Crime

Washington, D.C., Nov. 5, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a pair of lawyers for tipping inside information in exchange for kickbacks as well as six Wall Street traders and a proprietary trading firm involved in a $20 million insider trading scheme.    » read more »

Hedge Fund Managers, Professional Traders and Senior Corporate Executive Among Newly Charged in $33 Million Scheme

Washington, D.C., Nov. 5, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced additional charges in its insider trading enforcement action against billionaire Raj Rajaratnam and Galleon Management LP by charging 13 additional individuals and entities, including three hedge fund managers, three professional traders at New York-based Schottenfeld Group, and a senior executive at Atheros Communications, a California-based developer of networking technologies.    » read more »

Scheme Involved U.S. Military Contracts Awarded in Kuwait

November 5, 2009 -- A civil lawsuit was filed today against a former U.S. Army officer and three contracting firms related to an alleged bribery scheme in connection with the awarding of contracts for services in Kuwait. Former Army officer John Cockerham Jr., who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, previously pleaded guilty to criminal charges along with another former officer, James Momon Jr.    » read more »

November 3, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), along with Constitution Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers [D-MI], Crime Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Scott [D-VA], Rep. Anthony Weiner [D-NY] , Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee [D-TX], and Ways and Means Subcommittee Chairman John Lewis [D-GA] today introduced the Effective Death Penalty Appeals Act (H.R. 3986), which would ensure that death row inmates have the opportunity to present newly discovered evidence of innocence.

Under current law, an inmate on death row can be stranded with no procedural options to appeal a conviction, even if there is compelling new evidence that he or she is innocent.

The Effective Death Penalty Appeals Act would:    » read more »

U.S. Also Files Complaint Against Two Atlanta-Based Nursing Home Chains and Their Principals

November 3, 2009 -- WASHINGTON — The nation’s largest nursing home pharmacy, Omnicare Inc. of Covington, Kentucky, will pay $98 million, and drug manufacturer, IVAX Pharmaceuticals of Weston, Florida, will pay $14 million to resolve allegations that Omnicare engaged in kickback schemes with several parties, including IVAX, the Justice Department announced today. Approximately $68.5 million of the settlement proceeds will go to the United States, while $43.5 million has been allocated to cover Medicaid program claims by participating states.    » read more »

November 3, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced today the largest monetary payment ever obtained by the department in the settlement of a case alleging housing discrimination in the rental of apartments. Los Angeles apartment owner Donald T. Sterling has agreed to pay $2.725 million to settle allegations that he discriminated against African-Americans, Hispanics and families with children at apartment buildings he controls in Los Angeles. The settlement must be approved by U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer.    » read more »

November 3, 2009 -- As part of a continuing effort to identify the latest cyber crime trends and warn the public, the FBI today released the following information:

Within the last several months, the FBI has seen a significant increase in fraud involving the exploitation of valid online banking credentials belonging to small and medium businesses, municipal governments, and school districts. In a typical scenario, the targeted entity receives a “spear phishing” e-mail which either contains an infected attachment, or directs the recipient to an infected website.    » read more »

Italian Prosecution Highlights Inaction of US Justice Department

November 3, 2009 -- (Milan) - The verdict expected Wednesday in a landmark case may present a historic legal challenge to the US Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) rendition program, Human Rights Watch said today.

The trial in Milan of 26 Americans in absentia and seven Italians for the 2003 abduction of an Egyptian imam began in 2007.    » read more »

3 November 2009 -- On the eve of a United Nations General Assembly debate, Amnesty International has called on UN ambassadors in New York to grasp a unique opportunity to address accountability for war crimes in Gaza and southern Israel earlier in the year.

The General Assembly will convene on Wednesday to debate the comprehensive and authoritative report of the Fact Finding Mission led by Judge Richard Goldstone. The report found that the Israeli and Palestinian sides committed serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, including war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity.

Amnesty International sent an open letter to all permanent representatives to the General Assembly and another to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.    » read more »

Computer crimes make headlines but thieves prefer low-tech, old-fashioned theft

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Nov. 2, 2009-- Identity fraud increased substantially in 2008, reversing a four-year trend of decreasing incidents. Researchers say identity fraud increased by 22 percent last year and they anticipate another 22 percent jump in 2009, attributing the increases to crimes of opportunity driven by the economic downturn1.

What’s more, despite recent headlines and growing fears about online security and data breaches, old-fashioned theft is the most popular way thieves steal identities and perpetrate identity fraud.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., Oct. 30, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the former chief financial officer of a San Francisco private investment firm and six of his relatives and friends with insider trading, alleging that their scheme collectively reaped more than $8 million in illicit profits from unlawful trades in the securities of Tempur-pedic International, Inc. and Acxiom Corporation.    » read more »

October 28, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- Bill J. Allen and Richard L. Smith were each sentenced in separate hearings today for their participation in a corruption scheme in which they provided approximately $395,000 in corrupt payments to public officials from the state of Alaska, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division. Allen and Smith were sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska by U.S. District Court Judge John W. Sedwick.    » read more »

October 28, 2009 -- Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) released the following statement today after President Obama signed into law the Department of Defense Authorization bill, legislation that included the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Amendment. Dodd was an original cosponsor of the underlying legislation, the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009.

“Hate crimes destroy families, damage communities, and offend our core American values,” said Dodd. “The shared values that define us as Americans are stronger than our differences. This legislation makes it clear that in a country where so much unites us, there is simply no place for hatred and discrimination, and I applaud the President for signing this important measure into law today.”    » read more »

October 27, 2009 -- Robert J. Cabelly, 61, of Washington, D.C., has been indicted in the District of Columbia in an eight-count indictment charging him with conspiracy to violate the Sudanese sanctions regulations and to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign power, four counts of violating the Sudanese sanctions regulations, as well as one count apiece of money laundering, passport fraud and making false statements.    » read more »

October 19, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Mylan Pharmaceuticals, UDL Laboratories, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals and Ortho McNeil Pharmaceutical have entered into settlement agreements for a total of $124 million to resolve claims that they violated the False Claims Act by failing to pay appropriate rebates to state Medicaid programs for drugs paid for by those programs, the Justice Department announced today.    » read more »