New York Paralegal

Officer Allowed Inmates to Use Cell Phone to Communicate with Dangerous Rikers Island Inmate Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictment and arraignment of New York City Correction Officer ROSALYN WILKES, 43, in Manhattan Supreme Court on five counts of Promoting Prison Contraband in the First Degree, a class D felony, for using, and allowing inmates to use, a cellular telephone inside the Manhattan Detention Center. “Correction Officers have enormous power and an equal responsibility to keep our jails safe, and our inmates secure,” said District Attorney Vance. “By violating basic rules of conduct, this defendant put her needs and the desires of inmates above the safety of her colleagues, the inmate population, and the public. I thank our partners at the Department of Investigation for their extensive work on this case.”

At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a federal judge has shut down an operation that allegedly posed as the U.S. government, then duped consumers into paying fees ranging from $200 to $2,500 by claiming the fees would cover processing by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. The court froze the defendants’ assets and appointed a receiver to take over the business until the case is resolved. The FTC has asked the court to halt the business practices permanently and order the operation to repay its victims. The real U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), a division of the Department of Homeland Security, offers advice and counseling to immigrants in the United States and people seeking to immigrate to the United States. USCIS provides application forms for such benefits as green card renewal, work visas, and applications for asylum. The application forms are free but can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars to process.

"What Would You Do?" hired actors to play a racist store clerk and security guard, both armed with words that would make even the most apathetic shopper flinch. An actor was hired to pose as the black shopper, the target of the abuse. (ABC News)

LOS ANGELES—Special Agents with the FBI and the United States Postal Inspection Service arrested a Claremont man this morning on federal charges of sending threatening letters containing a powdery substance to multiple offices of the Department of Children and Family Services and the Los Angeles County Children's Courthouse over a period of approximately 18 months. Martin Calvin Yarbrough Jr., 48, was taken into custody at his residence this morning without incident after being indicted by a federal grand jury on Tuesday. The indictment charges Yarbrough with 13 counts of making threats and hoaxes.

An operator of an online “scareware” scheme will pay more than $8 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that he used deceptive ads to trick consumers into thinking their computers were infected with malicious software, and then sold them software to “fix” their non-existent problem. As part of the FTC’s ongoing efforts to protect consumers from online scams, the agency cracked down on the scareware operation, filing a complaint against seven defendants who allegedly operated the scheme in 2008. The agency charged that the defendants did business using the company names Innovative Marketing, Inc. and ByteHosting Internet Services, LLC, operated using a variety of aliases, and maintained offices in various countries.

DA's Cold Case Unit Secures Murder Charges More than Thirty Years Later Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictment of RODNEY ALCALA, 67, a/k/a JOHN BERGER, on Murder charges in the deaths of Cornelia Crilley and Ellen Hover. Decades after these crimes occurred, the Manhattan District Attorney's Cold Case Unit presented these cases to the Grand Jury, which indicted ALCALA on murder charges for both Ms. Crilley and Ms. Hover. "Cold cases are not forgotten cases -- our prosecutors, investigators, and partners in the NYPD do not give up," said District Attorney Vance. "These cases were built one brick at a time, as each new lead brought us closer to where we are today. Last year, this Office's Cold Case Unit began an exhaustive re-examination of these two homicides, including a full re-investigation of evidence, and new interviews with more than 100 witnesses. This re-focus on these cases, combined with information made av...

David B. Fein, today announced that JASON BETENSKY, 27, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formerly of Florida, pleaded guilty on Monday, January 24, before United States District Judge Christopher F. Droney in Hartford to one count of using the internet to entice a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity. As part of his guilty plea, BETENSKY admitted that he coerced, and then threatened, minors to send him sexually explicit images of themselves over the Internet. “This defendant engaged in a lengthy, manipulative scheme during which he tricked many minor victims to send him sexually explicit images of themselves over the Internet,” stated U.S. Attorney Fein. “The federal penalties for this type of crime are appropriately severe. I want to thank the FBI and all the members of the Connecticut Computer Crimes Task Force for their efforts in bringing Mr. Betensky and other individuals who exploit children to justice. I also want to commend the Jupiter Police Department in Jupiter, Florid...

WASHINGTON – A Detroit-area patient recruiter was sentenced today to 40 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today. Melvin Young, 57, was also sentenced by U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Duggan in the Eastern District of Michigan to three years of supervised release following his prison term and was ordered to pay restitution, joint and several with co-defendants, in the amount of $533,643. Young pleaded guilty in April 2010 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

The Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, has reached a settlement with an Internet marketer and its manager that will put a stop to their alleged illegal practice of selling cosmetic contact lenses to consumers without prescriptions. The settlement with Da Young Kim and Gothic Lens LLC requires them to pay a civil penalty of $50,000. Kim will sell her 2008 BMW in partial satisfaction of the judgment, and the rest will suspended because of the defendants’ inability to pay.

Defendant Compromised the Identities of More Than 750 People Across the U.S. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the sentencing of IGUOSADE OSAHON, 28, to three to nine years in state prison, for stealing more than $500,000 by exploiting stolen identity information over a three-year period. OSAHON was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of approximately $250,000, and also forfeited $50,000 worth of assets in the form of cash and vehicles. On December 8, 2010, OSAHON pleaded guilty to the top four counts in the indictment: Computer Tampering in the First Degree, Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, Identity Theft in the First Degree, and Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree. “Over the course of three years, the defendant carried out a sophisticated online identity theft scheme that netted him a small personal fortune,” said District Attorney Vance. “He then proceeded to squander the funds he stole from more than 750 hard-working individuals on jewel...

