title: Long-Time Human Smuggler Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison

body_text: PHOENIX, Ariz. – Tonya Durinda Romero, 37, of Phoenix, was sentenced on November 14, 2024, by United States District Judge John J. Tuchi, to 33 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Romero pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Transport Illegal Aliens on July 31, 2024. Romero admitted that she was a member of a conspiracy that transported undocumented noncitizens from southern Arizona to the Phoenix metropolitan area. She was involved in renting stash houses to harbor the noncitizens and providing vehicles to others to transport them further into the United States. Romero was stopped on January 30, 2024, by a Pinal County Sheriff’s Office deputy sheriff because her registration had expired; the deputy also determined that Romero was driving with a suspended license and had no insurance. Romero was arrested and transported to the Casa Grande Border Patrol station for an in-depth interview, during which she admitted to law enforcement that she had been involved in human smuggling since she was 16 years old. Customs and Border Protection’s United States Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa E. Jennis, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecution. CASE NUMBER: CR-24-00346-PHX-JJT RELEASE NUMBER: 2024-168_Romero # # # For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/ Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on X @USAO_AZ for the latest news.


title: U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI, Along with Tribal and Local Law Enforcement Officials, Announce Second  “Don’t Click December” Consumer Protection Campaign

component: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

body_text: BOISE – During the holiday season, online criminals increasingly target Idahoans through online scams and fraud schemes. Today, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit, along with the FBI, the Fort Hall Police Department, the Bannock County Prosecuting Attorney’s and Sheriff’s Offices, the Bonneville County Prosecuting Attorney’s and Sheriff’s Offices, the Idaho Falls Police Department, and the Pocatello Police Department, announced their joint “Don’t Click December” Consumer Protection Campaign. The AARP is also participating in the announcement and the awareness campaign. The campaign advises members of the public to exercise skepticism and caution when receiving unsolicited online, email, pop-up, or text communications from unknown or unverified sources. If there is any doubt about a link, message, or attachment, law enforcement cautions: “ Don’t Click It .” As part of the campaign, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI, and their partners will release a public service announcement each week in December leading up to Christmas. In the first PSA, available here , FBI Special Agent in Charge Shohini Sinha, Fort Hall Police Chief Pat Teton, and U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit introduce “Don’t Click December” and explain some of the ways in which individuals can be targeted. Three additional PSAs will alert the public to common online fraud schemes that Idaho law enforcement has seen affect Idahoans. These schemes are: “QR”scam : This scam targets individuals through corrupt or fictitious QR codes. Often the scammer will email or text a scam QR code in an attempt to trick you. They may even cover up legitimate QR code with their own corrupted code with the goal getting you to visit a bogus website that can steal your information if you log in. Always verify with the restaurant or business if you suspect a QR code is suspicious. “Pig Butchering” scam : In this cryptocurrency investment fraud scam, known as “pig butchering,” victims usually receive communications asking them to deposit money into financial investments using cryptocurrency. After an initial investment, victims receive further communications with a fake account report showing financial gains in order to get them to invest more, but the investments are fake, and all the money is under the control of criminals who ultimately steal the victims’ investments. If you are contacted about an investment opportunity by someone you don’t know through social media, text, or dating sites, Don’t Click It ! If the message appears to be from an investment company you actually invest with, check the email address to verify it is from the company you’ve invested with. “Tech support” scam : In this scam, criminals impersonate technology, banking, or government officials to convince victims to share personal information. You could get a pop-up on your computer indicating your accounts have been hacked and to call a number. But that number goes to the scammer who tries to manipulate you to gain access to your computer or accounts and takes your money to fix a non-existent problem. If you get such a request, Don’t Click It . Government entities and legitimate businesses will never call you or send unsolicited pop-up messages to ask for access to your computer. Unfortunately, these are not the only schemes affecting the public, and new schemes arise all the time. Law enforcement hopes that the “Don’t Click December” Consumer Protection Campaign will raise public awareness and encourage individuals to talk to their friends and relatives about not clicking suspicious links, texts, messages, pop-ups, or attachments. “We have witnessed many Idahoans lose their hard-earned money or their entire retirement savings to online scams. And, sadly, this type of crime tends to spike during the holiday season,” said U.S. Attorney Hurwit. “But, together, we can reduce the risks by talking with each other about how to avoid such scams, and I’m grateful to our law enforcement partners and the AARP for joining us in the Don’t Click December campaign. We also encourage Idahoans to report any scams as soon as possible so that law enforcement can investigate and we can bring these vicious online criminals to justice.” “According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, Idahoans lost more than $33 million to various scams last year,” said Special Agent in Charge Shohini Sinha of the Salt Lake City FBI. “As we shop, bank, and stay connected online, it’s important to be alert and aware of internet‑enabled crime. The FBI is proud to partner with our law enforcement partners to share these important safety messages to keep you and your money safe, especially during the busy holiday season.” “We are pleased to join with our partners to raise awareness about online fraud targeting our citizens. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. If you’re not familiar with it, don’t click on it,” said Pocatello Police Chief Roger Schei. “Increases in technology, especially the use of AI, and the complexity of criminal organizations is making it more challenging for Idahoans to avoid the criminals who want to defraud them,” said AARP Idaho State Director Lupe Wissel. “This initiative is a great way for Idahoans to share information with their friends, family and neighbors to help keep everyone safe from scammers.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office and its law enforcement partners recognize that we all must work to eliminate the stigma individuals may experience if they are victimized. There is no shame to falling victim to an online scheme, which are often designed by professional criminals, sophisticated, and tested repeatedly across the country. For this reason, the “Don’t Click December” Consumer Protection Campaign also publicizes ways to report scams and incidents of fraud to the FBI and local law enforcement. To learn more about these and other scams targeting Americans visit FBI.gov , and if you believe you have been victimized, take-action by reporting it to FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3.gov or by contacting your local law enforcement agency. ###


title: Mexican Man Guilty of Federal Controlled Substances Act Violations and Money Laundering

component: Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

body_text: NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – Today , U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evansannounced that JOSE OMAR VARGAS-DUQUE (“VARGAS”) , age 39, a resident of Mexico, pled guilty on November 27, 2024, before United States District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo to a two-count superseding indictment. Count One charged VARGAS with conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, five kilograms or more of cocaine, one kilogram or more of heroin, and four hundred grams or more of fentanyl, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846, 841(a)(1), and 841(b)(1)(A). Count Two charged VARGAS with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(a)(2)(A) and 1956(h). According to court documents, VARGAS, and other co-conspirators, distributed multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine, fentanyl, and heroin within the Eastern District of Louisiana. Additionally, VARGAS, and other co-conspirators, traveled between New Orleans, and other states, in order to transport U.S. Currency and narcotics on behalf of a Drug Trafficking Organization, from Louisiana to Mexico. As to Count One, VARGAS faces a minimum term of imprisonment of ten years, up to life imprisonment, a fine of up to $10,000,000.00, at least five years of supervised release, and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100. As to Count Two, VARGAS faces up to twenty years imprisonment, a fine of up to $500,000.00, up to three years of supervised release, and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100. This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. This investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration – New Orleans Field Division Office, and assisted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Border Patrol, the Gretna Major Crimes Task Force, the Kenner Police Department, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, the St. John’s Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the New Orleans Police Department. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Lynn E. Schiffman of the Narcotics Unit. * * *


title: Gun Smuggler Sentenced to 84 Months in Prison for Smuggling Firearms to Mexico and International Money Laundering

