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Former Department of Defense Employee Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Submitting False Travel Claims Totaling Nearly $500,000

John R. Brock, 52, of Crofton, Md., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert L. Wilkins in the District of Columbia.



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Former Employee of Government Contractor Pleads Guilty in Oklahoma to Child Pornography Charge

Keith Strimple, 57, of Tulsa, Okla., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell in the Northern District of Oklahoma to one count of attempted possession of a visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.



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Office Manager for Miami Home Health Company Sentenced to 78 Months in Prison for Role in $25 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme

Two of her co-defendants were also sentenced to prison today for their roles in the fraud scheme.



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Korean Shipping Company, Chief Engineer and Assistant Engineer Convicted in Hawaii for Environmental Crimes

Keoje Marine was sentenced to pay a $1.15 million criminal penalty, $250,000 of which will go to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation as a community service payment for projects aimed at protecting and restoring marine resources in the District of Hawaii.



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Utah Chiropractor Convicted of Attempted Evasion of Payment of Income Tax

Douglas R. Madsen, a chiropractor from Ephraim, Utah, was convicted today after a jury trial in the U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City of income tax evasion, the Justice Department announced.



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Louisiana Health Care Company Owner and Recruiter Plead Guilty to Medicare Fraud Scheme

Two Baton Rouge, La., residents have pleaded guilty for their role in a Medicare fraud scheme, which allegedly involved more than $21 million.



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Former Employee and Contractors of Florida Property Management Company Indicted in Illinois for Conspiracy to Commit Bribery and Wire Fraud

A Rockford, Ill., grand jury today indicted a former residential sales manager and two former contractors of a Florida property management company in connection with housing repair contracts for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.



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New Jersey Pipe Supply Company and Owner Sentenced for Their Role in Fraud and Bribery Conspiracy in Power Generation Industry

A New Jersey industrial pipe supply company and its owner were sentenced today for participating in a conspiracy to commit fraud and pay bribes to a purchasing manager at Consolidated Edison of New York (Con Ed) in return for the manager’s efforts to steer contracts to the company.



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State of Alabama Employee Indicted for Identity Theft and Tax Fraud

Natacia Webster was arrested today as part of a federal crackdown on identity theft and tax refund fraud.



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Employee and Contractor of Florida Property Management Company Plead Guilty to Wire Fraud

A former residential sales manager and a former contractor at a Florida property management company pleaded guilty today to wire fraud in connection with housing repair contracts for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.



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Massachusetts Financial Advisor Convicted of Tax Crimes and Contempt

A jury convicted Attleboro, Mass., licensed stockbroker, insurance agent and financial advisor Kevin P. Mahoney today on tax and contempt of court charges, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.



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Justice Department Obtains Comprehensive ADA Agreement Regarding the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Developmental Disabilities System

The Justice Department today announced that it has entered into a comprehensive settlement agreement that will transform the Commonwealth of Virginia’s system for serving people with developmental disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, and will resolve violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.



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American Samoa Department of Education Official Convicted by Federal Jury in District of Columbia of Witness Tampering and Obstruction of Justice

The director of the school lunch program for the government of the U.S. Territory of American Samoa was convicted today in relation to his efforts to obstruct a federal grand jury and law enforcement investigation into a bribery scheme.



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Owner and Employee of Miami Home Health Company Plead Guilty in $22 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme

The owner and an employee of a Miami health care agency pleaded guilty for their participation in a $22 million home health Medicare fraud scheme.



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Former Owner of Florida-Based Airline Services Company Sentenced to Prison for Conspiring to Defraud Illinois-Based Ryan International Airlines

A former owner and operator of a Florida-based airline services company was sentenced today to serve 24 months in prison and to pay restitution for conspiring to commit wire fraud and honest services fraud in a kickback scheme to defraud Ryan International Airlines.



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Former United Nations Employee Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison

Jeffery K. Armstrong, 52, of South Riding, Va., was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for obtaining more than $100,000 in salary payments by fraudulently holding concurrent jobs at the United Nations (U.N.) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).



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Memphis Man Sentenced for Interstate Transportation for Purpose of Prostitution in Connection with Sex Trafficking Scheme

Charles Kizer, 53, from Memphis, Tenn., was sentenced late Friday by U.S. District Judge Samuel H. Mays, Jr. to 10 years in prison for violating the Mann Act.



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Three Men and Company Convicted of Conspiracy to Violate the Clean Air Act During Demolition of Tennessee Factory

Three men and a demolition company were convicted by a federal jury in Chattanooga, Tenn., of environmental crimes and obstruction of justice charges related to the illegal demolition of a Chattanooga factory containing large amounts of the toxic air pollutant asbestos.



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Federal Court Orders Iowa Man and Eight Companies to Pay Employment Taxes

A federal court has ordered James Watts and eight corporations to begin paying employment taxes to the United States on a timely basis, the Justice Department announced today.



