Fraud News From World

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..

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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..

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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 ..

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Thursday, June 15, 2023
Readout from Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta’s Meeting with Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta traveled to Minnesota today and met with Tribal leaders and members of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. The trip focused on areas – public safety, justice administration, reentry and victims’ services – where the Justice Department provides substantial grant funding to support Tribal self-governance. Associate Attorney General Gupta held government-to-government meetings with the Tribe’s leadership, heard about the Tribe’s work to respond to challenges and reinforced the Justice Department’s commitment to supporting Indian Country. She was joined throughout the trip by Director Tracy Toulou of the Justice Department’s Office of Tribal Justice (OTJ).

The Associate Attorney General’s trip to the Mille Lacs Band is the first in a series of meetings with Tribal governments on Tribal land in the coming months a..

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Thursday, June 15, 2023
Oregon Man Pleads Guilty to Hate Crime Charges for Bias-Motivated Attacks in Boise
An Oregon man pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in Boise, Idaho, today to two federal hate crimes.

According to court records, on Oct. 8, 2022, while at the Boise Public Library Main Branch in downtown Boise, Matthew Alan Lehigh, 31, approached a transgender library employee, called her a slur, punched her and threatened to stab her. A member of the library’s security staff intervened, and Lehigh fled into the parking lot. When the security guard attempted to speak to Lehigh in the parking lot, Lehigh got into a car and suddenly accelerated it toward the guard, intending to collide with him. The guard narrowly escaped being struck by jumping behind a concrete barricade at the last moment, and Lehigh fled the scene.

Four days later, while sitting in his car in a public parking lot elsewhere in Boise, Lehigh saw two women walking together towards ..

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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..

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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..

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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..

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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..

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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..