Press Releases for April 2006
Friday, April 28, 2006
Egyptian Man Pleads Guilty To Alien Smuggling Charges (06-258)
WASHINGTON—An Egyptian man has pleaded guilty to smuggling nearly 100 individuals from Middle Eastern countries into the United States, (Read more)
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Sexual Harassment of Customers Alleged Against Mississippi Bank and Former Employee (06-257)
WASHINGTON—The Justice Department today announced the filing of a lawsuit alleging that a former vice president of the First National Bank of Pontotoc, Miss., engaged in a pattern of sexual harassment against female borrowers and applicants for credit. The lawsuit represents the first sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the Justice Department under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. (Read more)
Justice Department Sues Tennessee Apartment Owner for Engaging in Discrimination Against Persons with Children (06-256)
WASHINGTON—The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against the owner and resident manager of the Fountainbleau Apartments, located in East Ridge, Tenn., alleging housing discrimination against individuals on account of their having children. (Read more)
Former Army Official And Virginia-based Defense Contractors Charged With Honest Services Wire Fraud And Bribery (06-255)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal grand jury in the Western District of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., returned a four-count indictment charging Kenneth N. Harvey, 50, Michael G. Kronstein, 44, and Karla R. Kronstein, 36, of Rileyville, Va., with two counts each of honest services wire fraud and one count each of bribery, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today. (Read more)
Indiana Ready Mixed Concrete Producer And President Agree To Plead Guilty To Price-fixing Charge (06-254)
WASHINGTON — An Indiana ready mixed concrete producer and its president have agreed to plead guilty and pay criminal fines for fixing the price of ready mixed concrete in the Indianapolis metropolitan area, the Department of Justice announced today. (Read more)
Five Additional Defendants Charged In Crackdown Against Worldwide Internet Piracy Groups (06-253)
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Five individuals were charged with criminal copyright infringement in Charlotte, North Carolina, as part of an ongoing federal crackdown against international online piracy groups responsible for most of the illegal distribution of copyrighted movies, software, games and music on the Internet, (Read more)
More Than 1,100 Sex Offender Arrests By U.S. Marshals‘ (06-252)
“The Justice Department is pursuing our Nation‘s worst fugitives,” said Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. “Operation FALCON again was successful at apprehending violent offenders, sexual predators, drug dealers, and gang members who had for too long escaped the grip of justice. With these criminals off the streets, fewer Americans will live with the threat of violent crime in their communities.” (Read more)
York County, Pennsylvania to Pay U.S. $16 Million for Inflating Immigrant Detention Figures (06-247)
WASHINGTON — York County, PA, will pay the United States $16 million to settle allegations that it inflated claims to the Immigration and Naturalization Service for housing INS detainees, the Justice Department announced today. York County, which operates York County Prison, is one of the largest providers of detention services in the nation. (Read more)
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Cast Iron Pipe Manufacturer, Company Officials Found Guilty of Environmental Crimes and Worker Safety Violations (06-250)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A New Jersey cast iron pipe manufacturer, Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Co. (a division of McWane, Inc.) and four company officials were found guilty of committing flagrant abuses of environmental and worker safety laws, the Justice Department and Environmental Agency announced today. (Read more)
BankAtlantic Enters Into Deferred Prosecution Agreement, Forfeits $10 Million To Resolve Money Laundering And Bank Secrecy Act Violations (06-248)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based BankAtlantic has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the government and will forfeit $10 million to resolve charges of failing to maintain an anti-money laundering program, (Read more)
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Court Orders Michigan Man to Halt Tax-Fraud Scheme and Stop Preparing Tax Returns for Others (06-243)
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Justice Department announced today that a federal court in Grand Rapids has permanently barred Charles Conces of Battle Creek, Mich., from preparing federal tax returns for others and promoting several tax-fraud schemes. (Read more)
Partial Settlement with Alabama Power will Result in Significant Reductions of Harmful Pollutants (06-242)
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency today announced a partial settlement of a case alleging violations of the New Source Review (NSR) provisions of the Clean Air Act against the Alabama Power Company James H. Miller, Jr. Plant, a coal-fired power plant near West Jefferson, Ala. (Read more)
Monday, April 24, 2006
Michigan Couple Charged With Obscenity And Child Pornography Violations (06-241)
WASHINGTON, D.C.—A Brutus, Mich., couple—John Mart Messer and Deborah Messer—has been indicted on charges of operating an obscenity distribution business and related offenses, (Read more)
North Dakota Region Utilities to Spend Over $100 Million Under Clean Air Act Settlement (06-240)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The air quality in North Dakota and surrounding regions will improve significantly because the federal government and the state of North Dakota are requiring two utilities to reduce emissions of two harmful pollutants by more than 33,000 tons per year. (Read more)