component: USAO - Arizona

number: 2024-169_Vasquez Balganon

body_text: TUCSON, Ariz. – Jesus Angel Vasquez Balganon, 33, of Mexico, was sentenced on November 21, 2024, by United States Chief District Judge Jennifer G. Zipps to 85 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. An order of forfeiture was entered in the amount of $97,229. Vasquez Balganon pleaded guilty on March 14, 2024, to Smuggling Goods from the United States and International Money Laundering. Vasquez Balganon admitted that, between March of 2018 and January of 2021, and on April 6, 2021, he exported numerous firearms, some of which were recovered in Mexico. He also exported weapons components, ammunition, and accessories. On April 6, 2021, Vasquez Balganon was arrested at the Port of Entry in Nogales, when he attempted to smuggle high-capacity magazines, concealed in his vehicle, to Mexico. Customs and Border Protection officers found a shopping bag containing nine 30-round AR-15 5.56 caliber high-capacity magazines. Vasquez Balganon stated he knew about the magazines and knew he was prohibited from taking them into Mexico. Vasquez Balganon expected to be paid $100. Prior to his apprehension and arrest on April 6, 2021, Vasquez Balganon had exported or attempted to export 67 firearms, including a machinegun, an AK-103 style firearm, a Century Arms WASR rifle, and a FN SCAR 17 rifle, as well as 20,000 rounds of ammunition, ammunition links and 208 magazines. Some of the firearms were recovered in Mexico. All the firearms, weapons components, ammunition, magazines, and accessories are designated on the United States Commerce Control List as prohibited by law for export from the United States into Mexico without a valid license. Neither Vasquez Balganon nor any other individual involved had a license or any other lawful authority to export these items into Mexico. Vasquez Balganon also admitted that, from February of 2019 to March of 2021, he transferred over $20,000 from a U.S. bank to a bank in Mexico for the purpose of facilitating his illegal smuggling activities. This case was part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement, and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime. Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant United States Attorney Raquel Arellano, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution. CASE NUMBER: CR-21-02908-TUC-JGZ RELEASE NUMBER: 2024-169_Vasquez Balganon # # # For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/ Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on X @USAO_AZ for the latest news.


title: Georgia Woman Guilty of Money Laundering Conspiracy and Interstate Travel in Aid of Racketeering

body_text: NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – Today , U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evansannounced that MICHELLE ALVARADO (“ALVARADO”) , age 27, a resident of Georgia, pled guilty on November 27, 2024, before United States District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo to two counts of a superseding indictment. Count Two charged ALVARADO with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(a)(2)(A) and 1956(h). Count Three charged ALVARADO with interstate travel in aid of racketeering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1952(a)(3)(A) and (2). According to court documents, ALVARADO, and other co-conspirators, traveled between New Orleans, and other states, in order to transport U.S. Currency and narcotics, on behalf of a Drug Trafficking Organization, from Louisiana to Mexico. As to Count Two, ALVARADO faces up to twenty years imprisonment, a fine of up to $500,000.00, up to three years of supervised release, and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100. As to Count Three, ALVARADO faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years, a fine of up to $250,000.00, up to three years of supervised release, and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100. This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. This investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration – New Orleans Field Division Office, and assisted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Border Patrol, the Gretna Major Crimes Task Force, the Kenner Police Department, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, the St. John’s Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the New Orleans Police Department. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Lynn E. Schiffman of the Narcotics Unit.


title: Rutland Man Sentenced in Gun Case

component: USAO - Vermont

body_text: Burlington, Vermont – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont stated that on December 2, 2024, John Ryea, 41, of Rutland, Vermont, was sentenced by United States District Judge William K. Sessions III to a term of approximately two and one-half months’ imprisonment to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release. Ryea previously pleaded guilty to possessing a stolen firearm after having been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. According to court records, Ryea has a November 30, 2022 misdemeanor domestic violence conviction from Rutland Superior Court where he admitted to punching his then live-in girlfriend in the jaw. He remained on probation in that state court case when he committed the crime to which he pleaded guilty. United States Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest commended the collaborative investigatory efforts of the Vermont State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives and the Vermont Drug Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Owyang. Ryea was represented by Federal Public Defender Michael Desautels. This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN .


title: Rotterdam Felon Pleads Guilty to Unlawful Possession of a Firearm

component: USAO - New York, Northern

body_text: ALBANY, NEW YORK – Jesse Taber, age 46, of Rotterdam, New York, pled guilty today to unlawfully possessing a firearm. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Bryan Miller, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), made the announcement. Taber admitted that on December 26, 2023, inside of his Rotterdam residence, he unlawfully possessed a 12-gauge Stoeger Coach Gun shotgun. A prior felony conviction prevented Taber from lawfully possessing the shotgun. When he is sentenced on April 2, 2025, Taber faces a maximum term of 15 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release up to 3 years. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors. ATF investigated the case with the assistance of the Rotterdam Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Belliss is prosecuting the case.


title: Wolcott, Vermont Woman Sentenced for Stealing Social Security Benefits

body_text: Burlington, Vermont – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont stated that on December 2, 2024, Maryann Manning, 63, of Wolcott, Vermont, was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Christina Reiss to two years of probation. Chief Judge Reiss also ordered Manning to pay restitution to the Social Security Administration in the amount of $119,978. Manning previously pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging Manning with receiving stolen government money. According to court records, Manning’s brother received disability insurance benefit payments from the Social Security Administration (SSA). Manning’s brother died in October 2015 at which time his SSA benefits should have terminated. Following his death, however, Manning collected her brother’s benefits from SSA by withdrawing the money from his accounts. Manning admitted to investigators that she knew that she stole the money that did not belong to her. The total loss to the Social Security Administration was more than $119,000. United States Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest commended the investigatory efforts of the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Stendig. Manning was represented by Robert Behrens, Esq.


title: Russian National Arrested for Attempting to Illegally Export Aircraft to Russia by Transshipping Through Armenia

component: National Security Division (NSD)

body_text: Sergey Nechaev, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen, was arrested today in the Southern District of Georgia on charges related to the unlawful attempted export of two small aircraft to Russia. In conjunction with the arrest, the U.S. government also seized the aircraft. According to the indictment, between March 3, 2023, and March 24, 2023, Nechaev engaged in a scheme to violate and evade U.S. export control laws and regulations by attempting to smuggle two Cessna aircraft from the United States to Russia by transshipping them through Armenia. Specifically, after the U.S. government imposed stricter controls on Russia in February 2022, Nechaev attempted to export a 1968 Cessna 172K and a 1973 Cessna, valued together at approximately $170,000, to a purported Russian flight school, without the required license or authorization from the Department of Commerce. To conceal the true end user and destination of the aircraft, Nechaev falsely represented that the end user and destination were in Armenia. Nechaev is charged with attempting to export controlled goods without a license in violation of the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA), smuggling goods contrary to U.S. law, and causing the submission of false and misleading information in Electronic Export Information paperwork submitted through the Automated Export System. If convicted, Nechaev faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the unlawful attempted export of controlled goods; up to 10 years in prison for smuggling; and up to five years in prison for falsifying export information. The aircraft will also be subject to forfeiture as property involved in the commission of the crime. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Darron Hubbard and L. Alexander Hamner for the Southern District of Georgia and Trial Attorneys Leslie Esbrook and Fatema Merchant of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case. The investigation was coordinated through the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export controls and economic countermeasures that, beginning in 2014, the United States, along with its foreign allies and partners, has imposed in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine. Announced by the Attorney General on March 2, 2022, and under the leadership of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, the task force will continue to leverage all of the department’s tools and authorities to combat efforts to evade or undermine the collective actions taken by the U.S. government in response to Russian military aggression. An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.


title: New York Doctor Charged for Receiving Kickbacks

component: USAO - Massachusetts

body_text: BOSTON – A New York doctor was charged today in federal court in Boston for allegedly receiving kickbacks in exchange for ordering medically unnecessary brain scans. Dr. Vishnudat Seodat, 75, of Mattituck, N.Y. was charged and has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the Court. According to the charging documents, Seodat, an internist in Long Island, N.Y., was a licensed medical doctor in the State of New York for approximately 36 years. It is alleged that from approximately June 2013 through December 2019, Seodat conspired with others, including a principal for a mobile medical diagnostics company that performed transcranial doppler (TCD) scans, to order hundreds of medically unnecessary TCD scans in exchange for kickbacks. TCD scans are brain scans that measure blood flow in parts of the brain. It is further alleged that Seodat and his co-conspirators used false diagnoses to order the unnecessary brain scans, for which a co-conspirator would submit claims to Medicare and other insurance companies, including private insurance companies, on behalf of the medical diagnostic company for payment. In exchange, Seodat was paid cash kickbacks of approximately $100 per test. According to the charging documents, the scheme resulted in fraudulent bills of approximately $1 million to Medicare and private insurance companies. The charge of conspiracy to commit health care fraud provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case. Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Roberto Coviello, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Jonathan Wlodyka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division, Boston Field Office; Carol S. Hamilton, Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, Boston Regional Office; Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division; and Christopher Algieri, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Howard Locker and Mackenzie Queenin of the Health Care Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case. The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.


