NewzIntel.com

Category: FBI

  • MIL-OSI USA: Justice Department Announces Murder-For-Hire Charges Against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Brigadier General and Former Intelligence Officer and Members of an Iranian Intelligence Network

    Source: US State Government of Utah

    Ruhollah Bazghandi, an OFAC-Sanctioned Brigadier General in the IRGC and Former IRGC Intelligence Organization Counterintelligence Chief, and Members of His Iran-Based Network, Contracted Members of an Eastern European Organized Crime Group to Murder a U.

    Note: View the superseding indictment here. 

    The Justice Department announced today the unsealing of a superseding indictment containing murder-for-hire, money-laundering, and sanctions evasion charges against Ruhollah Bazghandi, also known as Roohollah Azimi; Fnu Lnu, also known as Haj Taher, Haj Taher; Hossein Sedighi; and Seyed Mohammad Forouzan, all of Iran.

    “The Justice Department has now charged eight individuals, including an Iranian military official, for their efforts to silence and kill a U.S. citizen because of her criticism of the Iranian regime,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “We will not tolerate efforts by an authoritarian regime like Iran to undermine the fundamental rights guaranteed to every American. Three of the defendants charged in this horrific plot are now in U.S. custody, and we will never stop working to identify, find, and bring to justice all those who endanger the safety of the American people.”

    “Today’s indictment exposes the full extent of Iran’s plot to silence an American journalist for criticizing the Iranian regime,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “According to the charges, a brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a former Iranian intelligence officer, working with a network of conspirators, planned to kill a dissident living in New York City. The FBI’s investigation led to the disruption of this plot as one of the conspirators was allegedly on their way to murder the victim in New York. As these charges show, the FBI will work with our partners here and abroad to hold accountable those who target Americans.”

    “Today’s indictment makes plain that the Iranian regime for years has been behind a violent campaign to stalk, intimidate, and arrange the killing of an American dissident on U.S. soil for bravely speaking up for the rights of the Iranian people,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The Department is committed to exposing and holding accountable those in Tehran who believe they can hide their hand in carrying out such reprehensible activities.”

    “As alleged, for years, the Government of Iran has attempted to assassinate, on U.S. soil, a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin who is a prominent critic of the Iranian regime,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York. “In January 2023, we unsealed charges alleging that members of an Eastern European crime group engaged in a plot to murder this victim. As we allege, that group was not acting alone. Today, we hold their Iranian masters to account, and allege that these Iran-based co-conspirators, including a Brigadier General in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, directed the murder plot. By charging these Iran-based defendants, we seek to strike another public blow at the heart of the Government of Iran’s efforts to execute the victim — as well as its lethal targeting, intimidation, and repression of other Iranian dissidents critical of the regime in the U.S. and abroad.”

    As detailed in the superseding indictment, Bazghandi, Haj Taher, Sedighi, and Forouzan contracted members of an Eastern European criminal organization, including Rafat Amirov, also known as Farkhaddin Mirzoev, Pᴎᴍ,  and Rome; Polad Omarov, also known as Araz Aliyev, Polad Qaqa, and Haci Qaqa; and Zialat Mamedov, also known as Ziko, to murder a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin in New York City who has publicly opposed the Iranian government and who has previously been the target of similar plots by the Iranian government. Amirov, Omarov, and Mamedov previously were arrested on charges contained in underlying indictments. Amirov and Omarov are in custody in the United States, pending trial; Mamedov was extradited from the Czech Republic to the Republic of Georgia to face charges there. Bazghandi, Haj Taher, Sedighi, and Forouzan, all of whom are based in Iran, remain at large. The case is pending before U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon for the Southern District of New York.

    According to the allegations contained in the superseding indictment, other court filings, and statements made during court proceedings, Bazghandi, who resides in Iran, is an IRGC Brigadier General and has previously served as chief of an IRGC Intelligence Organization (IRGC-IO) counterintelligence office. In April 2023, the U.S. Secretary of State designated IRGC-IO as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 14078, for hostage-taking and the wrongful detention of U.S. nationals abroad. On the same date, the Treasury Department sanctioned Bazghandi in connection with his involvement with the detention of foreign prisoners held in Iran. Bazghandi was designated by the Treasury Department a second time in June 2023, this time under Executive Order 13224, for his participation in IRGC-IO’s lethal targeting operations. Haj Taher, Sedighi, and Forouzan (collectively with Bazghandi, the Bazghandi Network), each of whom resides in Iran, also have connections to the Government of Iran.   

    The Bazghandi Network contracted Amirov, Omarov, Mamedov, and Khalid Mehdiyev to murder, on U.S. soil, a victim residing in New York City. The victim is a journalist, author, and human rights activist who has publicized the Government of Iran’s human rights abuses and suppression of political expression, including in connection with continuing protests against the regime across Iran. As recently as 2020 and 2021, Iranian intelligence officials and assets plotted to kidnap the victim from within the United States for rendition to Iran in an effort to silence the victim’s criticism of the regime. That plot was disrupted and exposed by the FBI and led to the filing of federal kidnapping conspiracy and other charges in the Southern District of New York against several participants in the plot in United States v. Farahani, et al.

    Since at least July 2022, the Bazghandi Network tasked members of the organization with assassinating the victim. The organization’s participation in the murder-for-hire plot was directed by Amirov, who resided in Iran and who was tasked with targeting the victim by individuals in Iran. On approximately July 13, 2022, Amirov forwarded targeting information — which Amirov had received from individuals in Iran — about the victim and the victim’s residence to Omarov. Omarov, in turn, together with Mamedov, directed and collaborated with Mehdiyev, who was residing in Yonkers, New York, to carry out the plot against the victim. Mehdiyev’s participation in the plot was disrupted when he was arrested near the victim’s home on or about July 28, 2022, while in possession of the assault rifle, along with 66 rounds of ammunition, approximately $1,100 in cash, and a black ski mask.

    In January 2023, Amirov, Omarov, and Mamedov were arrested overseas. On Jan. 27, 2023, they were charged publicly for their roles in the plot to assassinate the victim. Nevertheless, in the months that followed, members of the Bazghandi Network continued to target the victim. For example, in or about March 2023, Haj Taher searched for information about the victim’s family members and Sedighi saved an image of the victim’s residence. As recently as on or about May 1, 2023, Bazghandi conducted an internet search, in Farsi, for, “a person in the house of [the victim] movie,” and, on the same date, watched a video with the title, “A video of the arrested gunman in front of [the victim]’s home in New York received by [the victim’s employer].”

    Bazghandi, Haj Taher, Sedighi, and Forouzan, have been charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; and conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and sanctions against the Government of Iran, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

    Amirov, Omarov, and Mamedov  have also been charged with murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. In addition, Amirov, Omarov, and Mamedov were charged with attempted murder in aid of racketeering, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and possession and use of a firearm in connection with the attempted murder, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison and a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison. If convicted, a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    The FBI investigated the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs assisted with the extradition of Mamedov.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael D. Lockard, Jacob H. Gutwillig, and Matthew J.C. Hellman for the Southern District of New York, Trial Attorneys Christopher Rigali and Leslie Esbrook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, and Trial Attorney Dmitriy Slavin of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.

    An indictment is merely an accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Two South Carolina Men Plead Guilty to Hate Crimes, Conspiracy and Other Charges for Bias-Motivated Armed Robberies Targeting Hispanic Victims

    Source: US State Government of Utah

    Two South Carolina men pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Columbia, South Carolina, to federal hate crime and other charges in connection with a string of racially-motivated armed robberies targeting Hispanic victims.

    According to court documents, beginning in January 2021 and continuing through February 2021, Charles Antonio Clippard, 27, and Michael Joseph Knox, 29, both of Columbia, conspired to target people the defendants identified as Mexican or Hispanic at places of public accommodation, including gas stations and grocery stores. After identifying these targets, the defendants would rob their victims at gunpoint. The defendants targeted their victims because of their victims’ race and national origin.

    Both defendants admitted their involvement in a Jan. 22, 2021, armed robbery in which the defendants followed their victims from a grocery store and restaurant to their home and then robbed the victims at gunpoint, stealing cash and a cellphone. They also admitted their involvement in a Jan. 30, 2021, armed robbery and carjacking targeting a Hispanic victim after following him from a gas station to his home. The defendants admitted their involvement in another Jan. 30, 2021, armed robbery in which they targeted a Hispanic victim, followed him from a gas station to his home and then robbed him and others at gunpoint after following him into his home. In total, the defendants pleaded to three hate crime charges, one count of carjacking, one count of conspiracy and two firearms charges. Two other co-conspirators, Gabriel Brunson, 21, and Sierra Fletcher, 34, both of Columbia, previously pleaded guilty to hate crime, conspiracy and firearm offenses.

    “These defendants targeted Hispanic victims for violent acts of armed robbery because of their race, national origin and perceived vulnerability,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Every person, regardless of their race or national origin, is entitled to the full protection of the law, and no person should have to fear for their lives or property because of their race or ethnicity.  The Justice Department will continue to protect all Americans and will vigorously prosecute those who commit bias-motivated crimes.”

    “While these defendants sparked fear for an entire community by targeting members of our Hispanic community, today’s hearing sends a louder message: we will not tolerate bias-based crimes in South Carolina,” said U.S. Attorney Adair Ford Boroughs for the District of South Carolina. “The Justice Department will continue to relentlessly protect and enforce the civil rights of everyone in South Carolina.”

    “These defendants used violent acts of armed robbery to purposely target Hispanic victims simply because of their race,” said Assistant Director Chad Yarbrough of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division. “We hope the guilty plea by these two defendants serves notice that violence borne from hate will never be tolerated in our communities. The FBI remains steadfast in its mission to uphold the Constitution and protect the civil rights of everyone, fairly and equally.”

    “Clippard and Knox egregiously sought to exploit and intimidate their victims based on their Hispanic ethnicity,” said Special Agent in Charge Steve Jensen of the FBI Columbia Field Office. “Their violent robberies instilled fear in their victims and innocent working people within the Hispanic community. These criminal acts have no place in our society, and we are committed to ensuring the safety of all individuals, regardless of their background.”

    The defendants face a mandatory minimum penalty of 14 years in prison for the firearms offenses, a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each hate crime count and a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison on the carjacking count. The plea agreements require both defendants to pay restitution to all victims. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    The FBI Columbia Field Office investigated the case, with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Columbia Police Department, Town of Lexington Police Department and Richland County Sheriff’s Department.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ben Garner and E. Elizabeth Major for the District of South Carolina and Trial Attorneys Katherine McCallister and Andrew Manns of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Justice Department Announces Murder-For-Hire Charges Against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Brigadier General and Former Intelligence Officer and Members of an Iranian Intelligence Network

    Source: United States Attorneys General 13

    Ruhollah Bazghandi, an OFAC-Sanctioned Brigadier General in the IRGC and Former IRGC Intelligence Organization Counterintelligence Chief, and Members of His Iran-Based Network, Contracted Members of an Eastern European Organized Crime Group to Murder a U.

    Note: View the superseding indictment here. 

    The Justice Department announced today the unsealing of a superseding indictment containing murder-for-hire, money-laundering, and sanctions evasion charges against Ruhollah Bazghandi, also known as Roohollah Azimi; Fnu Lnu, also known as Haj Taher, Haj Taher; Hossein Sedighi; and Seyed Mohammad Forouzan, all of Iran.

    “The Justice Department has now charged eight individuals, including an Iranian military official, for their efforts to silence and kill a U.S. citizen because of her criticism of the Iranian regime,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “We will not tolerate efforts by an authoritarian regime like Iran to undermine the fundamental rights guaranteed to every American. Three of the defendants charged in this horrific plot are now in U.S. custody, and we will never stop working to identify, find, and bring to justice all those who endanger the safety of the American people.”

