NewzIntel.com

Category: housing

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: FREE Energy upgrades offered to Plymouth homes

    Source: City of Plymouth

    It may be summer, but some Plymouth residents will be able to apply for free energy installations that will make their homes cosier without costing a penny or the earth.

    People on a low income, those on certain benefits or live in a certain postcode could be eligible for the grant under the Warm Homes Local Grant.

    The grant is designed to give more people who rent or own homes the chance to have more energy efficient measures installed. This could include:

    • wall, loft and underfloor insulation
    • air source heat pumps
    • smart controls
    • solar panels.

    Plymouth City Council has been allocated £2.5 million and is working with Plymouth Energy Community (PEC) to deliver the improvements. Since starting in 2013, PEC has helped over 37,000 households with energy advice or energy efficiency measures.

    Councillor Chris Penberthy, Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “Thousands of private homes need to have more energy efficient measures but the upfront cost of installing them is simply beyond the reach of many people.

    “This is an incredible opportunity for people to get free measures installed, save them thousands of pounds for years to come – and help the environment at the same time.”

    A decision has been signed to allocate £2.5m from the Warm Homes Local Grant into the capital programme. This enables the Council to fully fund retrofit measures for eligible residents. This funding is expected to pay for over 200 homes to have new measures installed.

    Justin Bear, Retrofit Lead at Plymouth Energy Community, added: “Helping people improve the comfort and energy efficiency of their homes is core to what PEC do so we’re delighted to partner with the Council on this scheme.”

    “Retrofitting our homes improves people’s health, and also ensures people are more secure in being able to pay their winter bills.”

    To be eligible, your home must:

    • be privately owned (either by you or your landlord)
    • have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of D, E, F or G – if you do not know your home’s EPC, you can find it out when you apply
    • Your household income must usually be £36,000 a year or less. If you earn more, you might still be eligible if you live in a certain postcode area or
    • someone in your household is getting certain benefits.

    People can Apply for the Warm Homes: Local Grant to improve a home – GOV.UK to see if they are eligible. Their home will be surveyed to assess the installation of the most appropriate measures. If you have a landlord, they may need to pay for some of the improvements.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Justice Department Announces Coordinated, Nationwide Actions to Combat North Korean Remote Information Technology Workers’ Illicit Revenue Generation Schemes

    Source: US State of North Dakota

    Law Enforcement Actions Across 16 States Result in Charges, Arrest, and Seizures of 29 Financial Accounts, 21 Fraudulent Websites, and Approximately 200 Computers

    The Justice Department announced today coordinated actions against the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea (DPRK) government’s schemes to fund its regime through remote information technology (IT) work for U.S. companies. These actions include two indictments, an arrest, searches of 29 known or suspected “laptop farms” across 16 states, and the seizure of 29 financial accounts used to launder illicit funds and 21 fraudulent websites.

    According to court documents, the schemes involve North Korean individuals fraudulently obtaining employment with U.S. companies as remote IT workers, using stolen and fake identities. The North Korean actors were assisted by individuals in the United States, China, United Arab Emirates, and Taiwan, and successfully obtained employment with more than 100 U.S. companies.

    As alleged in court documents, certain U.S.-based individuals enabled one of the schemes by creating front companies and fraudulent websites to promote the bona fides of the remote IT workers, and hosted laptop farms where the remote North Korean IT workers could remote access into U.S. victim company-provided laptop computers. Once employed, the North Korean IT workers received regular salary payments, and they gained access to, and in some cases stole, sensitive employer information such as export controlled U.S. military technology and virtual currency. In another scheme, North Korean IT workers used false or fraudulently obtained identities to gain employment with an Atlanta, Georgia-based blockchain research and development company and stole virtual currency worth approximately over $900,000.

    “These schemes target and steal from U.S. companies and are designed to evade sanctions and fund the North Korean regime’s illicit programs, including its weapons programs,” said Assistant Attorney General John A. Eisenberg of the Department’s National Security Division. “The Justice Department, along with our law enforcement, private sector, and international partners, will persistently pursue and dismantle these cyber-enabled revenue generation networks.”

    “North Korean IT workers defraud American companies and steal the identities of private citizens, all in support of the North Korean regime,” said Assistant Director Brett Leatherman of FBI’s Cyber Division. “That is why the FBI and our partners continue to work together to disrupt infrastructure, seize revenue, indict overseas IT workers, and arrest their enablers in the United States. Let the actions announced today serve as a warning: if you host laptop farms for the benefit of North Korean actors, law enforcement will be waiting for you.”

    “North Korea remains intent on funding its weapons programs by defrauding U.S. companies and exploiting American victims of identity theft, but the FBI is equally intent on disrupting this massive campaign and bringing its perpetrators to justice,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI Counterintelligence Division. “North Korean IT workers posing as U.S. citizens fraudulently obtained employment with American businesses so they could funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to North Korea’s authoritarian regime. The FBI will do everything in our power to defend the homeland and protect Americans from being victimized by the North Korean government, and we ask all U.S. companies that employ remote workers to remain vigilant to this sophisticated threat.”

    Zhenxing Wang, et al. Indictment, Seizure Warrants, and Arrest – District of Massachusetts

    Today, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts and the National Security Division announced the arrest of U.S. national Zhenxing “Danny” Wang of New Jersey pursuant to a five-count indictment. The indictment describes a multi-year fraud scheme by Wang and his co-conspirators to obtain remote IT work with U.S. companies that generated more than $5 million in revenue. The indictment also charges Chinese nationals Jing Bin Huang (靖斌 黄), Baoyu Zhou (周宝玉), Tong Yuze (佟雨泽), Yongzhe Xu (徐勇哲 andيونجزهي أكسو), Ziyou Yuan (زيو) and Zhenbang Zhou (周震邦), and Taiwanese nationals Mengting Liu (劉 孟婷) and Enchia Liu (刘恩) for their roles in the scheme. 

    “The threat posed by DPRK operatives is both real and immediate. Thousands of North Korean cyber operatives have been trained and deployed by the regime to blend into the global digital workforce and systematically target U.S. companies,” said U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley for the District of Massachusetts. “We will continue to work relentlessly to protect U.S. businesses and ensure they are not inadvertently fueling the DPRK’s unlawful and dangerous ambitions.”

    According to the indictment, from approximately 2021 until October 2024, the defendants and other co-conspirators compromised the identities of more than 80 U.S. persons to obtain remote jobs at more than 100 U.S. companies, including many Fortune 500 companies, and caused U.S. victim companies to incur legal fees, computer network remediation costs, and other damages and losses of at least $3 million. Overseas IT workers were assisted by Kejia Wang, Zhenxing Wang, and at least four other identified U.S. facilitators. Kejia Wang, for example, communicated with overseas co-conspirators and IT workers, and traveled to Shenyang and Dandong, China, including in 2023, to meet with them about the scheme. To deceive U.S. companies into believing the IT workers were located in the United States, Kejia Wang, Zhenxing Wang, and the other U.S. facilitators received and/or hosted laptops belonging to U.S. companies at their residences, and enabled overseas IT workers to access the laptops remotely by, among other things, connecting the laptops to hardware devices designed to allow for remote access (referred to as keyboard-video-mouse or “KVM” switches).

    Kejia Wang and Zhenxing Wang also created shell companies with corresponding websites and financial accounts, including Hopana Tech LLC, Tony WKJ LLC, and Independent Lab LLC, to make it appear as though the overseas IT workers were affiliated with legitimate U.S. businesses. Kejia Wang and Zhenxing Wang established these and other financial accounts to receive money from victimized U.S. companies, much of which was subsequently transferred to overseas co‑conspirators. In exchange for their services, Kejia Wang, Zhenxing Wang, and the four other U.S. facilitators received a total of at least $696,000 from the IT workers.

    IT workers employed under this scheme also gained access to sensitive employer data and source code, including International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) data from a California-based defense contractor that develops artificial intelligence-powered equipment and technologies. Specifically, between on or about Jan. 19, 2024, and on or about April 2, 2024, an overseas co-conspirator remotely accessed without authorization the company’s laptop and computer files  containing technical data and other information. The stolen data included information marked as being controlled under the ITAR.

    Simultaneously with today’s announcement, the FBI and Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) seized 17 web domains used in furtherance of the charged scheme and further seized 29 financial accounts, holding tens of thousands of dollars in funds, used to launder revenue for the North Korean regime through the remote IT work scheme.

    Previously, in October 2024, as part of this investigation, federal law enforcement executed searches at eight locations across three states that resulted in the recovery of more than 70 laptops and remote access devices, such as KVMs. Simultaneously with that action, the FBI seized four web domains associated with Kejia Wang’s and Zhenxing Wang’s shell companies used to facilitate North Korean IT work.

    The FBI Las Vegas Field Office, DCIS San Diego Resident Agency, and Homeland Security Investigations San Diego Field Office are investigating the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Casey for the District of Massachusetts and Trial Attorney Gregory J. Nicosia, Jr. of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section are prosecuting the case, with significant assistance from Legal Assistants Daniel Boucher and Margaret Coppes. Valuable assistance was also provided by Mark A. Murphy of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the District of New Jersey, Eastern District of New York, and Southern District of California.

    Kim Kwang Jin et al. Indictment – Northern District of Georgia

    Today, the Northern District of Georgia unsealed a five-count wire fraud and money laundering indictment charging four North Korean nationals, Kim Kwang Jin (김관진), Kang Tae Bok (강태복), Jong Pong Ju (정봉주) and Chang Nam Il (창남일), with a scheme to steal virtual currency from two companies, valued at over $900,000 at the time of the thefts, and to launder proceeds of those thefts. The defendants remain at large and wanted by the FBI.

    “The defendants used fake and stolen personal identities to conceal their North Korean nationality, pose as remote IT workers, and exploit their victims’ trust to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg for the Northern District of Georgia. “This indictment highlights the unique threat North Korea poses to companies that hire remote IT workers and underscores our resolve to prosecute any actor, in the United States or abroad, who steals from Georgia businesses.”

    According to the indictment, the defendants traveled to the United Arab Emirates on North Korean travel documents and worked as a co-located team. In approximately December 2020 and May 2021, respectively, Kim Kwang Jin (using victim P.S.’s stolen identity) and Jong Pong Ju (using the alias “Bryan Cho”) were hired by a blockchain research and development company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and a virtual token company based in Serbia. Both defendants concealed their North Korean identities from their employers by providing false identification documents containing a mix of stolen and fraudulent identity information. Neither company would have hired Kim Kwang Jin and Jong Pong Ju had they known that they were North Korean citizens. Later, on a recommendation from Jong Pong Ju, the Serbian company hired “Peter Xiao,” who in fact was Chang Nam Il.

    After gaining their employers’ trust, Kim Kwang Jin and Jong Pong Ju were assigned projects that provided them access to their employers’ virtual currency assets. In February 2022, Jong Pong Ju used that access to steal virtual currency worth approximately $175,000 at the time of the theft, sending it to a virtual currency address he controlled. In March 2022, Kim Kwang Jin stole virtual currency worth approximately $740,000 at the time of theft by modifying the source code of two of his employer’s smart contracts, then sending it to a virtual currency address he controlled.

    To launder the funds after the thefts, Kim Kwang Jin and Jong Pong Ju “mixed” the stolen funds using the virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash and then transferred the funds to virtual currency exchange accounts controlled by defendants Kang Tae Bok and Chang Nam Il but held in the name of aliases. These accounts were opened using fraudulent Malaysian identification documents.

    The FBI Atlanta Field Office is investigating the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samir Kaushal and Alex Sistla for the Northern District of Georgia and Trial Attorney Jacques Singer-Emery of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section are prosecuting the case.

    21 Searches of Known or Suspected U.S.-based Laptop Farms – Multi-District

    Between June 10 and June 17, 2025, the FBI executed searches of 21 premises across 14 states hosting known and suspected laptop farms. These actions, coordinated by the FBI Denver Field Office, related to investigations of North Korean remote IT worker schemes being conducted by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices of the District of Colorado, Eastern District of Missouri, and Northern District of Texas. In total, the FBI seized approximately 137 laptops.

    Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of Connecticut, the Eastern District of Michigan, the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the Middle District of Florida, the Northern District of Georgia, the Northern District of Illinois, the Northern District of Indiana, the District of Oregon, the Southern District of Florida, the Southern District of Ohio, the Western District of New York, and the Western District of Pennsylvania.

    ***

    The Department’s actions to combat these schemes are the latest in a series of law enforcement actions under a joint National Security Division and FBI Cyber and Counterintelligence Divisions effort, the DPRK RevGen: Domestic Enabler Initiative. This effort prioritizes targeting and disrupting the DPRK’s illicit revenue generation schemes and its U.S.-based enablers. The Department previously announced other actions pursuant to the initiative, including in January 2025 and prior, as well as the filing of a civil forfeiture complaint in early June 2025 for over $7.74 million tied to an illegal employment scheme.

    As the FBI has described in Public Service Announcements published in May 2024 and January 2025, North Korean remote IT workers posing as legitimate remote IT workers have committed data extortion and exfiltrated the proprietary and sensitive data from U.S. companies. DPRK IT worker schemes typically involve the use of stolen identities, alias emails, social media, online cross-border payment platforms, and online job site accounts, as well as false websites, proxy computers, and witting and unwitting third parties located in the U.S. and elsewhere.

    Other public advisories about the threats, red flag indicators, and potential mitigation measures for these schemes include a May 2022 advisory released by the FBI, Department of the Treasury, and Department of State; a July 2023 advisory from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; and guidance issued in October 2023 by the United States and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). As described the May 2022 advisory, North Korean IT workers have been known individually to earn up to $300,000 annually, generating hundreds of millions of dollars collectively each year, on behalf of designated entities, such as the North Korean Ministry of Defense and others directly involved in the DPRK’s weapons programs.

    The U.S. Department of State has offered potential rewards for up to $5 million in support of international efforts to disrupt the DPRK’s illicit financial activities, including for cybercrimes, money laundering, and sanctions evasion.

    The details in the above-described court documents are merely allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Snake in enclosure found on Bundaberg footpath

    Source: Tasmania Police

    Issued: 1 Jul 2025

    Wildlife rangers are asking for public assistance to find the owner of a snake and enclosure that was found on a footpath in the Bundaberg suburb of Avenell Heights.

    A man walking his dog made the unusual discovery and took snake and enclosure home before calling a local snake catcher.

    After retrieving the snake and the enclosure, the snake catcher handed it in to the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation.

    Senior Wildlife Ranger Amanda Yates said the snake is an albino Darwin carpet python, and it was most likely captive-bred and raised.

    The snake, an albino Darwin carpet python, was found in an enclosure on the footpath.

    “We are trying to determine why the snake and the enclosure were on the footpath,” Ms Yates said.

    “These snakes are not native to Queensland, but they are popular among the reptile trade due to their striking features.

    “The snake appears healthy and we’re appealing for public information so we can find the owner.

    “We hoping to return the snake to its owner, and anyone with information is encouraged to contact the

    department.”

    Anyone with information can call DETSI on 1300 130 372.

    In Queensland, people need a permit to keep native animals as pets. Information about wildlife permits can be found here.

    Media contact:                 DETSI Media Unit on (07) 3339 5831 or media@detsi.qld.gov.au

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Canadian Man Arrested and Detained for Role in Deadly Alien Smuggling Conspiracy at the U.S.’s Northern Border

    Source: US State of North Dakota

    Note: View the indictment here and detention letter here.

    WASHINGTON — A dual Canadian American citizen was arrested on Sunday, June 15, for his role in a deadly human smuggling conspiracy that left a family of four, including two children under the age of three, dead in the St. Lawrence River. Oakes was arrested as he attempted to enter the United States via the Massena, New York, Port of Entry.

    Timothy Oakes, 34, from the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Reservation (AMIR), Canada, was previously arraigned on numerous human smuggling offenses in the Northern District of New York District Court and had his detention hearing earlier today and will remain detained. Oakes was indicted on April 9 for conspiring with others to engage in alien smuggling, four counts of alien smuggling for profit, and four counts of alien smuggling resulting in death. United States based co-conspirators Dakota Montour, 31, and Kawisiiostha Celecia Sharrow, 43, both of Akwesasne-Mohawk, New York, and Janet Terrance, 45, of Hogansburg, New York, entered guilty pleas on Jan. 23, Oct. 8, 2024, and March 6, respectively.

    “As alleged, Oakes and his co-conspirators profited from a human smuggling operation with a singular, cold-hearted aim: making money by bringing illegal aliens into the United States, regardless of the danger to human life involved,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Their greed resulted in the deaths of a mother, a father, and two small children, as well as one of the defendants’ own brothers. The Criminal Division will continue to disrupt and dismantle these organizations and bring justice to smugglers whose actions result in senseless deaths.”

    “This case shows the terrible perils of illegally crossing the border,” said U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III for the Northern District of New York. “Four family members died because a smuggling network put them in harm’s way. My office is proud to partner with Joint Task Force Alpha to continue to combat dangerous human smuggling and trafficking organizations that operate on our northern border.”

    “Oakes’ arrest comes as part of our nearly two-year long investigation into a transnational criminal organization responsible for the large-scale smuggling of aliens from Canada into the United States,” said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE HSI) Buffalo Special Agent in Charge Erin Keegan. “ICE HSI leverages its full range of authorities to combat and dismantle the heinous networks of greedy criminals who illicitly sell dangerous, sometimes fatal, passage through our nation’s northern border. We are extremely grateful for a multitude of law enforcement agency partners on the Border Enforcement Security Taskforce who join us in this fight to bring smugglers to justice.”

    “Two toddler aged children and their parents were the tragic victims of an alien smuggling attempt gone horribly wrong,” said Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Swanton Sector. “Their deaths were a direct result of callous smugglers who exploited the vulnerable. Due to unrelenting perseverance and investigative efforts by multiple law enforcement agencies, those responsible will be held accountable. Our pursuit of justice persists until justice is served.”

    According to court documents, Oakes was a key facilitator in a human smuggling organization (HSO) that smuggled aliens from Canada into northern New York. Oakes, working with the HSO, routinely smuggled aliens into the United States by piloting boats across the St. Lawrence River. Additionally, Oakes used his home as a staging area for aliens before the HSO smuggled them into the United States. Oakes earned approximately $1,000 for every alien whom he smuggled across the St. Lawrence River into the United States.

    In March 2023, Oakes housed a Romanian family of four, together with other aliens, for about 24 hours. He then transported the family and a boat to a public boat launch. His brother, Casey Oakes, attempted to use the boat to smuggle the Romanian family into the United States, but the boat capsized, killing all four members of the family, as well as Casey Oakes.    

    Terrance, Montour, and Sharrow admitted in their plea agreements that in late March 2023, they were employed to illegally transport a Romanian family of four — a mother, father, one-year-old boy, and two-year-old girl — from Canada into New York. Specifically, Montour admitted that he was aware of the dangerous weather conditions on the day of the tragedy — high winds, freezing temperatures, and limited visibility — yet another co-conspirator still loaded the family of four into the small boat to attempt to cross the St. Lawrence River.

    HSI Massena engaged in an extensive years-long investigation of the case, with assistance from the U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C., CBP’s National Targeting Center International Interdiction Task Force, New York State Police, Canada Border Services Agency, Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service, St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Police Department, Ontario Provincial Police, Sûreté du Québec, St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Cornwall Police Service. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant support with foreign legal assistance requests.