ROCKWELL, TX—A man on the run for more than a decade was arrested in Rockwell, TX this morning after investigators received tip calls from viewers of America’s Most Wanted. Jack Allen Poteat (dob: 10/03/1964) is wanted on a federal Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution warrant based on charges in Union County, NC. A jury indicted Poteat in June 1999 for first degree statutory rape, first degree statutory sex offense, indecent liberties with a minor and crimes against nature involving a 13-year-old girl in Monroe, NC. Poteat failed to appear for his jury trial on October 19, 1999 and has been a fugitive ever since.

NEW YORK—“Today, in Manhattan federal court, justice was served. Ahmed Ghailani is a remorseless terrorist, mass murderer, and Al Qaeda operative, and now he will spend the rest of his life in prison. As we said in court on the day this trial began, Ghailani was a vital member of the East African terror cell that murdered 224 innocent people and wounded thousands of others in the 1998 bombings of the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Finally, twelve-and-a-half years after those devastating and despicable attacks, Ahmed Ghailani will pay for his crimes. This was a difficult case for a number of reasons. Our goal all along was to hold Ghailani accountable for his heinous conduct, and, no matter the obstacles, to see to it that he would receive the punishment he deserved. Today, our goal was achieved, as Ahmed Ghailani will never again breathe free air.

BUFFALO -- Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced a lawsuit against the owners of Extreme Snowplowing for taking thousands of dollars from Western New Yorkers for snow removal services and failing to plow their driveways. More than 400 customers prepaid the company for snow removal services that they did not receive following several recent storms. Schneiderman made the announcement at a press conference at the Attorney General’s regional office in Buffalo during his first visit to the region since taking office to meet with the regional staff. "Anyone who endured this most recent series of storms, particularly here in Western New York, knows that snow removal is not a luxury, but a necessity," Attorney General Schneiderman said. "Showing an utter disregard for the safety of its customers, Extreme Snowplowing literally left hundreds of Western New Yorkers out in the cold. Many of these victims are elderly, some need in-home care, and some simply lack the...

Driver Indicted on More Serious Charges After DA's Investigation Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictment and arraignment of JESSICA ALTRUZ, 24, in Manhattan Supreme Court on one count each of Manslaughter in the Second Degree and Leaving the Scene of an Incident Without Reporting [1] in connection with the death of a pedestrian on the Upper West Side last November. “The defendant’s reckless driving ended the remarkable life of a retired nurse who, on the day after Thanksgiving, was doing nothing more than walking home with her groceries,” said District Attorney Vance. “Importantly, New Yorkers who provided eyewitness accounts of the crash to our Vehicular Crimes Unit were instrumental in helping the Office obtain an indictment on more serious charges than at the time of the defendant’s arrest. We are extremely grateful that they came forward to provide critical evidence.”

Fiancé of Person Filing a Charge of Discrimination Protected From Employer’s Retaliatory Action, Court Rules WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court ruled on 1/24/11 that the fiancé of a woman who filed a charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), was protected from retaliation by their mutual employer and had standing to redress this illegal act. In a unanimous opinion, Thompson v. North American Stainless, LP, No. 09-291, the Supreme Court held that long-standing EEOC interpretations of the scope of the anti-retaliation provision of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) applied to an individual harmed by retaliation, even if that person had not himself filed a charge of discrimination. In Thompson, Miriam Regalado filed a charge of discrimination against her employer, North American Stainless (NAS). Three weeks after receiving notice of the charge from the EEOC, NAS fired Regalado’s fiancé, Eric Thompson, who also worked there. Tho...

At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a federal judge has shut down an operation that allegedly posed as the U.S. government, then duped consumers into paying fees ranging from $200 to $2,500 by claiming the fees would cover processing by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. The court froze the defendants’ assets and appointed a receiver to take over the business until the case is resolved. The FTC has asked the court to halt the business practices permanently and order the operation to repay its victims. The real U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), a division of the Department of Homeland Security, offers advice and counseling to immigrants in the United States and people seeking to immigrate to the United States. USCIS provides application forms for such benefits as green card renewal, work visas, and applications for asylum. The application forms are free but can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars to process.

Company’s Use of Job Applicants’ Credit History Discriminates Because of Race, Federal Agency Charges CLEVELAND – Kaplan Higher Education Corporation, a nationwide provider of postsecondary education, engaged in a pattern or practice of unlawful discrimination by refusing to hire a class of black job applicants nationwide, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it announced on 12/21/10. Since at least 2008, Kaplan Higher Education has rejected job applicants based on their credit history. This practice has an unlawful discriminatory impact because of race and is neither job-related nor justified by business necessity, the EEOC charged in its lawsuit.

Agency Charges Georgia Military College Subjected African-American Groundskeeper to Racial Abuse ATLANTA - Georgia Military College violated federal law by committing race discrimination at its Milledgeville, Ga., location, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit that it filed yesterday. In its lawsuit, Civil Action No., 5:11-cv-00023, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, Macon division, the EEOC alleges that Georgia Military College Foundation, Inc., doing business as Georgia Military College, subjected Solomon Mosley, an African-American groundskeeper, to a racially hostile work environment over a four-year period.

FTC Announces Revised Thresholds for Clayton Act Antitrust Reviews The Federal Trade Commission announced it has revised the thresholds that determine whether companies are required to notify federal antitrust authorities about a transaction under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. The HSR Act requires companies to notify authorities if – among other things – the value of a transaction exceeds the filing thresholds. The FTC is required to revise those thresholds annually, based on the change in gross national product. This year, the threshold for reporting proposed mergers and acquisitions under Section 7 of the Act increased from $63.4 million to $66.0 million.

NYC Department of Juvenile Justice Counselor Convicted of Criminal Sexual Act and Sexual Abuse Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced a guilty verdict in the trial of TONY SIMMONS, 47, a New York City Department of Juvenile Justice employee, who sexually abused females in his custody at Manhattan Family Court. A jury convicted SIMMONS of Criminal Sexual Act in the Third Degree, Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree, and Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree. “This defendant had a duty to guard and protect these teenagers,” said District Attorney Vance. “Instead, he abused the authority of his position to sexually assault girls in a situation where they were most vulnerable.”

Federal Agency Said Class of Young Women, Including Teens, Subjected to Verbal and Physical Sexual Abuse by Grocery Store Manager SYRACUSE, N.Y. - In a victory for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a jury in federal district court here has returned a $1,260,080 verdict in a significant sexual harassment lawsuit brought by the agency. The verdict settled the EEOC’s suit against Paul’s Big M grocery store in Oswego, N.Y., that had charged that a class of female employees, many of whom were teenagers still in high school at the time, was subjected to a sexually hostile work environment by the store’s general manager for more than 10 years. “The jury’s award sends a strong message to employers that they must maintain work environments free of sexual harassment and be vigilant in protecting young employees one of the most vulnerable segments of the labor force,” said Markus Penzel, an EEOC trial attorney on the case. “We applaud the courage of these young wom...

WASHINGTON – St. Jude Medical Inc. of St. Paul, Minn., has agreed to pay the United States $16 million to resolve allegations that the company used post-market studies and a registry to pay kickbacks to induce physicians to implant the company’s pacemakers and defibrillators, the Justice Department announced on 01/20/2011. Post-market studies are intended to assess the clinical performance of a medical device or drug after that device or drug has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Registries are collections of data maintained by a device manufacturer concerning its products that have been sold and implanted in patients.

Defendants Must Pay $500,000 to Settle Charges Three companies and their owner, who allegedly falsely claimed they could help consumers quickly eliminate their credit card debts and stop calls from debt collectors, have been banned from the debt relief business under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. According to the FTC’s complaint, the defendants, doing business as The Hermosa Group and Financial Future Network, deceptively advertised debt relief services, in English and Spanish radio and television ads, claiming that consumers could pay thousands less than what they owe on credit cards. The defendants themselves did not provide any debt relief services. Instead, the advertising was meant only to generate sales leads – the names and phone numbers of consumers who called the defendants’ toll-free number – which the defendants sold to debt relief providers or other sales lead generators.

WASHINGTON — Tyson Foods, Inc. is the newest member of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) nationwide program designed to encourage businesses to collaborate with ICE and use hiring best practices to ensure they are maintaining a lawful workforce. Tyson Foods Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Ken Kimbro and ICE Director John Morton signed the IMAGE or "ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers," agreement during a ceremony at ICE headquarters. Tyson Foods, Inc., which employs almost 100,000 people at locations throughout the United States, is the first major food company to become a full member of ICE's IMAGE program.

Older Applicants Passed Over for Cashier Positions in Favor of Younger Candidates, Federal Agency Charged FRESNO — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)announced on 01/20/2011 the settlement of its lawsuit against Timeless Investments, Inc., doing business as EZ Trip Golden State Convenience and Auto/Truck Plaza, resolving claims that the Fresno, Calif.-based company failed to hire older job applicants for its convenience store due to age discrimination. The allegations date back to 2004, when a group of older job seekers in their 60s applied for jobs as cashiers at the EZ Trip Golden State convenience store in Fresno. According to the EEOC, the older applicants were separately instructed to write their ages on the top corner of their respective employment applications. They were ultimately denied employment in favor of other candidates under the age of 35, two of whom had no prior cashier experience. The EEOC asserts that the older applicants were ultimately deni...

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that JOSEPH WATTS, a longtime associate of the Gambino Organized Crime Family of La Cosa Nostra (the "Gambino Family"), pled guilty this morning before U.S. District Judge COLLEEN MCMAHON to a two-count Superseding Information that charges WATTS with participating in murder and assault conspiracies in order to maintain and increase his influence in the Gambino Family. According to the Information, the plea proceeding, and the record of the case: WATTS was a close associate of one-time Gambino Family Boss JOHN A. GOTTI and others. Although WATTS was never formally inducted into the Gambino Family as a "made" member because of his non-Italian lineage, he was afforded the status of a Gambino Family capo.

Through the Secure Communities strategy, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) improves public safety every day by transforming the way criminal aliens are identified and removed from the United States. This strategy leverages an existing information sharing capability between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to quickly and accurately identify aliens who are arrested for a crime and booked into local law enforcement custody. With this capability, the fingerprints of everyone arrested and booked are not only checked against FBI criminal history records, but they are also checked against DHS immigration records. If fingerprints match DHS records, ICE determines if immigration enforcement action is required, considering the immigration status of the alien, the severity of the crime and the alien's criminal history. Secure Communities also helps ICE maximize and prioritize its resources to ensure that the right people, proce...

TUCSON, AZ—A federal grand jury in Tucson today returned an initial three-count indictment against Jared Lee Loughner for attempting to kill U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and two of her aides, Ron Barber and Pamela Simon. Today’s charges represent the initial indictment in the investigation of the Jan. 8 shooting in Tucson. “Today, the grand jury returned an initial three-count indictment against Jared Lee Loughner in the Tucson shooting case. We are in the early stages of this ongoing investigation. We have made considerable progress in a short period of time,” said U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke. “This case also involves potential death-penalty charges, and department rules require us to pursue a deliberate and thorough process. Today’s charges are just the beginning of our legal action, and we are working diligently to ensure that our investigation is thorough and that justice is done for the victims and their families.”

RICHMOND, Va. – The president and the auditor of a Costa Rican company selling reinsurance bonds to life settlement companies were arrested and charged, along with the company itself, in a seven-count indictment unsealed today for their alleged role in a $670 million fraud scheme involving victims throughout the United States and abroad. The charges were announced today by U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil H. MacBride and Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that DANIELLE CHIESI pled guilty today to three counts of conspiracy to commit securities fraud arising from an insider trading scheme. During the course of the conspiracies to which CHIESI pled guilty, the hedge fund where she worked gained profits of at least $1.7 million from trades based on material non-public information that she received from others who misappropriated it. CHIESI pled guilty before U.S. District Judge RICHARD J. HOLWELL. Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA said: "Today, Danielle Chiesi admitted to exploiting her access to valuable, non-public information to reap $1.7 million in illegal gains. By sharing and conspiring to trade on inside information, Chiesi compromised the companies she sold out and distorted the market for their stocks. Today's plea should send yet another strong message that we have zero tolerance for privileged professionals who game the syst...

Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper and the Division of Consumer Affairs announced today it has reached an agreement with a woman alleged to have provided legal services without a license. Charlene Carter doing business as Carter’s Paralegal Service located in Gallatin is alleged to have advertised her legal services on craigslist and through business cards. Carter has agreed to pay restitution to consumers who paid for legal services because she is not a licensed attorney in addition to stopping the alleged illegal activity.

Race discrimination involves treating someone (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because he/she is of a certain race or because of personal characteristics associated with race (such as hair texture, skin color, or certain facial features). Color discrimination involves treating someone unfavorably because of skin color complexion. Race/color discrimination also can involve treating someone unfavorably because the person is married to (or associated with) a person of a certain race or color or because of a person’s connection with a race-based organization or group, or an organization or group that is generally associated with people of a certain color.

Defendant Stole More Than $24,000 by Impersonating a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the sentencing of Rafael Masso, 28, to two to six years in state prison, for defrauding three Dominican immigrants by impersonating a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) agent and purporting to provide legal services to immigrants. On December 14, 2010, MASSO pleaded guilty to one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree and one count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree. “The defendant victimized members of the Spanish-speaking community by pretending to be a federal agent,” said District Attorney Vance. “This sentence should send a clear and strong message that predatory fraud schemes targeting our immigrant community will not be tolerated. We will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute these schemes.”

Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission finalized the Order settling charges that a subsidiary of Nestlé S.A., the world’s largest food and nutrition company, made deceptive advertising claims about the health benefits of its children’s drink BOOST Kid Essentials. As part of the settlement for this case, which is the FTC’s first one challenging advertising for probiotics, Nestlé HCN has agreed to drop the allegedly deceptive claims.

Companies Agree to License Programming to Online Distributors and Comply with Anti-Retaliation Provisions and Open Internet Requirements WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice announced today a settlement with Comcast Corp. and General Electric Co.’s subsidiary NBC Universal Inc. (NBCU) that allows their joint venture to proceed conditioned on the parties’ agreement to license programming to online competitors to Comcast’s cable TV services, subject themselves to anti-retaliation provisions and adhere to Open Internet requirements. The department said that the proposed settlement will preserve new content distribution models that offer more products and greater innovation, and the potential to provide consumers access to their favorite programming on a variety of devices in a wide selection of packages. The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, along with five state attorneys general, filed a civil antitrust lawsuit today in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia,...

CHICAGO—A former Chicago hedge fund manager was taken into federal custody today after he turned himself in for allegedly engaging in an investment fraud scheme in which he swindled more than $3.5 million from approximately 48 victims who invested in funds he purported to operate. The defendant, James Brandolino, was charged with mail fraud in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Thomas P. Brady, Inspector-in-Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Chicago. Brandolino, 42, of Joliet and formerly of Chicago, obtained about $4.7 million from 48 high net worth investors since 2003 for purported managed futures trading accounts and a commodity pool investment. He provided about $1.1 million in investor redemptions and allegedly lost roughly half of the total invested ...

Young Adult Institute Inflated Expenses to Justify Reimbursement of Excess Medicaid Dollars NEW YORK, NY - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced a settlement with Young Adult Institute, Inc. (YAI), organization officials Philip H. Levy and Karen Wegmann, and former CEO Joel M. Levy, resolving allegations that they defrauded the Medicaid program. YAI, the state’s largest residential service provider, will pay $18 million in damages, and significantly reform their cost reporting practices. “Restoring New Yorkers' faith in their government and cracking down on those who try to defraud the taxpayers will be two of our top priorities in this office," Attorney General Schneiderman said. "Today’s announcement should send a clear message that we will leave no stone unturned in the fight against Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse in New York State.”

Defendants Allegedly Stole E-Mail Addresses and Personal Information Belonging to 120,000 Apple iPad 3G Subscribers NEWARK, NJ—Two self-described Internet “trolls” were arrested today for allegedly hacking AT&T’s servers and stealing e-mail addresses and other personal information belonging to approximately 120,000 Apple iPad users who accessed the Internet via AT&T’s 3G network, United States Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Andrew Auernheimer, 25, of Fayetteville, Ark., and Daniel Spitler, 26, of San Francisco, Calif., were taken into custody this morning by special agents of the FBI—each charged with an alleged conspiracy to hack AT&T’s servers and for possession of personal subscriber information obtained from the servers. Auernheimer was arrested in Fayetteville while appearing in Arkansas state court on unrelated drug charges, and is expected to appear this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Erin L. Setser in Fayetteville federal court. Spitler sur...

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SEC Settles Enforcement Proceedings against J.P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup J.P. Morgan Chase Agrees to Pay $135 Million to Settle SEC Allegations that It Helped Enron Commit Fraud Citigroup Agrees to Pay $120 Million to Settle SEC Allegations that It Helped Enron and Dynegy Commit Fraud Washington, D.C., July 28, 2003 -- The Securities and Exchange Commission today instituted and settled enforcement proceedings against two major financial institutions, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup, Inc., for their roles in Enron Corp.'s manipulation of its financial statements. Each institution helped Enron mislead its investors by characterizing what were essentially loan proceeds as cash from operating activities. The proceeding against Citigroup also resolves the Commission's charges stemming from the assistance Citigroup provided Dynegy Inc. in manipulating that company's financial statements through similar conduct. As to J.P. Morgan Chase, the Commission filed a ...

Vincent McCrudden, a former commodities trader, was charged in federal court today with two counts of transmitting threats to kill 47 current and former officials of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA"), the National Futures Association ("NFA"), and the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC").1 McCrudden's initial appearance is scheduled for this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge E. Thomas Boyle at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York. The charges were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Lanny A. Breuer, Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division, United States Department of Justice; and Janice K. Fedarcyk, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office. According to the criminal complaint, which was unsealed today, McCrudden sent ...

WASHINGTON – The co-founder of a criminal enterprise known as the “Tran Organization” pleaded guilty today in San Diego to conspiring to participate in the organization’s scheme to cheat casinos across the country out of millions of dollars, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy for the Southern District of California. Van Thu Tran, 45, entered her guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony J. Battaglia, subject to final acceptance of the plea by U.S. District Judge John A. Houston.

Twenty-Two Executives Charged to Date in Global Price-Fixing Scheme WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury in San Francisco returned an indictment against the current president of HannStar Display Corporation for his participation in a global conspiracy to fix prices of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels, the Department of Justice announced today. The indictment, filed today in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, charges that Ding Hui Joe, aka David Joe, conspired with others to suppress and eliminate competition by fixing the prices of TFT-LCD panels. Joe, a resident of Taiwan, is charged with participating in the conspiracy from on or about Sept. 14, 2001, until on or about Jan. 31, 2006.

'Short Change' Defendant Banned from Internet Businesses that Access Consumers’ Bank Accounts Defendants in an operation that the Federal Trade Commission alleged stole millions of dollars from consumers by making unauthorized charges and debits to their bank accounts have reached settlement agreements with the FTC. In Operation Short Change – a July 2009 crackdown on scammers taking advantage of the economic downturn to bilk vulnerable consumers through a variety of schemes – the FTC announced a complaint against Classic Closeouts LLC, its principal Daniel Greenberg, and several other defendants. According to the complaint, Greenberg made unauthorized charges and debits to consumers’ accounts months or years after they bought low-cost clothing or household goods from the Classic Closeouts website.

Nur Provided Material Support by Introducing Plotters to Violent Islamic Radical BROOKLYN, NY—Earlier today, in the Eastern District of New York, United States District Judge Dora L. Irizarry sentenced Abdel Nur to 15 years in prison for providing material support to the conspiracy to attack John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, by exploding fuel tanks and the fuel pipeline under the airport. Nur believed that the attack would cause extensive damage to the airport and to the New York economy, as well as the loss of numerous lives. The sentence was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in New York.

Back wages paid to 865 employees working at Ft. Irwin WEST COVINA, Calif. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division has resolved an investigation against contractor CALNET Inc. and two subcontractors providing language, intelligence and information technology services to the U.S. Army at Ft. Irwin, Calif. The three companies had paid employees improperly for on-call time. "Contractors and subcontractors hired to perform services for the U.S. military have a clear obligation to comply thoroughly and consistently with federal law," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "As we do with all other employers, we will hold these businesses accountable for paying their workers for all hours, including any overtime, spent on the job."

Company Fired Black British Intern Because of Race and Color, Federal Agency Charged IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – Northwest Cosmetic Labs has agreed to settle a federal suit charging discrimination based on race, color and national origin and retaliation against a black employee for $30,000 and other relief, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today. According to the complaint, the employee, a British subject born in Zimbabwe, was hired after a series of phone interviews for a full-time paid internship in cosmetic formulation. She did not interview in person because she was living in England at the time. Upon her arrival in Idaho Falls, she was told by her supervisor that employees at the company would likely be “surprised” to find out that she was black, since she was British. From the beginning, the EEOC said, she received little to no direction from her supervisors and was rarely given assignments, despite her repeated requests to be given work. Her treatme...

Waitress Harassed and Fired Because of Her Age, Federal Agency Charged HOUSTON - Two Houston-area adult-oriented businesses have settled an age discrimination case brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. According to the EEOC’s suit, AHD Houston, Inc. and W.L. York, Inc., doing business as Cover Girls, violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) by harassing and ultimately firing a waitress because of her age. In its lawsuit (Civil Action No. 4:09-cv-01371), the EEOC charged that in August 2005, two male managers at Cover Girls, both in their 30s, began harassing and discriminating against Mary Bassi, who was in her 50s, because of her age. On multiple occasions, these managers referred to Bassi as “old” and made other negative comments about her age, including telling her she was exhibiting signs of Alzheimer’s disease. Cover Girls’ management also began hiring younger female waitresses and scheduling them for...

Company’s failure to correct violations prompts court action At the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Justice today filed a complaint for permanent injunction against a Jamaica, N.Y.-based beverage company to prevent it from processing and distributing juice and other products. Hank J. Hagen and Milton S. Reid and their company, Mystical One LLC (also known as Mystical One Juice LLC), are charged with violating the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by failing to have a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan for certain juice products, such as the company’s carrot juice products, and by failing to comply with current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP).

TAMPA, Fla. - Richard Sinclair Pope, 53, a citizen of the United Kingdom who had been residing in Spain, appeared in federal court in the Middle District of Florida Tuesday after being extradited to the United States, as part of an ongoing, $130 million dollar international fraud and money laundering investigation being conducted by special agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Secret Service and the City of London Police. Richard Sinclair Pope in the custody of two ICE agents In March 2009, Pope was charged by indictment, along with six other defendants, for conspiring to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and money laundering, as well as substantive counts of illegal monetary transactions, mail fraud and wire fraud.

Public Input will help improve examination resources and process Washington – The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today introduced two online discussion tools designed to solicit input from the intellectual property (IP) community on how the USPTO can update and improve the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) and Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP). “The objective is to ensure that the MPEP and TMEP are as accurate, complete and current as possible and enable practitioners and examiners to find information easily and, get accurate and complete guidance,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO David Kappos. “This input from users will assist us to further improve these resources as well as our examining processes.”

Boston Scientific Subsidiary Sentenced to Pay Criminal Penalty of More Than $296 Million and Three Years Probation WASHINGTON – Guidant LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Boston Scientific Corporation, was formally convicted and sentenced today in St. Paul, Minn., before U.S. District Court Judge Donovan W. Frank for criminal violations relating to its interactions with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Judge Frank sentenced Guidant to pay more than $296 million in criminal fines and forfeiture and also to submit to the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for three years. The Justice Department brought criminal charges against Guidant for its mishandling of short-circuiting failures of three models of its implantable cardioverter defibrillators: the Ventak Prizm 2 DR (Model 1861) and the Contak Renewal (Models H135 and H155). Guidant’s Cardiac Rhythm Management division, which produced the defibrillators, is headquartered in Arden Hills, Minn. The company pleaded guilty...

Defendant Left Expletive-Laden, Threatening Voice Mail Messages Following Tax Cut Debate CHARLES TURNER HABERMANN, 32, of Palm Springs, California, was arrested by the FBI this morning after being charged by federal criminal complaint with threatening a federal official. HABERMANN is alleged to have made two expletive-laden, threatening phone calls to the Seattle office of Congressman Jim McDermott on December 9, 2010. In the first call recorded on the office answering system, HABERMANN threatens to kill Congressman McDermott, his friends and family. In the second call HABERMANN says he will hire someone to put Congressman McDermott “in the trash.” HABERMANN was interviewed by the FBI on December 10, 2010, regarding the calls to Congressman McDermott, and another threatening call made to a California congresswoman. HABERMANN is expected to make his initial appearance today on the 3:00 p.m. calendar in federal court in Riverside, California. “We are blessed to live in a country that...

Employees Fired for Complaining About Sexual Harassment, Federal Agency Charged KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Seymour ZX, LLC, the Tennessee subsidiary of a Georgia company and a franchisee of the Zaxby’s restaurant chain, will pay $20,000 and provide other relief to settle a retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. According to the EEOC’s suit (Civil Action No. 3:09-cv-0434) in U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Knoxville Division, two employees of a Seymour, Tenn., Zaxby’s were fired because they complained about sexual harassment. Both employees were fired on the same day, the EEOC said, and banned from the store.

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Company Allegedly Charged Up To $549.95 for Worthless Environmental Labels The Federal Trade Commission reached an agreement that will put an end to the deceptive tactics of a company that allegedly sold worthless environmental certifications for hundreds of dollars, and falsely told more than 100 customers that its certifications were endorsed by two independent firms – which it actually owned. The FTC settlement bars Tested Green and its owner Jeremy Ryan Claeys from making misrepresentations when selling any product. “It’s really tough for most people to know whether green or environmental claims are credible,” said David Vladeck, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Legitimate seals and certifications are a useful tool that can help consumers choose where to place their trust and how to spend their money. The FTC will continue to weed out deceptive seals and certifications like the one in this case.”