    “Today’s indictment exposes the full extent of Iran’s plot to silence an American journalist for criticizing the Iranian regime,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “According to the charges, a brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a former Iranian intelligence officer, working with a network of conspirators, planned to kill a dissident living in New York City. The FBI’s investigation led to the disruption of this plot as one of the conspirators was allegedly on their way to murder the victim in New York. As these charges show, the FBI will work with our partners here and abroad to hold accountable those who target Americans.”

    “Today’s indictment makes plain that the Iranian regime for years has been behind a violent campaign to stalk, intimidate, and arrange the killing of an American dissident on U.S. soil for bravely speaking up for the rights of the Iranian people,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The Department is committed to exposing and holding accountable those in Tehran who believe they can hide their hand in carrying out such reprehensible activities.”

    “As alleged, for years, the Government of Iran has attempted to assassinate, on U.S. soil, a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin who is a prominent critic of the Iranian regime,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York. “In January 2023, we unsealed charges alleging that members of an Eastern European crime group engaged in a plot to murder this victim. As we allege, that group was not acting alone. Today, we hold their Iranian masters to account, and allege that these Iran-based co-conspirators, including a Brigadier General in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, directed the murder plot. By charging these Iran-based defendants, we seek to strike another public blow at the heart of the Government of Iran’s efforts to execute the victim — as well as its lethal targeting, intimidation, and repression of other Iranian dissidents critical of the regime in the U.S. and abroad.”

    As detailed in the superseding indictment, Bazghandi, Haj Taher, Sedighi, and Forouzan contracted members of an Eastern European criminal organization, including Rafat Amirov, also known as Farkhaddin Mirzoev, Pᴎᴍ,  and Rome; Polad Omarov, also known as Araz Aliyev, Polad Qaqa, and Haci Qaqa; and Zialat Mamedov, also known as Ziko, to murder a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin in New York City who has publicly opposed the Iranian government and who has previously been the target of similar plots by the Iranian government. Amirov, Omarov, and Mamedov previously were arrested on charges contained in underlying indictments. Amirov and Omarov are in custody in the United States, pending trial; Mamedov was extradited from the Czech Republic to the Republic of Georgia to face charges there. Bazghandi, Haj Taher, Sedighi, and Forouzan, all of whom are based in Iran, remain at large. The case is pending before U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon for the Southern District of New York.

    According to the allegations contained in the superseding indictment, other court filings, and statements made during court proceedings, Bazghandi, who resides in Iran, is an IRGC Brigadier General and has previously served as chief of an IRGC Intelligence Organization (IRGC-IO) counterintelligence office. In April 2023, the U.S. Secretary of State designated IRGC-IO as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 14078, for hostage-taking and the wrongful detention of U.S. nationals abroad. On the same date, the Treasury Department sanctioned Bazghandi in connection with his involvement with the detention of foreign prisoners held in Iran. Bazghandi was designated by the Treasury Department a second time in June 2023, this time under Executive Order 13224, for his participation in IRGC-IO’s lethal targeting operations. Haj Taher, Sedighi, and Forouzan (collectively with Bazghandi, the Bazghandi Network), each of whom resides in Iran, also have connections to the Government of Iran.   

    The Bazghandi Network contracted Amirov, Omarov, Mamedov, and Khalid Mehdiyev to murder, on U.S. soil, a victim residing in New York City. The victim is a journalist, author, and human rights activist who has publicized the Government of Iran’s human rights abuses and suppression of political expression, including in connection with continuing protests against the regime across Iran. As recently as 2020 and 2021, Iranian intelligence officials and assets plotted to kidnap the victim from within the United States for rendition to Iran in an effort to silence the victim’s criticism of the regime. That plot was disrupted and exposed by the FBI and led to the filing of federal kidnapping conspiracy and other charges in the Southern District of New York against several participants in the plot in United States v. Farahani, et al.

    Since at least July 2022, the Bazghandi Network tasked members of the organization with assassinating the victim. The organization’s participation in the murder-for-hire plot was directed by Amirov, who resided in Iran and who was tasked with targeting the victim by individuals in Iran. On approximately July 13, 2022, Amirov forwarded targeting information — which Amirov had received from individuals in Iran — about the victim and the victim’s residence to Omarov. Omarov, in turn, together with Mamedov, directed and collaborated with Mehdiyev, who was residing in Yonkers, New York, to carry out the plot against the victim. Mehdiyev’s participation in the plot was disrupted when he was arrested near the victim’s home on or about July 28, 2022, while in possession of the assault rifle, along with 66 rounds of ammunition, approximately $1,100 in cash, and a black ski mask.

    In January 2023, Amirov, Omarov, and Mamedov were arrested overseas. On Jan. 27, 2023, they were charged publicly for their roles in the plot to assassinate the victim. Nevertheless, in the months that followed, members of the Bazghandi Network continued to target the victim. For example, in or about March 2023, Haj Taher searched for information about the victim’s family members and Sedighi saved an image of the victim’s residence. As recently as on or about May 1, 2023, Bazghandi conducted an internet search, in Farsi, for, “a person in the house of [the victim] movie,” and, on the same date, watched a video with the title, “A video of the arrested gunman in front of [the victim]’s home in New York received by [the victim’s employer].”

    Bazghandi, Haj Taher, Sedighi, and Forouzan, have been charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; and conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and sanctions against the Government of Iran, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

    Amirov, Omarov, and Mamedov  have also been charged with murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. In addition, Amirov, Omarov, and Mamedov were charged with attempted murder in aid of racketeering, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and possession and use of a firearm in connection with the attempted murder, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison and a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison. If convicted, a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    The FBI investigated the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs assisted with the extradition of Mamedov.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael D. Lockard, Jacob H. Gutwillig, and Matthew J.C. Hellman for the Southern District of New York, Trial Attorneys Christopher Rigali and Leslie Esbrook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, and Trial Attorney Dmitriy Slavin of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.

    An indictment is merely an accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Bank Manager Sentenced to 65 Months in Prison for Coordinating Multistate COVID-19 Relief Program Fraud Scheme

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

    CAMDEN, N.J. – A former branch manager of a national financial institution was sentenced today to 65 months in prison for using his position to organize a conspiracy to help individuals obtain at least 38 fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling approximately $5 million, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.

    Tommy Hawkins, 61, of Philadelphia, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Karen M. Williams to one count of bank fraud conspiracy. Judge Williams imposed the sentence on Oct. 18, 2024, in Camden federal court. A codefendant, Sieff Robert Sargeant, 44, of Island Park, New York, previously pleaded guilty before Judge Williams to one count of money laundering and was sentenced on Oct. 2, 2024, to six months in prison and six months of home confinement.

    According to documents filed in these cases and statements made in court: 

    The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act is a federal law enacted in March 2020 and was designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of hundreds of billions of dollars in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses, through a program referred to as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). To obtain a PPP loan, a qualifying small business was required to apply and provide information on its operations, including the number of employees and expenses. In addition, businesses generally had to provide supporting documentation.

    In 2020 and early 2021, Hawkins worked as the branch manager of the Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, branch of a national bank that was accepting Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)  loan applications. Hawkins worked with Eric Rivera, Lisa Smith, and others to recruit individuals who owned companies with little or no operations to open bank accounts at Hawkins’ branch and apply for PPP loans. Hawkins helped the recruited individuals submit PPP loan applications that contained materially false representations about the companies’ number of employees and payroll expenses. The applications also included false documentation, including tax forms. Based on these applications, Hawkins’ bank approved at least 38 PPP loans and disbursed approximately $5 million. Hawkins received incentive compensation through the bank for opening business bank accounts for the companies that received fraudulent PPP loans and also had an agreement with Rivera and Smith for them to pay Hawkins $5,000 of the loan proceeds for each PPP loan that Hawkins helped to obtain.

    In April 2021, Sargeant’s business received a PPP loan based on a fraudulent application that was submitted through Hawkins’ branch. Sargeant then paid another individual, James Wessels, to create fake payroll checks. Sargeant distributed fake payroll checks to a friend, who cashed the checks and returned the majority of the cash to Sargeant. This was done to conceal that the proceeds actually were being spent on non-payroll expenses.

    In addition the prison term, Judge Williams sentenced Hawkins to three years of supervised release and ordered restitution of $5.3 million.

    Lisa Smith has pleaded guilty to her role in the scheme. Charges remain pending against Rivera and Wessels, and they are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

    U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Office of the Inspector General, New York Region, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Patricia Tarasca; special agents of the FBI’s South Jersey Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs in Philadelphia; special agents of the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, Boston-New York Field Division, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Corwin Rattler; and special agents of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General, New York Region, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Mellone, with the investigation.

    The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel A. Friedman and Attorney-in-Charge Jason M. Richardson of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Camden.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Attorney’s Office Announces Election Day Program to Protect Election Workers and Voting Rights

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

    NEWARK, N.J. – Federal law protects elections against such crimes as threatening violence against election officials or staff, intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input.

    U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today that the public can call the office’s Election Day Hotline at 888-636-6596 to report voting rights concerns, threats against election officials, or any other activity that would interfere with the right to vote in the District of New Jersey. This number will be active Oct. 26, 2024, through Nov. 8, 2024, and will be staffed live on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024.

    “We are committed to ensuring that every citizen in New Jersey is able to vote without interference or discrimination, and to have that vote counted. In coordination with the Department’s Election Day Program, our office will do everything in its power to protect voters and election workers throughout New Jersey.”

    U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger

    The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring and combatting discrimination and intimidation at the polls, threats of violence directed at election officials and poll workers, and election fraud. The Department will address these violations wherever they occur. The Department’s longstanding Election Day Program furthers these goals and also seeks to ensure public confidence in the electoral process by providing local points of contact within the Department for the public to report possible federal election law violations.

    Federal law also contains special protections for the rights of voters, and provides that they can vote free from interference, including intimidation, and other acts designed to prevent or discourage people from voting or voting for the candidate of their choice. The Voting Rights Act protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice (when voters need assistance because of disability or inability to read or write in English).   

    In addition to the Election Day Hotline, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day. The FBI can be reached by the public at 973-792-3000.

    Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws, or any civil rights violation, can be made at any time to the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Civil Rights Hotline, 855-281-3339, or by submitting an online complaint here, or to the Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., by phone at 800-253-3931 or by complaint form here.

    In the case of a crime of violence or intimidation, please call 911 immediately and before contacting federal authorities. State and local police have primary jurisdiction over polling places and almost always have faster reaction capacity in an emergency.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Susan Millenky, Mark McCarren, and Joseph McFarlane will lead the efforts of his Office in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming general election.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Federal jury convicts man of methamphetamine trafficking in Billings

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    BILLINGS — A federal jury today convicted a Colorado man of drug trafficking after a high-speed pursuit and search of his vehicle led to the recovery of approximately six pounds of methamphetamine, U.S Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

    After a two-day trial that began on Oct. 21, the jury found Moises Zamora, 39, of Greely, Colorado, guilty of possession with intent to distribute meth as charged in an indictment. Zamora faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release.

    U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing was set for Feb. 20, 2025. Zamora remained detained pending further proceedings.

    “This drug dealer was caught with almost six pounds of methamphetamine while dangerously attempting to flee a Yellowstone County Deputy Sheriff. With their actions, our law enforcement partners kept more than 21,000 doses of meth from poisoning our community. More work is required, and I am confident such work on other people will yield the same result as Zamora – guilty of drug trafficking,” U.S. Attorney Laslovich said.