title: Utah Businessman Ordered to Pay $40,000 Restitution for Negligent Endangerment

component: USAO - Utah

body_text: SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Daniel J. Brett, 68, of Murray, Utah, was sentenced to pay a water truck operator $40,000 in restitution today after the worker helped with the destruction of the Broadway Hotel in Tooele, Utah, which contained asbestos. The sentence, imposed by Senior U.S. District Court Judge David Sam, comes after Brett pleaded guilty in September 2024 to negligent endangerment, a misdemeanor offense. The United States argued for 12 months’ imprisonment with one year of supervised release to follow and $40,000 in restitution. According to court documents and statements made at Brett’s change of plea and sentencing hearing, from December 9, 2020 to December 14, 2020, Brett negligently caused asbestos, a hazardous air pollutant, to be released into the ambient air by facilitating the demolition of the historic Broadway Hotel, unabated. By not disclosing the presence of asbestos to a contracted third party demolition company, nor following the required process for an emergency demolition, as required by the Clean Air Act, the demolition took place without personal protective equipment. Additionally, the demolition company hired a worker to help with the demolition. The owner worked inside the excavator while his worker, the victim in this case, operated the water truck. In doing so, the worker stood outside of the water truck wetting debris with a hose as building material collapsed to the ground, with nothing to protect him but a dust mask. According to court documents, the presence of asbestos in the Broadway Hotel was known since 2011. After demolition, the asbestos containing debris pile remained at the site uncovered for fifteen months. Ultimately, an emergency removal action was initiated and cost the Environmental Protection Agency approximately $1.1 million. See former release here . The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Ruth Hackford-Peer of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah prosecuted the case.


title: Umar Koon Sentenced to Prison on Federal Drug Charge

body_text: Burlington, Vermont – The United States Attorney’s Office stated that Umar Koon, 46, of The Bronx, New York, was sentenced today in United States District Court in Burlington, to six months of imprisonment following his guilty plea to a charge that he possessed fentanyl, cocaine base and cocaine with intent to distribute. United States District Judge William K. Sessions III ordered that Koon serve three years of supervised release following completion of his prison term. The court ordered Koon to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on January 21, 2025 to begin serving his sentence. According to court records, the Northwestern Vermont Drug Task Force and the Federal Bureau of Investigation began an investigation of Koon in the summer of 2023 after obtaining information that Koon was selling fentanyl in the Chittenden County area. Between September and November 2023, investigators, utilizing a confidential informant, made seven controlled purchases of fentanyl and cocaine base from Koon. Investigators arrested Koon on November 14 after he returned to Burlington from New York City on a bus. Agents seized a suitcase Koon was carrying, obtained a state warrant to search the bag, and recovered distribution quantities of cocaine, cocaine base and fentanyl. They also seized $1500 in cash from Koon’s person. Koon was held without bail on state drug charges until December 6, 2023 when he was released to live in New York City. On December 7, 2023, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Koon with seven counts of distributing narcotics and one count of possessing other narcotics with intent to distribute. Federal agents arrested Koon at his home in The Bronx on December 12. The State of Vermont has dismissed its case in favor of this federal prosecution. Koon is represented by Mark Kaplan, Esq. The prosecutor is Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples.


title: Gen Digital Pays $55.1M False Claims Act Judgment for Knowing Overcharges to General Services Administration After Government Prevails at Trial

component: Civil Division

body_text: Gen Digital Inc. (formerly known as Symantec Corp.), located in Tempe, Arizona, paid $55.1 million to satisfy a judgment, concluding a decade of False Claims Act litigation. The judgment required the company to pay $16.1 million in damages and $36.8 million in civil penalties, plus post-judgment interest and costs. “The department will hold accountable contractors that knowingly overcharge the United States to enrich themselves,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The years spent litigating this case and taking it to trial demonstrate the department’s steadfast commitment to protecting taxpayer funds.” Following a four-week bench trial in February and March 2022, the trial court found Symantec liable for making knowing false claims to the United States when it mispresented its commercial sales practices during the negotiation and subsequent performance of a General Services Administration (GSA) contract. In particular, the court concluded that Symantec made false statements to GSA during contractual negotiations in 2006 and early-2007 and continued to falsely certify throughout the performance of the contract through Sept. 30, 2012, that its disclosures of its commercial sales practices were current, accurate and complete. The false disclosures induced GSA to accept and then continue to pay higher prices than it would have had it known of Symantec’s actual commercial pricing practices. The court also found that Symantec continuously violated the Price Reduction Clause, a standard term in these types of Multiple Award Schedule contracts that requires the contractor throughout performance of the contract to maintain GSA’s price position in relation to an identified customer or category of customer agreed upon in contract negotiations. These violations deprived the United States of discounts to which it was entitled. “The trial team secured a $55 million judgment that holds accountable a contractor who intentionally tried to overbill the government,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia. “Because these schemes steal taxpayer dollars, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia will be steadfast in its efforts to bring fraudsters to justice no matter the complexity of the matter, pursuing them through trial, if necessary, to secure a just outcome.” “The United States deserves fair prices and accurate information from GSA contractors,” said GSA Deputy Inspector General Robert C. Erickson. “This outcome is the result of hard work and dedication by a cross-functional team from the U.S. Department of Justice, GSA and GSA Office of Inspector General.” Gen Digital’s payment ends a lawsuit filed under the qui tam or whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act, which permits private parties to file suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and share in a portion of the government’s recovery. The Act permits the United States to intervene and take over responsibility for litigating these cases, as the United States did here. The qui tam case is captioned United States ex rel. Morsell v. Symantec Corp. , Civ. A. No. 12-0800 (DDC), and was brought by Lori Morsell, who administered the contract at issue for Symantec. Her share of the recovery has not yet been determined. This successful litigation was a coordinated effort between the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, with assistance from GSA’s Office of General Counsel and Office of Inspector General. Senior Trial Counsel Daniel Schiffer and Trial Attorney F. Elias Boujaoude of the Justice Department’s Civil Division and Civil Chief Brian P. Hudak for the District of Columbia handled the matter.


title: Boston Man Charged with Federal Firearm Offense

body_text: BOSTON – A Boston man has been charged in federal court in Boston with illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition. Kyvon Ross, 25, was charged by criminal complaint with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Ross will appear in federal court in Boston on Dec. 4, 2024. According to the charging documents, on Oct. 3, 2024, Ross was approached by law enforcement after driving a moped at a high speed and without a rear license plate. It is alleged that Ross accelerated at a high rate of speed directly at one of the officers before losing control of the moped and falling to the ground. It is alleged that Ross violently resisted arrest and was found in possession of a loaded Glock handgun with an obliterated serial number on his person. Ross is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition due to multiple prior felony convictions, including a 2021 federal conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The charge of possessing ammunition after being convicted of a felony provides for a sentence of up to 15 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of a $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case. United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division made the announcement today. The Boston Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives provided valuable assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney William F. Abely, Chief of the Criminal Division, is prosecuting the case. The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.


title: Lebanon Woman Sentenced to 15 Years for Meth Conspiracy

component: USAO - Missouri, Western

body_text: SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Lebanon, Mo., woman was sentenced in federal court today for her role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Evelyn J. Dame, 50, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 15 years and eight months in federal prison without parole. On April 15, 2024, Dame pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Christian and Greene counties from Dec. 16, 2020, to June 2, 2022. Law enforcement officers in Springfield, Mo., conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle in which Dame was a passenger on May 6, 2021. Dame admitted that before the vehicle stopped, she threw a duffel bag out of the car window that contained two one-pound bags of methamphetamine, a small black zipper case that contained five baggies of methamphetamine, and a bank bag that contained $4,220. Dame also admitted the cash was proceeds from her distribution of methamphetamine. According to court documents, the driver and owner of the vehicle, Kevin Bruce Rogers, was later identified as the victim of an unsolved homicide. Dame has a prior federal felony conviction for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, for which she was sentenced to three years in prison in July 2013. Following incarceration, her term of supervised release was revoked in October 2018 after she was arrested for possessing a controlled substance; she was sentenced to serve another five months in federal prison. Dame is the third defendant in this case to be sentenced. Robert Jason Smith, 48, of Ozark, Mo., was sentenced on Sept. 30, 2024, to 25 years in federal prison without parole. Jill M. Matthews, 46, of Ozark, was sentenced on Nov. 14, 2024, to 18 months in federal prison without parole. Co-defendant Terry M. Schenks, 54, of Ozark, has pleaded guilty to his role in the drug-trafficking conspiracy and awaits sentencing. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica R. Eatmon. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Christian County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Springfield, Mo., Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Greene County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department. Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF .


title: Three Plead Guilty to Conspiracy Involving 15 Kilograms of Cocaine

body_text: BOSTON – A Honduran man living in Puerto Rico, and two co-conspirators living in Massachusetts, have pleaded guilty to their roles in a conspiracy to distribute 15 kilograms of cocaine. One of the two Massachusetts co-conspirators also pleaded guilty to distributing thousands of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl. Linette Davila, 42, of Methuen, Mass. pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, involving 500 grams or more of cocaine, and one count of distribution of 500 grams or more of cocaine. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton scheduled Davila’s sentencing for Feb. 26, 2025. Rony Valencia Lopez, 31, of Puerto Rico, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Judge Gorton scheduled Valencia Lopez’s sentencing for Dec. 10, 2024. Luis Pena Arias, 28, of Lawrence, Mass. pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, involving 5 kilograms or more of cocaine and one count of distribution of 500 grams or more of cocaine. Pena Arias also pleaded guilty to four counts of distribution of fentanyl, involving variously 400 grams or more of fentanyl and 40 grams or more of fentanyl. Judge Gorton scheduled Pena Arias’s sentencing for Jan. 10, 2025. The defendants were indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2024. On four occasions in the summer of 2023, Pena Arias sold more than 10,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl to an undercover officer. The same summer, law enforcement contacted Rony Valencia Lopez, an associate of Pena Arias, who lived in Puerto Rico and reportedly had access to large kilogram quantities of cocaine. In telephone conversations and during a meeting in Puerto Rico, Valencia Lopez agreed to provide 15 kilograms of cocaine, which he said were located in Massachusetts. In September 2023, Valencia Lopez flew to Boston to facilitate the sale and later joined Pena Arias to meet with undercover law enforcement at a hotel in Andover, Mass. where they agreed to provide the 15 kilograms – five kilograms at a time. That evening, Davila arrived at the hotel with four kilograms of cocaine. All three defendants were subsequently taken into custody. The charges of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances (involving five kilograms or more of cocaine) and distribution of 400 grams or more of fentanyl each provide for a sentence of at least 10 years and up to life in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $10 million. The charges of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances (involving 500 grams or more of cocaine), distribution of 500 grams or more of cocaine and distribution of 40 grams or more of fentanyl each provide for a sentence of at least five years and up to 40 years in prison, at least four years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $5 million. The charge of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case. United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division made the announcement today. Special assistance was provided by the Massachusetts State Police, the Caribbean Division of the DEA, U.S. Customs & Border Protection and the Andover Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samuel R. Feldman and Annapurna Balakrishna of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Division are prosecuting the case.


title: Gen Digital, Formerly Symantec Corp., Pays $55.1M False Claims Act Judgment for Knowing Overcharges to General Services Administration

body_text: WASHINGTON – Gen Digital Inc. (formerly known as Symantec Corp.), of Tempe, Arizona, paid $55.1 million to satisfy a judgment, concluding a decade of False Claims Act litigation. The judgment required the company to pay $16.1 million in damages and $36.8 million in civil penalties, plus post-judgment interest and costs. The judgement was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia; Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division; GSA Deputy Inspector General Robert C. Erickson. Following a four-week bench trial in February and March 2022, the trial court found Symantec liable for making knowing false claims to the United States when it mispresented its commercial sales practices during the negotiation and subsequent performance of a General Services Administration (GSA) contract. In particular, the court concluded that Symantec made false statements to GSA during contractual negotiations in 2006 and early-2007 and continued to falsely certify throughout the performance of the contract through Sept. 30, 2012, that its disclosures of its commercial sales practices were current, accurate and complete. The false disclosures induced GSA to accept and then continue to pay higher prices than it would have had it known of Symantec’s actual commercial pricing practices. The court also found that Symantec continuously violated the Price Reduction Clause, a standard term in these types of Multiple Award Schedule contracts that requires the contractor throughout performance of the contract to maintain GSA’s price position in relation to an identified customer or category of customer agreed upon in contract negotiations. These violations deprived the United States of discounts to which it was entitled. “The trial team secured a $55 million judgment that holds accountable a contractor who intentionally tried to overbill the government,” said U.S. Attorney Graves for the District of Columbia. “Because these schemes steal taxpayer dollars, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia will be steadfast in its efforts to bring fraudsters to justice no matter the complexity of the matter, pursuing them through trial, if necessary, to secure a just outcome.” “The department will hold accountable contractors that knowingly overcharge the United States to enrich themselves,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The years spent litigating this case and taking it to trial demonstrate the department’s steadfast commitment to protecting taxpayer funds.” “The United States deserves fair prices and accurate information from GSA contractors,” said GSA Deputy Inspector General Erickson. “This outcome is the result of hard work and dedication by a cross-functional team from the U.S. Department of Justice, GSA and GSA Office of Inspector General.” Gen Digital’s payment ends a lawsuit filed under the qui tam or whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act, which permits private parties to file suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and share in a portion of the government’s recovery. The Act permits the United States to intervene and take over responsibility for litigating these cases, as the United States did here. The qui tam case is captioned United States ex rel. Morsell v. Symantec Corp. , Civ. A. No. 12-0800 (DDC), and was brought by Lori Morsell, who administered the contract at issue for Symantec. Her share of the recovery has not yet been determined. This successful litigation was a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, with assistance from GSA’s Office of General Counsel and Office of Inspector General. The matter was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Civil Chief Brian P. Hudak for the District of Columbia, and Senior Trial Counsel Daniel Schiffer and Trial Attorney F. Elias Boujaoude of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.


title: Lumberton-based Behavioral Health Provider Agrees to Pay over $2.5 Million to Settle Medicaid Fraud Allegations

component: USAO - North Carolina, Eastern

body_text: RALEIGH, N.C. – United States Attorney Michael F. Easley, Jr. announced today that Southeastern Behavioral Healthcare Services, LLC (“Southeastern”), a behavioral health business in Lumberton and Maxton, and its owners Bertha Hutchinson and Virgil Hutchinson (“the Hutchinsons”), have agreed to pay $2,505,000.00 to settle civil allegations that they falsely billed North Carolina Medicaid for services that were not rendered. Southeastern has also agreed to enter an Integrity Agreement with the Office of Inspector General - United States Department of Health and Human Services as part of the settlement. Specifically, the United States and the State of North Carolina allege that Southeastern and the Hutchinsons improperly submitted claims to North Carolina Medicaid for services that were not in fact rendered, evidenced by recipient interviews establishing that services were not necessary at all, were systematically not rendered as billed, that services were billed for patients who were incarcerated or deceased on the billed date of services, and by a pervasive lack of medical records supporting either the provision of or necessity for the billed services, during the period from March 1, 2016, through July 14, 2020. The Governments allege that Southeastern’s and the Hutchinsons’ conduct violated the Federal and North Carolina False Claims Acts. “This is yet another example of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office working together to proactively pursue fraud in our publicly-funded healthcare programs,” said U.S. Attorney Michael F. Easley, Jr. “Billing taxpayer-funded healthcare programs for services that are not rendered will not be tolerated. Our office will continue to work with the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office to root out healthcare fraud within our public healthcare programs and hold providers accountable for engaging in fraud, waste, and abuse.” “Medical providers are required to strictly adhere to the law when billing Medicaid for services,” said Special Agent in Charge Kelly Blackmon of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG, in collaboration with our law enforcement partners, remains committed to investigating improper billings submitted to federally funded health care programs.” “Medicaid dollars are taxpayer dollars, and health care providers need to be responsible stewards of this money,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “I’m grateful for U.S. Attorney Easley’s partnership to protect the Medicaid program and fight health care fraud.” The Federal and North Carolina False Claims Acts authorize the Governments to recover triple the money falsely obtained, plus substantial civil penalties for each false claim submitted. It should be noted that the civil claims resolved by settlement here are allegations only, that there has been no judicial determination or admission of liability. This matter was investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina, the Office of Inspector General – United States Department of Health and Human Services (OIG-HHS), and the Medicaid Investigations Division of the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office (MID). Special Deputy Attorney General Matthew R. Petracca, who also serves as a Special Assistant United States Attorney, represented the Government and the State of North Carolina. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina, in partnership with law enforcement agencies and state entities, investigates and prosecutes healthcare providers that defraud government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, and abuse their patients. The Medicaid Investigations Division investigates and prosecutes healthcare providers that defraud the Medicaid program, patient abuse of Medicaid recipients, patient abuse of any patient in facilities that receive Medicaid funding, and misappropriation of any patients’ private funds in nursing homes that receive Medicaid funding. To report Medicare fraud or patient abuse in North Carolina, please visit the United States Department of Health and Human Services’ website at https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/. To report Medicaid fraud or patient abuse in North Carolina, please call the MID at 919-881-2320.