    The defendant’s vehicle with light blue boat in tow on March 29, 2023, at 9:29 p.m., consistent with the boat found in the river during recovery efforts.

    The investigation is a result of the coordinated efforts of Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA). JTFA, a partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has been elevated and expanded by the Attorney General with a mandate to target cartels and other transnational criminal organizations and eliminate human smuggling and trafficking networks operating within the Americas that impact public safety and the security of our borders. JTFA currently comprises detailees from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices along the border, including the Northern District of New York. Dedicated support is provided by numerous components of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, led by the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and supported by the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, the Office of Enforcement Operations and the Office of International Affairs, among others. JTFA also relies on substantial law enforcement investment from DHS, FBI, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and other partners. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in more than 380 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling; more than 340 U.S. convictions; more than 290 significant jail sentences imposed; and forfeitures of substantial assets.

    The investigation is being conducted under the Extraterritorial Criminal Travel Strike Force (ECT) program, a joint partnership between the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and HSI. The ECT program focuses on human smuggling networks that may present particular national security or public safety risks, or present grave humanitarian concerns. ECT has dedicated investigative, intelligence and prosecutorial resources. ECT coordinates and receives assistance from other U.S. government agencies and foreign law enforcement authorities.

    Trial Attorney Jenna E. Reed of the Criminal Division’s HRSP and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Stitt for the Northern District of New York are prosecuting the case.

    This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhoods.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Smuggling Leader and Top Coordinator Will Spend Remainder of Their Lives in Prison Following Their Sentencing on Third Anniversary of Deadly Tractor-Trailer Smuggling Conspiracy

    Source: US State of California

    Two convicted human smugglers were sentenced in a federal court in San Antonio today for their prominent roles in the 2022 mass casualty human smuggling conspiracy that resulted in the deaths of 47 adults and six children.

    U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia for the Western District of Texas sentenced Orduna-Torres to life in prison and a $250,000 fine, and Gonzales-Ortega to 83 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Both defendants were found guilty by a federal jury in March for three counts related to the transportation of aliens within the United States resulting in death, causing serious bodily injury, and placing lives in jeopardy. Following the jury’s verdict at the trial, Judge Garcia set the sentencing date, noting that it would be three years to the day from when the 53 migrants perished as a result of the defendants’ smuggling scheme.

    “These criminals will spend the rest of their lives in prison because of their cruel choice to profit off of human suffering,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Today’s sentences are a powerful message to human smugglers everywhere: we will not rest until you are behind bars.”

    “Three years to the day after these two smugglers and their co-conspirators left dozens of men, women, and children locked in a sweltering tractor-trailer to die in the Texas summer heat, they learned that they will spend the rest of their lives locked away in a federal prison,” said U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas. “We recognize the justice handed down by Judge Garcia and thank our law enforcement partners for their great work that led to today’s outcome. At the same time, we reinforce the message that these criminal organizations will not place the lives of the desperate and vulnerable above their own financial enrichment. My office remains focused on prosecuting smugglers and their networks, and ultimately eradicating transnational criminal organizations.”

    “Today’s sentences are the result of a far-reaching investigation and a tireless commitment by HSI and our law enforcement partners to dismantle the deadliest human smuggling operation in U.S. history,” said Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Antonio. “This case serves as a stark reminder: human smuggling is not a service — it is a deadly criminal enterprise. HSI will pursue smugglers relentlessly, wherever they operate. No one, who participates in the smuggling of human beings, will escape the reach of justice.”

    According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Felipe Orduna-Torres, also known as Cholo, Chuequito/Chuekito, and Negro, 30, was a leader and organizer, and Armando Gonzales-Ortega, also known as El Don and Don Gon, 55, was a coordinator in the human smuggling organization (HSO) which illegally brought adults and children from Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico into the United States between December 2021 and June 2022.

    Court documents and evidence presented at the trial revealed that Orduna-Torres and Gonzales-Ortega worked in concert to transport and facilitate the transportation of the migrants, sharing routes, guides, stash houses, trucks, trailers, and transporters in order to consolidate costs, minimize risks, and maximize profit. The HSO maintained a variety of tractors and trailers for their smuggling operations, some of which were stored at a private parking lot in San Antonio.

    In the days leading up to June 27, 2022, Orduna-Torres and others exchanged the names of illegal aliens who would be smuggled in an upcoming tractor-trailer load. Gonzales-Ortega traveled to Laredo to meet the tractor-trailer, where at least 64 undocumented individuals, including eight children and one pregnant woman, were loaded for smuggling.

    Some of the defendants, including Orduna-Torres, were aware that the trailer’s reefer unit was malfunctioning and was not blowing any cool air to the migrants inside. When members of the organization met the tractor-trailer at the end of its approximately three-hour journey to San Antonio, they opened the doors to find 48 of the migrants were either already dead or had died on site, including the pregnant woman. Sixteen of the undocumented individuals were transported to hospitals — five of whom died.

    In addition to their sentences described above, the court also ordered Orduna-Torres to pay a $96,000 money judgment and ordered the forfeiture of the following assets: one 2008 Volvo semi-tractor; one 1995 Phoenix trailer; one 2015 Cadillac Escalade; one 2017 Ford F-350 Super Duty Truck; and $59,445.50.

    Five other defendants in this case have pleaded guilty for their involvement in the smuggling event. Riley Covarrubias-Ponce, also known as Rrili and Rilay, 32, is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 6; Luis Alberto Rivera-Leal, 39, is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 13; Christian Martinez, 31, is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 20; and Homero Zamorano Jr., 48, is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 4. Juan Francisco D’Luna Bilbao, 51, is indicted separately and is also scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 4.

    In a related case, Rigoberto Ramon Miranda-Orozco, 48, allegedly worked with the HSO to smuggle aliens into the United States on the same fatal journey orchestrated by Orduna-Torres and his co-conspirators. He made his initial appearance in San Antonio on March 17, seven months after he was arrested in Guatemala, and is currently scheduled for a jury trial Sept. 29.

    HSI investigated the case with the assistance of the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and has received tremendous support from Customs and Border Protection; Border Patrol; ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations; the San Antonio Police Department; the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office; the San Antonio Fire Department; the Marshall Police Department; and the Palestine Police Department.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric Fuchs, Sarah Spears and Ray Gattinella for the Western District of Texas are prosecuting the case.

    These convictions are the result of the coordinated efforts of Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA). JTFA, a partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has been elevated and expanded by the Attorney General with a mandate to target cartels and other transnational criminal organizations to eliminate human smuggling and trafficking networks operating in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, and Colombia that impact public safety and the security of our borders. JTFA currently comprises detailees from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices along the southwest border. Dedicated support is provided by numerous components of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, led by the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and supported by the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section; Office of Enforcement Operations; and the Office of International Affairs, among others. JTFA also relies on substantial law enforcement investment from DHS, FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and other partners. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in more than 385 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling; more than 345 U.S. convictions; more than 300 significant jail sentences imposed; and forfeitures of substantial assets.

    This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: National Health Care Fraud Takedown Results in 324 Defendants Charged in Connection with Over $14.6 Billion in Alleged Fraud

    Source: US State of California

    Largest Justice Department Health Care Fraud Takedown in History
    More than Doubles Prior Record of $6 Billion

    The Justice Department today announced the results of its 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, which resulted in criminal charges against 324 defendants, including 96 doctors, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and other licensed medical professionals, in 50 federal districts and 12 State Attorneys General’s Offices across the United States, for their alleged participation in various health care fraud schemes involving over $14.6 billion in intended loss. The Takedown involved federal and state law enforcement agencies across the country and represents an unprecedented effort to combat health care fraud schemes that exploit patients and taxpayers.

    Demonstrating the significant return on investment that results from health care fraud enforcement efforts, the government seized over $245 million in cash, luxury vehicles, cryptocurrency, and other assets as part of the coordinated enforcement efforts. As part of the whole-of-government approach to combating health care fraud announced today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) also announced that it successfully prevented over $4 billion from being paid in response to false and fraudulent claims and that it suspended or revoked the billing privileges of 205 providers in the months leading up to the Takedown. Civil charges against 20 defendants for $14.2 million in alleged fraud, as well as civil settlements with 106 defendants totaling $34.3 million, were also announced as part of the Takedown.

    Today’s Takedown was led and coordinated by the Health Care Fraud Unit of the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and its core partners from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The cases were investigated by agents from HHS-OIG, FBI, DEA, and other federal and state law enforcement agencies. The cases are being prosecuted by Health Care Fraud Strike Force teams from the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, 50 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices nationwide, and 12 State Attorneys General Offices.

    “This record-setting Health Care Fraud Takedown delivers justice to criminal actors who prey upon our most vulnerable citizens and steal from hardworking American taxpayers,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Make no mistake – this administration will not tolerate criminals who line their pockets with taxpayer dollars while endangering the health and safety of our communities.”

    “As part of making healthcare accessible and affordable to all Americans, HHS will aggressively work with our law enforcement partners to eliminate the pervasive health care fraud that bedeviled this agency under the former administration and drove up costs,” said Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of the Department of Health and Human Services.

    “The Criminal Division is intensely committed to rooting out health care fraud schemes and prosecuting the criminals who perpetrate them because these schemes: (1) often result in physical patient harm through medically unnecessary treatments or failure to provide the correct treatments; (2) contribute to our nationwide opioid epidemic and exacerbate controlled substance addiction; and (3) do all of that while stealing money hardworking Americans contribute to pay for the care of their elders and other vulnerable citizens,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Division’s Health Care Fraud Unit and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices stand united with our law enforcement partners in this fight, and we will continue to use every tool at our disposal to protect the integrity of our health care programs for the American people.”

    “The scale of today’s Takedown is unprecedented, and so is the harm we’re confronting. Individuals who attempt to steal from the federal health care system and put vulnerable patients at risk will be held accountable,” said Acting Inspector General Juliet T. Hodgkins of HHS-OIG. “Our agents at HHS-OIG work relentlessly to detect, investigate, and dismantle these fraud schemes. We are proud to stand with our law enforcement partners in protecting taxpayer dollars and safeguarding patient care.”

    “Health care fraud drains critical resources from programs intended to help people who truly need medical care,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Today’s announcement demonstrates our commitment to pursuing those who exploit the system for personal gain. With more than $13 billion in fraud uncovered, this is the largest takedown for this initiative to date. Together, the FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to hold those accountable who steal from the American people and undermine our health care systems.”

    Transnational Criminal Organizations

    29 defendants were charged for their roles in transnational criminal organizations alleged to have submitted over $12 billion in fraudulent claims to America’s health insurance programs.

    For instance, a nationwide investigation known as Operation Gold Rush resulted in the largest loss amount ever charged in a health care fraud case brought by the Department. These charges were announced in the Eastern District of New York, the Northern District of Illinois, the Central District of California, the Middle District of Florida, and the District of New Jersey against 19 defendants. Twelve of these defendants have been arrested, including four defendants who were apprehended in Estonia as a result of international cooperation with Estonian law enforcement and seven defendants who were arrested at U.S. airports and the U.S. border with Mexico, cutting off their intended escape routes as they attempted to avoid capture.

    The organization allegedly used a network of foreign straw owners, including individuals sent into the United States from abroad, who, acting at the direction of others using encrypted messaging and assumed identities from overseas, strategically bought dozens of medical supply companies located across the United States. They then rapidly submitted $10.6 billion in fraudulent health care claims to Medicare for urinary catheters and other durable medical equipment by exploiting the stolen identities of over one million Americans spanning all 50 states and using their confidential medical information to submit the fraudulent claims. As alleged, the organization exploited the U.S. financial system by laundering the fraudulent proceeds and deploying a range of tactics to circumvent anti-money laundering controls to transfer funds into cryptocurrency and shell companies located abroad. The arrests announced today also include a banker who facilitated the money laundering of fraud proceeds on behalf of the organization through a U.S.-based bank.

    The Health Care Fraud Unit’s Data Analytics Team and its partners detected the anomalous billing through proactive data analytics, and HHS-OIG and CMS successfully prevented the organization from receiving all but approximately $41 million of the approximately $4.45 billion that was scheduled to be paid by Medicare. HHS and CMS intend to seek to return the $4.41 billion in escrow to the Medicare trust fund for needed medical care. The scheme nonetheless resulted in payments of approximately $900 million from Medicare supplemental insurers. To date, law enforcement has seized approximately $27.7 million in fraud proceeds as part of Operation Gold Rush.

    In another action involving foreign influence, charges were filed in the Northern District of Illinois against five defendants, including two owners and executives of Pakistani marketing organizations, in connection with a $703 million scheme in which Medicare beneficiaries’ identification numbers and other confidential health information were allegedly obtained through theft and deceptive marketing. The defendants allegedly used artificial intelligence to create fake recordings of Medicare beneficiaries purportedly consenting to receive certain products. According to court documents, the beneficiaries’ confidential information was then illegally sold to laboratories and durable medical equipment companies, which used this unlawfully obtained and fraudulently generated data to submit false claims to Medicare. Certain defendants controlled dozens of nominee-owned durable medical equipment companies and laboratories that allegedly submitted fraudulent claims for products and services the beneficiaries did not request, need, or receive. Certain defendants also allegedly conspired to conceal and launder the fraud proceeds from bank accounts they controlled in the United States to bank accounts overseas. In total, the defendants caused approximately $703 million in alleged fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans, which paid approximately $418 million on those claims. The government seized approximately $44.7 million from various bank accounts related to this case.

    Finally, a defendant based in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates who owned a billing company allegedly orchestrated a scheme to prey upon vulnerable individuals in need of addiction treatment by conspiring with treatment center owners to fraudulently bill Arizona Medicaid approximately $650 million for substance abuse treatment services. According to court documents, some of the services billed were never provided, while other services were provided at a level that was so substandard that it failed to serve any treatment purpose. As part of the conspiracy, treatment center owners allegedly paid illegal kickbacks in exchange for the referral of patients recruited from the homeless population and Native American reservations. The defendant received at least $25 million of ill-gotten Arizona Medicaid funds as a result of the conspiracy and is charged with a money laundering offense for his alleged use of those funds to purchase a $2.9 million home located on a golf estate in Dubai.

    Fraudulent Wound Care

    Charges were filed in the District of Arizona and the District of Nevada against seven defendants, including five medical professionals, in connection with approximately $1.1 billion in fraudulent claims to Medicare and other health care benefit programs for amniotic wound allografts. As alleged, certain defendants targeted vulnerable elderly patients, many of whom were receiving hospice care, and applied medically unnecessary amniotic allografts to these patients’ wounds. Many of the allografts allegedly were applied without coordination with the patients’ treating physicians, without proper treatment for infection, to superficial wounds that did not need this treatment, and to areas that far exceeded the size of the wound. Certain defendants allegedly received millions in illegal kickbacks from the fraudulent billing scheme.

    “Today’s unprecedented enforcement action demonstrates that CMS and our federal partners are united in our mission to protect the integrity of Medicare and Medicaid by crushing waste, fraud, and abuse,” said CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. “Every dollar we prevent from going to fraudsters is a dollar that stays in the system to serve legitimate beneficiaries. Through advanced data analytics, real-time monitoring, and swift administrative action, CMS is leading the fight to protect Medicare, Medicaid, and the trust Americans place in these vital programs. We’re not waiting for fraud to happen—we’re stopping it before it starts.”

    Prescription Opioid Trafficking

    74 defendants, including 44 licensed medical professionals, were charged across 58 cases in connection with the alleged illegal diversion of over 15 million pills of prescription opioids and other controlled substances. For example, five defendants associated with one Texas pharmacy were charged with the unlawful distribution of over 3 million opioid pills. As alleged, the defendants conspired to distribute massive quantities of oxycodone, hydrocodone, and carisoprodol, which were subsequently trafficked by street-level drug dealers, generating large profits for the defendants. This coordinated action is a continuation of the Health Care Fraud Unit’s systematic approach to stopping drug trafficking organizations and their pharmaceutical wholesale suppliers, which together have fueled an epidemic of prescription opioid abuse for nearly a decade.

    DEA also announced today that in the last six months, DEA charged 93 administrative cases seeking the revocation of pharmacies, medical practitioners, and companies authority to handle and/or prescribe controlled substances.

    “Health care fraud isn’t just theft — it’s trafficking in trust. Today’s announcement shows that when doctors become drug dealers and treatment centers become profit-driven fraud rings, DEA will act,” said Acting Administrator Robert Murphy of the DEA. “We’re targeting the entire ecosystem of fraud — from pill mills in Texas to kickback clinics exploiting Native communities. If you abuse your medical license to push poison or pad your pockets, we will hold you accountable.”

    Telemedicine and Genetic Testing Fraud

    In today’s Takedown, 49 defendants were charged in connection with the submission of over $1.17 billion in allegedly fraudulent claims to Medicare resulting from telemedicine and genetic testing fraud schemes. For example, in the Southern District of Florida, prosecutors charged an owner of telemedicine and durable medical equipment companies with a $46 million scheme in which Medicare beneficiaries were allegedly targeted through deceptive telemarketing campaigns and then fraudulent claims were submitted to Medicare for durable medical equipment and genetic tests for these beneficiaries. The Department continues to focus on eliminating health care fraud schemes that depend on telemedicine, including schemes involving fraudulent claims for genetic testing, durable medical equipment, and COVID-19 tests.

    Other Health Care Fraud Schemes

    The other cases announced today charge an additional 170 defendants with various other health care fraud schemes involving over $1.84 billion in allegedly false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance companies for diagnostic testing, medical visits, and treatments that were medically unnecessary, provided in connection with kickbacks and bribes, or never provided at all. For example, in the Western District of Tennessee, prosecutors charged three defendants, including business owners and a pharmacist, with a $28.7 million scheme to defraud the Federal Employees’ Compensation Fund by allegedly billing for medications for injured United States Postal Service employees that were never prescribed by a licensed practitioner and largely were not dispensed as claimed. And in the Western District of Washington and the Northern District of California, prosecutors charged medical providers with allegedly stealing fentanyl and hydrocodone, respectively, that was meant for the providers’ patients, including child patients in need of anesthesia.

    “VA’s Integrated Veteran Care Programs provide critical community-based health care to our nation’s disabled veterans and their dependents,” said Acting Inspector General David Case of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG). “Robust oversight of VA’s health care system is one of VA-OIG’s highest priorities. VA-OIG is committed to holding accountable those who defraud government benefits programs intended to care for our nation’s heroes.”

    Breaking Down Silos in the Fight Against Health Care Fraud

    In connection with the coordinated nationwide law enforcement operation, the Department is announcing that it is working closely with HHS-OIG, FBI, and other agencies to create a Health Care Fraud Data Fusion Center to bring together experts from the Department’s Criminal Division, Fraud Section, Health Care Fraud Unit Data Analytics Team; HHS-OIG; FBI; and other agencies to leverage cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and advanced analytics to identify emerging health care fraud schemes. The Health Care Fraud Unit’s Data Analytics Team was established in 2018 to enhance the Unit’s ability to detect, investigate, and prosecute complex health care fraud schemes. Joining forces with data analysts from HHS-OIG, FBI, and other partners will increase efficiency, detection, and rapid prosecution of emerging health care fraud schemes. It will also implement the President’s Executive Order Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos (Exec. Order No. 14243, 3 C.F.R. 294 (2025)) by reducing duplicative data teams, increasing operational efficiency through a whole-of-government approach, and leveraging cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and other agency resources.