    In court documents and at trial, the government alleged that on Nov. 11, 2022, a Yellowstone County Sheriff’s deputy pulled into a convenience store parking lot in Billings and noticed a passenger car parked in an obscure manner, away from the pumps or store entrances. As the deputy drove toward the car, he saw the driver, later identified as Zamora, point toward his patrol vehicle and then slouch in the seat. The deputy believed this behavior to be consistent with nefarious acts and pulled behind the vehicle to investigate. Zamora reversed his car and drove away. The deputy activated his lights and siren, but Zamora continued driving, and a high-speed pursuit began. The pursuit lasted almost 10 minutes and involved speeds reaching 80 mph, with Zamora driving recklessly and entering the lane of oncoming traffic. Zamora finally stopped when he came to a dead end and was arrested.

    The deputy observed two blue “M30” pills, later confirmed to be fentanyl, in the backseat. Law enforcement determined Zamora had a warrant for his arrest and was booked into the Yellowstone County Detention Center. Law enforcement served a search warrant on Zamora’s car and located approximately six pounds of meth, two fentanyl pills, three cell phones and drug paraphernalia. Six pounds of meth is the equivalent of approximately 21,744 doses.

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case. The Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office, Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force and FBI conducted the investigation. 

    This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.

    XXX

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Business Owner Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Charge

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    SHREVEPORT, La. – Brian T. Owen, 52, of Caddo Parish, Louisiana, pleaded guilty yesterday to money laundering, announced United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown. United States District Judge S. Maurice Hicks, Jr. presided over the hearing.  

    A Bill of Information was filed September 30, 2024, charging Owen with one count of money laundering. This charge was the result of an investigation conducted by state and federal law enforcement agencies into the unlawful activities of Owen, who was the president of an oilfield consulting service business headquartered in Bossier City. On June 22, 2020, the company filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Louisiana. 

    In January 2021, as part of the company’s bankruptcy plan of reorganization, a Distribution Trust was established to pay back creditors, and Owen executed a Distribution Trust Agreement in his role as president of the company. According to this plan, if Owen received any additional compensation from the company, he was required to pay 30% of that directly to the Distribution Trust. 

    In 2021, the company began applying for Employee Retention Credits (“ERCs”), which are a refundable tax credit for certain eligible businesses and tax-exempt organizations that had employees and were affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Owen then devised a scheme to defraud the Distribution Trust by intercepting the physical U.S. Department of Treasury Checks before they were deposited into the company’s working accounts. Unbeknownst to other senior leadership at the company, Owen had opened a bank account in the name of the company while it was still in bankruptcy. As part of the scheme, he deposited a total of $3.8 million in ERC funds for himself as additional compensation. Owen did not pay the Distribution Trust the 30% as he had agreed, but instead used the money for his own personal expenses, including to pay off gambling debts. In total, he defrauded the Distribution Trust out of $1,157,154.39.           

    Owen faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, 3 years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.  

    The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Louisiana State Police and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Seth D. Reeg.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Child Predator Sentenced to More than 27 Years in Prison for Sexual Exploitation of a 5-Year-Old Girl

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

                WASHINGTON – Michael Humphrey, 43, a registered sex offender from Southeast Washington, D.C., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to more than 27 years in federal prison for uploading graphic videos of himself to the internet depicting his sexual abuse of a five-year-old girl, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division, and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). 

               Humphrey pleaded guilty January 8 to sexual exploitation of a child. Humphrey previously was convicted on a charge relating to the sexual abuse of another child. On March 10, 2020, he was convicted of third-degree sex offense in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, Maryland. Since May 2022, Humphrey has been registered as a sex offender in the District of Columbia as required by law.

               In addition to the 327-month prison term rendered today, U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden ordered Humphrey to serve 15 years of supervised release and pay restitution to the girl and several other victims.

               According to the government’s evidence, in July 2023, Google LLC reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that two Google accounts, later identified as belonging to Humphrey, had uploaded material depicting child sexual abuse to Google servers. NCMEC turned that information over to the investigators from the FBI Washington Field Office and the MPD. 

               Investigators obtained a warrant authorizing the search of Humphrey’s Google accounts and discovered three videos that documented Humphrey sexually abusing a five-year-old girl in Washington, D.C. during June 2023.

               Humphrey was arrested on August 11, 2023, and has been held since. After he was taken into custody, investigators obtained Humphrey’s electronic devices and discovered thousands of images and hundreds of videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.

               This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The task force is composed of FBI agents, detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department, along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing federal charges against individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking.

               The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rachel Forman and Janani Iyengar, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Eau Claire Man Sentenced to 5 1/2 Years for Illegally Possessing Loaded Firearm

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Damon L. Clark, 26, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 5 ½ years in federal prison for possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon. The prison term will be followed by 3 years of supervised release. Clark pleaded guilty to this charge on August 20, 2024.

    On January 1, 2024, Eau Claire Police Officers were dispatched to a bar in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, for reports that someone pointed a firearm at another individual during a fight. Witness reports and video surveillance identified Clark as the individual who pointed the firearm. When law enforcement arrived, Clark fled to an adjacent parking lot. Law enforcement arrested Clark and located a loaded Glock 19 handgun with a 31-round magazine under a nearby vehicle. The handgun had a machinegun conversion device installed, which is an illegal, after-market attachment that converts a semi-automatic handgun into a machinegun.  With the attachment, a handgun is capable of firing approximately 50 rounds in four seconds with a single pull of the trigger. The Wisconsin State Crime Lab confirmed Clark’s DNA was present on the firearm. Clark is prohibited from legally possessing firearms and ammunition because of prior felony convictions.

    At sentencing, Judge Conley characterized Clark’s behavior as disastrous and emphasized the danger that he posed by pointing a fully loaded machinegun with extended magazine at someone outside a bar with other patrons present. Judge Conley balanced the extremely aggravated nature of this offense with Clark’s lack of prior prison experience. Judge Conley expressed his hope that this would be a turning point for Clark.

    The charge against Clark was the result of an investigation conducted by the ATF Madison Crime Gun Task Force consisting of federal agents from ATF and Task Force Officers (TFOs) from local agencies including the Dane County and Clark County Sheriff’s Offices and the Fitchburg, Madison, Sun Prairie, and La Crosse Police Departments. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Eau Claire Police Department, and UW-Eau Claire Police Department also assisted in this investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Lennon prosecuted this case.

    This case has been brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the U.S. Justice Department’s program to reduce violent crime. The PSN approach emphasizes coordination between state and federal prosecutors and all levels of law enforcement to address gun crime, especially felons illegally possessing firearms and ammunition and violent and drug crimes that involve the use of firearms.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Attorney’s Office to Oversee Complaints Related to November 2024 General Election

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    SAN DIEGO – The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring and combating discrimination and intimidation at the polls, threats of violence directed at election officials and poll workers, and election fraud. The Department will address these violations wherever they occur. The Department’s longstanding Election Day Program furthers these goals and also seeks to ensure public confidence in the electoral process by providing local points of contact within the Department for the public to report possible federal election law violations.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Askins has been appointed to serve as District Election Officer for the Southern District of California, and in that capacity is responsible for overseeing the district’s handling of Election Day complaints regarding voting rights, threats of violence to election officials or staff, and election fraud, in consultation with Justice Department headquarters in Washington, D.C.

    “Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted in a fair and free election,” said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath. “Similarly, election officials and staff must be able to serve without being subject to unlawful threats of violence. The Department of Justice will always work tirelessly to protect the integrity of the election process.”

    Federal law protects against such crimes as threatening violence against election officials or staff, intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input. It also contains special protections for the rights of voters, and provides that they can vote free from interference, including intimidation, and other acts designed to prevent or discourage people from voting or voting for the candidate of their choice. The Voting Rights Act protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice (where voters need assistance because of disability or inability to read or write in English).   

    U.S. Attorney McGrath said: “The right to vote is the cornerstone of American democracy. We all must ensure that those who are entitled to vote can exercise it if they choose, and that those who seek to corrupt it are brought to justice. In order to respond to complaints of voting rights concerns and election fraud during the upcoming election, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, AUSA/DEO Askins will be on duty while the polls are open. He can be reached by the public at the following telephone number: (619) 546-6692.”

    In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day. The local FBI field office can be reached by the public at (858) 320-1800.

    Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division in Washington, DC by complaint form at https://civilrights.justice.gov/ or by phone at 800-253-3931.

    U.S. Attorney McGrath urged those who have specific information about voting rights concerns or election fraud make that information available to the Department of Justice.

    Please note, however, in the case of a crime of violence or intimidation, please call 911 immediately, before contacting federal authorities. State and local police have primary jurisdiction over polling places, and almost always have faster reaction capacity in an emergency. 

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Prior felon pleads guilty to multiple drug and gun charges

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Nader Ngoopos a/k/a Nike, 25, of Buffalo, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr. to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and distribute, 500 grams or more of cocaine and 100 grams or more of heroin, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of life and a $5,000,000 fine.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Evan K. Glaberson, who is handling the case, stated that between 2016, and late 2018, Ngoopos agreed with others to obtain cocaine and heroin in the Buffalo area and travel to Olean, NY, to distribute the cocaine and heroin. Ngoopos personally traveled to Olean on at least a weekly basis, selling cocaine and heroin out of various locations in Olean, including North 8th Street and South 11th Street. Co-conspirators also sold cocaine and heroin as part of the conspiracy on a weekly basis.

    On October 15, 2018, Ngoopos participated in an armed robbery at St. Bonaventure University in Olean, with two others. The three gained entry to a dormitory at St. Bonaventure, and broke into a dorm room where Ngoopos, who possessed a firearm,  believed he and his co-conspirators would find marijuana and money. Once they gained entry, Ngoopos and his co-conspirators pointed their firearms at the heads of the two occupants of the dorm room, threatened them, and then stole about an ounce of marijuana and approximately $300 – $400.

    On September 2, 2021, law enforcement officers observed Ngoopos get into a vehicle in Buffalo. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but it sped away leading officers on a high-speed chase. Eventually, the car came to a stop on East Amherst Street. As the car came to a stop, Ngoopos got out of the car and ran away, dropping a pistol. In June 2020, Ngoopos was convicted in Cattaraugus County Court of a felony and legally prohibited from possessing a firearm and ammunition.

    The plea is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia, the Olean Police Department, under the direction of Chief Ron Richardson, the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Timothy Whitcomb, the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia, and the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff John Garcia.

    Sentencing is scheduled for February 21, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. before Judge Sinatra.

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  • MIL-OSI USA News: FACT SHEET: U.S. Achievements in the Global Fight Against  Corruption

    Source: The White House

    Corruption poses a grave and enduring threat to U.S. national interests and those of our partners. When officials abuse their entrusted power for personal or political gain, the interests of authoritarians and corrupt actors win – at the expense of citizens, honest businesses, and healthy societies. As the Biden-Harris Administration took office, this longstanding challenge had metastasized. In some countries, oligarchs were teaming up with foreign kleptocrats to warp policy and procurement decisions in exchange for kickbacks – with no accountability. Corrupt officials were laundering stolen assets through the U.S. and global financial systems, while local investigators were ill-equipped to follow the money. Reformers in countries saddled with corruption had scarce public resources to actually address development needs. The Biden-Harris Administration tacked these challenges starting Day One, to ensure democracy delivers and corrupt actors are held to account.

