Fraud

October 16, 2009 -- Former General Services Administration (GSA) Chief of Staff David H. Safavian was sentenced today to one year in prison on charges of obstruction of justice and making false statements in connection with the investigation into the activities of former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

In addition to the prison term, Safavian was sentenced today to two years of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman of the District of Columbia.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, October 2 – The Senate last night passed an amendment by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that would require the Department of Defense to calculate how much the Pentagon pays companies that committed fraud.

The measure, added to a defense appropriations bill, also would make the Pentagon recommend how to penalize contractors that repeatedly cheated the government out of hundreds of millions of dollars.    » read more »

Senator introduces bill to make it easier for employees to report waste and fraud in government contracting

October 1, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – With the federal government spending $530 billion on contracts in 2008 alone, people who blow the whistle when they see waste or fraud are more important than ever. Yet, most employees of government contractors currently don’t have adequate whistleblower protections to safeguard them from retaliation.

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill plans to change that in order to encourage more people to step forward and report fraud, waste and abuse by introducing legislation to extend ground breaking whistleblower protections to all government contractors.    » read more »

New County-By-County Report Estimates More Than Half a Million New York Seniors Fall Victim to Consumer Fraud

September 16, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - To combat fraud and protect seniors, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today unveiled her plan to crack down on financial fraud against seniors, increase penalties on those scamming seniors, increase awareness of criminal tactics, and hold workshops across New York on financial literacy to empower seniors to protect themselves and their life savings.

A new report from Senator Gillibrand's office estimates that over half a million New York seniors fall victim to consumer fraud each year.    » read more »

September 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is warning Veterans not to give credit card numbers over the phone to callers claiming to update VA prescription information.

"America’s Veterans have become targets in an inexcusable scam that dishonors their service and misrepresents the Department built for them," said Dr. Gerald Cross, VA’s Under Secretary for Health. "VA simply does not call Veterans and ask them to disclose personal financial information over the phone."

Veteran Service Organizations have brought to VA's attention that callers are misrepresenting the VA to gain personal information over the phone. They say VA recently changed procedures for dispensing prescriptions and ask for the Veteran's credit card number.    » read more »

September 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – This morning, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner hosted Attorney General Eric Holder, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Jon Leibowitz, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Director Jim Freis and attorneys general from 12 states to discuss emerging trends and proactive strategies to combat fraud against consumers in the housing markets as well as best practices to bolster coordination across state and federal agencies.

This meeting follows up on an announcement by the Obama Administration in April of a multi-agency crackdown on foreclosure rescue scams and loan modification fraud designed to protect homeowners from predatory financial practices.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., Sept. 1, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the distribution of more than $35 million in Fair Funds to more than 98,000 investors in Cardinal Health, Inc. who were harmed by a fraudulent revenue and earnings management scheme.

The SEC's enforcement action against Cardinal Health in July 2007 alleged that the company presented a false picture of its operating results to the financial community and the investing public — one that matched its publicly disseminated earnings guidance and analysts' expectations rather than its true economic performance. Cardinal Health settled the SEC's charges and paid $35 million in penalties and disgorgement that were placed into the Fair Fund being distributed.    » read more »

August 25, 2009 -- Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Joseph M. Demarest, Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the FBI, announced the arrest this morning of Hassan Nemazee, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nemazee Capital Corporation, in connection with a scheme to defraud Citibank, N.A. (Citibank).    » read more »

August 25, 2009 -- WASHINGTON—Japanese electronics manufacturer Epson Imaging Devices Corporation (Epson) agreed to plead guilty and pay a $26 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices in the sale of Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display panels (TFT-LCD) sold to Motorola Inc., the Department of Justice announced today.    » read more »

August 24, 2009 -- ANCHORAGE, AK—United States Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced that on August 21, 2009, lead defendant Lance Lockard was sentenced to 70 months in prison for his leadership of a large-scale mortgage fraud scheme.    » read more »

August 25, 2009 -- WASHINGTON—Lee William Dubois, a former Department of Defense (DoD) contractor, was sentenced today to three years in prison for his participation in a scheme to steal fuel worth approximately $39.6 million from the U.S. Army in Iraq, announced Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Dana J. Boente.    » read more »

August 27, 2009 -- WASHINGTON—James M. Davis, 60, the former chief financial officer of Houston-based Stanford Financial Group (SFG), pleaded guilty today to fraud and obstruction charges related to a $7 billion scheme to defraud investors, Lanny A. Breuer, Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division, and Tim Johnson, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, announced.

Davis was charged in a criminal information, filed on June 18, 2009, with conspiracy to commit mail, wire and securities fraud; mail fraud; and conspiracy to obstruct a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation. The criminal information also seeks forfeiture of up to $1 billion in fraud proceeds.    » read more »

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 »

Has Led To Indictment Of 8 Individuals And The Opening Of More Than 80 Cases - Unit Cracking Down On Flood Of Mortgage Fraud Cases Infecting Brooklyn

June 22, 2009 -- Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer and Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes announced that the Kings County Mortgage Fraud and Real Estate Crimes Unit has led to the indictment of eight individuals and the opening of more than 80 cases. One such case involves Thomas Prusik-Parkin, the man accused of impersonating his deceased mother to collect Social Security benefits and rent subsidies.    » read more »