Crime

Washington, D.C., June 22, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a New York-based broker-dealer and four individuals with securities fraud, alleging that they collectively raised billions of dollars from investors for Bernard L. Madoff's Ponzi scheme.    » read more »

June 22, 2009 -- Five individuals pleaded guilty today in federal court in Detroit for their roles in a wide-ranging international stock fraud scheme involving the illegal use of bulk commercial e-mails, or "spamming."    » read more »

Washington, D.C., June 19, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged two accountants who produced bogus financial statements and an Antiguan regulator who took bribes to look the other way as Robert Allen Stanford conducted an alleged $8 billion Ponzi scheme.

The SEC previously charged Stanford and his companies — Antiguan-based Stanford International Bank (SIB), Houston-based broker-dealer and investment adviser Stanford Group Company (SGC), and investment adviser Stanford Capital Management — as well as SIB chief financial officer James Davis and Stanford Financial Group chief investment officer Laura Pendergest-Holt with securities fraud in an enforcement action filed in federal court in Dallas on February 17.    » read more »

Stanford Financial Group Executives and Former Chairman of Antiguan Bank Regulator Indicted for Fraud and Obstruction; Charges Related to $7 Billion Dollar Scheme to Defraud Investors

June 19, 2009 -- Robert Allen Stanford, 59, chairman of the Houston-based Stanford Financial Group (SFG), three SFG executives and the former chief executive officer of the Antiguan bank regulatory agency have been indicted on fraud and obstruction charges related to a $7 billion scheme to defraud investors.    » read more »

Two Military Officials Plead Guilty to Bribery, Fraud and Conspiracy Related to Defense Contracts in Afghanistan; Third Military Official Pleads Guilty to Receiving Stolen Property

June 19, 2009 -- Four Contractors and Four Contracting Companies Also Charged with Related Crimes

Two U.S. military officials pleaded guilty to various bribery, fraud and conspiracy charges relating to Department of Defense (DOD) contracts in Afghanistan. A third military official pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property, which was obtained through the bribery conspiracy. In addition, four DOD contractors and four affiliated contracting companies were indicted for their roles in paying bribes to the military officials and otherwise defrauding the United States.    » read more »

June 20, 2009 -- Washington D.C. -- FBI New York Assistant Director in Charge, Joseph M. Demarest issued the following statement concerning New York Times Reporter David Rohde:

"On June 19, David Rohde, a reporter for the New York Times contacted family members to advise he had escaped from his abductors. Rohde was taken hostage in Afghanistan on November 10, 2008. The FBI is working with the U.S. State Department and Department of Defense to see that Mr. Rohde receives medical attention and is reunited with his family."    » read more »

June 18, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), a senior member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, praised an agreement signed today that would give more counternarcotics authority to immigration agents to help reduce illegal drugs entering American communities.

In response to the signing of this Interagency Cooperation Agreement that increases cooperation and information sharing between the Department of Health And Human Services’ Immigration Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) and the Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Sen. Carper said:    » read more »

Washington, D.C., June 17, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged two Oklahoma City residents with securities fraud and other violations for a scheme in which they misappropriated to themselves millions of dollars from Quest Resource Corporation, Quest Energy Partners, L.P. and their affiliates while they were executives at the company.    » read more »

June 15, 2009 -- OLYMPIA – Washington Governor Chris Gregoire and the state Office of Crime Victims Advocacy has awarded $1.9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to the STOP (Services Training Officers Prosecutors) Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program.

STOP grants go to county criminal justice agencies and non-profit victim service programs to improve safety for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking or dating violence and enhance the criminal justice system’s support for those victims.

Twenty-seven jobs across Washington will be retained or created as a result.    » read more »

SEC Charges Operators of $80 Million Ponzi Scheme Targeting Korean-Americans

Washington, D.C., June 9, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged two California men and two companies they control for conducting an $80 million Ponzi scheme that targeted Korean-American investors with false promises of extraordinarily high returns from foreign currency (forex) trading.    » read more »

New Jersey University Hospital to Pay Additional $2 Million to Resolve Fraud Claims That Facility Double Billed Medicaid

June 9, 2009 -- WASHINGTON - The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) has agreed to pay the United States $2 million to resolve federal civil fraud allegations that its hospital defrauded Medicaid, the Justice Department announced today.

From 1993 to 2004, UMDNJ’s University Hospital submitted claims to Medicaid for outpatient physician services that were also being billed by doctors working in the hospital’s outpatient centers. By submitting duplicate claims for payment, University Hospital effectively doubled billed the government’s Medicaid program.    » read more »

Jenkens & Gilchrist Attorneys, BDO Seidman Accountants, and Bankers Charged in Criminal Tax Fraud Related to Tax Shelters Generating Over Seven Billion Dollars of Fraudulent Tax Losses

June 9, 2009 --
An indictment was filed today charging seven individuals -- three former shareholders of the Jenkens & Gilchrist law firm (J&G), the former Chief Executive Officer and a former tax partner from the BDO Seidman accounting firm (BDO), and two former bankers from a foreign bank with headquarters in New York (Bank A) -- with tax fraud conspiracy and related crimes arising out of tax shelters promoted by J&G, BDO, and the bank.    » read more »

Fact Sheet: Prosecuting and Detaining Terror Suspects in the U.S. Criminal Justice System

June 9, 2009 -- I. Terror Prosecutions in the Southern District of New York

Since the 1990s, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) has investigated and successfully prosecuted a wide range of international and domestic terrorism cases—including the bombings of the World Trade Center and U.S. Embassies in East Africa in the 1990s. More recent cases include those against individuals who provided material support to al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, as well as against international arms trafficker Monzer al Kassar and the Somalian pirate charged in the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama.

Major Historical Cases in SDNY:    » read more »

Schumer Announces Senate Passage Of Legislation To Combat Methamphetamine Production; Bill Will Tighten 2006 Law Which Required Sellers of Drug to Be Trained and Certified

June 9, 2009 -- U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that the United State Senate has passed the Combat Methamphetamine Enhancement Act of 2009, a bill that he backed to enhance the ability of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to crack down on methamphetamine production.    » read more »

June 9, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Herb Kohl today introduced the Antitrust Criminal Penalties Enforcement and Reform Act of 2004 Extension Act. This legislation extends a critical component of the Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enforcement and Reform Act of 2004 (ACPERA), set to expire on June 22, which encourages participation in the Antitrust Division’s leniency program.

As a result, the Justice Department will be able to continue to detect, investigate and aggressively prosecute price-fixing and other cartels which harm consumers.    » read more »