Author: FraudsWatch

I’ve been in this job a little over a year and a half. Every day I sit with the Attorney General and FBI Director for the morning threat briefing and each day I read the Presidential Daily Brief. Day-after-day, week-after-week, the intelligence reporting details the astonishing pace, scale and sophistication of cyber threats to the United States.

Hostile nations are accelerating their use of cyber-enabled means to carry out a range of threatening activity. These countries are stealing sensitive technologies, trade secrets, intellectual property and personally identifying information; exerting malign influence and exporting repression; and holding our critical infrastructure at risk to destructive or disruptive attacks.

You don’t need access to classified intelligence to understand what we are up against from countries like China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

Take just a few snippets from the Intelligence Community (IC)’s public Annual Threat Assessment for this year.

China has com..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 20, 2023
Owner of Car Parts Remanufacturing Company Pleads Guilty to Employment Tax Crime
Did not pay more than $1.2M in payroll taxes
A Minnesota man who owned an automobile transmission business pleaded guilty today to willfully failing to account for and pay over employment taxes.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Timothy J. Lundquist owned and operated Dynotec Industries, Inc., an automobile transmission remanufacturing company based in Jordan, Minnesota. Lundquist was responsible for filing quarterly employment tax returns and collecting and paying over to the IRS payroll taxes withheld from employees’ wages. For at least the last quarter of 2013 through 2018, Lundquist did not, however, or pay withholdings to the IRS or file required employment tax returns. In total, he caused a tax loss to the IRS of over $1.2 million.

Lundquist faces a statutory maximum of five years in prison. He also faces a period of supervi..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 16, 2023
Justice Department Finds Civil Rights Violations by the Minneapolis Police Department and the City of Minneapolis
Following a comprehensive investigation, the Justice Department announced today that the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) and the City of Minneapolis (City) engage in a pattern or practice of conduct in violation of the U.S. Constitution and federal law. The Department also announced that the city and MPD have agreed in principle to resolve the Department’s findings through a court enforceable consent decree with an independent monitor, rather than through contested litigation.

Specifically, the Justice Department finds that the MPD:

Uses excessive force, including unjustified deadly force and unreasonable use of tasers;
Unlawfully discriminates against Black people and Native American people in its enforcement activities, including the use of force following stops;
Violates the rights of people engaged in protected sp..

Remarks as Delivered

Good morning, everyone.

Here with me today are Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke, and First Assistant United States Attorney Ann Bildtsen.

I also want to acknowledge Mayor Jacob Frey, Council President Andrea Jenkins, Community Safety Commissioner Cedric Alexander, and Police Chief Brian O’Hara. Thank you all for joining us today.

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed at the hands of a law enforcement officer who was sworn to protect him. As Mr. Floyd died, other officers failed to intervene.

The Justice Department has since convicted four former Minneapolis police officers for their roles in the death of George Floyd.

As I told George Floyd’s family this morning, his death has had an irrevocable impact on the Minneapolis community, on our country, and on the world. His loss is still felt deeply by those who loved and knew him, and by many who did not. George Floyd should be alive today.

Sh..

Remarks as Delivered

Thank you, Attorney General Garland. I want to thank the city and MPD for their cooperation with our investigation. And I want to express my sincere gratitude to the many, many community members who shared their experiences with us during the investigation.

We opened this investigation following the tragic murder of George Floyd three years ago. And what we found is a pattern or practice of unlawful conduct that has compromised MPD’s ability to serve and protect the people of Minneapolis. The findings laid out in today’s report are troubling.

I know this community is still hurting, and in today’s announcement may also open up old wounds. There is nothing that I can say today that will undo the wrongs of the past. But I can tell you the Justice Department is committed to working with Minneapolis on a path forward to constitutional policing and stronger police-community trust.

I want to acknowledge that the city and MPD have made some important changes already. T..

Remarks as Delivered

Good morning. My name is Kristen Clarke. I’m the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. At the heart of many of the protests that unfolded in this city, and across the nation, was a call for constitutional, fair and non-discriminatory policing and respect for people’s civil rights.