    The first National Security Study Memorandum of the Biden-Harris Administration established countering corruption as a “core U.S. national security interest,” leading to the issuance in December 2021 of the first United States Strategy on Countering Corruption. Since then, the United States has taken action at home and around the world to curb illicit finance, hold corrupt actors accountable, forge multilateral partnerships, and equip frontline leaders to take on transnational corruption. The result has been historic progress in protecting the U.S. financial system from money-laundering, including in the residential real estate sector, while enhancing corporate transparency. This Administration has mobilized record levels of foreign assistance dedicated to anti-corruption, including $339 million in Fiscal Year 2023 alone – almost double the yearly average during the previous four years. This new assistance has unlocked support for anti-corruption institutions, leveled the playing field for law-abiding businesses, enabled journalists to team up across borders, and more. Expanded law enforcement cooperation and capacity-building have generated convictions of corrupt actors as well as the seizure, forfeiture, and return of criminal proceeds, while new anti-corruption offices at the Department of State (State) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) energized diplomatic and stakeholder engagement. The United States imposed sanctions on more than 500 individuals and entities for corruption and related activities, and established – for the first time in any jurisdiction globally – a new visa restriction for those who enable corrupt activity.

    U.S. progress on anti-corruption has produced concrete benefits for the American people and stakeholders around the world – enhancing prosperity, economic security, safety, and democracy, as outlined below. To bolster and sustain this work, the U.S. government has also modernized its approach to addressing corruption as a cross-cutting priority. Today, Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Daleep Singh will highlight the benefits of this work to American businesses and workers at a White House anti-corruption roundtable with leaders from 15 major U.S. companies.

    Advancing economic opportunity abroad

    • Improving the business enabling environment: U.S. assistance advanced governments’ capacity to prevent, detect, investigate, and prosecute corruption, while encouraging anti-bribery compliance. State expanded its Fiscal Transparency Innovation Fund – to help willing partners improve budget transparency – while holding countries to account for progress in its Fiscal Transparency Report. In the past two years alone, a newly expanded State-Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) program facilitated U.S. collaboration with foreign counterparts on more than 50 transnational corruption and money laundering cases with a U.S. nexus. In coordination with State, experienced legal advisors from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) assisted foreign justice partners around the world in investigating and prosecuting corruption and money laundering cases, and recovering assets. And DOJ’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, in partnership with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, has recovered more than $1.7 billion and returned or assisted in returning more than $1.6 billion for the benefit of the people harmed by the corruption.
    • Enforcing our bans on foreign bribery and money-laundering – and pressing other countries to do the same: To enable honest companies to compete overseas, the United States upheld its commitments under the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention by enforcing its foreign bribery and related laws and working with partners to monitor other countries’ progress in implementing the Convention, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2024. Since the start of the Administration, DOJ has imposed more than $3.5 billion in total monetary sanctions under the Foreign Corruption Practices Act (FCPA) in 16 corporate resolutions, and announced charges against more than 70 individuals. For instance, this April the former Comptroller General of Ecuador was convicted of money laundering relating to his receipt of over $10 million in bribes from, among others, the Brazil-based construction conglomerate Odebrecht S.A. The Securities and Exchange Commission continued civil enforcement of the FCPA, with approximately $1 billion in total monetary sanctions in 22 corporate resolutions, spanning conduct in 24 countries, since the start of the Administration. DOJ is also enforcing the recently enacted Foreign Extortion Prevention Act, which criminalizes demands for bribes by foreign officials from U.S. companies and others. In addition, this August DOJ announced a new Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program to uncover and prosecute corporate crime – with a particular focus on foreign and domestic corruption, as well as violations by financial institutions of their obligations to take steps to detect and deter money laundering.
    • Seizing windows of opportunity: U.S. assistance has become more agile via the establishment of USAID’s Anti-Corruption Response Fund (providing flexible support to countries experiencing new opportunities or backsliding), the State-DOJ Global Anti-Corruption Rapid Response Fund (providing assistance and case mentoring to foreign partners on short notice), and USAID’s Democracy Delivers initiative (which has marshalled $500 million in funding from the United States and others to help reformers deliver, including on their anti-corruption commitments). These innovations, informed by USAID’s Dekleptification Guide, are enabling the U.S. government to more nimbly pivot toward environments where local momentum can be bolstered by outside assistance.
    • Bolstering integrity in high-risk sectors: In April 2024, the United States and its partners launched the Blue Dot Network – a mechanism to certify infrastructure projects that have met global standards for quality and sustainability, including transparency in procurement and provisions to limit opportunities for corruption. The United States also supported the launch of PROTECT, a collective action project to address corruption risk in the supply chain for critical minerals.
    • Strengthening corruption safeguards in the Indo-Pacific: In June, the United States and thirteen other partners held a signing ceremony, after concluding eight rounds of negotiations in record time, for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Fair Economy Agreement. The Agreement aims to create a more transparent, predictable trade and investment environment across IPEF partners’ markets, including through binding obligations to prevent and combat corruption. The Department of Commerce (Commerce) and State are accelerating implementation by offering new anti-corruption technical assistance to IPEF partners, including workshops on procurement corruption.
    • Dialoguing with the private sector: In 2021, State launched the Galvanizing the Private Sector as Partners in Combatting Corruption initiative, which connects companies and governments to strengthen business integrity and encourage governance reform. Commerce’s International Trade Administration organized the 2024 forum of the Business Ethics for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Small and Medium Enterprises Initiative – the world’s largest public-private partnership on ethical business conduct – at which stakeholders formalized policy recommendations on business integrity in public procurement.

    Protecting the U.S. financial system from abuse

    • Expanding corporate transparency: To deter kleptocrats and criminals from laundering money through anonymous shell companies, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) operationalized a new filing system for certain companies operating in the United States to report their beneficial owners – the real people who own or control them – pursuant to the bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act. Treasury held hundreds of outreach events across all states and territories, reaching thousands of stakeholders, to enable companies to quickly and easily comply with this reporting requirement.
    • Closing loopholes for money-laundering: Treasury finalized rules to close two major loopholes in the U.S. financial system: (1) to increase transparency in the U.S. residential real estate sector, to ensure that law-abiding homebuyers are not disadvantaged by individuals laundering their ill-gotten gains, and (2) to safeguard the investment adviser industry from illicit finance. Treasury also proposed a rule to modernize financial institutions’ anti-money-laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) programs, to make them more effective and risk-based. Together, these rulemakings represent historic advances for the U.S. AML/CFT regime, in line with international standards, that will help the United States urge other countries to undertake similar reforms to curb illicit finance. The Biden-Harris Administration has also called on Congress to close even more loopholes that facilitate money-laundering by passing the ENABLERS Act.
    • Blocking assets and denying entry to corrupt actors: Since the start of the Administration, Treasury has designated more than 500 individuals and entities for corruption and related activities, across six continents. That includes blocking the assets of 20 individuals and 48 companies in Fiscal Year 2024 for corruption in Afghanistan, Guatemala, Guyana, Paraguay, Western Balkans, and Zimbabwe. In tandem, State publicly issued corruption-related visa restrictions for 76 foreign officials and family members in Fiscal Year 2024, and 292 over the course of the Administration. These actions have protected the U.S. financial system from corrupt actors and promoted accountability in domestic jurisdictions. For example, just one week after the U.S. issuance of a public visa restriction on former Director of Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) Intelligence Services Osman Mehmedagic for significant corruption, he was arrested by BiH authorities for abuse of office.
    • Taking aim at enablers of corruption: In December 2023, President Biden issued an historic Presidential Proclamation establishing a visa restriction for those who facilitate and enable significant corruption and their immediate family members. This new visa restriction complements existing commitments to use sanction and law enforcement capabilities to target private enablers of public corruption. Earlier this year, the FBI and DOJ secured a guilty plea and a criminal penalty of $661 million from Gunvor – one of the largest commodities trading firms in the world – for facilitating bribery of Ecuadorian officials and laundering those bribes through U.S. banks. In addition, USAID launched new activities to incentivize integrity within professions that serve as gatekeepers to the international financial system.
    • Upholding international standards: The United States has helped lead efforts to expand anti-corruption work at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), including improving assessment tools, mitigating risks associated with “golden passport” programs, and highlighting how non-financial sectors can be abused by corrupt actors.

    Keeping America and our partners safe

    • Addressing corruption risk in the security sector: Security sector corruption can divert essential supplies, empower malign actors, threaten the safety of U.S. service members, and undermine U.S. military missions writ large. In the past year, the Department of Defense (DOD) incorporated corruption risk into its security cooperation planning – subjecting certain proposals to further scrutiny and identifying risk mitigation measures as needed. State also created new resources to weigh corruption risk as part of security sector assistance decision-making. In addition, State’s Global Defense Reform Program and DOD’s institutional capacity building programs advanced more transparent, accountable, and professional defense institutions. DOD continued running a training course on combatting corruption for partner military commanders and civilian leaders.
    • Tackling organized crime and corruption: Transnational criminal organizations often rely on corruption to enable their criminal activities and evade accountability – which fuels narcotrafficking into the United States, human smuggling, cybercrimes, and more. The U.S. government is deploying anti-corruption tools to target criminal networks and their financial enablers, in line with the 2023 White House Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime.
    • Standing up to Russia’s aggression: The United States has adapted to address the wartime needs of Ukraine’s anti-corruption stakeholders, as they close off a key vector for Russian dominance and advance Ukraine’s democratic future. In 2023, Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators and prosecutors achieved an 80 percent increase in prosecutions and a 50 percent increase in convictions, plus opened cases against high-ranking officials including the former head of the Ukrainian Supreme Court.  With U.S. support, Ukraine has advanced significant reforms on asset disclosure, launched a whistleblower portal, strengthened the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, and enhanced transparency and integrity in reconstruction.
    • Securing a greener future: The United States has integrated an anti-corruption lens across sectors, with particular emphasis on addressing corruption vulnerabilities that threaten a secure, just energy transition for all. This includes USAID support to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), increased mining transparency in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, and innovations that address transnational corruption in green energy mineral supply chains across 15 countries.
    • Protecting global health: Corruption curtails the ability of states to respond to pandemics and undercuts access to basic healthcare. USAID is tackling this challenge by releasing cutting-edge guidance on anti-corruption in the health sector and launching integrated programming. For example, in Liberia the United States is working with the government to curb theft of pharmaceuticals through civil society monitoring, law enforcement trainings, and public awareness campaigns.
    • Addressing the root causes of migration: Combating corruption is a core component of improving conditions in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras – so people do not feel compelled to leave their homes, in line with the U.S. Strategy for Addressing the Root Causes of Migration in Central America. Recent U.S. actions have included training up to 27,000 justice sector stakeholders in those countries to more effectively address corruption.

