Author: FraudsWatch

A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted a California man today for illegally importing from Syria a mosaic depicting the Roman demigod Hercules that is believed to be 2,000 years old.

The Justice Department announced today that it has secured an agreement that provides for a comprehensive Spanish-language election program for voters in Union County, New Jersey. The consent decree was approved by a three-judge court in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey.

A Georgia man was sentenced today to 24 months in prison for evading taxes in connection with his ownership of multiple bars and a restaurant in Georgia, as well as beer sales at a music festival.

The Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), one of six program offices within the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), and the National Institute of Corrections(NIC) today announced the release of Guidelines for Managing Substance Withdrawal in Jails: A Tool for Local Government Officials, Jail Administrators, Correctional Officers and Health Care Professionals. This groundbreaking document supports the department’s commitment to increasing access to evidence-based treatment for individuals with substance use disorders (SUD) and those at risk for overdose, including individuals who are incarcerated or reentering their communities.

A Maryland restaurant owner pleaded guilty today to willful failure to account for and pay over employment taxes and to filing a false personal tax return.

A federal grand jury in Fort Pierce, Florida, returned an indictment charging a Florida man with 10 counts of sex trafficking.

In the year since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Justice Department has worked with commitment and urgency to defend the reproductive freedoms that are protected by federal law. In response to the Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the department established the Reproductive Rights Task Force, which formalized the department’s ongoing work to protect reproductive freedoms under federal law.

A Nigerian national, who was previously extradited to the United States from the United Kingdom, was sentenced to 82 months in prison on June 21, 2023 for his role in a transnational inheritance fraud scheme.

From June 20 to 23, Assistant Attorney General (AAG) Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division traveled to Bogotá, Colombia, to meet with Colombian counterparts, law enforcement partners, and Criminal Division personnel assigned to U.S. Embassy Bogotá to discuss law enforcement efforts between the two countries and advance the bilateral relationship with Colombia.

The Justice Department today announced the arrest of two individuals and the unsealing of three indictments in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York charging China-based companies and their employees with crimes related to fentanyl production, distribution, and sales resulting from precursor chemicals. These indictments represent the first prosecutions to charge China-based chemical manufacturing companies and nationals of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for trafficking fentanyl precursor chemicals into the United States Specifically, the indictments allege the defendants knowingly manufactured, marketed, sold, and supplied precursor chemicals for fentanyl production in the United States in violation of federal law.

The Justice Department today filed a proposed stipulated order that will require the Municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to take critical steps towards making its public sidewalk system accessible to individuals with disabilities. The proposed order was filed jointly with the municipality and private plaintiffs and pauses the department’s lawsuit against the municipality while requiring it to conduct a comprehensive assessment of sidewalk accessibility and to begin fixing accessibility barriers. The lawsuit alleges that San Juan has violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504) by failing to provide people with disabilities equal access to the municipality’s sidewalks, curb ramps, crosswalks and other pedestrian facilities.

The Department of Justice, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), today announced that the government has obtained substantial injunctive relief protecting consumer privacy against Easy Healthcare Corporation (Easy Healthcare), an Illinois corporation located in Burr Ridge, Illinois, pursuant to a stipulated order entered by a federal court today. The department also will collect $100,000 in civil penalties from the defendants, an amount based upon the defendant’s ability to pay.

A federal jury in the Eastern District of Kentucky convicted a dentist yesterday for unlawfully prescribing opioids, including unlawfully prescribing morphine that caused his patient’s death.

A federal jury in Columbus convicted an Ohio doctor yesterday for illegally prescribing buprenorphine and other controlled substances in violation of the Controlled Substances Act.

A federal jury in Chicago convicted an Illinois pharmacist on Friday for stealing and selling COVID-19 vaccination cards.

An Idaho man was sentenced today to five years in prison for his role in defrauding the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Post-9/11 GI Bill education benefit program, in the department’s largest Post-9/11 GI Bill fraud case.

Four Mexican nationals were arrested yesterday in San Antonio, Houston, and Marshall, Texas, for their alleged roles in a tractor-trailer smuggling incident that resulted in 53 deceased and

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division traveled to Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina on June 23 and June 24 to continue the

The Justice Department, together with federal and state law enforcement partners, announced today a strategically coordinated, two-week nationwide law enforcement action that resulted in criminal charges against 78 defendants for their alleged participation in health care fraud and opioid abuse schemes that included over $2.5 billion in alleged fraud.

The Department of Justice, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), today announced that Edmodo, LLC (Edmodo) has agreed to a permanent injunction and a $6 million civil penalty in connection with its online educational platform, as part of a settlement to resolve alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA Rule), and the Federal Trade Commission Act. The civil penalty is suspended due to Edmodo’s inability to pay.