    Principal Assistant Deputy Chief Jacob Foster, Assistant Deputy Chief Rebecca Yuan, Trial Attorney Miriam L. Glaser Dauermann, and Data Analyst Elizabeth Nolte, all of the Health Care Fraud Unit of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, led and coordinated this year’s Takedown. The cases are being prosecuted by the Health Care Fraud Unit’s National Rapid Response, Florida, Gulf Coast, Los Angeles, Midwest, New England, Northeast, and Texas Strike Forces; U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the District of Arizona, Central District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California, District of Columbia, District of Connecticut, District of Delaware, Middle District of Florida, Northern District of Florida, Southern District of Florida, Middle District of Georgia, District of Idaho, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern District of Kentucky, Western District of Kentucky, Eastern District of Louisiana, Middle District of Louisiana, District of Maine, District of Massachusetts, Eastern District of Michigan, Western District of Michigan, Northern District of Mississippi, Southern District of Mississippi, District of Montana, District of Nevada, District of New Hampshire, District of New Jersey, Eastern District of New York, Northern District of New York, Southern District of New York, Western District of New York, Eastern District of North Carolina, Western District of North Carolina, District of North Dakota, Northern District of Ohio, Southern District of Ohio, Northern District of Oklahoma, Western District of Oklahoma, District of Oregon, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, District of South Carolina, Middle District of Tennessee, Western District of Tennessee, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, District of Vermont, Eastern District of Virginia, Western District of Washington, and Northern District of West Virginia; and State Attorneys General’s Offices for California, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. The Health Care Fraud Unit’s Data Analytics Team used cutting-edge data analytics to identify and support the investigations that led to these charges.

    In addition to FBI, HHS-OIG, DEA, and CMS, HSI, VA-OIG, IRS Criminal Investigation, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Department of Labor, United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Office of Personnel Management Office of Inspector General, and other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies participated in the operation. The Medicaid Fraud Control Units of California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin also participated in the investigation of many of the federal and state cases announced today.

    The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Forces. Prior to the charges announced as part of today’s nationwide Takedown and since its inception in March 2007, the Health Care Fraud Strike Force, which operates in 27 districts, charged more than 5,400 defendants who collectively billed Medicare, Medicaid, and private health insurers more than $27 billion.

    The following materials related to today’s announcement are available on the Health Care Fraud Unit’s website through these links:

    •  Graphics and Resources

    •  Case Descriptions

    •  Court Documents

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

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Eureka Chiropractor Sentenced to 20 Months in Prison and Ordered to Repay More than $2.3 Million for Defrauding Medicare

    Source: US FBI

    PEORIA, Ill. – Carrie Musselman, 48, of Eureka, Illinois, was sentenced on June 24, 2025, to 20 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $2.3 million dollars in restitution following her convictions on multiple charges related to her scheme to defraud Medicare and twelve other insurance companies. A jury found Musselman guilty of one count of healthcare fraud and five counts of wire fraud after a 13-day trial in February 2025.

    At the sentencing hearing before Senior U.S. District Judge Michael M. Mihm, the government presented evidence that Musselman, a chiropractor in Eureka, engaged in a multi-year fraud to steal more than $2.5 million from Medicare and other insurance companies. As part of the scheme, Musselman submitted fraudulent insurance claims which indicated that services had been performed by medical doctors when they were actually performed by mid-level providers. That resulted in automatic pay increases for Musselman to which she was not entitled.

    Musselman also made claims that falsely asserted patients had received services that were never provided. These claims included purportedly providing patients with allergy injections when no such injections were given. Instead, patients were sent home with oral drops that had not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, were considered “experimental,” and had not been proven to be effective.

    And Musselman misrepresented services that were provided, again resulting in her receipt of payments to which she was not entitled. One of Musselman’s most highly reimbursed services, the placement of an electroacupuncture device, which she falsely billed as a surgically implanted neurostimulator, would not have qualified for any payment but for her deception.

    Also at the hearing, Judge Mihm found that Musselman had committed perjury in her testimony. In doing so, the judge noted that Musselman’s statements lacked credibility. He stated that Musselman was well aware of the fraud she was committing and that she had directed and encouraged the fraud. 

    “This case should serve as a warning to anyone who would commit fraud against health insurance,” said Acting United States Attorney Gregory M. Gilmore. “We will seek out fraud, waste, and abuse and prosecute those who engage in it. Providers who take advantage of the trust placed in them to line their own pockets abandon their ethical responsibilities and raise health insurance costs for vulnerable patients.”

    “The submission of false claims undermines the integrity of our federal healthcare system,” said Linda T. Hanley, Special Agent in Charge with the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. “We remain committed to holding healthcare providers accountable for complying with Medicare regulations so that enrollees can continue to rely on the program and receive the care they deserve.”

    “Bad actors in healthcare, such as Dr. Musselman, think they can cover up fraud through clouded paperwork and technical healthcare jargon all while they commit illegal acts such as false claims, fraudulent services, and in this case, services not even rendered,” said Christopher J.S. Johnson, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Springfield Field Office. “This sentencing and ordered restitution are a testament to the FBI’s commitment to working these types of cases. It doesn’t matter how clouded the paperwork, or how many files there are to go through, if there is a victim, then there will be an agent investigating it.”

    The case investigation was conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Douglas F. McMeyer, Bryan D. Freres, and Grace J. Hitzeman represented the government at trial.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: National Health Care Fraud Takedown Results in 324 Defendants Charged in Connection with Over $14.6 Billion in Alleged Fraud

    Source: United States Attorneys General

    Largest Justice Department Health Care Fraud Takedown in History
    More than Doubles Prior Record of $6 Billion

    The Justice Department today announced the results of its 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, which resulted in criminal charges against 324 defendants, including 96 doctors, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and other licensed medical professionals, in 50 federal districts and 12 State Attorneys General’s Offices across the United States, for their alleged participation in various health care fraud schemes involving over $14.6 billion in intended loss. The Takedown involved federal and state law enforcement agencies across the country and represents an unprecedented effort to combat health care fraud schemes that exploit patients and taxpayers.

    Demonstrating the significant return on investment that results from health care fraud enforcement efforts, the government seized over $245 million in cash, luxury vehicles, cryptocurrency, and other assets as part of the coordinated enforcement efforts. As part of the whole-of-government approach to combating health care fraud announced today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) also announced that it successfully prevented over $4 billion from being paid in response to false and fraudulent claims and that it suspended or revoked the billing privileges of 205 providers in the months leading up to the Takedown. Civil charges against 20 defendants for $14.2 million in alleged fraud, as well as civil settlements with 106 defendants totaling $34.3 million, were also announced as part of the Takedown.

    Today’s Takedown was led and coordinated by the Health Care Fraud Unit of the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and its core partners from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The cases were investigated by agents from HHS-OIG, FBI, DEA, and other federal and state law enforcement agencies. The cases are being prosecuted by Health Care Fraud Strike Force teams from the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, 50 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices nationwide, and 12 State Attorneys General Offices.

    “This record-setting Health Care Fraud Takedown delivers justice to criminal actors who prey upon our most vulnerable citizens and steal from hardworking American taxpayers,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Make no mistake – this administration will not tolerate criminals who line their pockets with taxpayer dollars while endangering the health and safety of our communities.”

    “As part of making healthcare accessible and affordable to all Americans, HHS will aggressively work with our law enforcement partners to eliminate the pervasive health care fraud that bedeviled this agency under the former administration and drove up costs,” said Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of the Department of Health and Human Services.

    “The Criminal Division is intensely committed to rooting out health care fraud schemes and prosecuting the criminals who perpetrate them because these schemes: (1) often result in physical patient harm through medically unnecessary treatments or failure to provide the correct treatments; (2) contribute to our nationwide opioid epidemic and exacerbate controlled substance addiction; and (3) do all of that while stealing money hardworking Americans contribute to pay for the care of their elders and other vulnerable citizens,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Division’s Health Care Fraud Unit and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices stand united with our law enforcement partners in this fight, and we will continue to use every tool at our disposal to protect the integrity of our health care programs for the American people.”

    “The scale of today’s Takedown is unprecedented, and so is the harm we’re confronting. Individuals who attempt to steal from the federal health care system and put vulnerable patients at risk will be held accountable,” said Acting Inspector General Juliet T. Hodgkins of HHS-OIG. “Our agents at HHS-OIG work relentlessly to detect, investigate, and dismantle these fraud schemes. We are proud to stand with our law enforcement partners in protecting taxpayer dollars and safeguarding patient care.”

    “Health care fraud drains critical resources from programs intended to help people who truly need medical care,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Today’s announcement demonstrates our commitment to pursuing those who exploit the system for personal gain. With more than $13 billion in fraud uncovered, this is the largest takedown for this initiative to date. Together, the FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to hold those accountable who steal from the American people and undermine our health care systems.”

    Transnational Criminal Organizations

    29 defendants were charged for their roles in transnational criminal organizations alleged to have submitted over $12 billion in fraudulent claims to America’s health insurance programs.

    For instance, a nationwide investigation known as Operation Gold Rush resulted in the largest loss amount ever charged in a health care fraud case brought by the Department. These charges were announced in the Eastern District of New York, the Northern District of Illinois, the Central District of California, the Middle District of Florida, and the District of New Jersey against 19 defendants. Twelve of these defendants have been arrested, including four defendants who were apprehended in Estonia as a result of international cooperation with Estonian law enforcement and seven defendants who were arrested at U.S. airports and the U.S. border with Mexico, cutting off their intended escape routes as they attempted to avoid capture.

    The organization allegedly used a network of foreign straw owners, including individuals sent into the United States from abroad, who, acting at the direction of others using encrypted messaging and assumed identities from overseas, strategically bought dozens of medical supply companies located across the United States. They then rapidly submitted $10.6 billion in fraudulent health care claims to Medicare for urinary catheters and other durable medical equipment by exploiting the stolen identities of over one million Americans spanning all 50 states and using their confidential medical information to submit the fraudulent claims. As alleged, the organization exploited the U.S. financial system by laundering the fraudulent proceeds and deploying a range of tactics to circumvent anti-money laundering controls to transfer funds into cryptocurrency and shell companies located abroad. The arrests announced today also include a banker who facilitated the money laundering of fraud proceeds on behalf of the organization through a U.S.-based bank.

    The Health Care Fraud Unit’s Data Analytics Team and its partners detected the anomalous billing through proactive data analytics, and HHS-OIG and CMS successfully prevented the organization from receiving all but approximately $41 million of the approximately $4.45 billion that was scheduled to be paid by Medicare. HHS and CMS intend to seek to return the $4.41 billion in escrow to the Medicare trust fund for needed medical care. The scheme nonetheless resulted in payments of approximately $900 million from Medicare supplemental insurers. To date, law enforcement has seized approximately $27.7 million in fraud proceeds as part of Operation Gold Rush.

    In another action involving foreign influence, charges were filed in the Northern District of Illinois against five defendants, including two owners and executives of Pakistani marketing organizations, in connection with a $703 million scheme in which Medicare beneficiaries’ identification numbers and other confidential health information were allegedly obtained through theft and deceptive marketing. The defendants allegedly used artificial intelligence to create fake recordings of Medicare beneficiaries purportedly consenting to receive certain products. According to court documents, the beneficiaries’ confidential information was then illegally sold to laboratories and durable medical equipment companies, which used this unlawfully obtained and fraudulently generated data to submit false claims to Medicare. Certain defendants controlled dozens of nominee-owned durable medical equipment companies and laboratories that allegedly submitted fraudulent claims for products and services the beneficiaries did not request, need, or receive. Certain defendants also allegedly conspired to conceal and launder the fraud proceeds from bank accounts they controlled in the United States to bank accounts overseas. In total, the defendants caused approximately $703 million in alleged fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans, which paid approximately $418 million on those claims. The government seized approximately $44.7 million from various bank accounts related to this case.

    Finally, a defendant based in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates who owned a billing company allegedly orchestrated a scheme to prey upon vulnerable individuals in need of addiction treatment by conspiring with treatment center owners to fraudulently bill Arizona Medicaid approximately $650 million for substance abuse treatment services. According to court documents, some of the services billed were never provided, while other services were provided at a level that was so substandard that it failed to serve any treatment purpose. As part of the conspiracy, treatment center owners allegedly paid illegal kickbacks in exchange for the referral of patients recruited from the homeless population and Native American reservations. The defendant received at least $25 million of ill-gotten Arizona Medicaid funds as a result of the conspiracy and is charged with a money laundering offense for his alleged use of those funds to purchase a $2.9 million home located on a golf estate in Dubai.

    Fraudulent Wound Care

    Charges were filed in the District of Arizona and the District of Nevada against seven defendants, including five medical professionals, in connection with approximately $1.1 billion in fraudulent claims to Medicare and other health care benefit programs for amniotic wound allografts. As alleged, certain defendants targeted vulnerable elderly patients, many of whom were receiving hospice care, and applied medically unnecessary amniotic allografts to these patients’ wounds. Many of the allografts allegedly were applied without coordination with the patients’ treating physicians, without proper treatment for infection, to superficial wounds that did not need this treatment, and to areas that far exceeded the size of the wound. Certain defendants allegedly received millions in illegal kickbacks from the fraudulent billing scheme.

    “Today’s unprecedented enforcement action demonstrates that CMS and our federal partners are united in our mission to protect the integrity of Medicare and Medicaid by crushing waste, fraud, and abuse,” said CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. “Every dollar we prevent from going to fraudsters is a dollar that stays in the system to serve legitimate beneficiaries. Through advanced data analytics, real-time monitoring, and swift administrative action, CMS is leading the fight to protect Medicare, Medicaid, and the trust Americans place in these vital programs. We’re not waiting for fraud to happen—we’re stopping it before it starts.”

    Prescription Opioid Trafficking

    74 defendants, including 44 licensed medical professionals, were charged across 58 cases in connection with the alleged illegal diversion of over 15 million pills of prescription opioids and other controlled substances. For example, five defendants associated with one Texas pharmacy were charged with the unlawful distribution of over 3 million opioid pills. As alleged, the defendants conspired to distribute massive quantities of oxycodone, hydrocodone, and carisoprodol, which were subsequently trafficked by street-level drug dealers, generating large profits for the defendants. This coordinated action is a continuation of the Health Care Fraud Unit’s systematic approach to stopping drug trafficking organizations and their pharmaceutical wholesale suppliers, which together have fueled an epidemic of prescription opioid abuse for nearly a decade.

    DEA also announced today that in the last six months, DEA charged 93 administrative cases seeking the revocation of pharmacies, medical practitioners, and companies authority to handle and/or prescribe controlled substances.

    “Health care fraud isn’t just theft — it’s trafficking in trust. Today’s announcement shows that when doctors become drug dealers and treatment centers become profit-driven fraud rings, DEA will act,” said Acting Administrator Robert Murphy of the DEA. “We’re targeting the entire ecosystem of fraud — from pill mills in Texas to kickback clinics exploiting Native communities. If you abuse your medical license to push poison or pad your pockets, we will hold you accountable.”

    Telemedicine and Genetic Testing Fraud

    In today’s Takedown, 49 defendants were charged in connection with the submission of over $1.17 billion in allegedly fraudulent claims to Medicare resulting from telemedicine and genetic testing fraud schemes. For example, in the Southern District of Florida, prosecutors charged an owner of telemedicine and durable medical equipment companies with a $46 million scheme in which Medicare beneficiaries were allegedly targeted through deceptive telemarketing campaigns and then fraudulent claims were submitted to Medicare for durable medical equipment and genetic tests for these beneficiaries. The Department continues to focus on eliminating health care fraud schemes that depend on telemedicine, including schemes involving fraudulent claims for genetic testing, durable medical equipment, and COVID-19 tests.

    Other Health Care Fraud Schemes

    The other cases announced today charge an additional 170 defendants with various other health care fraud schemes involving over $1.84 billion in allegedly false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance companies for diagnostic testing, medical visits, and treatments that were medically unnecessary, provided in connection with kickbacks and bribes, or never provided at all. For example, in the Western District of Tennessee, prosecutors charged three defendants, including business owners and a pharmacist, with a $28.7 million scheme to defraud the Federal Employees’ Compensation Fund by allegedly billing for medications for injured United States Postal Service employees that were never prescribed by a licensed practitioner and largely were not dispensed as claimed. And in the Western District of Washington and the Northern District of California, prosecutors charged medical providers with allegedly stealing fentanyl and hydrocodone, respectively, that was meant for the providers’ patients, including child patients in need of anesthesia.

    “VA’s Integrated Veteran Care Programs provide critical community-based health care to our nation’s disabled veterans and their dependents,” said Acting Inspector General David Case of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG). “Robust oversight of VA’s health care system is one of VA-OIG’s highest priorities. VA-OIG is committed to holding accountable those who defraud government benefits programs intended to care for our nation’s heroes.”

    Breaking Down Silos in the Fight Against Health Care Fraud

    In connection with the coordinated nationwide law enforcement operation, the Department is announcing that it is working closely with HHS-OIG, FBI, and other agencies to create a Health Care Fraud Data Fusion Center to bring together experts from the Department’s Criminal Division, Fraud Section, Health Care Fraud Unit Data Analytics Team; HHS-OIG; FBI; and other agencies to leverage cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and advanced analytics to identify emerging health care fraud schemes. The Health Care Fraud Unit’s Data Analytics Team was established in 2018 to enhance the Unit’s ability to detect, investigate, and prosecute complex health care fraud schemes. Joining forces with data analysts from HHS-OIG, FBI, and other partners will increase efficiency, detection, and rapid prosecution of emerging health care fraud schemes. It will also implement the President’s Executive Order Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos (Exec. Order No. 14243, 3 C.F.R. 294 (2025)) by reducing duplicative data teams, increasing operational efficiency through a whole-of-government approach, and leveraging cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and other agency resources.

    Principal Assistant Deputy Chief Jacob Foster, Assistant Deputy Chief Rebecca Yuan, Trial Attorney Miriam L. Glaser Dauermann, and Data Analyst Elizabeth Nolte, all of the Health Care Fraud Unit of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, led and coordinated this year’s Takedown. The cases are being prosecuted by the Health Care Fraud Unit’s National Rapid Response, Florida, Gulf Coast, Los Angeles, Midwest, New England, Northeast, and Texas Strike Forces; U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the District of Arizona, Central District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California, District of Columbia, District of Connecticut, District of Delaware, Middle District of Florida, Northern District of Florida, Southern District of Florida, Middle District of Georgia, District of Idaho, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern District of Kentucky, Western District of Kentucky, Eastern District of Louisiana, Middle District of Louisiana, District of Maine, District of Massachusetts, Eastern District of Michigan, Western District of Michigan, Northern District of Mississippi, Southern District of Mississippi, District of Montana, District of Nevada, District of New Hampshire, District of New Jersey, Eastern District of New York, Northern District of New York, Southern District of New York, Western District of New York, Eastern District of North Carolina, Western District of North Carolina, District of North Dakota, Northern District of Ohio, Southern District of Ohio, Northern District of Oklahoma, Western District of Oklahoma, District of Oregon, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, District of South Carolina, Middle District of Tennessee, Western District of Tennessee, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, District of Vermont, Eastern District of Virginia, Western District of Washington, and Northern District of West Virginia; and State Attorneys General’s Offices for California, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. The Health Care Fraud Unit’s Data Analytics Team used cutting-edge data analytics to identify and support the investigations that led to these charges.