    Defending democracy by rooting out corruption

    • Tackling electoral corruption: When candidates can be bankrolled by foreign adversaries and institutions captured by kleptocrats, citizens lose faith in their governments—or even in democracy itself. In response, USAID has launched new programs to bolster electoral integrity, strengthen independent media, and increase the transparency of political finance in high-risk locations.
    • Lifting up civil society and independent media: The U.S. government has substantially expanded support to frontline activists and journalists, including through the Global Anti-Corruption Consortium. In addition, a new State Department initiative is training hundreds of journalists in transnational corruption investigations, while USAID’s new investigative journalist networks in Asia and Southern Africa are building capacity to track corruption across sectors and across borders. The Secretary of State established a new award for Anti-Corruption Champions, which has honored dozens of courageous civil society leaders and embattled reformers. In 2022, the United States also hosted the largest regular gathering of civil society activists fighting corruption – the International Anti-Corruption Conference – in Washington, DC, with keynote remarks from APNSA Jake Sullivan.
    • Protecting sovereignty: Authoritarian actors like Russia and the PRC use bribery to interfere in the policy, procurement, debt, and electoral processes of other countries – undermining both sovereignty and democracy. The United States is standing up to this tactic by building the resilience of frontline actors to detect and deflect foreign-backed strategic corruption, educating partners about the kleptocrats’ playbook, harnessing sanction tools to deter threats, and increasing collaboration between practitioners working on anti-corruption and those addressing foreign malign influence – both within the USG and with likeminded partners. For example, in June the United States joined with Canada and the UK to expose Russia’s use of corruption and covert financing, among other tactics, to undermine democratic processes in Moldova.
    • Restoring trust in American democracy: The Biden-Harris Administration has established the strongest ethics standards of any U.S. presidency. On his first day in office, the President signed an Executive Order requiring administration officials to take a stringent ethics pledge, which extends lobbying bans, limits shadow lobbying, and makes ethics waivers more transparent. The Administration also restored longstanding democratic norms by protecting DOJ cases from political interference, releasing the President’s and Vice-President’s taxes, and voluntarily disclosing White House visitor logs. And in the last year, the Office of Government Ethics finalized rules updating the standards for ethical conduct and legal expense funds for executive branch employees.
    • Protecting American democracy from malign finance: Just as we defend democracy around the world, the U.S. government is working to keep American democracy safe from foreign adversaries. Actions to curb money laundering in the United States can help reduce the ability of foreign and domestic actors to make illegal campaign contributions and evade U.S. election laws. President Biden has called on Congress to go even further by passing the DISCLOSE Act, which would curb the ability of foreign entities and special interests to use dark money loopholes to influence our elections.
    • Revitalizing participation in the Open Government Partnership (OGP): The United States rejoined the Steering Committee of OGP – a platform for civil society and governments to forge joint commitments and learn from each other– and provided assistance for OGP’s work on anti-corruption. Domestically, the United States has turbocharged OGP implementation by creating the U.S. Open Government Secretariat at the General Services Administration, an Open Government Federal Advisory Committee, an Interagency Community of Practice – spanning federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, and engaged with hundreds of stakeholders to exchange lessons and expand transparency, accountability, and public participation. The United States also launched the first-ever Request for Information to feed into the 6th U.S. OGP National Action Plan and announced development of a toolkit to help federal agencies more meaningfully engage with the public.

    Modernizing and coordinating U.S. government efforts to fight corruption

    • Institutionalizing anti-corruption as an enduring priority: Over the past four years, Departments and Agencies have made substantial organizational improvements to elevate corruption concerns. For example:
      • The State Department’s new Office of the Coordinator on Global Anti-Corruption leads the integration of anti-corruption priorities into bilateral and other policy processes, conducts targeted diplomatic engagements, and drives strategic planning, including through the Department’s senior-level Anti-Corruption Policy Board. In the past year, the Office jumpstarted implementation of the Combating Global Corruption Act and completed an analysis of anti-corruption assistance to inform future State Department decision-making.
      • USAID’s new Anti-Corruption Center, within the newly established Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance, serves as a hub of technical expertise and thought leadership – driving the integration of corruption considerations across USAID’s portfolio, supporting USAID Missions in developing localized approaches, managing a suite of programming focused on transnational corruption, and using its convening power and policy insights to forge strategic partnerships. Since 2022, USAID has released its first-ever Anti-Corruption Policy, which outlines a cross-sectoral approach to constraining opportunities for corruption, raising the costs of corruption, and incentivizing integrity – plus a host of tools to drive uptake across USAID.
      • FBI’s International Corruption Unit expanded an agreement with the State Department to deploy six regional anti-corruption advisors to strategic locations around the world, where they organize regional working groups with local law enforcement officials, provide case-base mentorship, and facilitate coordination with the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre.

    Expanded interagency capacity has been complemented by the National Security Council’s establishment of a dedicated Director for Anti-Corruption position, for the first time, to ensure whole-of-government coordination and advance anti-corruption within key policy processes.

    • Leading in multilateral fora: The United States has regained its leadership role in the international bodies that shape anti-corruption norms globally and can sustain momentum across time. In particular, the United States stepped into the presidency of the UN Convention against Corruption Conference of States Parties (UNCAC COSP), proudly hosting in December 2023 thousands of stakeholders in Atlanta, Georgia, led by the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield. As part of its commitment to championing the role of non-governmental actors in the fight against corruption, the United States facilitated record civil society participation in UNCAC working group meetings, hosted the first UNCAC Private Sector Forum, and supported inclusive implementation of UNCAC commitments in Latin America, East Africa, and Southeast Asia. The United States also participated in several peer reviews of our own anti-corruption practices over the last three years, and proudly made these results public. Alongside these multilateral fora, we convened the Global Forum on Asset Recovery action series to accelerate practitioner cooperation across the United States, Algeria, Honduras, Iraq, Moldova, Nigeria, Seychelles, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and Zambia.
    • Understanding corruption dynamics: The Intelligence Community developed and disseminated new resources to bolster intelligence prioritization, collection and analysis on corrupt actors and their networks. USAID commissioned research on topics like countering corruption through social and behavioral change and State initiated an interagency anti-corruption learning agenda and a small grants program to support it.
    • Deepening external partnerships: The United States convened a series of coordination meetings with other bilateral donors and philanthropies in order to harmonize our anti-corruption approaches and galvanized anti-corruption resources across the donor community through the Integrity for Development campaign. USAID’s Countering Transnational Corruption Grand Challenge for Development brought together technologists, businesses, activists, and others to collaboratively address concrete corruption challenges.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Five Defendants Sentenced for Long-Running Bid-Rigging Conspiracy in Georgia Concrete Industry

    Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

    Four executives and a corporation were sentenced for participating in a long-running conspiracy to fix prices, rig bids and allocate jobs for ready-mix concrete in the greater Savannah, Georgia area.

    James Clayton Pedrick, Gregory Hall Melton, John David Melton, Timothy “Bo” Strickland and Evans Concrete LLC were charged in September 2020 with conspiring to fix prices, rig bids and allocate jobs for the sale of ready-mix concrete used in residential, commercial and public projects. Pedrick, Strickland and Evans Concrete later pleaded guilty for their participation in this conspiracy. Gregory Hall Melton and John David Melton were convicted by a jury in the U.S. District Court in Savannah earlier this year. Argos USA LLC separately admitted to its role in the conspiracy and entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division in January 2021.

    Gregory Hall Melton was sentenced today to 41 months in prison, and three years of supervised release and to pay a $50,000 fine. John David Melton was sentenced today to 26 months in prison, three years of supervised release and to pay a $10,000 fine. The court previously sentenced Strickland to five months in prison and to pay $150,000 fine, Pedrick to one year of probation and Evans Concrete to pay a $2.7 million fine. Argos USA LLC paid a $20 million criminal penalty as part of its DPA.

    According to court documents, the defendants effectuated their conspiracy by coordinating the issuance of price-increase letters to customers, allocating specific ready-mix concrete jobs in the coastal Georgia area, and submitting bids to customers at collusive and noncompetitive prices. The charged conspiracy began as early as 2010 and continued until about July 2016.

    “These sentences reflect the egregious nature of rigging bids for materials like ready-mix concrete which are essential to the American economy,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Manish Kumar of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “The Antitrust Division and its law enforcement partners will hold accountable those who seek to exploit the critical need for these materials to harm consumers.”

    “Concrete is an essential material in construction projects, with prices set in the free market by the forces of supply and demand,” said U.S. Attorney Jill E. Steinberg for the Southern District of Georgia. “However, the defendants in this case for several years illegally rigged the system to benefit themselves at the expense of customers and are being held accountable for their conduct.”

    “Activities related to bid-rigging and collusion do not promote an environment conducive to open competition which harms the consumer,” said Executive Special Agent in Charge Kenneth Cleevely of U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General (USPS OIG). “The sentencing in this case represents a win for all law enforcement agencies who investigate those who engage in this type of harmful conduct to ensure that justice is served.”

    “The sentences imposed today send a clear message to anyone who chooses corporate greed over open and fair competition,” said Special Agent in Charge Joseph Harris of the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General (DOT OIG), Southern Region. “Our commitment to working with our law enforcement partners and DOJ’s Antitrust Division is unwavering as we continue to pursue and uncover corrupt conduct and hold companies that intentionally engage in wrongdoing accountable.”

    The FBI Washington Field Office, DOT OIG and USPS OIG investigated the case.

    Trial Attorney Patrick S. Brown and former Trial Attorney Julia M. Maloney of the Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney E. Greg Gilluly Jr. for the Southern District of Georgia prosecuted the case.

    Anyone with information on bid rigging, price fixing, market allocation or other anticompetitive conduct in the ready-mix concrete industry should contact the Antitrust Division’s Complaint Center at 888-647-3258 or visit http://www.justice.gov/atr/report-violations.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Washington Man Sentenced for Hate Crimes and Firearm Offense for Four Attacks on Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Halls

    Source: US State of North Dakota

    A Washington man was sentenced today to 11 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for federal civil rights and firearms offenses in connection with four attacks that damaged or destroyed several Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Halls in western Washington.

    Mikey Diamond Starrett, also known as Michael Jason Layes, 52, of Olympia, was also ordered to pay restitution in a total amount of $714,608.70, including: $4,921.73 to the Kingdom Hall of Tumwater; $1,749.20 to the Kingdom Hall of Yelm; and $707,937.73 to the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.

    Specifically, Starett was sentenced on four counts of violating the Church Arson Prevention Act — one count for each attack — as well as one count of using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

    “The defendant in this case committed four attacks on Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Halls, causing fear and anguish to its members,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The freedom to practice the religion we choose, without discrimination or violence, is a fundamental civil right in our nation and a hallmark of our democracy from its very inception. Violence based on religious prejudice has no place in our society. The Justice Department will continue to prosecute those who target and harm houses of worship.”

    “Starrett’s attacks irrevocably destroyed the sense of safety and peace that a house of worship is supposed to provide, and caused severe, permanent harm to the Jehovah’s Witness community in Washington,” said U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman for the Western District of Washington. “These were not crimes against buildings, but a series of attacks against a community and a faith.”

    “ATF and our law enforcement partners spent many thousands, if not tens of thousands, of hours investigating these attacks and ensuring that the right person was identified,” said Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Blais of the ATF Seattle Field Division. “His guilty plea is a validation of the hard work put in by all the law enforcement involved in the investigation, and this sentence is appropriate for his egregious actions. We are all committed to defending the right of people to practice their religion, and investigating when someone acts to deprive them of that right, in this case through acts of arson and use of a firearm during, and in relation to, a crime of violence.”

    According to court documents and statements made during the plea and sentencing hearings, Starrett intentionally set fire to the Kingdom Hall of Tumwater, Washington, on March 19, 2018; intentionally set fire to the Kingdom Hall of Olympia on March 19, 2018; intentionally used a firearm to shoot into the Kingdom Hall of Yelm, Washington, on May 15, 2018; and intentionally set fire to the Kingdom Hall of Olympia on July 3, 2018. The defendant admitted he committed these attacks because of the religious character of the Kingdom Halls. The attacks resulted in significant damage to each of the Kingdom Halls, including the destruction of the Olympia Kingdom Hall on July 3, 2018.

    The ATF Seattle Field Division, FBI Seattle Field Office, Tumwater Police Department and Olympia Police Department investigated the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonas Lerman for the Western District of Washington and Trial Attorney Matthew Tannenbaum of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section prosecuted the case.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Washington Man Sentenced for Hate Crimes and Firearm Offense for Four Attacks on Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Halls

    Source: United States Attorneys General

    A Washington man was sentenced today to 11 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for federal civil rights and firearms offenses in connection with four attacks that damaged or destroyed several Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Halls in western Washington.