title: Hudson Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for 21 Months for Stealing COVID Relief Funds and Agreed to Pay Almost $500,000 For Violating the False Claims Act

component: USAO - New Hampshire

body_text: CONCORD – A Hudson man was sentenced today in federal court for stealing $342,650 in COVID-19 relief funds and attempting to steal an additional $150,000 U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces. Matthew Dispensa, 58, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Joseph N. Laplante to 21 months in prison and 2 years of supervised release. The defendant also agreed to resolve his False Claims Act liability for the stolen funds and to pay $492,650. This included $342,650 in court-ordered restitution and an additional $150,000 civil monetary penalty. On February 15, 2024, Dispensa pleaded guilty to three counts of bank fraud and one count of attempted wire fraud. “The defendant lied to get hundreds of thousands of dollars in pandemic relief funds designed to mitigate the worst economic and public health crisis in decades,” said U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young. “This case underscores how this office will utilize both criminal and civil tools to hold accountable those who defraud pandemic relief programs.” “The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) aggressively investigates violations of Federal laws that impact the taxpayers and programs of the United States,” stated Special Agent-in-Charge Michael Carpenter. “To that end, the defendant has been prosecuted to the extent possible in an effort to hold him accountable and deter others from committing these violations.” Dispensa fraudulently applied for multiple loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) programs. For example, on May 5, 2020, he applied for a $90,400 PPP loan from Primary Bank for an entity called Gateway Hills LLC. Gateway Hills LLC had no apparent operations separate from Dispensa’s gym in Nashua, which operated under the name Gateway Hills Club. In the application, Dispensa provided the bank multiple false supporting documents, such as fraudulent annual and quarterly tax documents and a “Management Report” for the period ending December 31, 2020, seven months into the future. Dispensa also provided a “Payroll Summary” showing that he was paid $8,700 per month through Gateway Hills LLC. The defendant’s true tax returns showed no income from that entity. In another application, Dispensa obtained a $146,650 PPP loan for the Gateway Hills Club entity. He claimed that annual payroll was over $542,000 in 2020, but his real tax filings showed that payroll was only approximately $118,000 that year. Overall, Dispensa fraudulently obtained $342,650 in PPP loans and attempted to fraudulently obtain another $150,000. He misspent the pandemic relief funds on purchases such as gambling on DraftKings, Tesla stock worth over $83,000, and 10,000 shares in a real estate investment trust. He falsely represented to the Small Business Administration that he used the funds for payroll and other approved expenses. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and U.S. Postal Inspection Service led the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander S. Chen prosecuted the criminal case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Raphael Katz prosecuted the civil case. During the early part of the coronavirus pandemic, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act included multiple relief provisions to help the millions of Americans and many small businesses adversely affected by the pandemic, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Private lenders could participate in the PPP. The loans, which were supposed to be used for payroll, were fully guaranteed by the government. If borrowers used the PPP loans for payroll and other approved expenses as intended, they could apply for loan forgiveness. The CARES Act also opened up the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. As with PPP loans, EIDL loans were supposed to be used for payroll and other business expenses such as rent and mortgage. On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form . ###


title: Sierra Leone Man and International Fugitive Sentenced to 40 Months in Federal Prison for Fraudulent Car Loan Scheme

body_text: CONCORD – A Sierra Leone man and former Manchester businessman was sentenced today in federal court for fraudulently obtaining more than $400,000 in car loans, U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces. Solomon Yarteh, 50, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Paul J. Barbadoro to 40 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release. On July 1, 2024, Yarteh pleaded guilty to three counts of bank fraud. Co-defendants Donna Silva, Niurka Lebron, and Robesteur St. Felix pled guilty and were sentenced in 2022. “The defendant enlisted his friends and family members to submit multiple fraudulent loan applications to lenders over $400,000,” said U.S. Attorney Young. “He left the United States after learning of an investigation and was apprehended in Dubai several years later. I thank our law enforcement partners here and across the world for diligently working to bring fraudsters like the defendant to justice.” “The sentencing of Mr. Yarteh is a direct result of the hard work of the prosecution team and law enforcement partners here in New Hampshire to secure his conviction and the international partnerships which allowed him to be brought to justice,” said Special Agent in Charge Ketty Larco-Ward of the United States Postal Inspection Service. Yarteh was the owner and President of Allied Imports, a car wholesaler located in Manchester. As a wholesaler, Allied Imports was not licensed to conduct retail sales of vehicles and could only sell to dealers. Allied Imports was located next to Cap’s Auto Sales, a business licensed to sell cars. Cap’s Auto was controlled by St. Felix. Between February 2019 and July 2019, Yarteh led a scheme to fraudulently obtain multiple car loans from multiple financial institutions. The loans were supposed to be secured by vehicles being sold by Allied Imports or Cap’s Auto. Yarteh and his co-conspirators used fraudulent documents to trick lenders into believing that Allied Imports or Cap’s Auto owned and held title to the vehicles when the cars actually belonged to other companies. The loan proceeds were deposited into accounts Yarteh controlled. Yarteh was able to fraudulently obtain over $411,000 through this scheme and attempted to get another $217,000. Yarteh was originally indicted in 2021 but had already left the United States. INTERPOL then issued a Red Notice for his arrest. In spring 2023, authorities in the United Arab Emirates arrested Yarteh in Dubai. With the cooperation of the Emirati government, Yarteh was removed to the United States in late November 2023. He has continuously been in custody since. The case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and United States Postal Inspection Service. The New Hampshire Banking Department, INTERPOL, Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, and Government of the United Arab Emirates provided valuable assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander S. Chen and Charles L. Rombeau prosecuted the case. ###


title: Shaktoolik man charged with cyberstalking, sexual exploitation of a child

component: USAO - Alaska

body_text: FAIRBANKS, Alaska – A federal grand jury in Alaska returned an indictment charging a Shaktoolik man with cyberstalking adults and children and sexually exploiting children to produce and possess child pornography. According to court documents, between December 2021 to July 2023, Matthew Jackson, 22, allegedly cyberstalked one adult and two minor victims with the intent to injure, harass and cause substantial emotional distress to the victims. The indictment also alleges an enhanced statutory penalty for conduct that would constitute sexual abuse. At the same time, Jackson also allegedly sexually exploited three minors, two of which were the minor victims he was cyberstalking, in order to produce child sexual abuse material. The indictment also alleges that on Aug. 1, 2023, Jackson knowingly possessed material that contained child sexual abuse. Jackson was arrested on Nov. 26 and is charged with three counts of cyber stalking with an enhanced penalty allegation, three counts of sexual exploitation of a child: production of child pornography and one count of sexual exploitation of a child: possession of child pornography. The defendant is scheduled for his initial court appearance tomorrow before U.S. Magistrate Judge Scott A. Oravec of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. If convicted, he faces between 15 years to life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska and Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day of the FBI Anchorage Field Office made the announcement. The FBI Anchorage Field Office, with assistance from the Alaska State Troopers, is investigating the case. If anyone has information concerning Jackson’s alleged actions or may have encountered someone in person or online using the name Matthew Jackson or Matt Jackson, please contact the FBI Anchorage Field Office at (907) 276-4441 or anonymously at tips.fbi.gov . Assistant U.S. Attorney Carly Vosacek is prosecuting the case. An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.