Friday, April 21, 2006
Department of Justice Commemorates Earth Day, Highlights Successes in Environmental Enforcement (06-238)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Over the past five years, the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) has worked tirelessly to enforce the nation‘s civil and criminal environmental laws, resulting in numerous accomplishments, and tangible benefits that protect and restore America‘s natural resources. (Read more)
Attorney General Announces Legislative Initiative to Combat Child Pornography and Obscenity on the Internet (06-232)
The legislation announced today, as well as Project Safe Childhood, which was announced on February 15 and will be launched in May, are a key part of the Department of Justice‘s effort to protect America‘s children from those individuals who would harm them. (Read more)
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Houston Company Charged in Scheme to Defraud the E-Rate Program in South Dakota (06-237)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — NextiraOne LLC, a Houston-based networking company, was charged and sentenced today to pay a $4.6 million criminal fine and restitution for defrauding the Federal Communications Commission‘s (FCC) E-Rate program and schools on a South Dakota reservation, the Department of Justice announced. (Read more)
Former South Carolina School District Official Indicted For Role in Scheme to Defraud Federal E-Rate Program (06-234)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Justice announced today that a federal grand jury in Columbia, S.C. returned a 12-count indictment alleging that a former South Carolina school district official committed mail and wire fraud in a scheme to defraud the federal E-Rate program. (Read more)
Seller of Tiger and Other Endangered Big Cat Skins Sentenced to Prison (06-231)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Kevin M. McMaster—formerly of Port St. Lucie, Florida—was sentenced to 25 months in prison and three years of supervised release for selling and offering to sell in interstate commerce more than $200,000 worth of endangered species in violation of the Lacey Act and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Department of Justice announced today. (Read more)
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Federal Court Bars Down-Payment Assistance Organization from Making False Tax Benefit Claims (06-227)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Justice Department announced today that Partners in Charity, Inc. (PIC) based in West Dundee, Illinois—a down payment assistance organization— and its president—Charles M. Konkus of Barrington, Illinois—have been permanently barred from making false and misleading statements in promoting their down payment assistance program to house sellers. (Read more)
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Federal Court Permanently Shuts Down Louisiana Tax Preparer (06-226)
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department announced today that a federal court in Monroe, Louisiana, has permanently barred Eddie Ferrand of Monroe and two of his employees, Glenda Faye Elliott of Monroe and William Nathaniel Kennedy of Rayville, Louisiana, from preparing tax returns and ordered Ferrand, Elliott, and Kennedy to turn over or cooperate with the United States in identifying all tax returns and claims for refunds prepared for customers since the beginning of 1999. (Read more)
Florida Tax Return Preparer Arrested on Tax Fraud Charges (06-225)
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Louis Wayne Ratfield, a Lake Worth, Florida tax return preparer, was arrested on tax fraud charges, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. (Read more)
Federal Court Bars California Man from Promoting Tax Scam and Preparing Tax Returns for Others (06-224)
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department announced today that a federal court in Los Angeles has barred Michael Muhammad (also known as Michael Eugene Wall and Michael Muta Ali Muhammad), from preparing federal income tax returns for others. (Read more)
Contractor Pleads Guilty In Case Involving Bribery, Fraud And Money Laundering Scheme In Al-Hillah, Iraq (06-223)
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Philip Bloom, a U.S. citizen who resided in Romania and Iraq, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy, bribery and money laundering in connection with a scheme to defraud the Coalition Provisional Authority - South Central Region (CPA-SC) in Al-Hillah, Iraq, (Read more)
Monday, April 17, 2006
Sami Al-Arian Pleads Guilty To Conspiracy To Provide Services To Palestinian Islamic Jihad (06-221)
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian has pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to provide services to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a specially designated terrorist organization, (Read more)
Thursday, April 13, 2006
QUALCOMM AND FLARION CHARGED WITH ILLEGAL PREMERGER COORDINATION (06-220)
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Department of Justice today announced a settlement with QUALCOMM Incorporated and Flarion Technologies Inc. that requires the companies to pay a total of $1.8 million in civil penalties for violating premerger waiting period requirements. (Read more)
United States Sues Nine in Nationwide Crackdown on Tax-Refund Scam (06-219)
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced today that, in a nationwide crackdown against a tax-fraud scheme promoted by Peter Eric Hendrickson of Commerce Township, Mich., it has brought suit against nine people this week. (Read more)
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Contractor Pleads Guilty, Sentenced For Paying Gratuities To Former U.S. Army Director Of Contracting (06-217)
WASHINGTON—A U.S. contractor pleaded guilty and has been sentenced for paying illegal gratuities to a former U.S. Army director of contracting, and for violating the Travel Act in connection with U.S. Army contracts awarded from an Army recreational facility in Germany, (Read more)
Companies to Spend $30 Million on PCB Cleanup at the Lower Fox River and Green Bay Superfund Site (06-216)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the latest in a series of partial settlements aimed at cleaning up and restoring the Lower Fox River and Green Bay Superfund Site in northeastern Wisconsin, NCR Corp. (NCR) and Sonoco-U.S. Mills, Inc. (Sonoco) have agreed to complete an important initial phase of the cleanup, the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency announced today. (Read more)
Justice Department Asks Federal Court to Bar Jackson Hewitt Franchise from Preparing Improper Tax Returns for Native Americans (06-215)
WASHINGTON— The Justice Department today asked a federal court in Miami to bar a Jackson Hewitt franchise Labib Baltagi Inc., based in Miami, its owner, and three others from preparing federal income tax returns that falsely claim federal-income-tax exemption for casino gaming proceeds paid to Native Americans. (Read more)
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Indianapolis Ready Mixed Concrete Producer and Three Executives Indicted on Price-Fixing Charge (06-214)
WASHINGTON, D.C.— An Indianapolis federal grand jury today indicted an Indianapolis ready mixed concrete producer and three executives for participating in a conspiracy to fix the price at which ready mixed concrete was sold in the Indianapolis metropolitan area, the Department of Justice announced. (Read more)
Justice Department Asks Federal Court to Bar California Accountant from Asserting So-Called Mariner's Tax Deduction (06-213)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Justice Department announced today that it has filed suit seeking to bar a California accountant from preparing federal income tax returns claiming a so-called mariner‘s tax deduction, which the government claims is legally frivolous. (Read more)
Justice Department and IRS Highlight Tax Enforcement Efforts (06-212)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service have continued their vigorous criminal tax enforcement and civil injunction efforts against people who engage in tax fraud and other forms of non-compliance with federal tax laws. (Read more)
Monday, April 10, 2006
Justice Department Sues to Shut Down Missouri Tax Preparer (06-211)
WASHINGTON- The Justice Department today asked a federal court to bar Donald R. Bushnell of Kansas City, Missouri, from preparing federal income tax returns for others. The civil injunction lawsuit, filed today in Kansas City, alleges that Bushnell, who operates his return-preparation business under the name Bushnell Contract Labor Services, has repeatedly prepared tax returns claiming false business deductions. (Read more)
Justice Department to Monitor Elections in Louisiana (06-209)
WASHINGTON—The Justice Department today announced that from April 10 through 13, 2006, and on April 15, 2006, federal observers will monitor polling place activities at the Registrar of Voters offices in Shreveport and Monroe, La, two satellite early voting locations for the April 22, 2006, municipal and parochial primary elections for New Orleans. (Read more)
Friday, April 7, 2006
Contractor Pleads Guilty To Paying Gratuities To Former U.S. Army Director Of Contracting (06-208)
WASHINGTON — A U.S. contractor has pleaded guilty to paying illegal gratuities to a former U.S. Army director of contracting and to violating the Travel Act in connection with U.S. Army contracts awarded from an Army recreational facility in Germany, (Read more)
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
Federal Judge Orders the Housing Authority of the City of San Antonio to Pay in Settlement of a Disability Discrimination Lawsuit
Court Bars Two Florida Men from Selling Alleged Offshore Tax-Fraud Scheme (06-204)
WASHINGTON—The Justice Department announced today that a federal court in Orlando has permanently barred Pierre Gauthier of Longwood, Fla., and his father, Jean Jay Gauthier of Daytona Beach Shores, from promoting an alleged tax-fraud scheme. (Read more)
Justice Department Settles Employment Discrimination Lawsuit Against the City of Virginia Beach, Virginia Police Department (06-203)
WASHINGTON—The Justice Department today announced the filing of a lawsuit, along with a simultaneous filing of a proposed consent decree, against the City of Virginia Beach, Va, to resolve the Department‘s allegations that the city‘s hiring practices for entry-level police officers have an unlawful disparate impact on African American and Hispanic applicants. (Read more)
K.S., Inc. Pleads Guilty to Violating Clean Air Act (06-164)
WASHINGTON—K.S., Inc. (K.S.) pleaded guilty and was sentenced for violating the Clean Air Act, the Department of Justice announced today. (Read more)
Monday, April 3, 2006
Statement of Tasia Scolinos, Director of Public Affairs, on Today's Jury Decision in the 1st Phase of Zacarias Moussaoui Sentencing Trial: (06-201)
"We are pleased with the jury's ruling in this important case. Our efforts on behalf of the victims of 9/11 will continue as we pursue the next phase of this trial." (Read more)
Settlement with AK Steel Will Require Cleanup and Investigation of Contamination of Middletown Plant (06-200)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States, the state of Ohio, and two citizen groups have reached a settlement with AK Steel Corporation resolving claims that discharges from AK Steel‘s Middletown, Ohio steel plant pose a threat to human health and the environment, and violated federal and state environmental statutes and regulations. (Read more)