Category: x.doj

A grand jury in Seattle returned an indictment today charging a Washington man and his company with conspiracy and for violating the Lacey Act by transporting birds that had been hunted in violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The indictment alleges that, from August 2022 to January 2023, Branden Trager, 46, of Brush Prairie, Washington, and his guiding company, Mayhem Services LLC, guided three hunting parties in Canada to hunt waterfowl when Trager was not permitted under Canadian…

A Virginia man and former business owner pleaded guilty yesterday to not accounting for and paying employment taxes to the IRS. According to court documents and statements made in court, Richard E. Moore, of Augusta County, was the executive vice president and part owner of Nexus Services Inc., a Verona-based company that offered bond securitization and other services to immigrants detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Moore, who exercised control over Nexus’s business and financial affairs, was responsible for…

Nikolay Goltsev, a Canadian national, was sentenced to 40 months in prison for orchestrating a multimillion-dollar export scheme that provided advanced U.S. electronic components to sanctioned Russian military companies. Goltsev used two Brooklyn-based companies to source and ship dual-use technology through intermediary front companies in countries like Turkey, Hong Kong, and the UAE, ultimately rerouting the products to Russia. The electronics, including components for precision-guided weapons, were found in Russian weapons systems used in Ukraine. Goltsev demonstrated awareness of U.S….

Johnny Buscema Jr. of New Port Richey, Florida, and his companies, S.A.F.E. Structure Designs, based in Las Vegas, and U.S.A. Manufacturing, based in New Port Richey, have agreed to pay $1,000,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by causing a prime vendor for the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to submit fraudulent contract bids to DLA that resulted in Department of Defense (DoD) customers being overcharged for goods and related services purchased under those contracts. The settlement…

Following a comprehensive investigation, the Justice Department announced today that the Mount Vernon, New York, Police Department (MVPD) engages in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of rights secured by the U.S. Constitution and federal law. Specifically, the Justice Department finds that MVPD: Uses excessive force in numerous ways, including by unnecessarily escalating minor encounters and by overusing tasers and closed-fist strikes, particularly against individuals who have already been taken to the ground, are controlled by many…

The Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the State of Illinois today announced a settlement with the City of Cahokia Heights, Illinois, resolving violations of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Illinois Environmental Protection Act resulting from the city’s failure to properly operate its sanitary sewer system. The settlement requires that Cahokia Heights pay a $30,000 civil penalty and implement an estimated $30 million in extensive compliance measures. The complaint against Cahokia Heights alleges that on…

A two-count indictment was unsealed yesterday charging five current and former correctional officers and one correctional nurse with federal civil rights violations. The indictment alleges that, on Aug. 6, 2023, former Garvin County Jail (GCJ) Sergeant Jennifer Baxter, former GCJ Deputies Alesha Danielle Ingram and Vincent Matthews and former GCJ Nurse Lynnsee Noel, while acting in their official capacity at the GCJ, in Garvin County, Oklahoma, violated the constitutional rights of a pretrial detainee, identified in the indictment as K.T.,…

The Justice Department announced today that it secured an agreement with Pennsylvania-based HCSG East LLC and its parent company, Healthcare Services Group Inc. (HCSG), a nationwide provider of housekeeping, laundry and food services for healthcare and nursing facilities. The agreement resolves the department’s determination that HCSG discriminated against non-U.S. citizens with permission to work in the United States when hiring at its Siler City, North Carolina, location, and engaged in unfair practices concerning work authorization documents because of a worker’s…

McKinsey and Company Africa (Pty) Ltd (McKinsey Africa), which operates in South Africa as a wholly owned and controlled subsidiary of international consulting firm McKinsey & Company Inc. (McKinsey), will pay over $122 million to resolve an investigation by the Justice Department into a scheme to pay bribes to government officials in South Africa between 2012 and 2016. The guilty plea of a former McKinsey senior partner who participated in the bribery scheme was also unsealed. The Justice Department’s resolution…

Six defendants have been charged for their roles in schemes to rig bids, defraud the government and pay bribes and kickbacks in connection with the sale of IT products and services to federal government purchasers, which resulted in overcharges of millions of dollars to the U.S. government, including the Department of Defense (DoD). On Oct. 9 and Oct. 16, a federal grand jury in Baltimore returned indictments against two defendants. Four other defendants were also charged. These are the first…

A U.S. Navy Reserve Commander from Florida was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for his role in a years-long bribery scheme involving Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) for Afghan nationals. According to court documents and evidence submitted at trial, Jeromy Pittmann, 53, of Pensacola, accepted bribe payments from Afghan nationals in exchange for drafting, submitting, and verifying fraudulent letters of recommendation for Afghan nationals who applied for SIVs with the U.S. Department of State. Since 2009, Congress has authorized…

A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment yesterday charging a Maryland man with major fraud against the United States and making false statements to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for his alleged participation in a scheme to deceive the SEC into thinking his company’s data center was certified at the highest rating level for reliability, availability, and security, when it was not. According to the indictment, Deepak Jain, 49, of Potomac, was the…

View All Environmental Crimes Bulletins In This Issue: Cases by District/Circuit District/Circuit Case Name Statute(s) 8th Circuit Court of Appeals United States v. Harvey Allen Hugs BGEPA 11th Circuit Court of Appeals United States v. John R. Moore, Jr., et al. Maritime Jurisdiction Theft Southern District of California United States v. Michael Hart Greenhouse Gas Imports/ Conspiracy, American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020 United States v. Amy Lupercio District of Columbia United States v. Rudy’s Performance Parts, Inc., et…

An indictment was unsealed today in Brooklyn, New York, charging eight defendants for their alleged roles in a scheme to defraud Medicaid of approximately $68 million through the operation of two social adult day cares and a home health care financial intermediary that were paying kickbacks and bribes for services that were not provided. According to court documents, Zakia Khan, 53, of Brooklyn, and Ahsan Ijaz, 27, of Brooklyn, owned two social adult day cares, Happy Family Social Adult Day…

The former comptroller general of Ecuador was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for his role in a multimillion-dollar international bribery and money laundering scheme in which he received over $10 million in bribes and laundered those bribes payments in South Florida. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, between 2010 to 2015, Carlos Ramon Polit Faggioni, 73, solicited and received over $10 million in bribe payments from Odebrecht S.A., the Brazil-based construction conglomerate. Polit, in his position…

The Justice Department today announced the seizure of a Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft owned and operated for the benefit of Nicolás Maduro Moros and persons affiliated with him in Venezuela. The aircraft was seized in the Dominican Republic and transferred to the Southern District of Florida at the request of the United States based on violations of U.S. export control and sanctions laws. “This morning, the Justice Department seized an aircraft we allege was illegally purchased for $13 million through a…