title: Parkersburg Man Pleads Guilty to Straw Purchase Crime

component: USAO - West Virginia, Southern

body_text: CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Laikin Williams, 25, of Parkersburg, pleaded guilty today to making a false statement in acquisition of a firearm. According to court documents and statements made in court, on August 5, 2022, Williams purchased a Taurus model PT111 G2A 9mm pistol at a Parkersburg business. Williams admitted that he bought the firearm for another individual, and falsely certified on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Federal Firearms Transaction Records Form 4473 that he was the purchaser of the firearm when he knew he was buying it for the other individual. Williams is scheduled to be sentenced on March 17, 2025, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the assistance provided by the Parkersburg Violent Crime and Narcotics Task Force. United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney D. Keith Randolph and former Assistant United States Attorney Troy D. Adams have prosecuted the case. This case was prosecuted under the criminal provisions of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), which Congress enacted and the President signed in June 2022. BSCA is the first federal statute specifically designed to target the unlawful trafficking and straw-purchasing of firearms. A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:24-cr-133. ###


title: U.S. Attorney’s Office forms a Project Safe Neighborhoods Leadership Committee

component: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

body_text: Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a nationwide initiative that brings together federal, state, and local law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and community leaders to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in a community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them by implementing the four PSN design elements: 1) Community Engagement, 2) Prevention and Intervention, 3) Focused and Strategic Enforcement, and 4) Accountability. In October 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office formed a Wyoming PSN Leadership Committee to determine where and how PSN resources would be used in Wyoming, develop and implement enforcement strategies to prevent and reduce crime and provide oversight and evaluation of the program’s progress. The PSN Leadership Committee reviewed and analyzed Wyoming crime statistics as reported to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and decided to concentrate PSN resources in Laramie County. Its focus is on the following areas of concern: Violent offenders who victimize children; Armed offenders, including individuals federally prohibited from possessing firearms; Violent crime recidivists; Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) offenders who commit a violent offense stemming from IPV and/or who use firearms during an IPV crime; Violent offenders who possess firearms while distributing controlled substances; and Violent offenders involved in human trafficking. “The goal of bringing this committee together is to make Wyoming safer by supporting local and state law enforcement and prosecutors, and by prosecuting appropriate violent offenders in federal court where they will receive long prison sentences,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Eric Heimann. In early 2024, the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office and the Cheyenne Police Department were approved to apply for and receive PSN grant funding to help prevent and reduce violent crime. Officials from both agencies, as well as officials from the Laramie County District Attorney’s Office, have since joined the PSN Leadership Committee to provide important insight regarding the needs and concerns of Laramie County and participate in the development of programs and strategies that emphasize the core elements of PSN. "Project Safe Neighborhoods is a vital partnership between all levels of law enforcement,” said Cheyenne Police Chief Mark Francisco. “By combining our resources and expertise, we can effectively identify offenders, enhance prevention efforts, and strengthen our communities.” The program was tailored to combat the local violent crime problems. It enhances coordination and cooperation amongst public safety partners to ensure tactics, resources, and intelligence are integrated to identify and target violent offenders and criminal organizations operating within Laramie County. Sheriff Brian Kozak said he will use the PSN resources to provide exceptional service to other criminal justice agencies in Laramie County and to help domestic violence victims. The Sheriff will host an advanced homicide investigation course for local detectives, and he plans to purchase state-of-the-art cameras to capture a victim’s bruising following a domestic assault. Sheriff Kozak said, “The collaboration of the PSN Leadership Committee will help us to bring about justice following a violent crime.” The following agencies are currently participating in the PSN program and are represented on the Leadership Committee: Cheyenne Police Department Laramie County District Attorney’s Office Laramie County Sheriff’s Office Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police Wyoming Department of Corrections Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Drug Enforcement Administration Federal Bureau of Investigation Homeland Security Investigations United States Attorney’s Office United States Marshals Service "The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation is honored to be partnered with our state, local, and federal partners on the PSN initiative,” said Ronnie Jones, Director of the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. “I am thankful for the cooperation, commitment and work the United States Attorney's office has provided to this program to help make our state a safer place to live and work. We look forward to seeing how all the stakeholders work together to implement new ideas and strategies to address local violent crime." To learn more about programs within the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming, visit www.justice.gov/usao-wy . For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, visit www.justice.gov/psn .


title: Former Fairbanks bookkeeper charged with bank fraud, money laundering

body_text: FAIRBANKS, Alaska – A federal grand jury in Alaska returned an indictment charging a Fairbanks woman with bank fraud and money laundering related to her alleged theft of funds from a business she formerly worked for as a bookkeeper. According to court documents, beginning in 2015, Angelic Henderson, 68, was hired as the bookkeeper for a business in Fairbanks, and received regular payroll checks and payments for her employment. Sometime in 2016 and 2017, a co-conspirator was hired as a technician for the same business and received regular payroll checks and payments for their employment. The indictment alleges that in 2020, Henderson was the sole owner of Consulting Medical Services LLC (CMS). During that time, Henderson began providing independent contractor services to the victim business through CMS. Those services included managing billing, customers, insurance, bookkeeping and suppliers. In July 2020, Henderson also established Angels Nesting Business Support Services LLC (ANBSS). The co-conspirator was the sole owner of JL Medical Support Services LLC (JLMSS). The victim business, the co-conspirators business and both of Henderson’s companies had bank accounts at the same bank. According to the indictment, from August 2019 to August 2023, Henderson and the co-conspirator allegedly executed a scheme where she used her position to steal from the victim business and funnel money to her business accounts and to the co-conspirator. Henderson allegedly created daily and weekly financial documents that underrepresented the businesses’ income to hide the loss from the owner. She also allegedly created “transfer request” documents requesting that the bank move funds from the victim business account into her and the co-conspirators accounts. These requests allegedly contained false representations, specifically, duplicate payments for her services and reimbursements for expenses that were never incurred of already paid with the victim business funds. The indictment alleges that once the funds were transferred to one of Henderson’s accounts, she transferred the funds via check to other accounts that she owned or controlled, breaking the transfers up in the same day or over consecutive days into multiple small transfers. She would also transfer money to her co-conspirator via checks. The co-conspirator would deposit the funds into their personal accounts and then buy cryptocurrency with the deposited funds. In total, Henderson caused roughly 368 funds transfers over roughly four years, resulting in a loss of over $1.8 million for the victim business. Henderson was arrested on Nov. 29 and is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, seven counts of bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 10 counts of money laundering. The defendant is scheduled for her initial court appearance tomorrow before U.S. Magistrate Judge Scott A. Oravec of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. If convicted, she faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska and Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day of the FBI Anchorage Field Office made the announcement. The FBI Anchorage Field Office, with assistance from the Fairbanks Police Department, is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carly Vosacek is prosecuting the case. An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. ###


title: Justice Department Files Civil Forfeiture Complaint Against Sanctioned Oligarch’s U.S. Music Studio Sale Proceeds

component: USAO - New York, Southern

body_text: Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Michael Khoo, the Co-Director of Task Force KleptoCapture, and James E. Dennehy, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the filing of a civil forfeiture Complaint against over $3.4 million in proceeds from the sale of a music studio in Burbank California. The Complaint alleges that the proceeds, which are beneficially owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, are the proceeds of sanctions violations. An Indictment charging Deripaska with sanctions violations had been unsealed on September 29, 2022, and Deripaska remains at large. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Today’s filing of a civil forfeiture complaint against over $3 million in illicit proceeds of Oleg Deripaska exemplifies this Office’s commitment to utilizing all available legal remedies to enforce our critical sanctions program. We remain committed to piercing the opaque financial networks utilized by sanctioned oligarchs attempting to illegally transact business in U.S. dollars.” Task Force KleptoCapture Co-Director Michael Khoo said: “As the allegations in the complaint once again demonstrate, those who have illicitly accumulated great wealth in support of lawlessness and international chaos invariably turn to the safety and stability of the United States’ rule of law principles in order to preserve their ill-gotten gains. It is predictable, hypocritical, and illegal. We are nearly three years into Russia’s unprovoked further invasion of Ukraine, but today’s actions show that Task Force KleptoCapture remains vigilant and fully engaged in its mission to protect the American financial system against the abuses of criminal actors.” FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy said: “As alleged, Oleg Deripaska, an OFAC Specially Designated National, through a series of companies and associates attempted to earn over $3 million in proceeds from the sale of a California-based music studio. Today’s forfeiture filing shows the FBI’s commitment to stopping individuals from obfuscating their activities to violate sanctions. The FBI will continue to enforce the national security laws of the United States and will ensure any violation of these laws and sanctions is punished accordingly.” According to the allegations in the Complaint filed in Manhattan federal court today and other court filings: [1] On April 6, 2018 (the “Designation Date”), the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) designated Oleg Deripaska as a Specially Designated National (“SDN”) in connection with its finding that the actions of the Government of the Russian Federation in Ukraine constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the U.S. Deripaska was sanctioned for his support of the Russian government and for his activity in the Russian energy sector. On or about the same date, OFAC also designated Basic Element Limited, EN+ Group and other entities for being owned or controlled by, directly or indirectly, Deripaska. On September 29, 2022, an indictment returned by a grand jury sitting in the Southern District of New York was unsealed, charging Deripaska and his associates Olga Shriki and Natalia Mikhaylovna Bardakova with, inter alia , a conspiracy to violate sanctions in violation of 50 U.S.C. § 1705 and the Ukraine-Related Sanctions Regulations (the “Deripaska Indictment”). As alleged in the Deripaska Indictment, for over four years after Deripaska was sanctioned in 2018, and in violation of those sanctions, Deripaska paid Shriki to provide various services for his benefit in the U.S. These services included the sale of a music studio in Burbank, California (the “Music Studio”) in 2019, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of other services to aid in Deripaska’s efforts to have two of his children be born in the U.S. in 2020 and 2022, and to purchase goods for Deripaska from the U.S. Prior to his designation by OFAC, in or about 2008, Deripaska, through a series of shell companies, acquired the Music Studio for over $3 million. The direct owner of the studio was an entity named Ocean Studios California LLC, which held a bank account at Wells Fargo Bank (the “Ocean Studios Account”). Between in or about 2013 and in or about 2018, Olga Shriki lived in the U.S. and worked for Deripaska’s entity Basic Element in its Manhattan office. Before and after the Designation Date, Shriki and Deripaska’s cousin Pavel Ezubov, among others, helped to operate and fund the Music Studio on behalf of Deripaska, and made clear that Deripaska was the ultimate decisionmaker with regard to the Music Studio. In or about July 2018, approximately three months after OFAC designated Deripaska as an SDN, Shriki created a consulting business named Global Consulting Services LLC (“GCS”). Through GCS, Shriki coordinated with associates of Deripaska, including Ezubov and Bardakova, to continue providing services to and for the benefit of Deripaska and to continue receiving funds from Deripaska or entities controlled by Deripaska. GCS opened a bank account (the “GCS Account”) at a bank in Manhattan. Between August 2018 and September 2019, the GCS Account received wires totaling over $500,000 from two entities associated with Deripaska, one of which entered into a separate agreement with an indicted co-conspirator to manage other Deripaska properties abroad after the Designation Date. Beginning in July 2019, the Ocean Studios Account received approximately $69,000 of transfers from Shriki’s GCS Account, which in turn was funded by overseas accounts tied to Deripaska, as noted above. In or about June 2019, Shriki effectuated a sale of the contents of the Music Studio in the for more than $500,000. In December 2019, more than a year after the Designation Date, while employed by Deripaska, Shriki assisted with the sale of the Music Studio by Ocean Studios California LLC in various ways, such as preparing the property for sale, coordinating with the accounting firm for the Music Studio, communicating with the real estate broker to approve the sale, facilitating the payment of outstanding taxes and bills for the Music Studio, signing over the property deed, and liquidating the other assets in the Music Studio. The Music Studio sale resulted in net proceeds of over $3 million, which were deposited in the Ocean Studios Account. During the year 2020, while Shriki was employed by Deripaska and continued to perform services for Deripaska, Shriki requested that an accounting firm transfer the proceeds from the sale of the Music Studio to a bank account in Russia in the name of a company that funded the Music Studio’s accounts after the Designation Date—or, in the alternative, requested that the accounting firm add Shriki as a signatory on the bank account for the Music Studio so that Shriki could effectuate the transfer of funds on behalf of the owner. The firm declined to effectuate the wire transfer itself. In or about March 2021, Wells Fargo Bank made the determination to block the Ocean Studios Account and the funds on deposit due to Ocean Studios Account’s relationship with Deripaska. The blocked funds subject to the Complaint amount to approximately $3,435,676 plus accruing interest. * * * Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of the FBI. Mr. Williams further thanked the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs for its assistance and cooperation in this investigation. This case is being handled by the Office’s Illicit Finance & Money Laundering Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Vladislav Vainberg is in charge of this action. This case was coordinated through the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export controls and economic countermeasures that the U.S., along with its foreign allies and partners, has imposed in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine. Announced by the Attorney General on March 2, 2022, and under the leadership of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, the task force will continue to leverage all of the department’s tools and authorities to combat efforts to evade or undermine the collective actions taken by the U.S. government in response to Russian military aggression. 24_civ._9189_-_complaint.pdf


title: Mexican National Guilty of Misprision of a Felony

body_text: NEW ORLEANS, LA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced today that on November 26, 2024, FELIPE GARCIA , (“GARCIA”) , age 46, a Mexican national residing in California, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan to misprision of a felony, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 4. Judge Morgan scheduled sentencing for February 27, 2025. At sentencing, GARCIA faces up to 3 years imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, at least 1 year of supervised release, and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee. According to court records, an ongoing investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Louisiana State Police, uncovered a methamphetamine distribution ring operating in New Orleans that was receiving methamphetamine from California via U.S. mail. Law enforcement in California, specifically the Ontario Police Department, intercepted packages, containing large amounts of methamphetamine, destined for New Orleans. Further investigation uncovered that GARCIA mailed these packages from California. United States Attorney Evans praised the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Louisiana State Police, the Ontario (California) Police Department, and the New Orleans Police Department. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Stuart Theriot of the Narcotics Unit.