Today we are here to take an important step toward answering that call and committing to the task of building out a core feature of American democracy – an effective, accountable police department that ensures respect for constitutional rights, garners public trust and keeps people safe.

I want to provide further details about the findings of our civil rights investigation that the Attorney General just announced.

First, we found that the Minneapolis Police Department uses excessive force – both deadly and less lethal.

We reviewed MPD’s 19 police shootings and one in-custody death from January 1, 2016, to August 16, 2022. Many of ..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 16, 2023
Lab Billing Company Settles False Claims Act Allegations Relating to Unnecessary Respiratory Panels Run on Seniors Receiving COVID-19 Tests
VitalAxis Inc., a Maryland-based billing company for diagnostic laboratories, has agreed to pay $300,479.58 to resolve False Claims Act allegations that it caused the submission of false claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary respiratory pathogen panels run on seniors who received COVID-19 tests.

Throughout 2020, VitalAxis performed billing services for a diagnostic laboratory in Atlanta, Georgia that provided COVID-19 testing to residents of senior living communities. For one chain of communities, the laboratory directed VitalAxis to bill Medicare for respiratory pathogen panels purportedly ordered by a physician who had not actually ordered the tests and who was ineligible to treat Medicare beneficiaries. VitalAxis found the credentials of a different physician and, without authorization, bil..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 16, 2023
Woman Pleads Guilty to Murder Conspiracy
An Illinois woman pleaded guilty today for her role in a conspiracy to murder her mother while they vacationed in Bali, Indonesia, in August 2014.

According to court documents, Heather Mack, 27, originally from Chicago, and her boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, conspired to kill Mack’s mother while Mack and her mother vacationed in Bali. Mack arranged for Schaefer to travel to Bali using her mother’s credit card. After Schaefer arrived, Mack and Schaefer exchanged a series of text messages about how and when to kill Mack’s mother, which included a discussion about suffocating or beating the victim. Shortly after these text messages were exchanged, on Aug. 12, 2014, Schaefer entered her mother’s hotel room and, while Mack was present, brutally beat and killed Mack’s mother. Mack and Schaefer then placed the victim’s body into a suitcase and tried to leave the hotel in a taxi. When the driver of the taxi ..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 16, 2023
Canadian Man Convicted in Multimillion-Dollar Psychic Mass-Mailing Fraud Scheme
A federal jury in the Eastern District of New York convicted a Canadian man today for perpetrating a decades-long mass-mailing fraud scheme that stole more than $175 million from victims in the United States.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Patrice Runner, 57, a Canadian and French citizen, operated a mass-mailing fraud scheme from 1994 through November 2014. As part of the scheme, Runner sent letters to millions of U.S. consumers, many of whom were elderly and vulnerable. The letters falsely purported to be individualized, personal communications from so-called “psychics,” including Maria Duval (leading this type of fraud scheme to be referred to as a “Maria Duval Scam”), and promised that the recipient had the opportunity to achieve great wealth and happiness with the psychic’s assistance, in exchange for payment of a fee. Once..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 16, 2023
Man Convicted of $54M Bribery and Kickback Scheme Involving Fraudulent Prescriptions
A federal jury convicted a Florida man for his role in a $54 million bribery and kickback scheme involving TRICARE, a federal program that provides health insurance benefits to active duty and retired service members and their families.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, David Byron Copeland, 55, of Tallahassee, was a part-owner and senior sales manager at Florida Pharmacy Solutions (FPS), a Florida-based pharmacy that specialized in compounded prescription drugs. Copeland, along with his accomplices, engaged in a practice known as “test billing” to develop the most expensive combination of compounded drugs to maximize reimbursement from TRICARE. Copeland and his accomplices targeted physicians who treated TRICARE beneficiaries and paid bribes and kickbacks to physicians and salespeople to encourage the referral of prescrip..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 15, 2023
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Statement on Haaland v. Brackeen
The Justice Department issued the following statement from Attorney General Merrick B. Garland following the Supreme Court’s decision in Haaland v. Brackeen:

“The Justice Department is committed to honoring Tribal sovereignty and protecting Indian children and families. For nearly 45 years, the Indian Child Welfare Act has helped protect Tribal children from being unnecessarily separated from their parents, extended family, and Tribal communities.

I am pleased that today’s Supreme Court decision in Haaland v. Brackeen rejected this challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act. The Justice Department vigorously defended the statute before the Supreme Court and will continue to support the Indian Child Welfare Act and do everything in our power to protect Tribal communities and affirm Tribal sovereignty.”

Topic(s): Indian Country Law and JusticeComponent(s): Office of ..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 15, 2023
Russian National Arrested and Charged with Conspiring to Commit LockBit Ransomware Attacks Against U.S. and Foreign Businesses
The Justice Department today announced charges against a Russian national for his involvement in deploying numerous LockBit ransomware and other cyberattacks against victim computer systems in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Africa.

Ruslan Magomedovich Astamirov (АСТАМИРОВ, Руслан Магомедовичь), 20, of Chechen Republic, will make his initial appearance later today.

“This LockBit-related arrest, the second in six months, underscores the Justice Department’s unwavering commitment to hold ransomware actors accountable,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “In securing the arrest of a second Russian national affiliated with the LockBit ransomware, the Department has once again demonstrated the long arm of the law. We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to disrupt cybercrime, and while cyb..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 15, 2023
Foreign National Sentenced for Trafficking Child Pornography
A Bulgarian national was sentenced today to 25 years in prison for conspiracy to traffic images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation of young children.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Plamen Georgiev Velinov, 49, of Sofia, helped manage and administer the Newstar Enterprise, an internet-based business that profited from the sexual exploitation of vulnerable children under the guise of “child modeling,” through a collection of websites called the Newstar Websites. Beginning in around 2006 and continuing until 2019, Velinov assisted the enterprise by selecting children to be featured on the Newstar Websites, editing images and videos on those websites, communicating with customers, setting prices for videos, activating new websites, and creating advertising banners. While chatting with a co-conspirator, Velinov described one child as “nucle..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 15, 2023
Air National Guardsman Indicted for Unlawful Disclosure of Classified National Defense Information
A member of the U.S. Air National Guard (USANG) stationed in Massachusetts was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Boston for allegedly retaining and transmitting classified national defense information on a social media platform beginning in or around 2022 and continuing until his arrest in April.

Jack Douglas Teixeira, 21, of North Dighton, Massachusetts, was indicted on six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information relating to the national defense (National Defense Information). Teixeira was arrested on April 13, 2023, and charged by criminal complaint with retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or materials. On May 19, 2023, U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessy granted the government’s motion for dete..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 15, 2023
Two Jacksonville Compounding Pharmacies and Their Owner Agree to Pay at Least $7.4 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations
The Justice Department announced today that Smart Pharmacy, Inc., SP2, LLC, and owner Gregory Balotin have agreed to pay at least $7.4 million to resolve lawsuits filed in Jacksonville, Florida, alleging they violated the False Claims Act by adding the antipsychotic drug aripiprazole to topical compounded pain creams to boost reimbursement and by routinely waiving patient copayment obligations. The settlement amount is based on the defendants’ ability to pay.

“When pharmacies inflate their revenue with medically unsupported prescription ingredients, they compromise the quality of patient care and waste taxpayer dollars,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The department will hold accountable those who undermine the integrity o..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 15, 2023
Foreign National Sentenced for International Cocaine Trafficking Conspiracy
A Mexican national was sentenced today in the District of Columbia to 13 years in prison for conspiring to distribute cocaine for importation into the United States.

According to court documents, between 1998 and approximately 2012, Jaime Antonio Mandujano-Eudave, 61, worked with the Sinaloa Cartel to coordinate the transportation of cocaine by boat from Colombia to Culiacan, Los Cabos, and elsewhere in Mexico. Mandujano-Eudave communicated GPS coordinates to the boats’ crew members to facilitate meetings in the Pacific Ocean. There, the cocaine-laden boats from Colombia would meet other boats under the control of the Sinaloa Cartel and offload the cocaine. These boats transported multi-kilogram amounts of cocaine. Once the cocaine arrived in Mexico, other members of Sinaloa Cartel would transport the cocaine to the United States for sale. Mandujano-Eudave knew..