    Mikey Diamond Starrett, also known as Michael Jason Layes, 52, of Olympia, was also ordered to pay restitution in a total amount of $714,608.70, including: $4,921.73 to the Kingdom Hall of Tumwater; $1,749.20 to the Kingdom Hall of Yelm; and $707,937.73 to the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.

    Specifically, Starett was sentenced on four counts of violating the Church Arson Prevention Act — one count for each attack — as well as one count of using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

    “The defendant in this case committed four attacks on Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Halls, causing fear and anguish to its members,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The freedom to practice the religion we choose, without discrimination or violence, is a fundamental civil right in our nation and a hallmark of our democracy from its very inception. Violence based on religious prejudice has no place in our society. The Justice Department will continue to prosecute those who target and harm houses of worship.”

    “Starrett’s attacks irrevocably destroyed the sense of safety and peace that a house of worship is supposed to provide, and caused severe, permanent harm to the Jehovah’s Witness community in Washington,” said U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman for the Western District of Washington. “These were not crimes against buildings, but a series of attacks against a community and a faith.”

    “ATF and our law enforcement partners spent many thousands, if not tens of thousands, of hours investigating these attacks and ensuring that the right person was identified,” said Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Blais of the ATF Seattle Field Division. “His guilty plea is a validation of the hard work put in by all the law enforcement involved in the investigation, and this sentence is appropriate for his egregious actions. We are all committed to defending the right of people to practice their religion, and investigating when someone acts to deprive them of that right, in this case through acts of arson and use of a firearm during, and in relation to, a crime of violence.”

    According to court documents and statements made during the plea and sentencing hearings, Starrett intentionally set fire to the Kingdom Hall of Tumwater, Washington, on March 19, 2018; intentionally set fire to the Kingdom Hall of Olympia on March 19, 2018; intentionally used a firearm to shoot into the Kingdom Hall of Yelm, Washington, on May 15, 2018; and intentionally set fire to the Kingdom Hall of Olympia on July 3, 2018. The defendant admitted he committed these attacks because of the religious character of the Kingdom Halls. The attacks resulted in significant damage to each of the Kingdom Halls, including the destruction of the Olympia Kingdom Hall on July 3, 2018.

    The ATF Seattle Field Division, FBI Seattle Field Office, Tumwater Police Department and Olympia Police Department investigated the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonas Lerman for the Western District of Washington and Trial Attorney Matthew Tannenbaum of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section prosecuted the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Ex-Smyrna Detective Pleads Guilty to Child Sexual Exploitation Charge

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    WILMINGTON, Del. – David C. Weiss, U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced that Michael Kealty, a former detective with the Smyrna Police Department, pleaded guilty today to coercing and enticing a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity. The Honorable U.S. District Judge Richard G. Andrews accepted the plea.

    Kealty pleaded guilty to Coercion/Enticement of a Minor.  He will be sentenced on February 12, 2025, at 10 a.m. and faces a mandatory minimum term of 10 years in prison, and a maximum term of life in prison.  A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    U.S. Attorney Weiss stated, “As a police officer, Mr. Kealty took an oath to protect and serve. Instead of honoring that oath, he chose to prey upon the most vulnerable members of our community. Prosecuting these child exploitation cases will remain a priority for my office, and I commend the FBI’s diligence in investigating this case.”

    “Michael Kealty’s actions reveal a calculating and dangerous criminal. He repeatedly sought opportunities to target vulnerable minors and was committing the very crimes he was sworn to investigate as a police detective. Pursuing justice for victims of child exploitation is one of the FBI’s highest priorities,” says Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno of the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office. “FBI Baltimore’s Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force will continue to work with our partners to investigate these horrific acts and bring those responsible to justice.”

    This case was investigated by the FBI and Assistant U.S. Attorney Briana Knox is prosecuting the case.

    A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the District of Delaware or on PACER.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: District Election Officer appointed to oversee election day complaints in the Southern District of Georgia

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    SAVANNAH, Ga.: Southern District of Georgia U.S. Attorney Jill E. Steinberg announced today that she has appointed a District Election Officer (DEO) to lead the efforts of the office in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming Nov. 5, 2024, general election.

    The DEO is responsible for overseeing the district’s handling of election day complaints of voting rights concerns, threats of violence to election officials or staff, and election fraud, in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington.

    U.S. Attorney Steinberg said, “Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted in a fair and free election. Similarly, election officials and staff must be able to serve without being subject to unlawful threats of violence. The Department of Justice will always work tirelessly to protect the integrity of the election process.”

    The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring and combatting discrimination and intimidation at the polls, threats of violence directed at election officials and poll workers, and election fraud. The Department will address these violations wherever they occur. The Department’s longstanding Election Day Program furthers these goals and also seeks to ensure public confidence in the electoral process by providing local points of contact within the Department for the public to report possible federal election law violations.

    Federal law protects against such crimes as threatening violence against election officials or staff, intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input.  It also contains special protections for the rights of voters, and provides that they can vote free from interference, including intimidation, and other acts designed to prevent or discourage people from voting or voting for the candidate of their choice.  The Voting Rights Act protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice (where voters need assistance because of disability or inability to read or write in English).   

    U.S. Attorney Steinberg stated that, “The franchise is the cornerstone of American democracy. We all must ensure that those who are entitled to the franchise can exercise it if they choose, and that those who seek to corrupt it are brought to justice. In order to respond to complaints of voting rights concerns and election fraud during the upcoming election, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, the DEO will be on duty in this District while the polls are open. The DEO can be reached by the public at the following telephone number, 912-201-2560, or by email at USAGAS.Election@usdoj.gov.”

    In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day.  The local FBI field office can be reached by the public at 770-216-3000.

    Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division in Washington, DC by complaint form at https://civilrights.justice.gov/ or by phone at 800-253-3931.

    U.S. Attorney Steinberg said, “Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the assistance of the American electorate. It is important that those who have specific information about voting rights concerns or election fraud make that information available to the Department of Justice.”

    Please note, however, in the case of a crime of violence or intimidation, please call 911 immediately and before contacting federal authorities. State and local police have primary jurisdiction over polling places, and almost always have faster reaction capacity in an emergency. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: San Diego Physician and Medical Practice Pay $3.8 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    SAN DIEGO – Dr. Janette J. Gray of San Diego and her former medical practice, The Center for Health & Wellbeing in San Diego, have agreed to pay $3.8 million to settle allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting false claims to the Medicare and TRICARE programs.

    Dr. Gray and The Center claimed to operate an “alternative,” “integrative,” and “holistic” clinic, which was staffed by medical doctors, nurse practitioners, naturopathic doctors, chiropractors, acupuncturists, and mental health professionals, along with ancillary medical and administrative staff. Dr. Gray and The Center promoted IV infusion therapy, hormone/supplement therapy, and a variety of other alternative treatments.

    The settlement resolves allegations that from 2012 to 2022, Dr. Gray and her practice billed Medicare and TRICARE for services that were not covered under either program by disguising the rendering provider, misrepresenting the services provided, “unbundling” services (by billing for a procedure or service in separate parts instead of a single code), or billing for services not medically necessary. In addition to paying $3.8 million to resolve the allegations, Dr. Gray will now be excluded from participating in Medicare, Medicaid, and all other Federal health care programs for five years.

    “There’s no price tag on the integrity of our healthcare system,” said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath. “When a doctor engages in billing fraud, we will protect patients and taxpayers from deceit.”

    “The civil settlement holds Dr. Gray and her former medical practice accountable for questionable actions that circumvented the TRICARE billing guidelines and allowed them to receive payments for services that should not have been reimbursed by TRICARE, costing American taxpayers millions of dollars,” said Bryan D. Denny, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Western Field Office.  “DCIS and its partners will always aggressively investigate those who defraud TRICARE, because those deceptive actions ultimately harm those defending our country and their families.”

    “This investigation is proof that the FBI and its law enforcement partners remain committed to investigating and bringing to justice anyone who tries to violate the American health care system,” said FBI San Diego Acting Special Agent in Charge Houtan Moshrefi.

    The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California; the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; DCIS; and the FBI. This matter was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maritsa A. Flaherty.

    The resolution of this matter illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating healthcare fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).

    The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch and Two Other Individuals Charged with Sex Trafficking and Interstate Prostitution

    Source: United States Department of Justice (Human Trafficking)

    Defendants Allegedly Arranged for Dozens of Men to Travel to New York and Hotels Around the World for Sex Events

    A 16-count indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Central Islip charging former Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (Abercrombie) Chief Executive Officer Michael Jeffries, along with Matthew Smith and James Jacobson, with sex trafficking and engaging in interstate prostitution.  The indictment alleges that between December 2008 and March 2015, Jeffries, Smith and Jacobson used a combination of force, fraud and coercion to traffic men while operating a prostitution enterprise.  All three defendants were arrested this morning. Jeffries and Smith are scheduled to make their initial appearances this afternoon in federal court in the Southern District of Florida, and Jacobson is scheduled to make his initial appearance this afternoon in federal court in St. Paul, Minnesota. They will be arraigned in the Eastern District of New York at a later date.

    Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge, New York Field Office (FBI) and Thomas G. Donlon, Interim Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the arrests and charges.

    “As alleged in the indictment, former CEO of Abercrombie Michael Jeffries, his partner Matthew Smith and their recruiter James Jacobson used their money and influence to prey on vulnerable men for their own sexual gratification,” stated United States Attorney Peace.  “Today’s arrests show that my Office and our law enforcement partners will not rest until anyone who engages in sex trafficking or interstate prostitution, regardless of their wealth or power, is brought to justice.”

    Mr. Peace expressed his thanks to the FBI Miami Field Office, West Palm Beach Resident Agency; the FBI Milwaukee Field Office, Eau Clair Resident Agency; the Barron County, Wisconsin, Sheriff’s Office; and the United States Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of Florida and the District of Minnesota, for their assistance with the case.

    “Today’s indictment highlights the alleged abhorrent behavior of Michael Jeffries, Matthew Smith, and James Jacobson.  The defendants allegedly preyed on the hopes and dreams of their victims by exploiting, abusing, and silencing them to fulfill their own desires, with insidious secret intentions.  This case is yet another example of individuals using their wealth, power, or reputation to manipulate and control others for their personal gratification.   The FBI and our partners won’t allow these criminal acts to go unchecked, we remain committed to investigating and bringing these cases forward to prosecution,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Dennehy.

    “Sex trafficking remains a pressing issue nationwide and New York City is no exception,” stated NYPD Interim Commissioner Donlon. “Through our continued partnership with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, the NYPD is able to enhance our investigations and secure convictions. Importantly, our close collaboration also allows us to connect survivors of this abhorrent crime with the necessary support and services they deserve.”

    From approximately 1992 to 2014, Jeffries was the CEO of Abercrombie, a fashion clothing retailer that owned and operated retail stores around the world.  Smith was Jeffries’ life partner.  The indictment alleges that Jacobson was employed by Jeffries and Smith to recruit, interview and hire men to perform commercial sex acts for Jeffries and Smith.

    As set forth in the indictment, from approximately 2008 to 2015, Jeffries, Smith and Jacobson, together with others, operated an international sex trafficking and prostitution enterprise.  Jeffries and Smith not only relied on their financial resources and Jeffries’ power as the CEO of Abercrombie, but also on numerous others, including Jacobson and a network of employees, contractors and security professionals, to operate this venture, which was dedicated to fulfilling their sexual desires.

    As further alleged in the indictment, Jeffries and Smith paid for dozens of men to travel within the United States and internationally to various locations, including the Hamptons on Long Island, New York City and hotels in England, France, Italy, Morocco and Saint Barthélémy, for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts with Jeffries, Smith and others (the “Sex Events”). Jacobson allegedly traveled throughout the United States and internationally to recruit and interview men for the Sex Events.  During “tryouts” of potential candidates, Jacobson typically required that the candidates first engage in commercial sex acts with him.