87 Illegal Weapons and More Than 2,800 Rounds of Ammunition Recovered from Defendant's Storage Locker Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictment and arraignment of JONATHAN SHAW, 57, for illegally owning, storing, and attempting to transport dozens of weapons, including multiple loaded firearms, and large quantities of ammunition. The defendant was charged in an 89-count indictment with Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree,[1] among other charges. “The events of this past weekend remind us that gun violence continues to plague our nation. The defendant’s illegal weapons cache endangered workers and customers at the storage facility and in the entire community,” said District Attorney Vance. “This Office will aggressively pursue charges against illegal weapons owners and dealers, and seek out stockpiles of illegal weapons to get them off our streets.”

Las Vegas Resort Staff Were Constantly Touched and Demeaned by Their Supervisor, Federal Agency Charges LAS VEGAS — JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort, Spa & Golf violated federal law by failing to prevent and correct the ongoing sexual harassment of female resort staff, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed last month. Since about 2003, at least two female restaurant servers at the resort in Las Vegas were subjected to aggressive sexual harassment by a male co-worker who later became their supervisor, according to the EEOC. The EEOC contends that the harasser repeatedly engaged in verbal and physical harassment including rubbing his body against the women, groping them, and consistently making vulgar remarks. The EEOC asserts that the harassment continued until the harasser was discharged in December 2007, but that JW Marriott failed to sufficiently prevent and correct the harassment despite official complaints dating back to 2006, a dire...

RIVERSIDE, CA—A former official with Chase Bank has been found guilty of disclosing the existence of a suspicious activity report (SAR) filed with federal officials, and then soliciting thousands of dollars in bribes to help the borrower deal with a possible criminal investigation related to the illegally disclosed SAR. Frank E. Mendoza, 45, of Victorville, was convicted yesterday afternoon of three counts of bank bribery and one count of unlawfully disclosing a SAR. The federal jury deliberated about 30 minutes before issuing its verdict, which included a not guilty finding on a charge of attempted economic extortion.

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that CHEDDI GOBERDHAN, a real estate attorney, pled guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge SHIRA A. SCHEINDLIN in Manhattan federal court to a seven-count Indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, and six counts of bank fraud, in connection with a scheme that defrauded banks out of more than $23 million in home mortgage loans. GOBERDHAN made hundreds of thousands of dollars in illicit profits from the scheme, in which he worked closely with corrupt loan officers of GuyAmerican Funding, a mortgage brokerage firm in Queens, New York. GOBERDAN is the ninth defendant convicted of participating in this mortgage fraud scheme. Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA said: "Cheddi Goberdhan carried out an elaborate subterfuge designed to steal millions of dollars in home mortgage loans. Instead of serving as the gatekeeper whom the banks relied upon to prevent fraud...

Retaliation Surpasses Race as Most Frequent Allegation; Agency Obtains $404 Million for Victims The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced that private sector workplace discrimination charge filings with the federal agency nationwide hit an unprecedented level of 99,922 during fiscal year (FY) 2010, which ended Sept. 30, 2010. Despite the increase in overall charges filed with the EEOC last fiscal year, the Commission dramatically slowed the growth of the charge inventory. As a result, the federal agency ended FY 2010 with 86,338 pending charges - an increase of only 570 charges, or less than one percent. Between fiscal years 2008 and 2009, the EEOC's pending inventory increased 15.9 percent.

WASHINGTON – An Ohio man was charged with illegally shipping infrared military technology to South Korea, the Department of Justice announced today. A criminal information was filed charging Kue Sang Chun, 66, of Avon Lake, Ohio, with one count of exporting defense articles on the U.S. Munitions List without first obtaining an export license or written authorization from the U.S. Department of State, and one count of knowingly making and subscribing a false U.S. individual income tax return. Chun is a longtime employee at the NASA Glenn Research Center, though he is not accused of taking technology or related materials from the research center. According to count one of the information, between March 2000 and November 2005, Kue Sang Chun knowingly exported and caused the export from the United States to the Republic of Korea (South Korea) of Infra Red Focal Plane Array detectors and Infra Red camera engines which were designated as defense articles on the U.S. Munitions List. The in...

Owner of My Car Solutions Pitched Bogus Extended Auto Warranties American consumers won’t be getting any more telemarketing pitches from robocaller Fereidoun “Fred” Khalilian, under a settlement reached by the Federal Trade Commission. Khalilian has agreed to be permanently banned from the telemarketing business in order to settle FTC charges that he and his company allegedly used pre-recorded robocalls to sell consumers auto service contracts. Khalilian and his company, The Dolce Group Worldwide, LLC, are the latest robocall operation shut down as part of the FTC’s crackdown on deceptive prerecorded calls. According to the FTC, the operation, doing business under the name My Car Solutions, conned consumers into paying thousands of dollars by leading them to believe that the company was affiliated with auto dealers and manufacturers, and that it was offering to sell them extended auto “warranties.”

WASHINGTON - The United States Attorney for the District of Arizona, Dennis K. Burke, announced today that his office filed a federal complaint against Jared Lee Loughner. The complaint was signed by Magistrate Judge Michelle Burns in Phoenix. Loughner is suspected of shooting U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, Chief Judge John Roll, Giffords' staff member Gabriel Zimmerman and approximately 16 others Saturday in Tucson, Ariz.