    In addition to FBI, HHS-OIG, DEA, and CMS, HSI, VA-OIG, IRS Criminal Investigation, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Department of Labor, United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Office of Personnel Management Office of Inspector General, and other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies participated in the operation. The Medicaid Fraud Control Units of California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin also participated in the investigation of many of the federal and state cases announced today.

    The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Forces. Prior to the charges announced as part of today’s nationwide Takedown and since its inception in March 2007, the Health Care Fraud Strike Force, which operates in 27 districts, charged more than 5,400 defendants who collectively billed Medicare, Medicaid, and private health insurers more than $27 billion.

    The following materials related to today’s announcement are available on the Health Care Fraud Unit’s website through these links:

    •  Graphics and Resources

    •  Case Descriptions

    •  Court Documents

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

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: National Health Care Fraud Takedown Results in 324 Defendants Charged in Connection with Over $14.6 Billion in Alleged Fraud

    Source: United States Attorneys General

    Largest Justice Department Health Care Fraud Takedown in History
    More than Doubles Prior Record of $6 Billion

    The Justice Department today announced the results of its 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, which resulted in criminal charges against 324 defendants, including 96 doctors, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and other licensed medical professionals, in 50 federal districts and 12 State Attorneys General’s Offices across the United States, for their alleged participation in various health care fraud schemes involving over $14.6 billion in intended loss. The Takedown involved federal and state law enforcement agencies across the country and represents an unprecedented effort to combat health care fraud schemes that exploit patients and taxpayers.

    Demonstrating the significant return on investment that results from health care fraud enforcement efforts, the government seized over $245 million in cash, luxury vehicles, cryptocurrency, and other assets as part of the coordinated enforcement efforts. As part of the whole-of-government approach to combating health care fraud announced today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) also announced that it successfully prevented over $4 billion from being paid in response to false and fraudulent claims and that it suspended or revoked the billing privileges of 205 providers in the months leading up to the Takedown. Civil charges against 20 defendants for $14.2 million in alleged fraud, as well as civil settlements with 106 defendants totaling $34.3 million, were also announced as part of the Takedown.

    Today’s Takedown was led and coordinated by the Health Care Fraud Unit of the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and its core partners from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The cases were investigated by agents from HHS-OIG, FBI, DEA, and other federal and state law enforcement agencies. The cases are being prosecuted by Health Care Fraud Strike Force teams from the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, 50 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices nationwide, and 12 State Attorneys General Offices.

    “This record-setting Health Care Fraud Takedown delivers justice to criminal actors who prey upon our most vulnerable citizens and steal from hardworking American taxpayers,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Make no mistake – this administration will not tolerate criminals who line their pockets with taxpayer dollars while endangering the health and safety of our communities.”

    “As part of making healthcare accessible and affordable to all Americans, HHS will aggressively work with our law enforcement partners to eliminate the pervasive health care fraud that bedeviled this agency under the former administration and drove up costs,” said Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of the Department of Health and Human Services.

    “The Criminal Division is intensely committed to rooting out health care fraud schemes and prosecuting the criminals who perpetrate them because these schemes: (1) often result in physical patient harm through medically unnecessary treatments or failure to provide the correct treatments; (2) contribute to our nationwide opioid epidemic and exacerbate controlled substance addiction; and (3) do all of that while stealing money hardworking Americans contribute to pay for the care of their elders and other vulnerable citizens,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Division’s Health Care Fraud Unit and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices stand united with our law enforcement partners in this fight, and we will continue to use every tool at our disposal to protect the integrity of our health care programs for the American people.”

    “The scale of today’s Takedown is unprecedented, and so is the harm we’re confronting. Individuals who attempt to steal from the federal health care system and put vulnerable patients at risk will be held accountable,” said Acting Inspector General Juliet T. Hodgkins of HHS-OIG. “Our agents at HHS-OIG work relentlessly to detect, investigate, and dismantle these fraud schemes. We are proud to stand with our law enforcement partners in protecting taxpayer dollars and safeguarding patient care.”

    “Health care fraud drains critical resources from programs intended to help people who truly need medical care,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Today’s announcement demonstrates our commitment to pursuing those who exploit the system for personal gain. With more than $13 billion in fraud uncovered, this is the largest takedown for this initiative to date. Together, the FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to hold those accountable who steal from the American people and undermine our health care systems.”

    Transnational Criminal Organizations

    29 defendants were charged for their roles in transnational criminal organizations alleged to have submitted over $12 billion in fraudulent claims to America’s health insurance programs.

    For instance, a nationwide investigation known as Operation Gold Rush resulted in the largest loss amount ever charged in a health care fraud case brought by the Department. These charges were announced in the Eastern District of New York, the Northern District of Illinois, the Central District of California, the Middle District of Florida, and the District of New Jersey against 19 defendants. Twelve of these defendants have been arrested, including four defendants who were apprehended in Estonia as a result of international cooperation with Estonian law enforcement and seven defendants who were arrested at U.S. airports and the U.S. border with Mexico, cutting off their intended escape routes as they attempted to avoid capture.

    The organization allegedly used a network of foreign straw owners, including individuals sent into the United States from abroad, who, acting at the direction of others using encrypted messaging and assumed identities from overseas, strategically bought dozens of medical supply companies located across the United States. They then rapidly submitted $10.6 billion in fraudulent health care claims to Medicare for urinary catheters and other durable medical equipment by exploiting the stolen identities of over one million Americans spanning all 50 states and using their confidential medical information to submit the fraudulent claims. As alleged, the organization exploited the U.S. financial system by laundering the fraudulent proceeds and deploying a range of tactics to circumvent anti-money laundering controls to transfer funds into cryptocurrency and shell companies located abroad. The arrests announced today also include a banker who facilitated the money laundering of fraud proceeds on behalf of the organization through a U.S.-based bank.

    The Health Care Fraud Unit’s Data Analytics Team and its partners detected the anomalous billing through proactive data analytics, and HHS-OIG and CMS successfully prevented the organization from receiving all but approximately $41 million of the approximately $4.45 billion that was scheduled to be paid by Medicare. HHS and CMS intend to seek to return the $4.41 billion in escrow to the Medicare trust fund for needed medical care. The scheme nonetheless resulted in payments of approximately $900 million from Medicare supplemental insurers. To date, law enforcement has seized approximately $27.7 million in fraud proceeds as part of Operation Gold Rush.

    In another action involving foreign influence, charges were filed in the Northern District of Illinois against five defendants, including two owners and executives of Pakistani marketing organizations, in connection with a $703 million scheme in which Medicare beneficiaries’ identification numbers and other confidential health information were allegedly obtained through theft and deceptive marketing. The defendants allegedly used artificial intelligence to create fake recordings of Medicare beneficiaries purportedly consenting to receive certain products. According to court documents, the beneficiaries’ confidential information was then illegally sold to laboratories and durable medical equipment companies, which used this unlawfully obtained and fraudulently generated data to submit false claims to Medicare. Certain defendants controlled dozens of nominee-owned durable medical equipment companies and laboratories that allegedly submitted fraudulent claims for products and services the beneficiaries did not request, need, or receive. Certain defendants also allegedly conspired to conceal and launder the fraud proceeds from bank accounts they controlled in the United States to bank accounts overseas. In total, the defendants caused approximately $703 million in alleged fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans, which paid approximately $418 million on those claims. The government seized approximately $44.7 million from various bank accounts related to this case.

    Finally, a defendant based in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates who owned a billing company allegedly orchestrated a scheme to prey upon vulnerable individuals in need of addiction treatment by conspiring with treatment center owners to fraudulently bill Arizona Medicaid approximately $650 million for substance abuse treatment services. According to court documents, some of the services billed were never provided, while other services were provided at a level that was so substandard that it failed to serve any treatment purpose. As part of the conspiracy, treatment center owners allegedly paid illegal kickbacks in exchange for the referral of patients recruited from the homeless population and Native American reservations. The defendant received at least $25 million of ill-gotten Arizona Medicaid funds as a result of the conspiracy and is charged with a money laundering offense for his alleged use of those funds to purchase a $2.9 million home located on a golf estate in Dubai.

    Fraudulent Wound Care

    Charges were filed in the District of Arizona and the District of Nevada against seven defendants, including five medical professionals, in connection with approximately $1.1 billion in fraudulent claims to Medicare and other health care benefit programs for amniotic wound allografts. As alleged, certain defendants targeted vulnerable elderly patients, many of whom were receiving hospice care, and applied medically unnecessary amniotic allografts to these patients’ wounds. Many of the allografts allegedly were applied without coordination with the patients’ treating physicians, without proper treatment for infection, to superficial wounds that did not need this treatment, and to areas that far exceeded the size of the wound. Certain defendants allegedly received millions in illegal kickbacks from the fraudulent billing scheme.

    “Today’s unprecedented enforcement action demonstrates that CMS and our federal partners are united in our mission to protect the integrity of Medicare and Medicaid by crushing waste, fraud, and abuse,” said CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. “Every dollar we prevent from going to fraudsters is a dollar that stays in the system to serve legitimate beneficiaries. Through advanced data analytics, real-time monitoring, and swift administrative action, CMS is leading the fight to protect Medicare, Medicaid, and the trust Americans place in these vital programs. We’re not waiting for fraud to happen—we’re stopping it before it starts.”

    Prescription Opioid Trafficking

    74 defendants, including 44 licensed medical professionals, were charged across 58 cases in connection with the alleged illegal diversion of over 15 million pills of prescription opioids and other controlled substances. For example, five defendants associated with one Texas pharmacy were charged with the unlawful distribution of over 3 million opioid pills. As alleged, the defendants conspired to distribute massive quantities of oxycodone, hydrocodone, and carisoprodol, which were subsequently trafficked by street-level drug dealers, generating large profits for the defendants. This coordinated action is a continuation of the Health Care Fraud Unit’s systematic approach to stopping drug trafficking organizations and their pharmaceutical wholesale suppliers, which together have fueled an epidemic of prescription opioid abuse for nearly a decade.

    DEA also announced today that in the last six months, DEA charged 93 administrative cases seeking the revocation of pharmacies, medical practitioners, and companies authority to handle and/or prescribe controlled substances.

    “Health care fraud isn’t just theft — it’s trafficking in trust. Today’s announcement shows that when doctors become drug dealers and treatment centers become profit-driven fraud rings, DEA will act,” said Acting Administrator Robert Murphy of the DEA. “We’re targeting the entire ecosystem of fraud — from pill mills in Texas to kickback clinics exploiting Native communities. If you abuse your medical license to push poison or pad your pockets, we will hold you accountable.”

    Telemedicine and Genetic Testing Fraud

    In today’s Takedown, 49 defendants were charged in connection with the submission of over $1.17 billion in allegedly fraudulent claims to Medicare resulting from telemedicine and genetic testing fraud schemes. For example, in the Southern District of Florida, prosecutors charged an owner of telemedicine and durable medical equipment companies with a $46 million scheme in which Medicare beneficiaries were allegedly targeted through deceptive telemarketing campaigns and then fraudulent claims were submitted to Medicare for durable medical equipment and genetic tests for these beneficiaries. The Department continues to focus on eliminating health care fraud schemes that depend on telemedicine, including schemes involving fraudulent claims for genetic testing, durable medical equipment, and COVID-19 tests.

    Other Health Care Fraud Schemes

    The other cases announced today charge an additional 170 defendants with various other health care fraud schemes involving over $1.84 billion in allegedly false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance companies for diagnostic testing, medical visits, and treatments that were medically unnecessary, provided in connection with kickbacks and bribes, or never provided at all. For example, in the Western District of Tennessee, prosecutors charged three defendants, including business owners and a pharmacist, with a $28.7 million scheme to defraud the Federal Employees’ Compensation Fund by allegedly billing for medications for injured United States Postal Service employees that were never prescribed by a licensed practitioner and largely were not dispensed as claimed. And in the Western District of Washington and the Northern District of California, prosecutors charged medical providers with allegedly stealing fentanyl and hydrocodone, respectively, that was meant for the providers’ patients, including child patients in need of anesthesia.

    “VA’s Integrated Veteran Care Programs provide critical community-based health care to our nation’s disabled veterans and their dependents,” said Acting Inspector General David Case of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG). “Robust oversight of VA’s health care system is one of VA-OIG’s highest priorities. VA-OIG is committed to holding accountable those who defraud government benefits programs intended to care for our nation’s heroes.”

    Breaking Down Silos in the Fight Against Health Care Fraud

    In connection with the coordinated nationwide law enforcement operation, the Department is announcing that it is working closely with HHS-OIG, FBI, and other agencies to create a Health Care Fraud Data Fusion Center to bring together experts from the Department’s Criminal Division, Fraud Section, Health Care Fraud Unit Data Analytics Team; HHS-OIG; FBI; and other agencies to leverage cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and advanced analytics to identify emerging health care fraud schemes. The Health Care Fraud Unit’s Data Analytics Team was established in 2018 to enhance the Unit’s ability to detect, investigate, and prosecute complex health care fraud schemes. Joining forces with data analysts from HHS-OIG, FBI, and other partners will increase efficiency, detection, and rapid prosecution of emerging health care fraud schemes. It will also implement the President’s Executive Order Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos (Exec. Order No. 14243, 3 C.F.R. 294 (2025)) by reducing duplicative data teams, increasing operational efficiency through a whole-of-government approach, and leveraging cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and other agency resources.

    Principal Assistant Deputy Chief Jacob Foster, Assistant Deputy Chief Rebecca Yuan, Trial Attorney Miriam L. Glaser Dauermann, and Data Analyst Elizabeth Nolte, all of the Health Care Fraud Unit of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, led and coordinated this year’s Takedown. The cases are being prosecuted by the Health Care Fraud Unit’s National Rapid Response, Florida, Gulf Coast, Los Angeles, Midwest, New England, Northeast, and Texas Strike Forces; U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the District of Arizona, Central District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California, District of Columbia, District of Connecticut, District of Delaware, Middle District of Florida, Northern District of Florida, Southern District of Florida, Middle District of Georgia, District of Idaho, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern District of Kentucky, Western District of Kentucky, Eastern District of Louisiana, Middle District of Louisiana, District of Maine, District of Massachusetts, Eastern District of Michigan, Western District of Michigan, Northern District of Mississippi, Southern District of Mississippi, District of Montana, District of Nevada, District of New Hampshire, District of New Jersey, Eastern District of New York, Northern District of New York, Southern District of New York, Western District of New York, Eastern District of North Carolina, Western District of North Carolina, District of North Dakota, Northern District of Ohio, Southern District of Ohio, Northern District of Oklahoma, Western District of Oklahoma, District of Oregon, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, District of South Carolina, Middle District of Tennessee, Western District of Tennessee, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, District of Vermont, Eastern District of Virginia, Western District of Washington, and Northern District of West Virginia; and State Attorneys General’s Offices for California, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. The Health Care Fraud Unit’s Data Analytics Team used cutting-edge data analytics to identify and support the investigations that led to these charges.

    In addition to FBI, HHS-OIG, DEA, and CMS, HSI, VA-OIG, IRS Criminal Investigation, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Department of Labor, United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Office of Personnel Management Office of Inspector General, and other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies participated in the operation. The Medicaid Fraud Control Units of California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin also participated in the investigation of many of the federal and state cases announced today.

    The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Forces. Prior to the charges announced as part of today’s nationwide Takedown and since its inception in March 2007, the Health Care Fraud Strike Force, which operates in 27 districts, charged more than 5,400 defendants who collectively billed Medicare, Medicaid, and private health insurers more than $27 billion.

    The following materials related to today’s announcement are available on the Health Care Fraud Unit’s website through these links:

    •  Graphics and Resources

    •  Case Descriptions

    •  Court Documents

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

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Head of the Criminal Division Matthew R. Galeotti Announces Results of Health Care Fraud Takedown

    Source: United States Attorneys General

    Good morning.

    Thank you all for joining us today as we announce the largest coordinated health care fraud takedown in the history of the Department of Justice.

    Today marks a decisive moment in our fight to protect American taxpayers from fraudsters and to defend the integrity of our nation’s health care system.

    We are announcing charges against 324 defendants for their alleged participation in health care fraud schemes involving approximately $14.6 billion in false claims submitted to Medicare, Medicaid, and other health care programs.

    In a takedown this large, I can’t possibly describe all of the work that went into dismantling each scheme, but there are four key points that bear emphasizing.

    First, let me be clear about what these health care fraud schemes mean for every hardworking American family: These criminals didn’t just steal someone else’s money — they stole from you.  Every fraudulent claim, every fake billing, every kickback scheme represents money taken directly from the pockets of American taxpayers, who fund these essential programs through their hard work and sacrifice. And when criminals defraud these programs, they’re not just committing theft — they’re driving up our national deficit and threatening the long-term viability of health care for seniors, disabled Americans, and our most vulnerable citizens.

    This enforcement action involves the seizure of cash, as well as luxury vehicles and properties, returning real money to American taxpayers and to our government health care programs.

    Second, we are seeing a disturbing trend of transnational criminal organizations engaging in increasingly sophisticated and complex criminal schemes that defraud the American health care system.

    As part of this takedown, we’ve identified and charged defendants operating from Russia, Eastern Europe, Pakistan, and other foreign countries who have infiltrated our health care system to steal American taxpayer dollars.

    As one example, we dismantled a scheme involving a sophisticated operation run from Russia and Eastern Europe that strategically bought dozens of medical supply companies in the United States and submitted more than 10 billion dollars in fraudulent health care claims to Medicare. To make matters worse, these perpetrators used the stolen identities of more than one million Americans, spanning all 50 states, to submit these false claims.

    But I’m pleased to report that federal agents intercepted and arrested key members of that organization at U.S. airports and at the U.S.-Mexico border, cutting off their intended escape routes.

    The days of transnational criminal organizations using American health care programs as their personal piggy banks are over.

    Third, this takedown resulted in criminal charges against 74 defendants, including medical professionals, who fueled America’s deadly opioid epidemic for personal profit. These are not isolated instances of poor judgment. These are calculated schemes designed to exploit Americans struggling with addiction while enriching the very people who were duty-bound to help them heal.

    We charged pill mill operators who prescribed unnecessary opioids.  We dismantled networks of corrupt pharmacies that existed solely to distribute drugs to addicts and dealers, feeding the addiction crisis that has devastated so many American communities.

    This is not health care; it is a staggering breach of trust.  And under my leadership, the Criminal Division will prosecute these criminals as aggressively as we would prosecute any drug dealer — because that’s exactly what they are.

    Fourth, many of the defendants charged as part of this takedown specifically targeted some of our most vulnerable citizens: elderly Americans in nursing homes, individuals with disabilities, those battling serious illnesses, and more.  For example, our prosecutors charged seven defendants, including five medical professionals, in connection with approximately $1 billion in fraudulent claims to Medicare and other health care benefit programs for performing medically unnecessary skin grafts on dying patients as they were seeking to spend their final days with dignity and grace.

    That conduct is exactly as callous and disturbing as it sounds. Patients and their families trusted these providers with their lives.  Instead of receiving care, they became victims of elaborate criminal schemes.

    Today’s takedown marks a historic day. In addition to the tireless work of our Fraud Section’s Health Care Fraud Unit, this extraordinary effort would not have been possible without the law enforcement agencies with me here today: Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

    And of course, countless other partners across the federal, state, and local law enforcement community and dozens of United States Attorneys’ Offices. Thank you to all who made today possible.

    Despite these historic achievements, we aren’t resting on our laurels. We’re making advancements to stay ahead of criminals and their illicit schemes.

    That is why, today, I am also announcing that we are working with our partners at FBI, HHS-OIG, and other federal agencies to create a Health Care Fraud Data Fusion Center to revolutionize how we detect, investigate, and prosecute health care fraud.  These efforts will be led by the Criminal Division, specifically, the Fraud Section’s Health Care Fraud Unit and comprised of data specialists from the Unit’s Data Analytics Team. The Fusion Center will break down information silos, using coordinated data analysis to enable our investigative teams to quickly identify and dismantle emerging fraud schemes.

    This takedown represents the largest health care fraud takedown in American history.

    But it’s not the end—it’s the beginning of a new era of aggressive prosecution and data-driven prevention.

    Thank you.

    I will now turn it over to Acting Inspector General Juliet T. Hodgkins, Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Head of the Criminal Division Matthew R. Galeotti Announces Results of Health Care Fraud Takedown

    Source: United States Attorneys General

    Good morning.

    Thank you all for joining us today as we announce the largest coordinated health care fraud takedown in the history of the Department of Justice.

    Today marks a decisive moment in our fight to protect American taxpayers from fraudsters and to defend the integrity of our nation’s health care system.

    We are announcing charges against 324 defendants for their alleged participation in health care fraud schemes involving approximately $14.6 billion in false claims submitted to Medicare, Medicaid, and other health care programs.

    In a takedown this large, I can’t possibly describe all of the work that went into dismantling each scheme, but there are four key points that bear emphasizing.

    First, let me be clear about what these health care fraud schemes mean for every hardworking American family: These criminals didn’t just steal someone else’s money — they stole from you.  Every fraudulent claim, every fake billing, every kickback scheme represents money taken directly from the pockets of American taxpayers, who fund these essential programs through their hard work and sacrifice. And when criminals defraud these programs, they’re not just committing theft — they’re driving up our national deficit and threatening the long-term viability of health care for seniors, disabled Americans, and our most vulnerable citizens.

    This enforcement action involves the seizure of cash, as well as luxury vehicles and properties, returning real money to American taxpayers and to our government health care programs.

    Second, we are seeing a disturbing trend of transnational criminal organizations engaging in increasingly sophisticated and complex criminal schemes that defraud the American health care system.

    As part of this takedown, we’ve identified and charged defendants operating from Russia, Eastern Europe, Pakistan, and other foreign countries who have infiltrated our health care system to steal American taxpayer dollars.

    As one example, we dismantled a scheme involving a sophisticated operation run from Russia and Eastern Europe that strategically bought dozens of medical supply companies in the United States and submitted more than 10 billion dollars in fraudulent health care claims to Medicare. To make matters worse, these perpetrators used the stolen identities of more than one million Americans, spanning all 50 states, to submit these false claims.

    But I’m pleased to report that federal agents intercepted and arrested key members of that organization at U.S. airports and at the U.S.-Mexico border, cutting off their intended escape routes.

    The days of transnational criminal organizations using American health care programs as their personal piggy banks are over.

    Third, this takedown resulted in criminal charges against 74 defendants, including medical professionals, who fueled America’s deadly opioid epidemic for personal profit. These are not isolated instances of poor judgment. These are calculated schemes designed to exploit Americans struggling with addiction while enriching the very people who were duty-bound to help them heal.

    We charged pill mill operators who prescribed unnecessary opioids.  We dismantled networks of corrupt pharmacies that existed solely to distribute drugs to addicts and dealers, feeding the addiction crisis that has devastated so many American communities.

    This is not health care; it is a staggering breach of trust.  And under my leadership, the Criminal Division will prosecute these criminals as aggressively as we would prosecute any drug dealer — because that’s exactly what they are.

    Fourth, many of the defendants charged as part of this takedown specifically targeted some of our most vulnerable citizens: elderly Americans in nursing homes, individuals with disabilities, those battling serious illnesses, and more.  For example, our prosecutors charged seven defendants, including five medical professionals, in connection with approximately $1 billion in fraudulent claims to Medicare and other health care benefit programs for performing medically unnecessary skin grafts on dying patients as they were seeking to spend their final days with dignity and grace.

    That conduct is exactly as callous and disturbing as it sounds. Patients and their families trusted these providers with their lives.  Instead of receiving care, they became victims of elaborate criminal schemes.

    Today’s takedown marks a historic day. In addition to the tireless work of our Fraud Section’s Health Care Fraud Unit, this extraordinary effort would not have been possible without the law enforcement agencies with me here today: Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

    And of course, countless other partners across the federal, state, and local law enforcement community and dozens of United States Attorneys’ Offices. Thank you to all who made today possible.

    Despite these historic achievements, we aren’t resting on our laurels. We’re making advancements to stay ahead of criminals and their illicit schemes.

    That is why, today, I am also announcing that we are working with our partners at FBI, HHS-OIG, and other federal agencies to create a Health Care Fraud Data Fusion Center to revolutionize how we detect, investigate, and prosecute health care fraud.  These efforts will be led by the Criminal Division, specifically, the Fraud Section’s Health Care Fraud Unit and comprised of data specialists from the Unit’s Data Analytics Team. The Fusion Center will break down information silos, using coordinated data analysis to enable our investigative teams to quickly identify and dismantle emerging fraud schemes.

    This takedown represents the largest health care fraud takedown in American history.

    But it’s not the end—it’s the beginning of a new era of aggressive prosecution and data-driven prevention.

    Thank you.

    I will now turn it over to Acting Inspector General Juliet T. Hodgkins, Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Justice Department Announces Coordinated, Nationwide Actions to Combat North Korean Remote Information Technology Workers’ Illicit Revenue Generation Schemes

    Source: United States Attorneys General

    Law Enforcement Actions Across 16 States Result in Charges, Arrest, and Seizures of 29 Financial Accounts, 21 Fraudulent Websites, and Approximately 200 Computers

    The Justice Department announced today coordinated actions against the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea (DPRK) government’s schemes to fund its regime through remote information technology (IT) work for U.S. companies. These actions include two indictments, an arrest, searches of 29 known or suspected “laptop farms” across 16 states, and the seizure of 29 financial accounts used to launder illicit funds and 21 fraudulent websites.

    According to court documents, the schemes involve North Korean individuals fraudulently obtaining employment with U.S. companies as remote IT workers, using stolen and fake identities. The North Korean actors were assisted by individuals in the United States, China, United Arab Emirates, and Taiwan, and successfully obtained employment with more than 100 U.S. companies.

    As alleged in court documents, certain U.S.-based individuals enabled one of the schemes by creating front companies and fraudulent websites to promote the bona fides of the remote IT workers, and hosted laptop farms where the remote North Korean IT workers could remote access into U.S. victim company-provided laptop computers. Once employed, the North Korean IT workers received regular salary payments, and they gained access to, and in some cases stole, sensitive employer information such as export controlled U.S. military technology and virtual currency. In another scheme, North Korean IT workers used false or fraudulently obtained identities to gain employment with an Atlanta, Georgia-based blockchain research and development company and stole virtual currency worth approximately over $900,000.

    “These schemes target and steal from U.S. companies and are designed to evade sanctions and fund the North Korean regime’s illicit programs, including its weapons programs,” said Assistant Attorney General John A. Eisenberg of the Department’s National Security Division. “The Justice Department, along with our law enforcement, private sector, and international partners, will persistently pursue and dismantle these cyber-enabled revenue generation networks.”

    “North Korean IT workers defraud American companies and steal the identities of private citizens, all in support of the North Korean regime,” said Assistant Director Brett Leatherman of FBI’s Cyber Division. “That is why the FBI and our partners continue to work together to disrupt infrastructure, seize revenue, indict overseas IT workers, and arrest their enablers in the United States. Let the actions announced today serve as a warning: if you host laptop farms for the benefit of North Korean actors, law enforcement will be waiting for you.”

    “North Korea remains intent on funding its weapons programs by defrauding U.S. companies and exploiting American victims of identity theft, but the FBI is equally intent on disrupting this massive campaign and bringing its perpetrators to justice,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI Counterintelligence Division. “North Korean IT workers posing as U.S. citizens fraudulently obtained employment with American businesses so they could funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to North Korea’s authoritarian regime. The FBI will do everything in our power to defend the homeland and protect Americans from being victimized by the North Korean government, and we ask all U.S. companies that employ remote workers to remain vigilant to this sophisticated threat.”

    Zhenxing Wang, et al. Indictment, Seizure Warrants, and Arrest – District of Massachusetts

    Today, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts and the National Security Division announced the arrest of U.S. national Zhenxing “Danny” Wang of New Jersey pursuant to a five-count indictment. The indictment describes a multi-year fraud scheme by Wang and his co-conspirators to obtain remote IT work with U.S. companies that generated more than $5 million in revenue. The indictment also charges Chinese nationals Jing Bin Huang (靖斌 黄), Baoyu Zhou (周宝玉), Tong Yuze (佟雨泽), Yongzhe Xu (徐勇哲 andيونجزهي أكسو), Ziyou Yuan (زيو) and Zhenbang Zhou (周震邦), and Taiwanese nationals Mengting Liu (劉 孟婷) and Enchia Liu (刘恩) for their roles in the scheme. 

    “The threat posed by DPRK operatives is both real and immediate. Thousands of North Korean cyber operatives have been trained and deployed by the regime to blend into the global digital workforce and systematically target U.S. companies,” said U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley for the District of Massachusetts. “We will continue to work relentlessly to protect U.S. businesses and ensure they are not inadvertently fueling the DPRK’s unlawful and dangerous ambitions.”

    According to the indictment, from approximately 2021 until October 2024, the defendants and other co-conspirators compromised the identities of more than 80 U.S. persons to obtain remote jobs at more than 100 U.S. companies, including many Fortune 500 companies, and caused U.S. victim companies to incur legal fees, computer network remediation costs, and other damages and losses of at least $3 million. Overseas IT workers were assisted by Kejia Wang, Zhenxing Wang, and at least four other identified U.S. facilitators. Kejia Wang, for example, communicated with overseas co-conspirators and IT workers, and traveled to Shenyang and Dandong, China, including in 2023, to meet with them about the scheme. To deceive U.S. companies into believing the IT workers were located in the United States, Kejia Wang, Zhenxing Wang, and the other U.S. facilitators received and/or hosted laptops belonging to U.S. companies at their residences, and enabled overseas IT workers to access the laptops remotely by, among other things, connecting the laptops to hardware devices designed to allow for remote access (referred to as keyboard-video-mouse or “KVM” switches).

    Kejia Wang and Zhenxing Wang also created shell companies with corresponding websites and financial accounts, including Hopana Tech LLC, Tony WKJ LLC, and Independent Lab LLC, to make it appear as though the overseas IT workers were affiliated with legitimate U.S. businesses. Kejia Wang and Zhenxing Wang established these and other financial accounts to receive money from victimized U.S. companies, much of which was subsequently transferred to overseas co‑conspirators. In exchange for their services, Kejia Wang, Zhenxing Wang, and the four other U.S. facilitators received a total of at least $696,000 from the IT workers.

    IT workers employed under this scheme also gained access to sensitive employer data and source code, including International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) data from a California-based defense contractor that develops artificial intelligence-powered equipment and technologies. Specifically, between on or about Jan. 19, 2024, and on or about April 2, 2024, an overseas co-conspirator remotely accessed without authorization the company’s laptop and computer files  containing technical data and other information. The stolen data included information marked as being controlled under the ITAR.

    Simultaneously with today’s announcement, the FBI and Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) seized 17 web domains used in furtherance of the charged scheme and further seized 29 financial accounts, holding tens of thousands of dollars in funds, used to launder revenue for the North Korean regime through the remote IT work scheme.

    Previously, in October 2024, as part of this investigation, federal law enforcement executed searches at eight locations across three states that resulted in the recovery of more than 70 laptops and remote access devices, such as KVMs. Simultaneously with that action, the FBI seized four web domains associated with Kejia Wang’s and Zhenxing Wang’s shell companies used to facilitate North Korean IT work.

    The FBI Las Vegas Field Office, DCIS San Diego Resident Agency, and Homeland Security Investigations San Diego Field Office are investigating the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Casey for the District of Massachusetts and Trial Attorney Gregory J. Nicosia, Jr. of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section are prosecuting the case, with significant assistance from Legal Assistants Daniel Boucher and Margaret Coppes. Valuable assistance was also provided by Mark A. Murphy of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the District of New Jersey, Eastern District of New York, and Southern District of California.

    Kim Kwang Jin et al. Indictment – Northern District of Georgia

    Today, the Northern District of Georgia unsealed a five-count wire fraud and money laundering indictment charging four North Korean nationals, Kim Kwang Jin (김관진), Kang Tae Bok (강태복), Jong Pong Ju (정봉주) and Chang Nam Il (창남일), with a scheme to steal virtual currency from two companies, valued at over $900,000 at the time of the thefts, and to launder proceeds of those thefts. The defendants remain at large and wanted by the FBI.

    “The defendants used fake and stolen personal identities to conceal their North Korean nationality, pose as remote IT workers, and exploit their victims’ trust to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg for the Northern District of Georgia. “This indictment highlights the unique threat North Korea poses to companies that hire remote IT workers and underscores our resolve to prosecute any actor, in the United States or abroad, who steals from Georgia businesses.”

    According to the indictment, the defendants traveled to the United Arab Emirates on North Korean travel documents and worked as a co-located team. In approximately December 2020 and May 2021, respectively, Kim Kwang Jin (using victim P.S.’s stolen identity) and Jong Pong Ju (using the alias “Bryan Cho”) were hired by a blockchain research and development company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and a virtual token company based in Serbia. Both defendants concealed their North Korean identities from their employers by providing false identification documents containing a mix of stolen and fraudulent identity information. Neither company would have hired Kim Kwang Jin and Jong Pong Ju had they known that they were North Korean citizens. Later, on a recommendation from Jong Pong Ju, the Serbian company hired “Peter Xiao,” who in fact was Chang Nam Il.

    After gaining their employers’ trust, Kim Kwang Jin and Jong Pong Ju were assigned projects that provided them access to their employers’ virtual currency assets. In February 2022, Jong Pong Ju used that access to steal virtual currency worth approximately $175,000 at the time of the theft, sending it to a virtual currency address he controlled. In March 2022, Kim Kwang Jin stole virtual currency worth approximately $740,000 at the time of theft by modifying the source code of two of his employer’s smart contracts, then sending it to a virtual currency address he controlled.

    To launder the funds after the thefts, Kim Kwang Jin and Jong Pong Ju “mixed” the stolen funds using the virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash and then transferred the funds to virtual currency exchange accounts controlled by defendants Kang Tae Bok and Chang Nam Il but held in the name of aliases. These accounts were opened using fraudulent Malaysian identification documents.

    The FBI Atlanta Field Office is investigating the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samir Kaushal and Alex Sistla for the Northern District of Georgia and Trial Attorney Jacques Singer-Emery of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section are prosecuting the case.

    21 Searches of Known or Suspected U.S.-based Laptop Farms – Multi-District

    Between June 10 and June 17, 2025, the FBI executed searches of 21 premises across 14 states hosting known and suspected laptop farms. These actions, coordinated by the FBI Denver Field Office, related to investigations of North Korean remote IT worker schemes being conducted by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices of the District of Colorado, Eastern District of Missouri, and Northern District of Texas. In total, the FBI seized approximately 137 laptops.

    Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of Connecticut, the Eastern District of Michigan, the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the Middle District of Florida, the Northern District of Georgia, the Northern District of Illinois, the Northern District of Indiana, the District of Oregon, the Southern District of Florida, the Southern District of Ohio, the Western District of New York, and the Western District of Pennsylvania.

    ***

    The Department’s actions to combat these schemes are the latest in a series of law enforcement actions under a joint National Security Division and FBI Cyber and Counterintelligence Divisions effort, the DPRK RevGen: Domestic Enabler Initiative. This effort prioritizes targeting and disrupting the DPRK’s illicit revenue generation schemes and its U.S.-based enablers. The Department previously announced other actions pursuant to the initiative, including in January 2025 and prior, as well as the filing of a civil forfeiture complaint in early June 2025 for over $7.74 million tied to an illegal employment scheme.

    As the FBI has described in Public Service Announcements published in May 2024 and January 2025, North Korean remote IT workers posing as legitimate remote IT workers have committed data extortion and exfiltrated the proprietary and sensitive data from U.S. companies. DPRK IT worker schemes typically involve the use of stolen identities, alias emails, social media, online cross-border payment platforms, and online job site accounts, as well as false websites, proxy computers, and witting and unwitting third parties located in the U.S. and elsewhere.

    Other public advisories about the threats, red flag indicators, and potential mitigation measures for these schemes include a May 2022 advisory released by the FBI, Department of the Treasury, and Department of State; a July 2023 advisory from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; and guidance issued in October 2023 by the United States and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). As described the May 2022 advisory, North Korean IT workers have been known individually to earn up to $300,000 annually, generating hundreds of millions of dollars collectively each year, on behalf of designated entities, such as the North Korean Ministry of Defense and others directly involved in the DPRK’s weapons programs.

    The U.S. Department of State has offered potential rewards for up to $5 million in support of international efforts to disrupt the DPRK’s illicit financial activities, including for cybercrimes, money laundering, and sanctions evasion.

    The details in the above-described court documents are merely allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Canadian Man Arrested and Detained for Role in Deadly Alien Smuggling Conspiracy at the U.S.’s Northern Border

    Source: United States Attorneys General

    Note: View the indictment here and detention letter here.

    WASHINGTON — A dual Canadian American citizen was arrested on Sunday, June 15, for his role in a deadly human smuggling conspiracy that left a family of four, including two children under the age of three, dead in the St. Lawrence River. Oakes was arrested as he attempted to enter the United States via the Massena, New York, Port of Entry.

    Timothy Oakes, 34, from the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Reservation (AMIR), Canada, was previously arraigned on numerous human smuggling offenses in the Northern District of New York District Court and had his detention hearing earlier today and will remain detained. Oakes was indicted on April 9 for conspiring with others to engage in alien smuggling, four counts of alien smuggling for profit, and four counts of alien smuggling resulting in death. United States based co-conspirators Dakota Montour, 31, and Kawisiiostha Celecia Sharrow, 43, both of Akwesasne-Mohawk, New York, and Janet Terrance, 45, of Hogansburg, New York, entered guilty pleas on Jan. 23, Oct. 8, 2024, and March 6, respectively.

    “As alleged, Oakes and his co-conspirators profited from a human smuggling operation with a singular, cold-hearted aim: making money by bringing illegal aliens into the United States, regardless of the danger to human life involved,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Their greed resulted in the deaths of a mother, a father, and two small children, as well as one of the defendants’ own brothers. The Criminal Division will continue to disrupt and dismantle these organizations and bring justice to smugglers whose actions result in senseless deaths.”

    “This case shows the terrible perils of illegally crossing the border,” said U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III for the Northern District of New York. “Four family members died because a smuggling network put them in harm’s way. My office is proud to partner with Joint Task Force Alpha to continue to combat dangerous human smuggling and trafficking organizations that operate on our northern border.”

    “Oakes’ arrest comes as part of our nearly two-year long investigation into a transnational criminal organization responsible for the large-scale smuggling of aliens from Canada into the United States,” said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE HSI) Buffalo Special Agent in Charge Erin Keegan. “ICE HSI leverages its full range of authorities to combat and dismantle the heinous networks of greedy criminals who illicitly sell dangerous, sometimes fatal, passage through our nation’s northern border. We are extremely grateful for a multitude of law enforcement agency partners on the Border Enforcement Security Taskforce who join us in this fight to bring smugglers to justice.”

    “Two toddler aged children and their parents were the tragic victims of an alien smuggling attempt gone horribly wrong,” said Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Swanton Sector. “Their deaths were a direct result of callous smugglers who exploited the vulnerable. Due to unrelenting perseverance and investigative efforts by multiple law enforcement agencies, those responsible will be held accountable. Our pursuit of justice persists until justice is served.”

    According to court documents, Oakes was a key facilitator in a human smuggling organization (HSO) that smuggled aliens from Canada into northern New York. Oakes, working with the HSO, routinely smuggled aliens into the United States by piloting boats across the St. Lawrence River. Additionally, Oakes used his home as a staging area for aliens before the HSO smuggled them into the United States. Oakes earned approximately $1,000 for every alien whom he smuggled across the St. Lawrence River into the United States.

    In March 2023, Oakes housed a Romanian family of four, together with other aliens, for about 24 hours. He then transported the family and a boat to a public boat launch. His brother, Casey Oakes, attempted to use the boat to smuggle the Romanian family into the United States, but the boat capsized, killing all four members of the family, as well as Casey Oakes.    

    Terrance, Montour, and Sharrow admitted in their plea agreements that in late March 2023, they were employed to illegally transport a Romanian family of four — a mother, father, one-year-old boy, and two-year-old girl — from Canada into New York. Specifically, Montour admitted that he was aware of the dangerous weather conditions on the day of the tragedy — high winds, freezing temperatures, and limited visibility — yet another co-conspirator still loaded the family of four into the small boat to attempt to cross the St. Lawrence River.

    HSI Massena engaged in an extensive years-long investigation of the case, with assistance from the U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C., CBP’s National Targeting Center International Interdiction Task Force, New York State Police, Canada Border Services Agency, Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service, St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Police Department, Ontario Provincial Police, Sûreté du Québec, St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Cornwall Police Service. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant support with foreign legal assistance requests.

    The defendant’s vehicle with light blue boat in tow on March 29, 2023, at 9:29 p.m., consistent with the boat found in the river during recovery efforts.

    The investigation is a result of the coordinated efforts of Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA). JTFA, a partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has been elevated and expanded by the Attorney General with a mandate to target cartels and other transnational criminal organizations and eliminate human smuggling and trafficking networks operating within the Americas that impact public safety and the security of our borders. JTFA currently comprises detailees from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices along the border, including the Northern District of New York. Dedicated support is provided by numerous components of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, led by the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and supported by the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, the Office of Enforcement Operations and the Office of International Affairs, among others. JTFA also relies on substantial law enforcement investment from DHS, FBI, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and other partners. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in more than 380 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling; more than 340 U.S. convictions; more than 290 significant jail sentences imposed; and forfeitures of substantial assets.

    The investigation is being conducted under the Extraterritorial Criminal Travel Strike Force (ECT) program, a joint partnership between the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and HSI. The ECT program focuses on human smuggling networks that may present particular national security or public safety risks, or present grave humanitarian concerns. ECT has dedicated investigative, intelligence and prosecutorial resources. ECT coordinates and receives assistance from other U.S. government agencies and foreign law enforcement authorities.

    Trial Attorney Jenna E. Reed of the Criminal Division’s HRSP and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Stitt for the Northern District of New York are prosecuting the case.

    This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhoods.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Marshals, Hyattsville PD Arrest Double-Shooting, Robbery Suspect

    Source: US Marshals Service

    Washington, DC – The U.S. Marshals Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, along with the Hyattsville Police Department, arrested on Friday a suspect involved in a high-profile double shooting and robbery that injured two people in November 2024.

    Devin Demetrius Spivey, 21, was taken into custody at about 6:30 a.m. at a home in the 9100 block of Cherry Lane in Laurel, Maryland.

    Spivey faces 18 charges, including two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of attempted second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, armed robbery, and stalking.

    The double shooting and robbery happened Nov. 5, 2024, in the 2500 block of Kirkwood Place. Spivey is one of five suspects wanted for targeting a man and woman who were coming back from dinner. The victims survived their injuries.

    “The arrest of Devin Spivey by members of the Marshals Service Task Force is a perfect example of what a team of dedicated federal and local law enforcement officers can accomplish together,” says Clinton J. Fuchs, United States Marshal for the District of Maryland. 

    “This arrest is a crucial step toward justice for the victims and safety for our community,” said Chief Jarod Towers. “Our officers worked tirelessly alongside our law enforcement partners to identify and apprehend the suspect. We hope this provides some relief to the victims and everyone involved.”

    “This was a senseless act of violence, and our office will continue to work to hold these violent offenders accountable,” says Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Tara Jackson. “We want to thank the City of Hyattsville Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service, as well as the Prince George’s County Police Department, the attorneys and investigators, and our federal partners for their work on this case.”

    This remains an active investigation. Anyone with any information about the shooting is encouraged to call the Hyattsville PD at (301) 985-5060 or send tips via the U.S. Marshals Tip App.

    The Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force focuses resources and efforts on the enhancement of public safety and the reduction of violence within the National Capital Region through the identification, investigation, and apprehension of fugitives wanted for egregious crimes against the community, while ensuring the equal application of Justice, Integrity, and Service for all.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Bipartisan Warren, Scott (Fla.) Letter Questions Biden Defense Secretary’s Decision to Launch Lobbying Firm

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren
    July 01, 2025
    Austin publicly promised Warren in 2021 he would not become a lobbyist after leaving government service
    “When our highest-ranking government officials and military officers treat their positions as steppingstones to personal enrichment, they corrupt the very institution they swore to defend.” 
    Text of Letter (PDF)
    Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote to former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin seeking an explanation and further information on his recent decision to start a strategic advisory firm. Austin had publicly promised Senator Warren during his 2021 confirmation process that he would not become a lobbyist after his government service ended. 
    On June 3, 2025, Politico reported that Austin was launching Clarion Strategies, along with other former Biden defense and national security officials, to help clients “navigate geopolitical upheaval…, advancements in defense technology…, [and] global trade shifts and emerging alliances among U.S. adversaries like Russia, China, North Korea and China.” This new venture undermines his promises to Senator Warren to “ensure that the public has no reason to question my impartiality” and “[had] no intent to be a lobbyist.” 
    “The revolving door between the Pentagon and K Street has been spinning for years during both Democratic and Republican administrations. In your case, this move is particularly disappointing because you made a clear promise during your nomination hearing to uphold the public trust,” wrote the senators. 
    Austin’s pledges helped secure similar commitments from other defense nominees, including Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu, and Under Secretary of the Army Gabriel Camarillo. 
    Austin appears to have found a loophole by serving as an “adviser” rather than a registered lobbyist. 
    “[That] undermines the very purpose of the promise that you made to the American people: to close the revolving door of government officials cashing in on their public service by lobbying, advising…” wrote the lawmakers.
    The senators demanded clarity on Austin’s new role by July 14, 2025, including whether he’ll register to lobby on behalf of any company; if any current or prospective clients have contracts with the Defense Department; if he’ll work on behalf of any foreign government; if he’ll recuse from any matters involving any companies he worked with as Defense Secretary; and whether any clients would benefit from his security clearance. 
    As leaders of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, Senators Warren and Scott held a hearing on the dangers of the revolving door. Both have also introduced legislation to tackle the revolving door, with Senator Warren introducing the Department of Defense Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act and Senator Scott introducing the Banning Lobbying and Safeguarding Trust (BLAST) Act to ban members of Congress from lobbying.
    Senator Warren has long sought to protect servicemembers and national security by pushing defense nominees to resolve their conflicts of interest: 
    In May 2025, Senator Warren pressed Mr. Michael Obadal, nominee for Under Secretary of the Army, on his refusal to divest from major defense contractors.
    In April 2025, Senator Warren secured a commitment from Lieutenant General John D. Caine, President Trump’s nominee to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, not to work for any major defense contractors—or companies affected by his official actions—after leaving government service. 
    In March 2025, ahead of his confirmation vote, Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to Deputy Defense Secretary Nominee Stephen Feinberg, urging him to recuse himself from all matters related to Ligado Networks, which has a pending $39 billion lawsuit against the DoD. 
    In March 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to Mr. Emil Michael, nominee for Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, with concern over his history of inappropriate behavior at work, his attacks on journalists and public accountability, and his ties to technology companies that may seek contracts with the Department of Defense. 
    In February 2025, ahead of his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to Mr. Stephen Feinberg, nominee for Deputy Secretary of the Department of Defense, pressing him to explain his “serious conflicts of interest” and his track record of mismanagement.
    In January 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to Mr. Michael Duffey, nominee for Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment of the Department of Defense, ahead of his confirmation hearing, with serious concerns about his record, which include violating the law, disregarding Congressional authority, and his involvement in Project 2025. 
    In January 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to Mr. Pete Hegseth, nominee for Secretary of the Department of Defense, regarding his ethics conflicts ahead of the Senate’s consideration of his nomination. Mr. Hegseth’s household’s ownership of stock in several defense contractors and his unwillingness to commit to the same post-employment restrictions he previously advocated for were particularly troubling for a prospective Secretary of Defense.
    In March 2024, Senator Elizabeth Warren secured ethics commitments from Douglas Schmidt, ahead of his confirmation to be the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) for the Department of Defense.
    In July 2023, Senator Elizabeth Warren secured a commitment from General Charles Q. Brown, Jr., President Biden’s nominee to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, not to become a defense industry lobbyist or receive compensation from a defense contractor for four years after leaving government service. 
    In June 2023, Senator Elizabeth Warren and representative Andy Kim reintroduced the Department of Defense Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act, to limit the influence of contractors on the military, constrain foreign influence on retired senior military officers, and assert greater transparency over contractors and their interaction with DoD.
    In July 2021, Senator Elizabeth Warren secured agreements to four-year recusals from former clients’ and employers’ party matters from then-Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall and then-USD(R&E) Heidi Shyu.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Africa: Coalition commits to Action Plan to increase private investment mobilization for developing countries by end of 2027


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    A coalition of governments, international development partners and private sector groups including the UN Capital Development Fund, UN Economic Commission for Africa, African Union Commission, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Global Investors for Sustainable Development (GISD) Alliance, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Norway Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and Norad, Switzerland SECO and Convergence Blended Finance, are announcing the development of an Action Plan to increase mobilize private sector capital at scale in developing countries.

    The Action Plan, announced at the Fourth Financing for Development Conference (FFD4) in Seville, Spain, seeks to tackle poverty, economic growth and climate risks by deploying public sector resources through blended finance to mobilize private investment in underserved markets, which, over the last decade, has remained weak even as global wealth has ballooned. The Action Plan will include a dedicated Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Africa-focused track to advance context-specific blended finance approaches and support scalable investment opportunities in key sectors.

    FFD4 is a once-in-a-decade gathering of development partners seeking to build a renewed global financing framework to urgently unlock greater volumes of capital to close the financing gap of developing countries. Government-sourced Official Development Assistance (ODA) declined last year by over 7% compared with 2023, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), one of the co-proposers of the Action Plan.

    “The world has the resources – the money we need – to eradicate poverty and ensure every person can live a life free from poverty. Much of those resources lie with the private sector in the world’s most developed nations and they will likely remain there until the real and perceived risks that act as a barrier to investment in underserved markets are tackled head-on,” said Pradeep Kurukulasuriya, Executive Secretary of the UN Capital Development Fund, which provides catalytic and blended finance solutions for underserved markets.

    “Blended finance models that are tailored to country needs have the potential to de-risk markets, plug the international development finance gap and transform the lives of hundreds of millions of people living in the world’s underserved markets and Least Developed Countries,” Mr Kurukulasuriya added.

    “Bridging Africa’s investment gap demands bold, coordinated action. This Action Plan marks a turning point, a practical blueprint to shift global capital toward sustainable development in countries that need it most. The UN Economic Commission for Africa is committed to ensuring that Africa is not only part of the conversation, but central to the solution” added Claver Gatete, Executive Secretary, UN Economic Commission for Africa.

    “As traditional streams of overseas development assistance dry up, more people than ever are talking about the promise of blended finance,” shared Joan Larrea, Chief Executive Office of Convergence. “At FFD4, with this joint proposal, we have made a significant step towards making that promise a reality.”

    “Norway is proud to collaborate with this global coalition on developing the Action Plan to mobilize private investment for sustainable development. Addressing the financing gaps in Least Developed Countries and underserved markets is critical to tackling poverty, hunger, and climate challenges. By leveraging blended finance and fostering innovative partnerships, we aim to contribute to transformative change and create a foundation for equitable and inclusive growth,” said Åsmund Aukrust, Norway’s Minister of Development.

    “Mobilization of private capital for financing sustainable development is an integral part of Finland’s foreign and development policy”, says Ville Tavio, Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development. “Financing for Development Conference will increase the clarity and formality of private capital mobilization as part of the financing sustainable development for the next decade. We believe that developing a common action plan and standardizing the proven blended finance models will help us scale up private capital mobilization to deliver on the commitments agreed here in Seville.”

    While global assets have doubled to $482 trillion over the last decade, private sector investment to and within low- and middle-income countries has remained stubbornly weak. Only 5% of those global assets are invested in developing countries, excluding China, according to the Financial Stability Board, an international body that monitors the global financial system. Of that 5%, only a tiny proportion reaches the most underserved markets and the world’s 44 Least Developed Countries, which are collectively home to some 880 million people.

    The world stands at a crossroads for financing sustainable development with an estimated annual financing gap of $4 trillion – up from $2.5 trillion pre-pandemic. The OECD reports that all “official development finance” activity mobilized an average of $57 billion in private investment annually over the last five years – just 1% of the $6-7 trillion needed each year if the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are to be met.

    At the same time, domestic financial resources in developing countries are insufficient and cross-border private investment flows from developed to developing countries has been low over the past decade.

    Blended finance has the potential to transform private investment flows and positively contribute to the FfD4 Outcome Document mobilization objectives and to the SDGs.

    Signatories of the Joint Initiative have committed to develop an “effective, efficient, fair and practical action plan” through the remainder of 2025 and into 2026 to identify how to use a blend of public sector and philanthropic resources to mobilize and crowd-in larger amounts of private sector finance for development results at scale.

    The Action Plan will describe practical measures to mobilize private investment using standardized and replicable blended finance models tailored to country contexts, with an emphasis on alignment with national priorities and global development goals with the following measurable results:

    • At least 16 OECD DAC countries will agree to or endorse the Action Plan by March 31, 2026.

    • At least 27 African countries and 27 non-African developing countries will also endorse the Action Plan by the same date.

    • At least 16 developed and 54 developing countries will commit to implementing the plan starting June 30, 2026.

    The Action Plan is one of a series being submitted to conference organisers that seek to turn the objectives outlined in the FFD4 outcome document into a pathway for action.

    Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Minister’s statement on Taiwanese Heritage Month

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    Niki Sharma, Attorney General, has released the following statement in celebration of Taiwanese Heritage Month:

    “We are proud to proclaim – for the first time in our province’s history – July as Taiwanese Heritage Month in British Columbia. Now, every summer, we will have another opportunity to recognize and honour the vibrant culture, history and contributions of the Taiwanese community that helps shape our province.

    “For decades, the Taiwanese community has enriched the social, cultural and economic fabric of British Columbia. Today, more than 45,000 Taiwanese Canadians call our province home. We recognize their dedication, innovation and community leadership, which continue to shape our society and create a stronger, more connected province.

    “Taiwanese culture is known for its warmth, creativity and strong sense of community. Whether through traditional festivals or the blending of history with modern life, it reflects a spirit of resilience and openness. Here in B.C., that vibrant cultural expression is carried forward by Taiwanese Canadians who contribute to our shared life every day.

    “Over the course of this month, we will have the chance to engage with the richness of Taiwanese heritage through community festivals, art exhibits, music, dance performances and more. Events, such as the Taiwanese Canadian Cultural Festival in Vancouver and others throughout the province, offer a meaningful opportunity to learn more about Taiwanese culture and traditions, and to come together in appreciation, friendship and connection.

    “I encourage all British Columbians to join in the festivities and help celebrate the Taiwanese community in our province and beyond.

    “Happy Taiwanese Heritage Month!”

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Perry Homes I in Buffalo Welcomes First Residents

    Source: US State of New York

    overnor Kathy Hochul today announced that Phase I of Perry Homes in Buffalo’s First Ward has welcomed its first residents. When complete, Phase I will consist of 405 affordable apartments in 27 newly constructed buildings, replacing the dilapidated Commodore Perry Homes public housing development and transforming it into quality, modern, all-electric affordable homes for families. In the past five years, New York State Homes and Community Renewal has created or preserved more than 12,000 affordable homes in Erie County. Perry Homes continues this effort and is part of Governor Hochul’s five-year, $25 billion Housing Plan, which is on track to create or preserve 100,000 affordable homes statewide.

    “It is an honor to welcome the first residents of the new Perry Homes to a place where they can live comfortably and affordably with access to all of the things that make Buffalo and this First Ward neighborhood so special,” Governor Hochul said. “This is a huge milestone as this development begins to take shape and open its doors. This long-anticipated development that replaces an unfortunate symbol of decline is now a symbol of pride and will not only increase the supply of quality housing in Buffalo, but provide countless opportunities for families, businesses, and the entire city to grow and thrive.”

    Perry Homes I is the first phase of a multi-phase transformation plan and involves the redevelopment of an 18-acre portion of the existing public housing development site. Once complete, the new Perry Homes will include 405 high-quality apartments, all of which will be affordable to households with incomes at or below 60 percent of the Area Median Income. Of the total units, 284 will be covered under a Section 8 Project-Based Housing Assistance Payment contract administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Multifamily Housing.

    The redevelopment will also feature comprehensive on-site amenities, including a centrally-located property management office, maintenance suite, mail and package rooms, two community rooms with a kitchenette, three fitness centers, shared laundry on each floor, and bicycle storage.

    Residents will be provided free broadband Internet service and Wi-Fi, and they will also enjoy access to green space and outdoor amenities, such as four playgrounds, each designed to maximize play for children ages 2-12; multiple tree groves; rain gardens to support stormwater management practices; and two outdoor plazas with picnic tables, card tables, benches, and room for gathering and programming.

    On-site surface parking, including 30 electric vehicle charging stations, will be accessible across the site for residential tenant use, commercial visitors, and management staff.

    Perry Homes I is designed to be a highly efficient, all-electric project meeting Enterprise Green Communities 2020 Plus certification requirements and the U.S. Department of Energy Zero Energy Ready Home Version 1 program. As part of New York State’s Homes and Community Renewal Clean Energy Initiative, the new buildings will have high performance windows, enhanced insulation, a combination of high efficiency building mounted LED lighting to promote safety, and solar panels on each of the three mid-rise buildings. Every apartment will be equipped with inverter-driven air source heat pumps for air conditioning and heating and electric hot water heaters, ENERGY STAR certified dishwashers, refrigerators, washers and dryers, and low-flow plumbing fixtures.

    Residents will have easy access to the New York Thruway via I-190 at Louisiana Street and Perry Street. Bus access, which is available along South Park Avenue and Perry Street, provides quick access to downtown and places of employment. There are numerous shopping destinations and healthcare facilities nearby, as well as adult and childcare, a public library, and a community center.

    The development team is Pennrose and Bridges Development, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation affiliate of the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority. The Perry Homes redevelopment will use the Federal Housing and Urban Development RAD program to convert the vacant public housing units to Project-Based Rental Assistance.

    Financing for the $254 million development includes $21.9 million in tax-exempt bonds, $115.7 million in State and Federal Low Income Tax Credits, and $81 million in subsidy from New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR). Empire State Development provided $5 million in Restore New York funding. Additional funds include: $6 million in BMHA Capital Fund Program; $1.1 million in Buffalo Community Development Block Grants; $5 million in RAD Rehab Assistance Payments; and $1.6 million in Federal 45L tax credits. The all-electric development received $1.4 million through HCR’s Clean Energy Initiative program, created in partnership with NYSERDA.

    Governor Hochul’s Housing Agenda

    Governor Hochul is dedicated to addressing New York’s housing crisis and making the State more affordable and more livable for all New Yorkers. As part of the FY25 Enacted Budget, the Governor secured a landmark agreement to increase New York’s housing supply through new tax incentives, capital funding, and new protections for renters and homeowners. Building on this commitment, the FY26 Enacted Budget includes more than $1.5 billion in new State funding for housing, a Housing Access Voucher pilot program, and new policies to improve affordability for tenants and homebuyers. These measures complement the Governor’s five-year, $25 billion Housing Plan, included in the FY23 Enacted Budget, to create or preserve 100,000 affordable homes statewide, including 10,000 with support services for vulnerable populations, plus the electrification of an additional 50,000 homes. More than 60,000 homes have been created or preserved to date.

    The FY25 and FY26 Enacted Budgets also strengthened the Governor’s Pro-Housing Community Program — which allows certified localities exclusive access to up to $750 million in discretionary State funding. Currently, more than 300 communities have received Pro Housing certification, including the city of Buffalo.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Naugatuck Man Charged with Child Exploitation Offenses

    Source: US FBI

    David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and P.J. O’Brien, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, today announced that SEAN SAYER, 22, of Naugatuck, has been charged by federal criminal complaint with child exploitation offenses.

    As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, on March 20, 2025, an eight-year-old boy (“the minor victim”) in Oregon contacted Sayer by text message and asked Sayer if he was @fornight_legends on TikTok.  Sayer responded affirmatively and, over the next three days, exchanged with the minor victim more than 1,300 messages in which Sayer repeatedly and aggressively demanded sexually explicit images and videos of the minor victim in exchange for playing Fortnite with him online.  The minor victim sent Sayer at least 15 videos constituting child sexual abuse material or child pornography.

    Sayer was arrested on June 18, 2025.  It is alleged that a preliminary forensic review of Sayer’s cellphone has revealed screenshots of Snapchat conversations Sayer had with dozens of additional minor victims who Sayer coerced or enticed to send him sexually explicit photos of themselves.

    Sayer appeared today for a bond hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria E. Garcia in New Haven.  He was released on a $150,000 bond into home detention with location monitoring, and is prohibited from accessing the internet and communicating with, and having contact with, minors.

    The complaint charges Sayer with production of child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and a maximum term of 30 years of imprisonment; coercion and enticement of a minor, which carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life; receipt of child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years; possession of child pornography, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, and transfer of obscene material to a minor, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

    U.S. Attorney Sullivan stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

    This investigation is being conducted by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, with the assistance of the Eugene (Ore.) Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary G. Vitale.

    This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

    To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: £22 million to tackle waiting times in NHS Lothian

    Source: Scottish Government

    Additional funding to build on progress in clearing longest waits.

    Health Secretary Neil Gray has welcomed progress in reducing waiting lists at NHS Lothian as he confirmed the health board will be allocated an additional £22 million for the year ahead – as part of a £106 million investment across the NHS to tackle the longest waits.

    Latest figures show a 14% decrease last year in inpatient/daycase waits for all specialties at NHS Lothian – down from 26,462 at 31 March 2024 to 22,762 at 31 March 2025.

    The reduction in ongoing waits was driven by reductions in:

    • General surgery -19.6%
    • Gynaecology -20.6%
    • Orthopaedics -17.9%
    • Urology -27.9%

    On a visit to the Day Surgery Unit at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, the Health Secretary met with staff and patients and saw first-hand the positive impact Scottish Government investment is having on waits. The Day Surgery Unit carries out 30 – 40 scheduled procedures every day – this helps allow patients to leave for home from 2pm onwards with a focus on same day discharge.

    A huge variety of procedures are performed with patients from a mix of five specialties, including gynaecology, general surgery, vascular, neurosurgery and orthopaedics. Last year, around 4,500 procedures were carried out by the Unit.

    Mr Gray said:

    “This government is focussed on taking the action needed to cut waiting lists and we are determined to make it easier, faster and fairer for patients to get access to the treatment they need.

    “I was pleased to meet the team at the Royal Infirmary’s Day Surgery Unit who are carrying out fantastic work to help target long waits and making significant progress.  We want to build on this success and drive that improvement across Scotland – our additional investment of £106 million support this work across all health boards.

    “Figures published today show monthly A&E performance at its best since July 2023 and delayed discharge at its lowest since October 2023. Our plan to improve our NHS is working and we will build on this progress by increasing capacity and investing to tackle the longest waits to ensure patients get faster access to care.”

    Background

    £106 million to reduce waiting times – gov.scot

    Stage of treatment waiting times – Inpatients, day cases quarter ending 31 March 2025 – Publications – Public Health Scotland

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Place de Brest to close for pipe laying

    Source: City of Plymouth

    Contractors will shortly start a key phase of the Armada Way project, which will be buried but will play a crucial role in the regeneration of the city centre.

    From Monday 7 July Place de Brest will close to the limited delivery traffic to enable deep level drainage work to get underway. Shoppers will still be able to cross Place de Brest via a specific pedestrian route.

    New pipework will be laid which will straddle the width of Armada Way connecting both sides of Cornwall Street – around 50 metres – and measure 1.5 metres across.

    The new drainage is for surface water, helping to take pressure off the combined sewage system. The work is expected to take around 14 weeks and will see trenches four metres deep dug.

    City Centre Champion Mark Lowry said: “It all sounds a bit techie but one of the key aspects of the scheme is helping to reduce the amount of unclean water that ends up in the Sound.

    “Upgrading drainage systems will futureproof this area so that when the time comes to build new homes in the city centre, the infrastructure will be better placed to cope with more demand. Anything we can do now to alleviate the pressure will pay off in the future.”

    The old drainage system is showing its age. It is a post war combined sewer system – surface and foul water – that was not designed to deal with the capacity it currently has to cope with, given the demands of modern plumbing in residential and commercial properties.

    The scheme will have a sustainable drainage system. Through a series of interventions such as rain gardens, the rill, reed beds and landscaped channels, rain and surface water is diverted away from the current drainage system. It also helps to irrigate the trees and plants.

    Other work at Place de Brest includes laying foundations and installing the appropriate cabling and infrastructure for solar panel canopies that form part of the scheme.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Birmingham Steps Up for ASB Awareness Week to Support Victims and Safer Communities

    Source: City of Birmingham

    Birmingham City Council is backing the UK-wide campaign for Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Awareness Week 2025, taking place from 30 June to 6 July.

    The campaign aims to raise awareness of the impact of ASB, support victims, and promote stronger, safer neighbourhoods for all.

    The week, led by community safety organisation Resolve, is supported by the UK Government, Local Government Association, police and fire services, housing providers, and community partners across the country.

    As part of the city’s contribution to this year’s campaign, Birmingham City Council is launching a series of actions under the theme #MakingCommunitiesSafer, with a strong focus on:

    • Ensuring guaranteed support for victims of ASB
    • Campaigning to reduce delays in the justice system
    • Supporting a national Information Sharing Agreement so services can act more quickly
    • Improving access to reporting tools so residents can raise concerns with ease.

    Councillor Jamie Tennant, Cabinet Member for Community Safety at Birmingham City Council, said:

    “Anti-social behaviour damages lives. It creates fear, drives people from their homes, and weakens the very fabric of our communities.

    “This week is a vital opportunity to shine a light on the challenges we face and the progress we’re making. In Birmingham, we are committed to ensuring every victim gets the support they need, that services are better connected, and that everyone has a voice in making their neighbourhood safer.”

    The Council is working closely with West Midlands Police, housing partners, youth services, and local communities to tackle ASB through prevention, early intervention, and enforcement where needed. Some of these include, hosting local drop-in events with neighbourhood officers, delivering awareness sessions in schools and youth hubs, sharing how to report ASB, and highlighting community champions and resident-led solutions.

    For more information about ASB Awareness Week – visit the Birmingham Community Safety Partnership website.

    To report anti-social behaviour, click here.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Minister’s statement on Latin American Heritage Month

    Niki Sharma, Attorney General, has released the following statement in celebration of Latin American Heritage Month:

    “Each July, British Columbia marks Latin American Heritage Month – a time to honour the cultures, histories and contributions of Latin American communities that help shape our province.

    “Latin America spans more than 20 countries and territories where Spanish and Portuguese are spoken alongside hundreds of Indigenous languages. The region’s cultural diversity is rooted in ancient civilizations, such as the Aztec, Inca and Maya. It has been shaped by European colonization, the resilience and traditions of Africans brought through the transatlantic slave trade, and waves of immigrants from around the world who have made Latin America their home.

    “This diversity is a source of pride and strength for Latin Americans and reflects values shared in British Columbia, where multiculturalism defines our communities. Today, more than 66,000 Latin Americans call B.C. home and their presence has grown steadily in recent years. We celebrate their warmth, joy and strong sense of community. Through music, dance, language and food, they bring people together and keep cultural traditions alive throughout the province.

    “Our government is proud to work with organizations, such as the Vancouver Latin American Cultural Centre and Latincouver, which play a crucial role in preserving and uplifting Latin American heritage. Through public events, performances and exhibitions, they help strengthen cross-cultural connections and foster a deeper sense of belonging for all.

    “As we celebrate Latin American Heritage Month, let us recognize the resilience, creativity and cultural legacy of Latin American communities. Their stories are part of the fabric of British Columbia.”

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI: How to use ALL4 Mining’s cloud mining strategy simple guide provides direction and goals

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Chicago, IL, July 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Traditionally, savings have been dominated by traditional means such as stocks, bonds, and savings accounts. But in today’s digital world, an intriguing player has emerged: cryptocurrency cloud mining. As people increasingly look at digital assets as investments, a question arises: Is cryptocurrency cloud mining a viable option for achieving long-term financial goals?

    This article explores how to incorporate cryptocurrency cloud mining into your long-term financial strategy. Despite its volatility, cryptocurrency offers opportunities for growth and diversification. We will discuss how to align cryptocurrency investing with your long-term goals, learn about these assets, and how ALL4 Mining can simplify your investment process. Join us as we explore the role of cryptocurrency cloud mining in planning your financial future.

    Potential benefits of investing in ALL4 Mining:
    Seamless mobile mining: The new mobile app offers a user-friendly interface that allows you to easily monitor your mining contracts, track daily earnings, and manage your investments.
    Enhanced security: The app is protected by top-tier security from McAfee® and Cloudflare®, ensuring your digital assets are protected wherever you are.
    Instant bonus: New users who sign up through the app receive an instant $15 sign-up bonus, and daily logins earn an additional $0.60.
    Diverse contract options: From one-day contracts starting at $15 to long-term investments, users can choose from a variety of mining plans to suit different budgets and goals.
    24/7 reliability: With 100% uptime and 24/7 technical support, the mobile app ensures that you can mine without interruption.

    How to start your investment journey with limited funds requires several key steps to ensure that you are on the right track:

    Step 1: Choose ALL4 Mining as your provider: ALL4 Mining’s mining method is simple and straightforward, and users only need a minimum deposit to start mining. The platform ensures that everyone can participate by providing daily returns on mining contracts and flexible withdrawal methods.

    Step 2: Register an account: Visit the ALL4 Mining official website all4mining.top, create an account with your email address, log in to access the control panel and start mining immediately.

    Step 3: Purchase a mining contract: ALL4 Mining offers a variety of contract options to meet different budgets and goals. Users can choose from the following options:

    • BTC basic computing power: investment amount: $100, contract period: 2 days, daily income of $4.0, expiration income: $100 + $8
    • LTC [classic computing power contract]: investment amount: $600, contract period: 6 days, daily income of $7.26, expiration income: $600 + $43.56
    • BTC [classic computing power contract]: investment amount: $3,000, contract period: 20 days, daily income of $42.9, expiration income: $3,000 + $858
    • DOGE [classic computing power contract]: investment amount: $5,000, contract period: 30 days, daily income of $75, expiration income: $5,000 + $2,250
    • BTC [advanced computing power contract]: investment amount: $10,000, contract period: 40 days, daily income of $166, maturity income: $10,000 + $6,640
    • BTC [Advanced Computing Power Contract]: Investment amount: $50,000, contract period: 48 days, daily income: $910, maturity income: $50,000 + $43,680
    • BTC [Super Computing Power Contract]: Investment amount: $150,000, contract period: 50 days, daily income: $2,925, maturity income: $150,000 + $146,250

    Now, with ALL4 Mining, saving for future financial goals (whether it’s retirement, your children’s education, or your dream home) can become more systematic and goal-oriented.

    ALL4 Mining is designed to help you set and achieve specific financial goals. You can deposit more than 10 different cryptocurrencies in it: such as (BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, DOGE).

    ALL4 Mining encourages you to dive deeper into the world of cryptocurrency and explore its potential for long-term financial growth.

    ALL4 Mining offers a wealth of tutorial guides to help you further your understanding and improve your skills. In addition, ALL4 Mining simplifies and secures your long-term cryptocurrency savings. Join the cloud mining revolution today by visiting the official website https://all4mining.top/ or downloading the ALL4 Mining mobile app. Explore now and move towards a more diversified and rewarding financial future.

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: FirstBank’s Cube Hunt Campaign Surprises Communities and Supports Small Businesses

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LAKEWOOD, Colo., July 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FirstBank, one of the nation’s largest privately held banks with a focus on “banking for good,” is bringing a wave of excitement to Colorado this summer with its “our cube means business” campaign.

    From July 11 through September 5, Coloradans will be provided hints and urged to keep their eyes peeled for the bank’s signature orange cube at select businesses and storefronts across the foothills every Friday. Each surprise event will feature exclusive giveaways, major discounts, and other fun items, all first come, first served.

    The initiative aims to not only spotlight and support local businesses but also create uplifting community moments that reflect FirstBank’s core values. Bank representatives will be on-site each week to hand out giveaways and connect with attendees.

    “Our goal is to celebrate and strengthen small businesses while fostering a sense of community in a fun and memorable way,” said Kevin Classen, CEO of FirstBank. “Whether someone leaves with a generous gift card or discovers a new neighborhood favorite, everyone benefits—and that’s something to feel good about.”

    To keep things exciting, the featured business locations will remain a mystery until the day before each event, with clues revealed on FirstBank’s Instagram, Facebook, and efirstbank.com/cube every Thursday.

    The campaign encourages the community to follow along, join the fun, and discover hidden gems right in their backyard.

    Event Details:

    • What: “Our cube means business” pop-up events.
    • When: Every Friday from July 11 to September 5, 2025.
    • Where: Locations announced on Thursdays on FirstBank social media and efirstbank.com/cube. 
    • Why: To support small businesses and surprise attendees with exclusive giveaways.
    • Note: Events are first come, first served while supplies last. No purchase necessary.

    To learn more about the event, visit efirstbank.com/cube. 

    About FirstBank
    FirstBank began providing banking services in 1963. Today, it’s known as an industry leader in digital banking. It has grown to be one of the top-performing and largest privately held banks in the United States. FirstBank offers a variety of consumer deposit accounts, home equity loans, mortgages, rental property loans, and a full range of commercial banking services, including business financing, commercial real estate loans, treasury management, and more. Since 2000, FirstBank has been recognized as a top corporate philanthropist, contributing more than $90 million and thousands of volunteer hours to charitable organizations. The company is also unique in that a large portion of its stock is owned by management and employees, giving employees a financial stake in the bank’s success through its Employee Stock Ownership Program. For more information, visit www.efirstbank.com. Member FDIC.

    Media Contact
    Cody Wheeler
    (303) 228-6986 x 148

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: FirstBank’s Cube Hunt Campaign Surprises Communities and Supports Small Businesses

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LAKEWOOD, Colo., July 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FirstBank, one of the nation’s largest privately held banks with a focus on “banking for good,” is bringing a wave of excitement to Colorado this summer with its “our cube means business” campaign.

    From July 11 through September 5, Coloradans will be provided hints and urged to keep their eyes peeled for the bank’s signature orange cube at select businesses and storefronts across the foothills every Friday. Each surprise event will feature exclusive giveaways, major discounts, and other fun items, all first come, first served.

    The initiative aims to not only spotlight and support local businesses but also create uplifting community moments that reflect FirstBank’s core values. Bank representatives will be on-site each week to hand out giveaways and connect with attendees.

    “Our goal is to celebrate and strengthen small businesses while fostering a sense of community in a fun and memorable way,” said Kevin Classen, CEO of FirstBank. “Whether someone leaves with a generous gift card or discovers a new neighborhood favorite, everyone benefits—and that’s something to feel good about.”

    To keep things exciting, the featured business locations will remain a mystery until the day before each event, with clues revealed on FirstBank’s Instagram, Facebook, and efirstbank.com/cube every Thursday.

    The campaign encourages the community to follow along, join the fun, and discover hidden gems right in their backyard.

    Event Details:

    • What: “Our cube means business” pop-up events.
    • When: Every Friday from July 11 to September 5, 2025.
    • Where: Locations announced on Thursdays on FirstBank social media and efirstbank.com/cube. 
    • Why: To support small businesses and surprise attendees with exclusive giveaways.
    • Note: Events are first come, first served while supplies last. No purchase necessary.

    To learn more about the event, visit efirstbank.com/cube. 

    About FirstBank
    FirstBank began providing banking services in 1963. Today, it’s known as an industry leader in digital banking. It has grown to be one of the top-performing and largest privately held banks in the United States. FirstBank offers a variety of consumer deposit accounts, home equity loans, mortgages, rental property loans, and a full range of commercial banking services, including business financing, commercial real estate loans, treasury management, and more. Since 2000, FirstBank has been recognized as a top corporate philanthropist, contributing more than $90 million and thousands of volunteer hours to charitable organizations. The company is also unique in that a large portion of its stock is owned by management and employees, giving employees a financial stake in the bank’s success through its Employee Stock Ownership Program. For more information, visit www.efirstbank.com. Member FDIC.

    Media Contact
    Cody Wheeler
    (303) 228-6986 x 148

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: 5 ways AI is supercharging research in financial services

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: 5 ways AI is supercharging research in financial services

    As the capital markets industry has expanded both in scope and complexity, research has only become more essential. Since the late twentieth century, globalization, specialization, and increasingly complex regulatory frameworks have all elevated research from an interesting competitive differentiator to a competitive imperative. Now, with the application of increasingly powerful AI solutions, research is poised to become the defining factor in determining winners and losers in a rapidly shifting landscape.  

    At Microsoft, we develop highly tailored, long-term technology partnerships with financial services firms around the world. Increasingly, this includes co-innovating with AI to help unlock new business value and deepen customer relationships. At present, enhancing research and analytics with AI is one of the primary transformation levers for investment banks, asset management firms, and financial data and analytics providers. In many cases, it is helping to solve longstanding challenges around deriving greater value from data and rapidly converting insights into competitive advantage. 

    Explore AI solutions with Microsoft for financial services

    Realizing the promise of data-driven research through AI 

    AI is rapidly changing the nature and value of advanced analytics in research. Traditional analytics have long helped firms understand what happened and why—but AI is helping them predict what will happen next and prescribe optimal courses of action in real time.

    This shift from retrospective analysis to proactive intelligence can help firms unlock new sources of value and ultimately develop groundbreaking new products that redefine the competitive landscape. 

    As innovative firms recognize the potential of AI, they also see the opportunity to address longstanding challenges that hinder effective research. Among these:  

    • Data overload and complexity
      Financial markets are inundated with massive volumes of data from diverse, often siloed sources that can be difficult to integrate and synthesize. This makes it hard to access the right data at the right time, which can slow decision-making and heighten risk. As data requirements become more complex, solutions are needed that can unify, structure, and analyze data at scale to deliver timely, actionable insights.
    • Fragmented workflows across user journeys
      Research analysts frequently struggle to navigate large volumes of disparate data housed in disconnected systems, tools, and formats, leading to time-consuming manual data compilation and synthesis. The increase in non-integrated tools, applications, and data structures disrupts business workflows and can lead to inefficiencies, duplication of effort, errors of omission, and delays in decision-making.
    • Dependency on traditional data sources
      Many firms and analysts rely heavily on conventional market reference data, company fundamentals, industry reports, and databases, which often lack real-time insights and limit the speed and accuracy of market predictions. As new opportunities arise, firms need solutions that can extract more value out of existing sources while also making it easy to incorporate alternative and real-time sources—enhancing both predictive accuracy and responsiveness to market shifts.
    • Information overload and time constraints
      Research and analyst professionals are always challenged to keep up with reports, emails, meetings, and chats. The overload tends to slow decision-making and increases the risk of missed opportunities. Stringent regulatory compliance requirements add additional demands.  

    Five ways AI redefines the value of research in financial services 

    AI gives financial services firms new solutions to these longstanding barriers and opportunities to use data in new ways that can differentiate their offerings. Here are five important areas where AI can change the game: 

    1. Advance analysis with AI-powered analytics 

    AI-powered analytics empower research analysts to cut through the noise of information overload and extract valuable insights with unprecedented speed and precision. The combination of AI with predictive analytics empowers researchers to analyze historical patterns more deeply, identify emerging trends, and make more informed investment decisions. This can ultimately help to improve engagement and win rates. 

    A prime example of this is our partnership with Moody’s where we co-developed innovative solutions for research and risk assessment. Moody’s Research Assistant significantly increases productivity and effectiveness, with users reporting up to 80% time savings on data collection and 50% on analysis during the pilot phase.1  

    2. Accelerate operational efficiency through intelligent automation 

    Traditional research processes—such as manual data compilation, synthesis, and report generation—are time-consuming and error-prone. AI-powered automation transforms them by integrating data sources, automating repetitive tasks, and promoting seamless collaboration across teams, which results in faster turnaround times, reduced operational costs, and improved operational efficiency.  

    With tools like Microsoft Copilot, Researcher agent, and Analyst agent, firms can significantly boost productivity and operational efficiency. These AI-powered assistants can handle such tasks as summarizing investor reports and earnings calls, creating presentation-ready visualizations from raw data, and drafting research documents and client-ready insights quickly. This frees up valuable time for analysts to focus on higher-value activities, such as strategic analysis and client engagement. 

    3. Deliver real-time insights 

    To help meet the accelerating pace of business, AI-powered applications empower financial services firms to surface real-time insights from a variety of sources including market news, earnings reports, and social media.  

    Bridging knowledge across platforms helps analysts identify emerging trends faster and develop better investment strategies. For example, AI can continuously monitor global news sources and sentiment signals to identify early indicators of market shifts and potential disruptions. Firms can then use this information to react swiftly and make proactive investment decisions ahead of competitors. 

    Firms can build new AI-powered solutions that incorporate real-time data into advanced searches, personalization, and recommendations, using innovations like the powerful vector database built by KX—essentially, a specialized system that understands the meaning and context of a huge set of data types such as text, images, or PDFs. It aims to help financial institutions seize opportunities faster by turning real-time data into real-time action. 

    4. Empower employees with high-value experiences 

    AI-powered tools can transform how financial services professionals work with tools and solutions that support the most critical research functions, such as financial modeling and pitchbook preparation. Processes can be significantly streamlined while remaining interoperable, secure, and compliant.  

    A good example of this is the innovation resulting from our long-term strategic partnership with LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) to transform data with next-generation productivity and analytics solutions. One recent advancement is the launch of the LSEG Workspace Add-in, which integrates AI-powered insights into Excel and PowerPoint. With features like contextual data discovery and interactive charting, the add-in can help financial professionals work faster and more insightfully. 

    Reducing the burden of manual tasks can also help boost job satisfaction. The integration of AI into daily workflows helps people focus on more intellectually stimulating activities, freeing up time for higher-value analysis and strategic thinking, and helping to attract and retain top talent. 

    5. Deepen market understanding 

    AI-powered analytics are transforming how analysts understand markets and convert insights into action. By processing vast amounts of financial data in real-time, AI can uncover complex patterns and correlations that were previously undetectable, such as market sentiment from news articles and social media or a real-time pulse on investor sentiment or market dynamics. Machine learning models can predict stock price movements with greater accuracy by integrating diverse data sources, including economic indicators and company performance metrics. 

    A richer view of market forces and dynamics translates into better decision-making and sharper investment strategies. It helps firms anticipate emerging risks and opportunities sooner, enabling them to respond faster and more confidently in an increasingly volatile market landscape. 

    Now is the time for agentic AI 

    A new class of AI tools will soon deliver the ability to plan, reason, and take actions to achieve goals. In financial services, they will be able to gather, analyze, and contextualize information autonomously from diverse sources and proactively surface relevant insights—or even suggest strategic actions based on real-time developments. 

    On the near horizon, advanced “orchestrator” agents will focus on new capabilities in distinct functional areas such as market intelligence, data aggregation, strategy simulation, reporting, and compliance. This holds the potential for powerful competitive advantages, helping analysts to stay ahead of market shifts, make more accurate predictions, and deliver higher-impact recommendations. 

    Learn more 

    Microsoft for financial services

    Unlock business value and deepen customer relationships in the era of AI

    1 Moody’s Investor Relations, “Moody’s Launches Moody’s Research Assistant,” December 2023.

    Andrew Comas

    Director of Business Strategy, Microsoft

    Andrew Comas is Director of Business Strategy at Microsoft, driving strategic initiatives and cross-functional alignment across Financial Services and Industry (FSI) sectors. With deep expertise in capital markets and digital transformation, Andrew partners closely with senior leadership to shape go-to-market priorities and accelerate innovation. He is passionate about translating complex business needs into actionable strategies that deliver measurable impact and long-term value.

    See more articles from this author

    Claudia Hauser

    Worldwide Wealth Management & Capital Markets Solutions Lead, Microsoft Financial Services

    Claudia Hauser is Director at Microsoft Worldwide Financial Services, leading global scale solutions for Capital Markets and Wealth Management. With over 25 years of experience in financial services and technology, she brings deep industry expertise, leadership, and a strong track record in customer engagement and partner strategy. Claudia is passionate about aligning business needs with innovative solutions to drive transformation and deliver value across the financial services ecosystem.

    See more articles from this author

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: 5 ways AI is supercharging research in financial services

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: 5 ways AI is supercharging research in financial services

    As the capital markets industry has expanded both in scope and complexity, research has only become more essential. Since the late twentieth century, globalization, specialization, and increasingly complex regulatory frameworks have all elevated research from an interesting competitive differentiator to a competitive imperative. Now, with the application of increasingly powerful AI solutions, research is poised to become the defining factor in determining winners and losers in a rapidly shifting landscape.  

    At Microsoft, we develop highly tailored, long-term technology partnerships with financial services firms around the world. Increasingly, this includes co-innovating with AI to help unlock new business value and deepen customer relationships. At present, enhancing research and analytics with AI is one of the primary transformation levers for investment banks, asset management firms, and financial data and analytics providers. In many cases, it is helping to solve longstanding challenges around deriving greater value from data and rapidly converting insights into competitive advantage. 

    Explore AI solutions with Microsoft for financial services

    Realizing the promise of data-driven research through AI 

    AI is rapidly changing the nature and value of advanced analytics in research. Traditional analytics have long helped firms understand what happened and why—but AI is helping them predict what will happen next and prescribe optimal courses of action in real time.

    This shift from retrospective analysis to proactive intelligence can help firms unlock new sources of value and ultimately develop groundbreaking new products that redefine the competitive landscape. 

    As innovative firms recognize the potential of AI, they also see the opportunity to address longstanding challenges that hinder effective research. Among these:  

    • Data overload and complexity
      Financial markets are inundated with massive volumes of data from diverse, often siloed sources that can be difficult to integrate and synthesize. This makes it hard to access the right data at the right time, which can slow decision-making and heighten risk. As data requirements become more complex, solutions are needed that can unify, structure, and analyze data at scale to deliver timely, actionable insights.
    • Fragmented workflows across user journeys
      Research analysts frequently struggle to navigate large volumes of disparate data housed in disconnected systems, tools, and formats, leading to time-consuming manual data compilation and synthesis. The increase in non-integrated tools, applications, and data structures disrupts business workflows and can lead to inefficiencies, duplication of effort, errors of omission, and delays in decision-making.
    • Dependency on traditional data sources
      Many firms and analysts rely heavily on conventional market reference data, company fundamentals, industry reports, and databases, which often lack real-time insights and limit the speed and accuracy of market predictions. As new opportunities arise, firms need solutions that can extract more value out of existing sources while also making it easy to incorporate alternative and real-time sources—enhancing both predictive accuracy and responsiveness to market shifts.
    • Information overload and time constraints
      Research and analyst professionals are always challenged to keep up with reports, emails, meetings, and chats. The overload tends to slow decision-making and increases the risk of missed opportunities. Stringent regulatory compliance requirements add additional demands.  

    Five ways AI redefines the value of research in financial services 

    AI gives financial services firms new solutions to these longstanding barriers and opportunities to use data in new ways that can differentiate their offerings. Here are five important areas where AI can change the game: 

    1. Advance analysis with AI-powered analytics 

    AI-powered analytics empower research analysts to cut through the noise of information overload and extract valuable insights with unprecedented speed and precision. The combination of AI with predictive analytics empowers researchers to analyze historical patterns more deeply, identify emerging trends, and make more informed investment decisions. This can ultimately help to improve engagement and win rates. 

    A prime example of this is our partnership with Moody’s where we co-developed innovative solutions for research and risk assessment. Moody’s Research Assistant significantly increases productivity and effectiveness, with users reporting up to 80% time savings on data collection and 50% on analysis during the pilot phase.1  

    2. Accelerate operational efficiency through intelligent automation 

    Traditional research processes—such as manual data compilation, synthesis, and report generation—are time-consuming and error-prone. AI-powered automation transforms them by integrating data sources, automating repetitive tasks, and promoting seamless collaboration across teams, which results in faster turnaround times, reduced operational costs, and improved operational efficiency.  

    With tools like Microsoft Copilot, Researcher agent, and Analyst agent, firms can significantly boost productivity and operational efficiency. These AI-powered assistants can handle such tasks as summarizing investor reports and earnings calls, creating presentation-ready visualizations from raw data, and drafting research documents and client-ready insights quickly. This frees up valuable time for analysts to focus on higher-value activities, such as strategic analysis and client engagement. 

    3. Deliver real-time insights 

    To help meet the accelerating pace of business, AI-powered applications empower financial services firms to surface real-time insights from a variety of sources including market news, earnings reports, and social media.  

    Bridging knowledge across platforms helps analysts identify emerging trends faster and develop better investment strategies. For example, AI can continuously monitor global news sources and sentiment signals to identify early indicators of market shifts and potential disruptions. Firms can then use this information to react swiftly and make proactive investment decisions ahead of competitors. 

    Firms can build new AI-powered solutions that incorporate real-time data into advanced searches, personalization, and recommendations, using innovations like the powerful vector database built by KX—essentially, a specialized system that understands the meaning and context of a huge set of data types such as text, images, or PDFs. It aims to help financial institutions seize opportunities faster by turning real-time data into real-time action. 

    4. Empower employees with high-value experiences 

    AI-powered tools can transform how financial services professionals work with tools and solutions that support the most critical research functions, such as financial modeling and pitchbook preparation. Processes can be significantly streamlined while remaining interoperable, secure, and compliant.  

    A good example of this is the innovation resulting from our long-term strategic partnership with LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) to transform data with next-generation productivity and analytics solutions. One recent advancement is the launch of the LSEG Workspace Add-in, which integrates AI-powered insights into Excel and PowerPoint. With features like contextual data discovery and interactive charting, the add-in can help financial professionals work faster and more insightfully. 

    Reducing the burden of manual tasks can also help boost job satisfaction. The integration of AI into daily workflows helps people focus on more intellectually stimulating activities, freeing up time for higher-value analysis and strategic thinking, and helping to attract and retain top talent. 

    5. Deepen market understanding 

    AI-powered analytics are transforming how analysts understand markets and convert insights into action. By processing vast amounts of financial data in real-time, AI can uncover complex patterns and correlations that were previously undetectable, such as market sentiment from news articles and social media or a real-time pulse on investor sentiment or market dynamics. Machine learning models can predict stock price movements with greater accuracy by integrating diverse data sources, including economic indicators and company performance metrics. 

    A richer view of market forces and dynamics translates into better decision-making and sharper investment strategies. It helps firms anticipate emerging risks and opportunities sooner, enabling them to respond faster and more confidently in an increasingly volatile market landscape. 

    Now is the time for agentic AI 

    A new class of AI tools will soon deliver the ability to plan, reason, and take actions to achieve goals. In financial services, they will be able to gather, analyze, and contextualize information autonomously from diverse sources and proactively surface relevant insights—or even suggest strategic actions based on real-time developments. 

    On the near horizon, advanced “orchestrator” agents will focus on new capabilities in distinct functional areas such as market intelligence, data aggregation, strategy simulation, reporting, and compliance. This holds the potential for powerful competitive advantages, helping analysts to stay ahead of market shifts, make more accurate predictions, and deliver higher-impact recommendations. 

    Learn more 

    Microsoft for financial services

    Unlock business value and deepen customer relationships in the era of AI

    1 Moody’s Investor Relations, “Moody’s Launches Moody’s Research Assistant,” December 2023.

    Andrew Comas

    Director of Business Strategy, Microsoft

    Andrew Comas is Director of Business Strategy at Microsoft, driving strategic initiatives and cross-functional alignment across Financial Services and Industry (FSI) sectors. With deep expertise in capital markets and digital transformation, Andrew partners closely with senior leadership to shape go-to-market priorities and accelerate innovation. He is passionate about translating complex business needs into actionable strategies that deliver measurable impact and long-term value.

    See more articles from this author

    Claudia Hauser

    Worldwide Wealth Management & Capital Markets Solutions Lead, Microsoft Financial Services

    Claudia Hauser is Director at Microsoft Worldwide Financial Services, leading global scale solutions for Capital Markets and Wealth Management. With over 25 years of experience in financial services and technology, she brings deep industry expertise, leadership, and a strong track record in customer engagement and partner strategy. Claudia is passionate about aligning business needs with innovative solutions to drive transformation and deliver value across the financial services ecosystem.

    See more articles from this author

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Premier’s statement on Canada Day

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    Premier David Eby has issued the following statement celebrating Canada Day:

    “Today, millions of people across our vast, beautiful land – from Bonavista to Vancouver Island, from the Arctic Circle to the Great Lakes waters – are celebrating Canada Day.

    “People will gather to enjoy food and fireworks, as well as parties and parades. This is a wonderful time for communities to gather and celebrate our peaceful and democratic country.

    “This Canada Day is unlike any other in recent memory, as we face unprecedented economic and political threats. Those dangers have sharpened our appreciation for what we have accomplished in building the Canada we love, including such monumental achievements as a public health-care system. To be Canadian is to be proud of the way we take care of each other.

    “The challenges we face in improving our country are many. We do so confident that we will find solutions by working together. Even as we debate our differences with vigour, we keep in mind far more unites us than divides us.

    “The Canada of today is the result of a long history of compromise and negotiation, reflecting the Canadian values of fairness, generosity and humility. We should be proud of the role Canada has played in the world. We have answered the call to combat tyranny, and have also been ardent peacekeepers in troubled lands. We have welcomed waves of newcomers throughout our history, and we are proud today to be able to offer sanctuary to people from war-torn countries who seek peace and security.

    “The pride we feel for our country does not mean we ignore our own troubled and complicated history. Canada Day offers an opportunity for reflection on the impact of colonialism on generations of Indigenous Peoples. Our government is dedicated to addressing these matters in a spirit of reconciliation in partnership with Indigenous Peoples.

    “The work of building a better Canada is never done, as nation building is an assignment without end. We will always seek to make a country that in every way is more peaceful, more prosperous and more democratic for ourselves, our families, our neighbours, our communities and for all who call this land home. An important part of that is our desire in British Columbia to build an economy that works for everyone.

    “Let’s take the opportunity this Canada Day to remind ourselves of what we have accomplished together. Happy Canada Day!”

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Travel Advisory: RIDOT Closing Two Bridges in Foster for Reconstruction Starting July 11

    Source: US State of Rhode Island

    Starting, Friday night, July 11 the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) will begin work on the first of two bridges along rural roads in Foster. Both bridges will be closed for approximately 90 days while they are demolished and replaced.

    The bridges carry a very low volume of cars, less than 100 vehicles per day, and serve to access a limited number of residential properties.

    The first closure on July 11 affects the Rams Tail Road Bridge, which carries Rams Tail Road over Ponaganset Brook, between Route 6 (Danielson Pike) and Central Pike. The bridge was built in 1955 and is one rating point away from being classified as structurally deficient. During its closure, drivers will follow a detour using Route 102 (Chopmist Hill Road).

    The second closure begins Friday night, July 18 and affects the Mill Road Bridge, which carries Mill Road over Hemlock Brook, between Route 102 (Foster Center Road) and Wright Lane. The bridge was built in 1950 and is classified as structurally deficient. During its closure, motorists can detour using Route 102, Kate Randall Road and Central Pike.

    For both locations, local traffic will be permitted on either side of the closed bridges.

    RIDOT is using accelerated bridge construction methods to replace these structures as quickly as possible. The $13.4 million project also includes work to replace the Moosup Valley Road Bridge in Foster. RIDOT began work on that bridge last October and this August will shift traffic to finish replacing it. The temporary traffic signal controlling the single-lane alternating traffic pattern will remain in place until the Moosup Valley Road Bridge is finished by next summer.

    All construction projects are subject to changes in schedule and scope depending on needs, circumstances, findings and weather.

    The replacement of these bridges in Foster is made possible by RhodeWorks. RIDOT is committed to bringing Rhode Island’s infrastructure into a state of good repair while respecting the environment and striving to improve it. Learn more at www.ridot.net/RhodeWorks.

    MIL OSI USA News –