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Hungarian Citizen Sentenced in Maryland to 30 Months in Prison for Hacking into Marriott Computers to Extort Employment from the Company

Attila Nemeth, 26, a Hungarian citizen, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz to 30 months in prison for transmitting a malicious code to Marriott International Corporation computers and threatening to reveal confidential information obtained from the company’s computers if Marriott did not offer him a job.



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Louisiana Medical Equipment Company Owner Pleads Guilty in $21 Million Fraud Scheme

Chikenna D. Jones, 36, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge James J. Brady of the Middle District of Louisiana to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks.



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Medical Device Company Smith & Nephew Resolves Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Investigation

Smith & Nephew Inc. has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice to resolve improper payments by the company and certain affiliates in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).



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Three Men Sentenced for Attempting to Intimidate African-American Students at a Louisiana Middle School

U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Hayes sentenced James Lee Wallis Jr. to eight months in prison, Tony L. Johnson to six months in prison and Brian Wallis to five months in prison.



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Assistant Attorney General Tony West Speaks at the American Constitution Society Southeast Symposium on State Immigration Laws

"In many ways, there is no better proof that comprehensive immigration reform is long overdue than these state statutes. People are understandably frustrated with our broken immigration system, and some states have turned to “self-help” measures like enacting these local statutes," said Assistant Attorney General West.




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U.S. and Chinese Defendants Charged with Economic Espionage and Theft of Trade Secrets in Connection with Conspiracy to Sell Trade Secrets to Chinese Companies

A federal grand jury in San Francisco has charged five individuals and five companies with economic espionage and theft of trade secrets for their roles in a long-running effort to obtain U.S. trade secrets for the benefit of companies controlled by the government of the People’s Republic of China.



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Former Owner of Illinois Technology Company Sentenced to Serve 30 Months in Prison for Role in Multi-State Scheme to Defraud Federal E-Rate Program

A former owner of two Illinois-based technology companies was sentenced today to serve 30 months in prison for her participation in a conspiracy to defraud the federal E-Rate program.



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Department of Justice Reaches Agreement to Compensate Servicemembers for Wrongful Foreclosures

The settlement agreement with the nation’s five largest servicers announced today by Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice’s federal and state partners includes substantial financial compensation to homeowners who are servicemembers and establishes significant new protections for servicemembers in the future.



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Former IRS Employee from Texas Sentenced to Nearly Nine Years in Prison on Theft of Government Property and Aggravated Identity Theft Convictions

Thomas W. Richardson was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle in Dallas to 105 months in prison and ordered to pay $30,649 in restitution, following his guilty plea in August 2011 to one count of theft of government property and one count of aggravated identity theft, the Justice Department announced today.



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Justice Department Requires Mill Divestitures in International Paper’s Acquisition of Temple-Inland

The Department of Justice announced today that it will require International Paper Company and Temple-Inland Inc. to divest three containerboard mills in order to proceed with their $4.3 billion merger.



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U.S. Files Criminal Charges Against Dallas Company in Connection with Misbranded Drug Shipment That Led to Three Deaths

The Justice Department, at the request of the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations (FDA-OCI), has charged Gary D. Osborn and his corporation, ApothéCure Inc., with two misdemeanor criminal violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) in connection with their interstate shipment of two lots of misbranded colchicine injectable solution that led to the deaths of three people in the Pacific Northwest.



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Justice Department Settles Allegations of Employment Discrimination at the Massachusetts Department of Correction

The Department of Justice announced today that it has entered into a settlement that, if approved by the court, will resolve the department’s allegations that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Department of Correction violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against female applicants for entry-level correction officer and correction program officer positions at the Massachusetts Department of Correction.



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Justice Department Settles with City of Highland Park, Michigan, to Enforce Employment Rights of U.S. Army Reservist

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement with the city of Highland Park, Mich., to resolve allegations that the city willfully violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act by failing to properly reemploy firefighter and U.S. Army reservist Paul A. Baetz in July 2009 when he returned from military service in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.



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Co-Owner of Two Los Angeles-Area Health Care Companies Sentenced to 96 Months in Prison for Health Care Fraud

The co-owner of two Los Angeles-area health care companies was sentenced today to 96 months in prison for his conviction stemming from a nine-year scheme to defraud Medicare.



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California Resident and Company Plead Guilty to Conspiracy to Export Computer-Related Equipment to Iran

Massoud Habibion, 49, aka “Matt Habibion” and “Matt Habi,” a U.S. citizen and co-owner of a Costa Mesa, Calif., company, Online Micro LLC, pleaded guilty today in the District of Columbia to conspiracy to illegally export computers from the United States to Iran through the United Arab Emirates.



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Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab Sentenced to Life in Prison for Attempted Bombing of Flight 253 on Christmas Day 2009

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called “underwear bomber,” was sentenced today to life in prison as a result of his guilty plea to all eight counts of a federal indictment charging him for his role in the attempted Christmas Day 2009 bombing of Northwest Airlines flight 253.



