teets is to serve the 72-month sentence consecutively to the state prison term he is currently serving.
Five charter fishing boat captains operating out of Rudee Inlet in Virginia Beach, Va. were indicted today for violating the Lacey Act by selling illegally harvested Striped Bass
William R. “Rusty” Miller, a real estate developer from Fairhope, Ala., has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Jackson, Miss., for the unpermitted filling of wetlands near Bay St. Louis, Miss., in violation of the Clean Water Act.
Thirty-four alleged members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas gang (ABT), including four of its most senior leaders, have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Houston for allegedly conspiring to participate in a racketeering enterprise.
The Justice Department announced today that it has asked a federal court in Columbus, Ohio, to permanently bar John Allen from promoting tax-fraud schemes and preparing federal tax returns.
The United States has sued Charles Sewell of Bristol, Va., to bar him from promoting an alleged scheme involving fraudulent tax refund claims, the Justice Department announced today.
"The Criminal Division is determined, with its federal, state and local law enforcement partners, to continue disrupting and dismantling ABT and other violent criminal enterprises," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.
A federal judge sentenced Spokane, Wash., Police Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. to 51 months in prison followed by three years supervised release for civil rights and obstruction violations stemming from his March 18, 2006, beating of an unarmed citizen and an extensive cover-up that followed, the Justice Department announced today. Following a Taser deployment and a rapid series of baton blows to the head, neck and body, the victim, the late Otto Zehm, 36, was hogtied, stopped breathing and was transported to the hospital, where he died two days later. The defendant claimed the beating was justified because he felt threatened by a plastic bottle of soda Zehm was holding.
The Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit today against eBay Inc., alleging that it violated antitrust laws when it entered into an agreement not to recruit or hire Intuit Inc.’s employees.
A federal court has permanently barred a Michigan lawyer, Tammy Daniels of Farmington Hills, from promoting an alleged tax fraud scheme, the Justice Department announced today. The civil injunction order, to which Daniels consented without admitting the allegations against her, was signed by Judge Paul D. Borman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. In August the court enjoined Daniels’s co-defendants, Damian and Holly Jackson, from preparing federal tax returns for others and promoting the scheme.
Earlier today, Adis Medunjanin, age 34, a Queens, N.Y., resident who joined al-Qaeda, then plotted and attempted to commit suicide terrorist attacks, was sentenced in the Eastern District of New York to life in prison for multiple federal terrorism offenses.
Amin Ravan, a citizen of Iran, and his Iran-based company, IC Market Iran, have been charged in an indictment unsealed today with conspiracy to defraud the United States, smuggling, and violating the Arms Export Control Act in connection with the unlawful export of 55 military antennas from the United States to Singapore and Hong Kong.
A third member of the Internet piracy group “IMAGiNE” was sentenced today to 40 months in prison, and a fifth member of IMAGiNE pleaded guilty today for his role in the conspiracy.
Terrence Yarbrough, a/k/a, “T-Rex,” 37, of Memphis, Tenn., was convicted today in federal court on 10 counts of sex trafficking and one count of conspiracy to commit food stamp fraud, the Justice Department announced today.
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.
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.
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.
An Indiana man faces a likely sentence of 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to hate crimes stemming from the arson of the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, the Justice Department announced today.
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.
The Justice Department announced today that it has reached an agreement with the State of New Hampshire that will allow for all 10 of the towns in that state that are covered jurisdictions under the special provisions of the Voting Rights Act to bail out from coverage by these provisions.
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 Justice Department announced that it has reached an agreement with the Browns Valley Irrigation District, a special district in California, that, if approved by the court, will allow for the district to bail out from its status as a “covered jurisdiction” under the special provisions of the Voting Rights Act, and thereby exempt the district from the preclearance requirements of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The district covers part of Yuba County, which is a jurisdiction subject to Section 5. The agreement is in the form of a consent decree filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
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.
The owner of several Detroit-area adult day care centers pleaded guilty today for her role in a $13.2 million psychotherapy fraud scheme.
The Justice Department announced today that Lindrith Tsoodle, 57, a former officer with the Three Affiliated Tribes Police Department, was apprehended and arrested on the Rocky Boy Reservation in Montana yesterday in relation to his indictment on civil rights and obstruction violations.
The owner of several Detroit-area businesses that housed severely mentally-disabled Medicare recipients pleaded guilty today for his role in a $13.2 million fraud scheme.
A Romanian national was sentenced today to serve 21 months in prison for his role in an international, multimillion-dollar scheme to remotely hack into and steal payment card data from hundreds of U.S. merchants’ computers.
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.
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.
In a settlement with the United States on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, automotive electronics manufacturer Edge Products LLC (Edge) has agreed to pay a $500,000 civil penalty for manufacturing and selling electronic devices that allowed owners of model year 2007 and later diesel pickup trucks to remove emission controls from their vehicles.
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.
A federal grand jury in Philadelphia unsealed an indictment yesterday charging Kyle Novitsky, 45, and Judith Aloe, 52, both of North Miami Beach, Fla., with making false odometer statements, securities fraud and conspiracy to commit these offenses.