title: Activity in the U.S. Attorney's Office

body_text: Injury or Depredation to United States Property Sherette Joseph Lujan , 48, of Riverton, Wyoming, was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment with 3 years of supervised release for injury or depredation to United States property. The court also ordered him to pay $2,304 in restitution. According to court documents, on June 15, the Riverton Police Department was dispatched to the Riverton Post Office for a report of a man breaking windows in the building with a metal object. Officers detained Lujan who claimed a group of “gangsters” were following him, so he attempted to barricade himself inside the Post Office and break the windows to scare them off. Lujan also admitted that he had done methamphetamine earlier in the night. Lujan was indicted on July 10, pleaded guilty on Sept. 3, and U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson sentenced him on Nov. 22, in Cheyenne. The U.S. Postal Service and Riverton Police Department investigated the crime. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mackenzie Morrison prosecuted the case. Case No. 24-CR-00097 Child Pornography Robert Lynn Harris , 56, of Casper, Wyoming, was sentenced to 120 months in prison, with 10 years of supervised release to follow, for possession and access with intent to view child pornography, subsequent offense. The court also ordered him to pay $2,000 in restitution. According to court documents, on May 13, Wyoming Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) agents were contacted by U.S. Probation Agents related to a supervision confiscation of evidence resulting from a search conducted on Harris, a convicted sex offender with a lifetime term of supervised release. The agent had located child pornography on a micro-SD card belonging to the defendant. Harris was indicted on July 18, pleaded guilty on Sept. 11, and was sentenced on Nov. 27, by U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson. This crime was investigated by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) ICAC Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Z. Seth Griswold. Case No. 24-CR-00101 Drug Trafficking Kathleen Lindsay , 36, of Fort Washakie, Wyoming, was sentenced to 96 months’ imprisonment with three years of supervised release to follow, for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine. According to court documents, on March 10, the Wyoming Highway Patrol conducted a traffic stop to execute a search warrant. Troopers seized 43 grams of fentanyl and 140 grams of methamphetamine, as well as drug paraphernalia. Lindsay was taken to the Natrona County Detention Center where law enforcement located a bag of 90 fentanyl pills inside of her body. She was indicted on May 16, pleaded guilty on Sept. 4, and U.S. District Court Judge Kelly H Rankin imposed the sentence on Nov. 25, in Cheyenne. DCI investigated the crime and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mackenzie Morrison prosecuted the case. Case No. 24-00066 Kenneth Waters, 34, of Cheyenne, Wyoming, was sentenced to 87 months’ imprisonment, with four years of supervised release to follow, for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. According to court documents, between May 15, and June 20, law enforcement conducted several controlled purchases from Waters, totaling 15.06 grams. He was arrested on June 20 and an additional 22.27 grams of fentanyl were in his residence. Walters was indicted on July 31, pleaded guilty on Sept. 13, and U.S. District Court Judge Kelly H. Rankin imposed the sentence on Nov. 26, in Cheyenne. The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the crime and Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Forwood prosecuted the case. Case No. 24-00129 Kevin Washakie, 34, of Fort Washakie, Wyoming, was sentenced to time served from May 29 to Dec. 2, with three years of supervised release to follow, for distribution of methamphetamine. According to court documents, in September 2023, law enforcement conducted a controlled purchase of methamphetamine from Washakie. He was indicted on May 16, pleaded guilty on July 31, and Chief U.S. District Court Judge Scott W. Skavdahl imposed the sentence on Nov. 27, in Casper. The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation investigated the crime and Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy W. Gist prosecuted the case. Case No. 24-00083 Firearm Offenses Brian Scott Birden , 54, of Sheridan, Wyoming, was sentenced to 33 months’ imprisonment, with three years of supervised release to follow, for being a felon in possession of a firearm. According to court documents, law enforcement was called to a house in Sheridan for a man firing multiple rounds inside the victim’s house while she was at work. The victim received a call about the disturbance and was able to make it home and take control of her gun before law enforcement arrived. They discovered 8 bullet holes and 16 spent shell casings. Birden is a previously convicted felon and is prohibited from possessing a firearm. He was indicted July 18, pleaded guilty on Sept. 4 and U.S. District Court Judge Kelly H. Rankin imposed the sentence on Nov. 26, in Cheyenne. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the crime. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paige Hammer prosecuted the case. Case No. 24-CR-00116


component: Criminal - Office of International Affairs

body_text: Note : View the complaint here . A civil forfeiture complaint was filed today for $3.4 million in proceeds from the sale of a music studio in Burbank, California. The complaint alleges that the proceeds, which are beneficially owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, are the proceeds of sanctions violations. An indictment charging Deripaska with sanctions violations had been unsealed on Sept. 29, 2022, and Deripaska remains at large. “As the allegations in the complaint once again demonstrate, those who have illicitly accumulated great wealth in support of lawlessness and international chaos invariably turn to the safety and stability of the United States’ rule of law principles in order to preserve their ill-gotten gains. It is predictable, hypocritical, and illegal,” said Co-Director Michael Khoo of Task Force KleptoCapture. “We are nearly three years into Russia’s unprovoked further invasion of Ukraine, but today’s actions show that Task Force KleptoCapture remains vigilant and fully engaged in its mission to protect the American financial system against the abuses of criminal actors.” “Today’s filing of a civil forfeiture complaint against over $3 million in illicit proceeds of Oleg Deripaska exemplifies this office’s commitment to utilizing all available legal remedies to enforce our critical sanctions program,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York. “We remain committed to piercing the opaque financial networks utilized by sanctioned oligarchs attempting to illegally transact business in U.S. dollars.” “As alleged, Oleg Deripaska, an OFAC Specially Designated National, through a series of companies and associates attempted to earn over $3 million in proceeds from the sale of a California-based music studio,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy of the FBI. “Today’s forfeiture filing shows the FBI’s commitment to stopping individuals from obfuscating their activities to violate sanctions. The FBI will continue to enforce the national security laws of the United States and will ensure any violation of these laws and sanctions is punished accordingly.” According to the court documents, on April 6, 2018 (the Designation Date), the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Oleg Deripaska as a Specially Designated National (SDN) in connection with its finding that the actions of the Government of the Russian Federation in Ukraine constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. Deripaska was sanctioned for his support of the Russian government and for his activity in the Russian energy sector. On or about the same date, OFAC also designated Basic Element Limited, EN+ Group and other entities for being owned or controlled by, directly or indirectly, Deripaska. On Sept. 29, 2022, an indictment returned by a grand jury sitting in the Southern District of New York was unsealed, charging Deripaska and his associates Olga Shriki and Natalia Mikhaylovna Bardakova with a conspiracy to violate sanctions. As alleged in the indictment, for over four years after Deripaska was sanctioned in 2018, and in violation of those sanctions, Deripaska paid Shriki to provide various services for his benefit in the United States. These services included the sale of a music studio in Burbank, California, in 2019, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of other services to aid in Deripaska’s efforts to have two of his children be born in the United States in 2020 and 2022, and to purchase goods for Deripaska from the United States. Prior to his designation by OFAC, in or about 2008, Deripaska, through a series of shell companies, acquired the music studio for over $3 million. The direct owner of the studio was an entity named Ocean Studios California LLC, which held a bank account at Wells Fargo (the Ocean Studios Account). Between in or about 2013 and in or about 2018, Shriki lived in the United States and worked for Deripaska’s entity Basic Element in its Manhattan office. Before and after the designation date, Shriki and Deripaska’s cousin Pavel Ezubov, among others, helped to operate and fund the music studio on behalf of Deripaska, and made clear that Deripaska was the ultimate decisionmaker with regard to the music studio. In or about July 2018, approximately three months after OFAC designated Deripaska as an SDN, Shriki created a consulting business named Global Consulting Services LLC (GCS). Through GCS, Shriki coordinated with associates of Deripaska, including Ezubov and Bardakova, to continue providing services to and for the benefit of Deripaska and to continue receiving funds from Deripaska or entities controlled by Deripaska. GCS opened a bank account at a bank in Manhattan. Between August 2018 and September 2019, the GCS account received wires totaling over $500,000 from two entities associated with Deripaska, one of which entered into a separate agreement with an indicted co-conspirator to manage other Deripaska properties abroad after the designation date. Beginning in July 2019, the Ocean Studios account received approximately $69,000 of transfers from Shriki’s GCS account, which in turn was funded by overseas accounts tied to Deripaska, as noted above. In or about June 2019, Shriki effectuated a sale of the contents of the music studio for more than $500,000. In December 2019, more than a year after the designation date, while employed by Deripaska, Shriki assisted with the sale of the music studio by Ocean Studios California LLC in various ways, such as preparing the property for sale, coordinating with the accounting firm for the music studio, communicating with the real estate broker to approve the sale, facilitating the payment of outstanding taxes and bills for the music studio, signing over the property deed, and liquidating the other assets in the music studio. The music studio sale resulted in net proceeds of over $3 million, which were deposited in the Ocean Studios account. During 2020, while Shriki was employed by Deripaska and continued to perform services for Deripaska, Shriki requested that an accounting firm transfer the proceeds from the sale of the music studio to a bank account in Russia in the name of a company that funded the music studio’s accounts after the designation date — or, in the alternative, requested that the accounting firm add Shriki as a signatory on the bank account for the music studio so that Shriki could effectuate the transfer of funds on behalf of the owner. The firm declined to effectuate the wire transfer itself. In or about March 2021, Wells Fargo made the determination to block the Ocean Studios account and the funds on deposit due to Ocean Studios account’s relationship with Deripaska. The blocked funds subject to the complaint amount to approximately $3,435,676 plus accruing interest. The FBI is investigating the case. The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs assisted in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Vladislav Vainberg for the Southern District of New York is litigating the case. On March 2, 2022, the Attorney General announced the launch of Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export restrictions, and economic countermeasures that, beginning in 2014, the U.S. has imposed, along with allies and partners, in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine. The Task Force will leverage all the Department’s tools and authorities against efforts to evade or undermine the economic actions taken by the U.S. government in response to Russian military aggression.