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Man Pleads Guilty to Illegal Dumping in Upstate New York

Julius DeSimone of Rome, N.Y., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Utica, N.Y., for conspiring to violate the Clean Water Act and to defraud the United States, and to making false statements to federal law enforcement.



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New York Resident and His Company Sentenced for Conspiracy to Export Computer-Related Equipment to Iran

Jeng “Jay” Shih, 54, a U.S. citizen, was sentenced today in the District of Columbia to 18 months in prison, while his Queens, N.Y., company, Sunrise Technologies and Trading Corporation, was sentenced to 24 months corporate probation for conspiracy to illegally export U.S.-origin computers from the United States to Iran through the United Arab Emirates (UAE).



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Virginia Man Accused of Attempting to Bomb U.S. Capitol in Suicide Attack

Amine El Khalifi, an immigrant from Morocco who is illegally present in the United States, was charged today by criminal complaint with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against property that is owned and used by the United States.



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Total Companies to Pay U.S. $15 Million to Resolve Allegations of Royalty Underpayments from Federal and Indian Lands

Total Fina S.A., Total Minatome Corporation, Total Exploration Production USA Inc., Fina Oil and Chemical Company, Elf Exploration Inc., Total E&P USA Inc. and their affiliates have agreed to pay the United States $15 million to resolve claims that the companies violated the False Claims Act by knowingly underpaying royalties owed on natural gas produced from federal and Indian leases, the Justice Department announced today.



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Former Chairman and CEO of Kellogg, Brown & Root Inc. Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Foreign Bribery and Kickback Schemes

Albert “Jack” Stanley, a former chairman and chief executive officer of Kellogg, Brown & Root Inc. (KBR), was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by participating in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts and for conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud as part of a separate kickback scheme.



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Kazakhstani National Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering for “Hack and Dump” Scheme

Alexey Li, 21, a citizen of Kazakhstan who entered the United States on a student visa, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein, Jr. to aiding and abetting money laundering.



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Italian Shipping Company and Chief Engineer Charged with Environmental Crimes and Obstruction of Justice

Italian-based shipping company Giuseppe Bottiglieri Shipping Company S.P.A., owner and operator of the Motor Vessel Bottiglieri Challenger, and Vito La Forgia, the vessel’s chief engineer, have been charged in a four-count indictment with the illegal dumping of waste oil and oil-contaminated waste water in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, conspiracy and two counts of obstruction of justice.



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Federal Court in Illinois Shuts Down Nationwide “Employee Benefit Plan” Tax Scheme

A federal court has permanently barred Tracy L. Sunderlage, Linda Sunderlage and four companies from operating an alleged scheme to help high-income individuals attempt to avoid income taxes by funneling money through purported employee benefit plans, the Justice Department announced today.



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Justice Department Reminds Employers of Eligibility Verification Rules for Salvadoran Workers

The Justice Department announced today the launch of an educational video reminding employers that Salvadorans with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) may continue working beyond the March 9, 2012, expiration date of their Employment Authorization Documents.



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Owner of Houston Health Care Company Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison in Connection with Medicare Fraud Scheme

Akinsunbo Akinbile, 44, of Richmond, Texas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison in Houston.



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Federal Court Sets $128 Million Aggregate Back Pay Damages in Employment Discrimination Lawsuit Against the City of New York’s Fire Department

A federal court announced last week that it had determined the aggregate amount of back pay damages owed to African-American and Hispanic applicants who were discriminated against by the city of New York in the hiring of entry-level firefighters for the Fire Department of New York (FDNY).



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Former Haitian Government Official Convicted in Miami for Role in Scheme to Launder Bribes Paid by Telecommunications Companies

Jean Rene Duperval, a former director of international relations for Telecommunications D’Haiti S.A.M. (Haiti Teleco), a Haitian state-owned telecommunications company, has been convicted by a federal jury on all counts for his role in a scheme to launder bribes paid to him by two Miami-based telecommunications companies.



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U.S. Orders Pennylvania Diet Supplement Company to Cease Operations Pending Reinspection by FDA

The United States has entered a consent decree against ATF Fitness Products Inc., Manufacturing ATF Dedicated Excellence Inc. (MADE), and the owner and president of both companies, James G. Vercellotti, the Justice Department announced today.



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Former Employee of Nursing Home Company Operating in North Carolina and Virginia Pleads Guilty to Kickback Schemes and Tax Evasion

The former director of corporate maintenance and renovations at Medical Facilities of America Inc. pleaded guilty today to accepting kickbacks and evading taxes.



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Former Humphreys County, Tennessee, Sheriff’s Deputies Indicted for Federal Civil Rights Offenses

The Justice Department announced today that a federal grand jury in Nashville, Tenn., returned a one count indictment charging former Humphreys County, Tenn., Sheriff’s Deputies Timothy Wayne Hedge, 50, and James Benjamin Lee, 32, for violating the civil rights of an individual on Jan. 23, 2011, in Humphreys County.



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