DOJ

Ahmed Ghailani Transferred from Guantanamo Bay to New York for Prosecution on Terror Charges

June 9, 2009 -- Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian national who had been held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility since September 2006, arrived early this morning in the Southern District of New York to face criminal charges stemming from his alleged role in the Aug. 7, 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya.

After a thorough review of his case by the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force, Ghailani was recently referred for criminal prosecution in the Southern District of New York pursuant to a March 12, 2001 superseding indictment against him.    » 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 »

United States Files False Claims Act Suit Against California Mortgage Lender Capmark Finance

June 9, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice filed suit today against California mortgage lender Capmark Finance Inc., charging that Capmark violated the False Claims Act by making false statements on applications for federal mortgage insurance covering residential nursing homes.

The lawsuit, filed in United States District Court in Los Angeles, relates to a federal program under which the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guarantees mortgage loans used to acquire healthcare facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes.    » 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 »

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 »

June 5, 2009 -- Today, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Department of Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano, and Director of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske released President Obama’s strategy to stem the flow of illegal drugs and their illicit proceeds across the Southwest border and reduce associated crime and violence in the region.    » read more »

Couple Allegedly Conspired to Provide Classified Information to Cuban Government

June 5, 2009 -- A former State Department official and his wife have been arrested on charges of serving as illegal agents of the Cuban government for nearly 30 years and conspiring to provide classified U.S. information to the Cuban government.

The arrests were announced today by David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Channing D. Phillips, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director for the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Ambassador Eric J. Boswell, Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security.    » read more »

June 5, 2009 -- The Department's Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas have launched a federal investigation into federal crimes in connection with the murder of Dr. George Tiller. The federal probe will consist of a thorough review of the evidence and an assessment of any potential violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act) or other federal statutes.

The federal investigation will be conducted in close coordination with the Office of the Sedgwick County, Kan., District Attorney, and the state's ongoing murder prosecution will have the full support of federal investigators.    » read more »

Defendants Admitted to Conspiring to Defraud Medicare at HIV Infusion Clinics

June 5, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Four Miami-area residents were sentenced today in connection with a $10 million Medicare fraud scheme involving HIV infusion clinics, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta of the Southern District of Florida announced.

Alexis Dagnesses, 44; Gonzalo Nodarse, 38; Alexis Carrazana, 41; and Dr. Carlos Garrido, 69, all pleaded guilty in March 2009 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck.    » read more »

June 5, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit today rejected a challenge to the conviction of James Ford Seale, a former member of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Mississippi.

Seale was convicted by a federal jury in Mississippi in 2007 and sentenced to three life terms in prison. The jury determined that Seale and other Klansmen conspired to abduct, interrogate, beat and eventually murder Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charlie Eddie Moore, both 19 years old at the time of their murders.    » read more »

Former State Representatives Be Released

June 4, 2009 -- The Department of Justice today asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to remand the cases of former Alaska State Representatives Victor Kohring and Peter Kott, who were convicted on corruption charges in 2007, to the District Court. The Department also asked the Court of Appeals to release the two on personal recognizance, after the Department uncovered material that appears to be information that should have been, but was not, disclosed to the defense prior to trial.

Attorney General Eric Holder also instructed the Department’s Criminal Division to review the Department’s public corruption investigation in Alaska to ensure that all other discovery obligations have been met.    » read more »

Initiates New Rulemaking to Govern Immigration Removal Proceedings

June 3, 2009 -- Attorney General Eric Holder today vacated the order issued in Matter of Compean by Attorney General Mukasey in January and announced his intention to initiate a new rulemaking proceeding for regulations to govern claims of ineffective assistance of counsel in removal proceedings.    » read more »

June 1, 2009 -- Washington D.C. -- According to the FBI's Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report released today, the nation experienced a 2.5 percent decrease in the number of violent crimes and a 1.6 percent decline in the number of property crimes for 2008 compared with data from 2007. The report is based on information that the FBI gathered from 12,750 law enforcement agencies that submitted six to 12 comparable months of data to the FBI for both 2007 and 2008.

Violent Crime

* In 2008, all four of the violent crime offense categories declined nationwide compared with data from 2007. Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter declined 4.4 percent, aggravated assault was down 3.2 percent, forcible rape decreased 2.2 percent, and robbery decreased 1.1 percent.    » read more »

Sen. Martinez requests briefing on joint DoJ & HHS health care fraud plan

June 1, 2009 -- WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) today called for a briefing from the departments of Justice (DoJ) and Health and Human Services (HHS) on their interagency effort to combat Medicare fraud.

Specifically, Senator Martinez is asking for the departments to provide information about the data-driven approach to prevent and detect Medicare fraud, plans to identify new geographic areas requiring targeted enforcement, the strategy to conduct on-site verification of medical equipment suppliers, compliance training for Medicare providers, and efforts to strengthen compliance and enforcement in Medicare Parts C and D.    » read more »