    The indictment alleges that Jeffries, Smith and Jacobson used coercive, fraudulent and deceptive tactics in connection with their sex trafficking and prostitution venture. For example, among other things, Jeffries, Smith, Jacobson and others acting at their direction:

    • Employed a referral system and interview process that did not inform men of the details of the Sex Events before they attended, including the full extent and nature of the sexual activity that would be required of the men at the Sex Events;
    • Caused men to believe that attending the Sex Events could yield modeling opportunities with Abercrombie or otherwise benefit their careers;
    • Caused men to believe that not complying with requests for certain acts during the Sex Events could harm their careers;
    • Required men to relinquish their personal items, including clothing, wallets and cellular phones, and store them in an inaccessible location during the Sex Events;
    • Required men to sign non-disclosure agreements;
    • On more than one occasion when men did not or could not consent, Jeffries and Smith violated the bodily integrity of the men by subjecting them, or continuing to subject them, to invasive sexual and violent contact by body parts and other objects;
    • On more than one occasion, Jeffries and Smith directed others to inject, or personally injected, men with an erection-inducing substance for the purpose of causing the men to engage in sex acts the men were incapable or unwilling to engage in.

    Many of the victims, at least one of whom was as young as 19 years old, were financially vulnerable and aspired to become models in the fashion industry.  Some victims recruited by the defendants had previously worked at Abercrombie stores or had modeled for Abercrombie.

    If convicted of the sex trafficking charge, the defendants each face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment.  If convicted of the interstate prostitution charges, the defendants face a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment.

    The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

    If you believe you are victim of a crime perpetrated by Michael Jeffries, Matthew Smith or James Jacobson, please contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.

    The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Civil Rights Section and the Criminal Section of the Office’s Long Island Division.  Assistant United States Attorneys Megan Farrell, Erin Reid and Philip Pilmar are in charge of the prosecution with the assistance of Bilingual Victim Witness Specialist Stephanie Marroquin and Fact Witness Services Unit Supervisor/Victim Witness Coordinator Huda Abouchaer.

    The Defendants:

    MICHAEL JEFFRIES
    Age: 80
    West Palm Beach, FL

    MATTHEW SMITH
    Age: 61
    West Palm Beach, FL

    JAMES JACOBSON
    Age:  71
    Rice Lake, WI

    E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 24-CR-423 (NJC)

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Brooklyn Man Admits Conspiracy to Commit Child Sex Trafficking

    Source: United States Department of Justice (Human Trafficking)

    NEWARK, N.J. – A Brooklyn, New York, man today admitted his role in a conspiracy to commit child sex trafficking, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

    Soauib Butcher, 30, of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Michael E. Farbiarz in Newark federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor.

    According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

    In August 2019, Butcher brought the victim by train to New York City, where he instructed the victim to perform oral sex for money on a rooftop in Brooklyn. Several days later, Butcher brought the victim to Elizabeth, New Jersey, where, from August 2019 to January 2020, the victim stayed with Butcher and a conspirator in a series of motel rooms. The conspirator posted advertisements depicting the victim on escort websites and, together with Butcher, arranged for customers to come to the motels to have sex with the victim in exchange for money.

    Conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor carries a maximum term of life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 19, 2025.

    U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson I. Delgado in Newark, with the investigation.

    The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katherine M. Romano of the Health Care Fraud Unit and Aaron L. Webman of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: McCaul on Reported Leak of Classified Information

    Source: US House Committee on Foreign Affairs

    Media Contact 202-226-8467

    Austin, Texas – Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul issued the following statement expressing concern over the alleged leak of classified information on Israel’s planned attack on Iran.

    “I am very concerned by the reported leak of classified information. Any leak of this gravity would be an inexcusable breach of U.S. national security with serious consequences, including damaging America’s relationship with our allies and credibility on the world stage. We must find out who was responsible for this criminal conduct and hold them fully accountable. I urge the Biden-Harris administration and the FBI to keep Congress updated on this incident and on their plans for new safeguards to prevent future leaks.”

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Federal Grand Jury Indicts Man in Connection with Robberies of Suburban Chicago Banks

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

    Ahead of the Threat Podcast: Episode Zero

    Welcome to Ahead of the Threat, the FBI’s new podcast miniseries that brings together an FBI cyber executive and a private sector chief information security officer. Join Bryan Vorndran, assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, and Jamil Farshchi, a strategic engagement advisor for the FBI who also works as an executive vice president and CISO of Equifax, as they discuss emerging cyber threats and the enduring importance of cybersecurity fundamentals. Featuring distinguished guests from the business world and government, Ahead of the Threat will confront some of the biggest questions in cyber: How will emerging technology impact corporate America? How can corporate boards be structured for cyber resilience? What does the FBI think about generative artificial intelligence? Listen to new episodes biweekly and stay Ahead of the Threat.

    Charity and Disaster Fraud

    Charity fraud scams can come in many forms: emails, social media posts, crowdfunding platforms, cold calls, etc. They are especially common after high-profile disasters. Always use caution and do your research when you’re looking to donate to charitable causes.

    RYAN JAMES WEDDING

    Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances; Conspiracy to Export Cocaine; Continuing Criminal Enterprise; Murder in Connection with a Continuing Criminal Enterprise and Drug Crime; Attempt to Commit…

    Capitol Violence

    The FBI is seeking to identify individuals involved in the violent activities that occurred at the U.S. Capitol and surrounding areas on January 6, 2021. View photos and related information here. If you have any information to provide, visit tips.fbi.gov or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: California Man Sentenced to Seven Years in Federal Prison for Orchestrating $23 Million Fraud Scheme

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

    CHICAGO — A California man has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison for orchestrating a fraudulent investment scheme that swindled investors out of $23.1 million.

    SEAN GRUSD formed three funds that he claimed would invest in private financial technology companies.  Beginning in 2021, Grusd provided potential investors with marketing materials containing numerous falsehoods about the funds’ purported investment history and successes.  Among other things, the promotional materials falsely claimed that one of Grusd’s funds had been an early investor in successful startup companies, such as Instacart, Coinbase, and Shippo.  Grusd also falsely claimed that he had graduated from a prestigious law school and that he managed the personal portfolio of the CEO of a large investment management firm.  Based on these and other false representations, more than a dozen victims invested $23.1 million in Grusd’s funds.

    Instead of investing the victims’ money, Grusd transferred the funds to his personal bank accounts and spent the money on a lavish lifestyle, including high-end automobiles, luxurious condos in Chicago and Montreal, and lavish travel and entertainment expenses.  Many of the victims had invested a significant portion of their life savings with Grusd.

    Grusd, 32, of Los Angeles, Calif., pleaded guilty last year in federal court in Chicago to a wire fraud charge.  In addition to the seven-year prison term, U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis on Wednesday ordered Grusd to pay more than $21 million in restitution to his victims.

    The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.

    “Defendant’s fraud was brazen and unmitigated,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey B. Rubenstein argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.  “It was an appalling stream of deliberate choices over almost two years targeting numerous victims and resulting in huge losses.”

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Leader of Anchorage Drug Trafficking Conspiracy Gets 20 Years for Trafficking Fentanyl, Methamphetamine

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The leader of an Anchorage drug trafficking conspiracy was sentenced today to 20 years in prison and five years’ supervised release for dealing fentanyl and methamphetamine in Anchorage.

    According to court documents, in 2022, Nigel Ivory, 29, of Anchorage, was released from prison after serving a federal sentence and began selling drugs in and around the Anchorage area.

    During the investigation, officials conducted three controlled purchases of drugs from Ivory between October 2022 and March 2023. During the first controlled purchase in October 2022, Ivory sold over 111 grams of methamphetamine and 98 fentanyl pills for $3,800. In January 2023, Ivory sold 282 fentanyl pills for $1,950. In March 2023, Ivory sold over 276 grams of methamphetamine and 487 fentanyl pills for $5,000.

    In February 2023, officials seized over $55,000 in cash that Ivory attempted to transport from Anchorage to Fort Wayne, Indiana, on a commercial flight. Ivory attempted to smuggle the cash by hiding it inside three tennis shoes in a checked bag. The cash had trace amounts of methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl on it. Later that month, officials also seized over 180 fentanyl pills from a co-conspirator during a traffic stop. Investigators uncovered text messages from Ivory directing the co-conspirator to hide the fentanyl pills from police.

    On June 22, 2023, officials simultaneously executed search warrants for two residences associated with Ivory, one of which was Ivory’s primary address. At 6:30 a.m., agents announced their presence outside Ivory’s residence. Ivory and a co-defendant did not come outside and surrender until 7:00 a.m. Upon searching the residence, agents recovered over $18,000 in U.S. currency, a money counter, drug packaging material, over 160 fentanyl pills, some of which were partially dissolved and scattered in a toilet bowl, two firearms and ammunition.

    In April and May 2023, law enforcement seized three additional packages, each containing more than a kilogram of fentanyl pills, from co-conspirators in the case, in which Ivory was involved in trafficking. The following co-conspirators were also charged in this case:

    • Brandon Beltz, 33, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl on Aug. 13, 2024, and is awaiting sentencing.
    • Jack Breitenstein died of an apparent fentanyl overdose after spending nine months on pretrial release and the charges against him were dismissed on April 11, 2024. 
    • Wilanda Jackson, 23, is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and is awaiting trial.
    • Don’Tia Nikolai, 21, is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and is awaiting trial. 

    As a result of the investigation, the defendant is accountable for 5.3 kilograms of fentanyl and over 380 grams of methamphetamine. Ivory pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of distribution of methamphetamine and fentanyl in April 2024.

    “Fatal drug overdoses rose over 44% this past year, with the majority involving fentanyl, posing a grave threat to Alaskans,” said U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska. “Keeping fentanyl out of our communities is a top priority, and we urge the public to report any drug trafficking activities to law enforcement. We will continue to work closely with law enforcement to investigate and prosecute those who conspire to traffic dangerous drugs in our state.”

    “Mr. Ivory callously trafficked massive quantities of deadly fentanyl pills into and throughout Alaska, poisoning our communities and destroying lives in the process,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Zachary Pomerantz of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. “This investigation, worked alongside our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners, represents one of highest fentanyl seizures known in Alaska, underscoring the FBI’s commitment to disrupting and dismantling drug trafficking organizations that threaten the safety of our communities.”

    “Your Alaska State Troopers will continue to work with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to hold anyone that traffics dangerous drugs such as fentanyl accountable for their actions,” stated Alaska State Troopers Colonel Maurice Hughes. “I hope that this significant prison sentence serves as a deterrent to those that are peddling drugs in our state. To those trafficking dangerous drugs in Alaska, know that law enforcement will catch up to you, arrest you, and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”

    The FBI Anchorage Field Office, Alaska State Troopers, Anchorage Police Department, IRS Criminal Investigation and U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service investigated the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Schroeder prosecuted the case.

    UPDATE: This release has been updated to include the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: California Drug Supplier Receives Life for Role in Fentanyl Overdose Death of Fairbanks Man

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    FAIRBANKS, Alaska – A California drug supplier was sentenced today to life in prison for his connection to the fatal fentanyl overdose of a Fairbanks man in October 2020.

