Press Releases

Prasan Nepal, 21, also known by the online moniker “Trippy,” of High Point, North Carolina, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation of a child.

An Oklahoma business owner and chiropractor was sentenced yesterday to 14 years in prison for his role in a years-long scheme that attempted to bilk Medicare, TRICARE, and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) out of over $30 million for orthotics braces, continuous glucose monitors, and other durable medical equipment (DME) that beneficiaries did not want or need.  

The Department of Justice today announced updated emergency scheduling actions targeting 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) and three potent opioid substances related to 7-OH: mitragynine pseudoindoxyl (MGPI), MGM-15, and MGM-16.

Amanda Leigh Fourez, of Catlin, Illinois, was sentenced to 31 months in prison and three years of supervised release in connection with her involvement with online groups dedicated to creating and distributing videos depicting acts of extreme violence and sexual abuse against monkeys in violation of the federal Animal Crushing statute. 

Today the Justice Department and FBI announced court-authorized seizures to deny malicious cyber actors access to two hacking tools, “Microscan” and “FishHub,” used to scan and, in some cases, hack, U.S. and foreign critical infrastructure systems and other networks.

The Justice Department’s Energy and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) yesterday filed motions for summary judgment in four cases defending challenges to a rule rescinding the regulatory definition of “harm” in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) regulations implementing the Endangered Species Act (ESA). These cases, in the Northern District of California and the District of South Carolina, are the first in a series of similar challenges across the country to reach this stage of litigation.

The U.S. Department of Justice issued the following statement today in connection with the closing of the Antitrust Division’s investigation into Arrive AS’s (Arrive) proposed acquisition of Passport Labs Inc. (Passport):

A federal jury in St. Paul convicted a Minnesota woman yesterday for executing a scheme to steal $3.6 million from the now-defunct Minnesota Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) Program. 

Today, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the City and County of Denver, Mayor Michael C. Johnston, City Attorney Michiko Ando Brown, and Police Chief Ronald Thomas, challenging their unconstitutional attempt to regulate federal law enforcement officers by prohibiting them from wearing masks and by requiring identification in the manner prescribed by D.R.M.C. §§ 28-300–28-303.

The Justice Department announced that former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros and former First Lady of Venezuela Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro have been charged in a Superseding Indictment unsealed today with conspiring to commit torture, narcoterrorism, cocaine importation conspiracy, and weapons offenses.

Oleg Korniev, 42, a dual citizen of Ukraine and Russia, pleaded guilty today to running a sophisticated international money laundering organization that laundered millions of dollars stolen from United States victims by cybercriminals around the world.

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division (the Fraud Division) today released Directive 26-13, outlining the Division’s comprehensive approach in the fight against fraud.