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Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the sentencing of NAIM JABBAR, 43, to 3 ½ to 7 years in prison for robbing a man on a Midtown street in July 2010. The defendant committed the robbery under the guise of an "Eyeglasses Scam," in which the defendant purposefully bumped into an unsuspecting man and falsely blamed him for causing the defendant's eyeglasses to break. The defendant then used the threat of force in aggressively demanding that the man turn over money to pay for the purportedly "damaged" eyeglasses. On December 16, 2010, a jury in Manhattan Supreme Court convicted JABBAR of Robbery in the Third Degree and Fraudulent Accosting for these actions. The case was treated as a priority by the District Attorney's new Crime Strategies Unit ("CSU"), because the defendant had been flagged as a priority offender in the Midtown North and Midtown South Precincts. "This defendant is a dangerous individual whose high...

DURHAM, N.C. – A Durham, N.C.-based educational testing company will pay $110,000 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC had charged that Measurement Incorporated discriminated against Jacqueline Dukes when it fired her for refusing to work on her Sabbath. Dukes is a member of a Christian denomination called Children of Yisrael which prohibits its members from working on the Sabbath, from sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday.

EEOC Charged Failure to Accommodate Scores of Discharged Workers in ADA Class Action CHICAGO – A federal judge today signed a consent decree for $3,200,000 and extensive remedial relief resolving the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) disability discrimination lawsuit against supermarket giants SUPERVALU INC., American Drug Stores LLC, and Jewel Food Stores, Inc. (collectively referred to as “Jewel-Osco”). According to the EEOC, Jewel-Osco had a policy and practice of terminating employees with disabilities at the end of medical leaves of absence rather than bringing them back to work with reasonable accommodations. Approximately 1,000 employees of the defendants’ Jewel-Osco stores in the greater Chicago area were allegedly terminated under this policy since 2003, the EEOC said. Not all of these former employees wished to participate in the suit or were found eligible by the EEOC.

Companies Refused to Hire Black Applicants and Retaliated Against Employees and Former Employees for Opposing the Discrimination, Federal Agency Charged LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A group of real estate brokerage and management companies based in Little Rock and Memphis violated federal law by refusing to hire a class of black applicants because of their race and retaliating against employees and former employees for opposing the discrimination, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed on December 30. The EEOC’s suit, Civil Action No. 4:10-CV-002070-SWW, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Western Division, asserted that Crye-Leike, Inc. and Crye-Leike of Arkansas, Inc., doing business as Bankers Asset Management, shunned numerous black applicants for jobs at the companies’ Little Rock location based upon their race.

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that LUIS ARMANDO PEÑA SOLTREN was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for his participation in the November 24, 1968, hijacking of Puerto Ricobound Pan American flight 281 to Havana, Cuba. After almost 41 years as a fugitive, PEÑA SOLTREN, 67, a U.S. citizen, voluntarily returned to the United States in October 2009 and surrendered to federal authorities. PEÑA SOLTREN pled guilty in March before U.S. District Judge ALVIN K. HELLERSTEIN. Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA said: "Today’s sentence of Luis Armando Pena Soltren for the violent hijacking in which he participated more than four decades ago should send a strong message that we will vindicate the interests of justice no matter how long it takes. This was a heinous crime and the punishment is appropriate. It is another example of our commitment to working with our partners at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department...

SEDALIA, Mo. – On Tuesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began using a federal information-sharing capability in Pettis County that helps federal immigration officials use biometrics to identify aliens, both lawfully and unlawfully present in the United States, who are booked into local law enforcement's custody for a crime. This capability is part of Secure Communities — ICE's comprehensive strategy to improve and modernize the identification and removal of aliens convicted of a crime from the United States. Previously, biometrics — fingerprints — taken of individuals charged with a crime and booked into custody were checked for criminal history information against the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). Now, through enhanced information sharing between DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), biometrics submitted through the state to the FBI will be automatically checked against both th...

WASHINGTON - The director of the school bus division of the U.S. Territory of American Samoa’s Department of Education pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division. Gustav Nauer, 46, a resident of American Samoa, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry M. Kurren of the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii.

Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved a final Order settling charges that the Minnesota Rural Healthcare Cooperative eliminated competition among its doctors and hospitals members by orchestrating agreements to fix the prices at which they contract with health insurance plans and to refuse to deal with plans that did not go along with its inflated reimbursement rates. The Order bars the Minnesota Rural Healthcare Cooperative from using coercive tactics or refusals to deal to secure favorable terms from insurance plans, and requires it to renegotiate all existing contracts with health plans and to submit the renegotiated contracts for state approval. The Commission vote approving the final Order and a letter to the member of the public who commented on the Order was 5-0. The Order can be found on the FTC’s website and as a link to this press release. (FTC File No. 051-0199; the staff contact is Bradley Albert, Bureau of Competition, 202-326-3670;...

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictment and arraignment of NICHOLAS BROOKS, 24, in Manhattan Supreme Court on one count of Murder in the Second Degree [1] in connection with the December death of Sylvie Cachay. According to documents filed in court, on December 9, 2010, at approximately 12:30 a.m., BROOKS and the victim entered Soho House, a hotel and private members club located at 29-35 Ninth Avenue in Manhattan. A guest staying on a lower floor of Soho House reported to hotel management that water was leaking through the ceiling of that guest's room. A hotel employee investigating the source of the leak entered Cachay's room and discovered the victim's body submerged in water in an overflowing bathtub. Emergency medical personnel at the scene pronounced the victim dead at approximately 3:30 a.m.