    Junior Gafatasi Tulali, 48, was convicted by a federal jury of distributing fentanyl resulting in death with an enhanced statutory penalty on April 19, 2024. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, around Oct. 13, 2020, Tulali agreed to sell 500 Oxycodone M30 pills to a Florida resident who agreed to distribute the pills in Fairbanks, where they could be sold for a higher price than Outside. The pills were shipped in a parcel from California and arrived in Fairbanks on Oct. 17. Inside the parcel were at least 480 counterfeit Oxycodone M30 pills containing a mixture of acetaminophen and an unknown amount of fentanyl.

    The individual who retrieved the shipment distributed the counterfeit pills to several other dealers in the area. On Oct. 26, the victim purchased two pills from the shipment. Sometime between the evening of Oct. 26 and Oct. 28, the victim used the pills he obtained and was found dead in his home on Oct. 28. Medical examiners determined cause of death was acute toxic effects of fentanyl, which was contained in the pills that originated from Tulali.

    Evidence presented at trial connected two additional non-fatal fentanyl overdoses to Tulali’s shipment of counterfeit pills. Both of the dealers in Fairbanks who were involved in selling the fentanyl pills to the victim were convicted for their role in the offence in 2022.

    “In 2023, Alaska had the highest overdose death rate in the nation. Fentanyl poisoning is devastating our state, largely due to drug suppliers like Mr. Tulali, who gamble with human lives every time they sell a counterfeit pill,” said U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska. “Thanks to the outstanding investigative and prosecutorial work done in this case, we traced the pills that tragically killed the victim back to the source and held three people accountable for the irreparable damage they caused. My office is committed to collaborating with law enforcement at all levels to keep fentanyl out of our communities and prosecute those who jeopardize that mission.” 

    “Fentanyl traffickers like Mr. Tulali are willing to risk the lives of their customers in order to make money peddling drugs,” said David F. Reames, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “The sentence today shows that these actions have grave consequences, a lesson Mr. Tulali will spend many years learning.”

    “This case is a great example of how far our officers are ready to go to make sure we provide justice for victims in our community. We take our job of protecting  Fairbanks seriously and will continue to hold criminals responsible when they threaten the safety of our residents,” said Fairbanks Police Chief Ron Dupee.

    The Drug Enforcement Administration, Fairbanks Police Department, North Pole Police Department and Alaska State Troopers, with assistance from the FBI Anchorage Field Office, investigated the case as part of the Fairbanks Area Narcotics Team (FANT) High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys and Carly Vosacek and Alana Weber prosecuted the case.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona Appoints Election Officer for the Northern District of Alabama

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    Birmingham, Ala. – United States Attorney Prim F. Escalona announced today that an Assistant U.S. Attorney will serve as the District Election Officer (DEO) and lead the efforts of her Office in connection with the Department of Justice’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming November 5, 2024, general election.   The DEO is responsible for overseeing the District’s handling of election day complaints of voting rights concerns, threats of violence to election officials or staff, and election fraud, in consultation with the Department of Justice’s Headquarters in Washington.

    “Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted in a fair and free election,” said U.S. Attorney Escalona.  Similarly, election officials and staff must be able to serve without being subject to unlawful threats of violence.  The Department of Justice will always work tirelessly to protect the integrity of the election process.”

    The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring and combatting discrimination and intimidation at the polls, threats of violence directed at election officials and poll workers, and election fraud.  The Department will address these violations wherever they occur.  The Department’s longstanding Election Day Program furthers these goals and also seeks to ensure public confidence in the electoral process by providing local points of contact within the Department for the public to report possible federal election law violations.

    Federal law protects against such crimes as threatening violence against election officials or staff, intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input.  It also contains special protections for the rights of voters, and provides that they can vote free from interference, including intimidation, and other acts designed to prevent or discourage people from voting or voting for the candidate of their choice.  The Voting Rights Act protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice (where voters need assistance because of disability or inability to read or write in English).  

    U.S. Attorney Escalona added, “The franchise is the cornerstone of American democracy.  We all must ensure that those who are entitled to the franchise can exercise it if they choose, and that those who seek to corrupt it are brought to justice.”

    To respond to complaints of voting rights concerns and election fraud during the upcoming election, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, the District’s AUSA/DEO will be on duty in this District while the polls are open.  The DEO can be reached by the public at 205.244.2001.

    In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day.  The local FBI field office can be reached by the public at 205-326-6166.

    Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division in Washington, DC by complaint form at https://civilrights.justice.gov/ or by phone at 800-253-3931.

    “Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the assistance of the American electorate,” said U.S. Attorney Escalona.  “It is important that those who have specific information about voting rights concerns or election fraud make that information available to the Department of Justice.”

    But please note that in the case of a crime of violence or intimidation, you should call 911 immediately and before contacting federal authorities.  State and local police have primary jurisdiction over polling places, and almost always have faster reaction capacity in an emergency.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Attorney Trina A. Higgin Appoints Election Officer for the District of Utah

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

    Ahead of the Threat Podcast: Episode Zero

    Welcome to Ahead of the Threat, the FBI’s new podcast miniseries that brings together an FBI cyber executive and a private sector chief information security officer. Join Bryan Vorndran, assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, and Jamil Farshchi, a strategic engagement advisor for the FBI who also works as an executive vice president and CISO of Equifax, as they discuss emerging cyber threats and the enduring importance of cybersecurity fundamentals. Featuring distinguished guests from the business world and government, Ahead of the Threat will confront some of the biggest questions in cyber: How will emerging technology impact corporate America? How can corporate boards be structured for cyber resilience? What does the FBI think about generative artificial intelligence? Listen to new episodes biweekly and stay Ahead of the Threat.

    Charity and Disaster Fraud

    Charity fraud scams can come in many forms: emails, social media posts, crowdfunding platforms, cold calls, etc. They are especially common after high-profile disasters. Always use caution and do your research when you’re looking to donate to charitable causes.

    RYAN JAMES WEDDING

    Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances; Conspiracy to Export Cocaine; Continuing Criminal Enterprise; Murder in Connection with a Continuing Criminal Enterprise and Drug Crime; Attempt to Commit…

    Capitol Violence

    The FBI is seeking to identify individuals involved in the violent activities that occurred at the U.S. Capitol and surrounding areas on January 6, 2021. View photos and related information here. If you have any information to provide, visit tips.fbi.gov or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Ketchum Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison for Producing and Possessing Child Sexual Abuse Material

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

    Ahead of the Threat Podcast: Episode Zero

    Welcome to Ahead of the Threat, the FBI’s new podcast miniseries that brings together an FBI cyber executive and a private sector chief information security officer. Join Bryan Vorndran, assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, and Jamil Farshchi, a strategic engagement advisor for the FBI who also works as an executive vice president and CISO of Equifax, as they discuss emerging cyber threats and the enduring importance of cybersecurity fundamentals. Featuring distinguished guests from the business world and government, Ahead of the Threat will confront some of the biggest questions in cyber: How will emerging technology impact corporate America? How can corporate boards be structured for cyber resilience? What does the FBI think about generative artificial intelligence? Listen to new episodes biweekly and stay Ahead of the Threat.

    Charity and Disaster Fraud

    Charity fraud scams can come in many forms: emails, social media posts, crowdfunding platforms, cold calls, etc. They are especially common after high-profile disasters. Always use caution and do your research when you’re looking to donate to charitable causes.

    RYAN JAMES WEDDING

    Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances; Conspiracy to Export Cocaine; Continuing Criminal Enterprise; Murder in Connection with a Continuing Criminal Enterprise and Drug Crime; Attempt to Commit…

    Capitol Violence

    The FBI is seeking to identify individuals involved in the violent activities that occurred at the U.S. Capitol and surrounding areas on January 6, 2021. View photos and related information here. If you have any information to provide, visit tips.fbi.gov or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Convicted Felon Sentenced to 100 Months in Federal Prison in Connection with Trafficking a Kilogram of Fentanyl, a Kilogram of Methamphetamine, and a Firearm

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    Ahead of the Threat Podcast: Episode Zero

    Welcome to Ahead of the Threat, the FBI’s new podcast miniseries that brings together an FBI cyber executive and a private sector chief information security officer. Join Bryan Vorndran, assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, and Jamil Farshchi, a strategic engagement advisor for the FBI who also works as an executive vice president and CISO of Equifax, as they discuss emerging cyber threats and the enduring importance of cybersecurity fundamentals. Featuring distinguished guests from the business world and government, Ahead of the Threat will confront some of the biggest questions in cyber: How will emerging technology impact corporate America? How can corporate boards be structured for cyber resilience? What does the FBI think about generative artificial intelligence? Listen to new episodes biweekly and stay Ahead of the Threat.

    Charity and Disaster Fraud

    Charity fraud scams can come in many forms: emails, social media posts, crowdfunding platforms, cold calls, etc. They are especially common after high-profile disasters. Always use caution and do your research when you’re looking to donate to charitable causes.

    RYAN JAMES WEDDING

    Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances; Conspiracy to Export Cocaine; Continuing Criminal Enterprise; Murder in Connection with a Continuing Criminal Enterprise and Drug Crime; Attempt to Commit…

    Capitol Violence

    The FBI is seeking to identify individuals involved in the violent activities that occurred at the U.S. Capitol and surrounding areas on January 6, 2021. View photos and related information here. If you have any information to provide, visit tips.fbi.gov or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Fishers Woman Facing Federal Charges for Fraud and Forging Signature of a Federal Judge

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

    INDIANAPOLIS— A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Christi Lee Dodd, 51, of Fishers, Indiana, with wire fraud and forging the signature of a federal judge. 

    According to the court documents, Dodd first filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the Southern District of Indiana in January 2015. In April 2015, a federal bankruptcy judge issued a signed discharge order releasing Dodd from liability for any remaining debts not resolved in the bankruptcy proceedings.

    In December 2019, Dodd again filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in the Southern District of Indiana, but later decided not to proceed and moved to have the 2019 case dismissed. In June 2022, the bankruptcy court dismissed Dodd’s 2019 bankruptcy petition. The court did not issue a discharge order in the 2019 case, and none of Dodd’s unpaid debts were resolved.

    In 2023, Dodd allegedly created and forged a discharge order purporting to absolve her of debts related to her 2019 Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition. Dodd emailed the fraudulent document to a financial institution purportedly proving that she had received a discharge in her 2019 bankruptcy case so that she could obtain a line of credit to pay outstanding debts owed by the trucking business she owned.

    The emailed document was purportedly filed in Dodd’s second bankruptcy case with the heading, “DISCHARGE OF DEBTOR IN A CHAPTER 13 CASE.” As alleged in the indictment, the forged document was in fact created by Dodd using the discharge order from her first bankruptcy under Chapter 7 and contained the forged signature of the judge who issued the 2015 discharge order.

    “Protecting the integrity and efficiency of the bankruptcy system is an important priority of the Department of Justice. Our office is committed to working closely with our partners at the U.S. Trustee Program to uphold the law and protect the interests of debtors and creditors,” said Zachary A. Myers, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana.

    “The filing of a fraudulent court order containing the forged signature of a bankruptcy judge strikes at the very core of the integrity of the bankruptcy system and will not be tolerated,” said Nancy J. Gargula, United States Trustee for Indiana and the Central and Southern Districts of Illinois (Region 10).  “We are grateful for U.S. Attorney Myers and our law enforcement partners for their commitment to protect the integrity of the bankruptcy process in the Southern District of Indiana., as demonstrated by this indictment.”

    The FBI and U.S. Trustee’s Office is investigating this case in collaboration with the Southern District of Indiana Bankruptcy Fraud Working Group. The United States Trustee Program is the component of the Department of Justice responsible for overseeing the administration of bankruptcy cases and litigating to enforce the bankruptcy laws. If convicted, Dodd faces up to twenty-five years in federal prison.

    U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Eakman, who is prosecuting this case.

    An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –