Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Statement on 59th Anniversary of the Voting Right Act
The Justice Department issued the following statement from Attorney General Merrick B. Garland on the 59th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act:
“The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law 59 years ago in the wake of a generations-long struggle to make real the promise of the 15th Amendment: that no American citizen be denied the right to vote on account of race.
The Act gave the Justice Department some of its most powerful tools to protect the right to vote.
Between 1965 and 2013, the Department was able to block more than 3,000 restrictive voting changes in jurisdictions with a history of suppressing the vote because of the law.
But court decisions in recent years drastically weakened the protections of the Voting Rights Act. Since those decisions, there has been a dramatic increase in legislative measures that make it harder for millions of eligible voters to vote and to elect the representatives of their choice.
The Justice Department is not standing down in the face of those restrictions. We are challenging discriminatory, burdensome, and unnecessary restrictions on access to the ballot. We are working to block discriminatory redistricting plans. We are working with jurisdictions to ensure that their voting centers are accessible to voters with disabilities. We are defending the constitutionality of several Voting Rights Act provisions, including the prohibition on voter intimidation. And we continue to urge Congress to restore the provisions of the Voting Rights Act that courts have weakened, to ensure that we have the authorities we need to protect voting rights.
At the same time, efforts to undermine the right to vote have expanded to include a disturbing rise in threats of violence against the citizens we rely on to fairly administer voting — state and county elected officials, career administrators, and even volunteer poll workers.
The Justice Department has used and will continue to use every authority we have to protect the right to vote, and to protect the public servants who make voting possible. We are aggressively investigating and prosecuting threats of violence targeting election workers, officials, and volunteers.
While there are many things open to debate in our country, the right to vote must not be one of them. The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy, the right from which all others flow. The Justice Department will never stop working to ensure that every eligible voter can cast a vote that counts.”
Updated August 6, 2024
Sweepstakes Operators Plead Guilty to Bank Secrecy Act Violations
Two Missouri men pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring with bankers to willfully fail to implement appropriate anti-money laundering (AML) controls at a Missouri bank, as required by the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).
Kevin Brandes, 60, and William Graham, 56, both residents of Kansas City, Missouri, owned and operated multiple sweepstakes businesses and held accounts for those businesses at the Missouri bank. According to court documents, from 2013 to 2019, Brandes and Graham abetted bank officials in failing to implement key components of the bank’s AML program.
Under the BSA and its implementing regulations, the bank was required to file currency transaction reports (CTR) with the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) for any transaction in currency of more than $10,000. In 2017, at the request of bank officials, Brandes and Graham signed FinCEN CTR Exemption Review Forms that classified their companies as “direct mail advertising” businesses. After receiving the signed exemption forms, the bank failed to file CTRs with FinCEN on transactions involving Brandes’ and Graham’s businesses. Additionally, Brandes’ and Graham’s companies were deemed “high risk” and subject to heightened monitoring under the bank’s policies and procedures. Brandes and Graham understood that by signing the CTR exemption forms the bank would apply less scrutiny to their companies’ transactions.
Additionally, on or about Oct. 11, 2016, at the direction of two bank officials, Brandes and Graham had an outside attorney sign a legal opinion letter, then sent it to the bank, knowing that it contained false information. Specifically, the letter indicated that one of Brandes’ companies “in over 3 years has not received negative or unwanted legal action by way of regulatory bodies or private suits.” Brandes and Graham knew at the time, however, that this information was false because a state regulatory agency had filed a legal action against the company in question. Brandes and Graham both believed this letter would help the bank circumvent its requirements under the BSA.
Brandes and Graham each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to cause the willful failure to implement and maintain an appropriate anti-money laundering program. Brandes and Graham will be sentenced at a later date and face maximum penalties of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Teresa A. Moore for the Western District of Missouri, Special Agent in Charge Justin R. Bundy of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG) Kansas City Region, Special Agent in Charge Thomas F. Murdock of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) St. Louis Field Office, and Assistant Director Michael Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division made the announcement.
FDIC-OIG, IRS-CI, and the FBI are investigating the case.
Trial Attorneys Chad M. Davis and Christopher Ting of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick D. Daly and Matthew N. Sparks for the Western District of Missouri are prosecuting the case.
MLARS’ Bank Integrity Unit investigates and prosecutes banks and other financial institutions, including their officers, managers, and employees, whose actions threaten the integrity of the individual institution or the wider financial system.
Updated July 3, 2024
Sweepstakes Operators Plead Guilty to Bank Secrecy Act Violations
Two Missouri men pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring with bankers to willfully fail to implement appropriate anti-money laundering (AML) controls at a Missouri bank, as required by the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).
Kevin Brandes, 60, and William Graham, 56, both residents of Kansas City, Missouri, owned and operated multiple sweepstakes businesses and held accounts for those businesses at the Missouri bank. According to court documents, from 2013 to 2019, Brandes and Graham abetted bank officials in failing to implement key components of the bank’s AML program.
Under the BSA and its implementing regulations, the bank was required to file currency transaction reports (CTR) with the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) for any transaction in currency of more than $10,000. In 2017, at the request of bank officials, Brandes and Graham signed FinCEN CTR Exemption Review Forms that classified their companies as “direct mail advertising” businesses. After receiving the signed exemption forms, the bank failed to file CTRs with FinCEN on transactions involving Brandes’ and Graham’s businesses. Additionally, Brandes’ and Graham’s companies were deemed “high risk” and subject to heightened monitoring under the bank’s policies and procedures. Brandes and Graham understood that by signing the CTR exemption forms the bank would apply less scrutiny to their companies’ transactions.
Additionally, on or about Oct. 11, 2016, at the direction of two bank officials, Brandes and Graham had an outside attorney sign a legal opinion letter, then sent it to the bank, knowing that it contained false information. Specifically, the letter indicated that one of Brandes’ companies “in over 3 years has not received negative or unwanted legal action by way of regulatory bodies or private suits.” Brandes and Graham knew at the time, however, that this information was false because a state regulatory agency had filed a legal action against the company in question. Brandes and Graham both believed this letter would help the bank circumvent its requirements under the BSA.
Brandes and Graham each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to cause the willful failure to implement and maintain an appropriate anti-money laundering program. Brandes and Graham will be sentenced at a later date and face maximum penalties of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Teresa A. Moore for the Western District of Missouri, Special Agent in Charge Justin R. Bundy of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG) Kansas City Region, Special Agent in Charge Thomas F. Murdock of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) St. Louis Field Office, and Assistant Director Michael Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division made the announcement.
FDIC-OIG, IRS-CI, and the FBI are investigating the case.
Trial Attorneys Chad M. Davis and Christopher Ting of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick D. Daly and Matthew N. Sparks for the Western District of Missouri are prosecuting the case.
MLARS’ Bank Integrity Unit investigates and prosecutes banks and other financial institutions, including their officers, managers, and employees, whose actions threaten the integrity of the individual institution or the wider financial system.
Updated July 3, 2024
National Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action Results in 193 Defendants Charged and Over $2.75 Billion in False Claims
The Justice Department today announced the 2024 National Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action, which resulted in criminal charges against 193 defendants, including 76 doctors, nurse practitioners, and other licensed medical professionals in 32 federal districts across the United States, for their alleged participation in various health care fraud schemes involving approximately $2.75 billion in intended losses and $1.6 billion in actual losses.
In connection with the coordinated nationwide law enforcement action, and together with federal and state law enforcement partners, the government seized over $231 million in cash, luxury vehicles, gold, and other assets.
“It does not matter if you are a trafficker in a drug cartel or a corporate executive or medical professional employed by a health care company, if you profit from the unlawful distribution of controlled substances, you will be held accountable,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice Department will bring to justice criminals who defraud Americans, steal from taxpayer-funded programs, and put people in danger for the sake of profits.”
“The extraordinary Special Agents of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) were proud to play an integral role in this multi-agency investigation and national takedown of healthcare fraud,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “Through this action, we in federal law enforcement send a clear and strong message—that we will hold accountable those health care providers and prescribers who prey on their patients for profit and disregard the first rule of medical care: do no harm.”
“Healthcare fraud victimizes patients, endangers the health of vulnerable people, and plunders healthcare programs,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “This wide-ranging collaboration demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to rooting out predatory healthcare fraud, protecting patients, and ensuring critical healthcare funds go where they are needed most.”
The charges alleged include over $900 million fraud scheme committed in connection with amniotic wound grafts; the unlawful distribution of millions of pills of Adderall and other stimulants by five defendants associated with a digital technology company; an over $90 million fraud committed by corporate executives distributing adulterated and misbranded HIV medication; over $146 million in fraudulent addiction treatment schemes; over $1.1 billion in telemedicine and laboratory fraud; and over $450 million in other health care fraud and opioid schemes.
“Health care fraud affects every American,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “It siphons off hard-earned tax dollars meant to provide care for the vulnerable and disabled. In doing so, it also raises the cost of care for all patients. Even worse, as the prosecutions we announce today underscore, health care fraud can harm patients and fuel addiction. The Criminal Division is committed to rooting out health care fraud, wherever it may be found, no matter who commits it. And we are using more tools than ever before to uncover misconduct and hold wrongdoers to account, whether they are executives in corner offices or doctors who violate their oaths.”
Today’s enforcement action was led and coordinated by the Health Care Fraud Unit of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and its core partners: U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), FBI, and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The cases were investigated by agents from the division’s core partner agencies along with 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, 32 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices nationwide, and 11 State Attorney Generals’ Offices.
“This work is important to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the millions of Americans we serve. HHS vigorously pursues anyone who commits fraud against our health care programs. But it takes all of us, working together, to be successful,” said HHS Deputy Secretary Andrea Palm. “Those who steal from these programs are stealing from the American families who rely on them and putting patients at risk. We won’t stop until all those who try to defraud the federal government are caught and held accountable.”
“We will not tolerate fraud that preys on patients who need and deserve high quality health care,” said the HHS-OIG Inspector General Christi A. Grimm. “The hard work of the HHS-OIG team and our outstanding law enforcement partners makes today’s action possible. We must protect taxpayer dollars and keep Americans safe from harms to their health, privacy, and financial well-being.”
Amniotic Wound Grafts
Charges were filed in the District of Arizona against four individuals who allegedly filed $900 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for amniotic wound grafts used on Medicare patients. As alleged, the defendants targeted elderly Medicare patients, many of whom were terminally ill. The defendants caused medically unnecessary and expensive amniotic grafts to be applied to these vulnerable patients’ wounds indiscriminately, without coordination with the patients’ treating physicians and without proper treatment for infection, to superficial wounds that did not need this treatment, and in sizes that far exceeded the size of the wound. In just 16 months, Medicare paid two defendants more than $600 million as a result of their fraud scheme, paying on average more than a million dollars per patient for these unnecessary grafts. These two defendants owned wound care companies in Arizona and received more than $330 million in illegal kickbacks in exchange for purchasing the grafts billed to Medicare. In connection with the charges, the government seized over $70 million, including four luxury vehicles, gold, jewelry, and cash.
“Every dollar saved by investigating fraud is critical to the sustainability of the Medicare program and the needs of the people who depend on it,” said Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). “In addition to the actions taken by the Justice Department, CMS took 127 administrative actions in the last six months separately against providers for their alleged involvement in health care fraud schemes. We thank our partners at the Department of Justice and Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General for working closely with us to identify, investigate, and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in our federal health care programs.”
Distribution of Adderall and Other Stimulants
Five additional defendants associated with digital technology company Done Global Inc. and its affiliated entity, Done Health P.C. (collectively, “Done”), were charged for the unlawful distribution of millions of Adderall pills. The CEO and Clinical President of Done were charged on June 13 in a scheme to distribute Adderall and other stimulants over the internet. The charges announced today include those against one of the most prolific prescribers working for Done, a Florida nurse practitioner who prescribed over 1.5 million pills of Adderall and other stimulants to patients across the United States. The indictment alleges that the nurse practitioner prescribed Adderall and other stimulants without interaction with patients, pursuant to Done’s “auto-refill” policy. This policy allowed patients to obtain continued prescriptions after an initial encounter without any further audio or visual interaction with a medical professional. This allegedly resulted in the nurse practitioner prescribing Adderall and other stimulants to individuals suffering from drug addiction and continuing to issue Adderall prescriptions for months after the overdose deaths of patients.
“DEA works tirelessly to protect the public from harm, be it cartels funneling fentanyl into our communities or medical providers caring more about profits than patients,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “The CEO and clinical director of Done Global Inc. are charged with over-prescribing millions of unneeded stimulant pills, potentially putting patients in danger and exacerbating the current stimulant medicine shortage. The seriousness of these actions should not be understated. DEA will continue to hold anyone accountable who endangers the health and well-being of Americans.”
Diverted HIV Medication
Three owners and executives of a wholesale distributor of pharmaceutical drugs were charged in connection with an alleged $90 million wire fraud conspiracy to introduce adulterated and misbranded HIV drugs into the market. The HIV drugs were allegedly acquired through unlawful “buyback” schemes in which previously dispensed bottles of prescription drugs were bought from vulnerable patients. The defendants allegedly purchased these drugs from the black market and resold them to pharmacies throughout the country with falsified documentation designed to conceal the true source of the medication. Pharmacies then dispensed these diverted HIV medications to unsuspecting patients. At times, patients received bottles labeled as their prescription medication, but the bottles contained a different drug entirely, with one patient passing out and remaining unconscious for 24 hours after taking an anti-psychotic drug thinking it was his prescribed HIV medication.
Addiction Treatment Cases
The addiction treatment cases announced today include charges filed in the District of Arizona and Southern District of Florida against four defendants in connection with more than $146 million of allegedly false and fraudulent claims for services for vulnerable patients seeking treatment for drug or alcohol addiction. As alleged in one of the indictments, one defendant paid kickbacks in exchange for the referral of patients recruited from the homeless population and Native American reservations. She then fraudulently billed Arizona Medicaid for substance abuse treatment services that were either never provided or were provided at a level that was so substandard that it failed to serve any treatment purpose. The defendant is charged with money laundering offenses for her lavish purchases with the fraud proceeds, as well as obstruction of justice for allegedly falsifying records in response to a grand jury subpoena for documents.
Telemedicine and Laboratory Fraud Cases
Thirty-six defendants were charged in connection with the submission of over $1.1 billion in fraudulent claims to Medicare resulting from telemedicine schemes. For example, in separate cases involving similar schemes that were perpetrated by different criminal networks in the Southern District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, and District of New Jersey, clinical laboratory owners allegedly paid illegal kickbacks and bribes, including to telemedicine companies, in exchange for the referral of orders for unnecessary genetic testing. The results of these genetic tests—which were supposed to detect genetic mutations that could indicate an elevated risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other serious illness—were not used in the patients’ treatment. Other telemedicine schemes included the unsealing of a complaint in the Eastern District of Virginia against a psychiatrist who allegedly submitted fraudulent claims based on minimal patient interactions, including for visits that lasted between 10 to 30 seconds. The continued focus on prosecuting health care fraud schemes involving telemedicine reflects the Department’s commitment to rooting out these schemes, which has saved taxpayers billions of dollars.
Cases Involving the Illegal Prescription and Distribution of Opioids and Other Health Care Fraud Schemes
The other cases announced today charge 14 defendants with crimes related to the illegal prescription and distribution of opioids that resulted in millions in false billings, including several charges against medical professionals and others who prescribed unnecessary opioids, Suboxone, and other controlled substances.
An additional 126 defendants are charged with various other health care fraud schemes involving over $450 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance companies for treatments that were medically unnecessary or never provided. Ten defendants across the country were charged in connection with fraudulent COVID-19 testing, including an over $65 million scheme charged in the Southern District of Florida.
The Center for Program Integrity of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CPI/CMS) separately announced today that it took adverse administrative actions in the last six months against 127 medical providers for their alleged involvement in health care fraud.
Principal Assistant Deputy Chief Jacob Foster, Assistant Chief Rebecca Yuan, and Trial Attorney Miriam L. Glaser Dauermann of the Health Care Fraud Unit of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section led and coordinated today’s enforcement action. The cases are being prosecuted by the Health Care Fraud Unit’s National Rapid Response, Florida, Gulf Coast, Los Angeles, Midwest, Northeast, and Texas Strike Forces; U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Southern District of Alabama, District of Arizona, Central District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California, District of Connecticut, Middle District of Florida, Southern District of Florida, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern District of Kentucky, Western District of Kentucky, Eastern District of Louisiana, Middle District of Louisiana, Western District of Louisiana, Eastern District of Michigan, Western District of Michigan, Southern District of Mississippi, District of Montana, District of New Jersey, Eastern District of New York, Eastern District of North Carolina, Western District of Oklahoma, District of Rhode Island, Eastern District of Tennessee, Middle District of Tennessee, Eastern District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas, Eastern District of Virginia, Western District of Virginia, Southern District of West Virginia, and Eastern District of Wisconsin; and State Attorney Generals’ Offices for Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, and South Dakota. 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 the FBI, HHS-OIG, DEA, and CMS/CPI, HSI, IRS Criminal Investigation, Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Department of Labor, United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies participated in the operation. The Medicaid Fraud Control Units of the states of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia 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 Force. Prior to the charges announced as part of today’s nationwide enforcement action 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.
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.
U.S. Trustee Program Updates Safeguards for Bankruptcy Funds Through Modernized Depository Agreement
The Justice Department’s U.S. Trustee Program (USTP) recently updated safeguards for bankruptcy funds by introducing a revised and modernized form depository agreement for banks and financial institutions that accept bankruptcy estate deposits. rnrnOn June 3, the USTP began transmitting the new agreement to existing authorized depositories and any banks that have expressed interest in signing up. The modernized agreement reflects the evolution in the way that the USTP, Department of the Treasury and financial institutions conduct business. The agreement was last revised in 2013.rnrn“Banks that serve as authorized depositories provide vital foundational support to the bankruptcy system by safeguarding critical recoveries,” said Director Tara Twomey of the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees. “In modernizing this agreement, the USTP remains dedicated to ensuring broad access to banking services for debtors, including those in rural and remote areas.”rnrnThe new agreement accommodates advances in technology and the reorganization of the Treasury, and it reflects changes in the methods used for safeguarding certain deposits and in applicable laws and regulations. Additionally, the new agreement aims to simplify the process for banks to become authorized depositories and streamlines two versions of the prior agreement into a single document.rnrnThe changes come as the USTP continues to strengthen important safeguards for bankruptcy estate funds following recent banking instability. As the banking turmoil unfolded, the USTP undertook a comprehensive review of its systems for monitoring the deposit and collateralization of funds by trustees and other fiduciaries whom the USTP is charged to supervise. The USTP’s policies and procedures worked as intended. Even in the absence of federal intervention, all bankruptcy funds were protected from a risk of loss except where bankruptcy courts waived the safeguards. Still, the USTP found areas where changes would be beneficial due to technological updates and modernized banking practices.rnrnThe modernization of the depository agreement is the product of a robust outreach process, including meetings with stakeholder groups and informational sessions for banks and software vendors that work with trustees. rnrnUnder bankruptcy law, trustees and other fiduciaries, including chapter 11 debtors-in-possession, must deposit or invest bankruptcy funds with banks or financial institutions that offer products insured or guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the United States. These rules protect the deposits if the bank fails. When deposits exceed applicable deposit insurance limits, banks must “collateralize” the deposits either by obtaining a bond or pledging government securities. The USTP routinely objects to attempts to waive these safeguards in chapter 11 cases. rnrnThe USTP’s mission is to promote the integrity and efficiency of the bankruptcy system for the benefit of all stakeholders – debtors, creditors and the public. The USTP consists of 21 regions with 89 field offices nationwide and an Executive Office in Washington, D.C. Learn more about the USTP at www.justice.gov/ust.
Animal Breeder Pleads Guilty to Animal Welfare and Pollution Crimes and Will Pay More than $35M, Including Record Fine in an Animal Welfare Case
In 2022, Justice Department Secured Surrender of Over 4,000 Beagles from Envigo’s Cumberland, Virginia, Facility
Envigo RMS LLC pleaded guilty today to conspiring to knowingly violate the Animal Welfare Act, and Envigo Global Services Inc. pleaded guilty to a felony of conspiring to knowingly violate the Clean Water Act. Both pleas are in relation to a dog breeding facility located in Cumberland County, Virginia, from which the Justice Department secured the surrender of over 4,000 beagles in 2022.
As part of the resolution, Inotiv — of which Envigo RMS and Envigo Global Services are subsidiaries — will guarantee more than $35 million in payments, be subject to increased animal care standards and be subject to a compliance monitor. This resolution marks the largest ever fine in an Animal Welfare Act case.
“Our nation’s animal welfare and clean water laws exist to prevent suffering and harm,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “That’s why we secured the transfer of thousands of beagles from Envigo’s Cumberland facility into adoption, and that’s why today’s plea agreement is so significant. The plea agreement includes the largest ever fine in an animal welfare case as well as heightened standards of care for facilities across the country.”
“Envigo promoted a business culture that prioritized profit and convenience over following the law. This callous approach led to dire consequences: the inhumane treatment of animals and the contamination of our waterway,” said U.S. Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh for the Western District of Virginia. “The historic monetary penalties and significant compliance measures as part of these guilty pleas send a clear message: every company, in every industry, must have compliance and corporate responsibility as a critical part of their business model.”
“The provisions of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) were designed to protect animals from any type of inhumane treatment. Even in those instances of animals being bred for scientific and medical research purposes, they still must be provided with safe and sanitary living conditions,” said Special Agent in Charge Charmeka Parker of the Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General. “AWA violations remain an investigative priority for us, and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate and assist in the criminal prosecution of those who fail to adhere to the provisions of the AWA.”
“Envigo compounded the heartbreaking nature of its animal welfare crimes by committing egregious Clean Water Act violations that undermined public health and the wellbeing of the animals in their care,” said Assistant Administrator David M. Uhlmann of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Everyone victimized in this precedent-setting animal welfare case deserved better: the workers, the beagles, the environment and the community. Envigo deserves every dollar of its record fine.”
“Envigo’s violations of the Clean Water Act and the Animal Welfare Act directly resulted in the contamination of local waterway, negatively impacting the health and wellbeing of the community, and the horrible suffering of over 4,000 beagles. This precedent-setting case emphasizes the power of collaboration between local, state and federal authorities,” said Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares.
According to court documents, Envigo RMS conspired to knowingly violate the Animal Welfare Act by failing to provide, among other things, adequate veterinary care, adequate staffing and safe living conditions for dogs housed at the Cumberland County facility.
In addition, Envigo Global Services conspired to knowingly violate the Clean Water Act by failing to properly operate and maintain the wastewater treatment plant at the Cumberland County facility, which led to massive unlawful discharges of insufficiently treated wastewater into a local waterway and also impacted the health and well-being of the dogs at the facility.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, the entities will serve from three to five years of probation and pay a total criminal fine of $22 million — that is $11 million for each violation. In addition, the entities will pay approximately $1.1 million to the Virginia Animal Fighting Task Force and approximately $1.9 million to the Humane Society of the United States for direct assistance provided to the investigation.
An additional $3.5 million will be paid to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to benefit and restore the environment and ecosystems in Cumberland County, at least $500,000 of which will be spent on purchasing riparian wetland or riparian land located in or near Cumberland.
The entities will spend at least $7 million to improve their facilities and personnel beyond the standards imposed by the Animal Welfare Act.
Finally, the entities will pay all costs associated with a compliance monitor, which will oversee the entities’ compliance with these enhanced animal welfare standards, the Animal Welfare Act, the Clean Water Act, a nationwide compliance plan and additional terms of the agreements and probation.
Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 7.
The Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General and EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division investigated the case. The Virginia State Police provided security assistance during a multi-day federal search in May 2022 of the dog breeding facility.
Senior Trial Attorney Banu Rangarajan and Trial Attorney Sarah Brown of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Randy Ramseyer, Corey Hall and Carrie Macon for the Western District of Virginia and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Welch (an Assistant Attorney General with the Virginia Attorney General’s Office) are prosecuting the case.
Updated June 3, 2024
Justice Department Secures Agreement with National Home Healthcare Company to Resolve Immigration-Related Discrimination Claims
The Justice Department announced today that it secured a settlement agreement with Maxim Healthcare Services (Maxim), a home healthcare company based in Columbia, Maryland, with operations in 35 states. The agreement resolves the department’s determination that Maxim violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) at its Gardena, California, office by discriminating against a non-U.S. citizen worker when it rejected her valid document showing her permission to work and requiring lawful permanent residents working for the company to prove their continued permission to work even though it was unnecessary.
“Employers cannot treat employees differently based on their citizenship status when verifying their permission to work,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The department is committed to ensuring that employers do not deny workers equal treatment in the workplace, whether in hiring, checking employees’ permission to work or otherwise.”
After opening an investigation based on a worker’s complaint, the Civil Rights Division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) concluded that Maxim improperly rejected the worker’s valid document based on her citizenship status. Specifically, the department determined that the company rejected the worker’s employment authorization document (EAD) because the last name on it was different from the last name on her driver’s license and Social Security card, even though the company accepted documents from U.S. citizens under similar circumstances and believed that the EAD reasonably appeared to be genuine and to relate to the worker, which is all that the Department of Homeland Security rules require.
The investigation also determined that Maxim routinely required lawful permanent residents to present unnecessary documentation when their Permanent Resident Cards expired, which is not required by law. The INA’s anti-discrimination provision prohibits employers from rejecting valid documents or asking for specific or unnecessary documents because of a worker’s citizenship or immigration status. If a lawful permanent resident provides an unexpired Permanent Resident Card to prove their permission to work, employers are not permitted to request new documentation if the Permanent Resident Card later expires.
Under the terms of the settlement, Maxim will pay a civil penalty to the United States and lost wages to the affected worker, train its employees on the INA’s anti-discrimination requirements, revise its employment policies and processes and be subject to monitoring by the department.
IER is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. Among other things, the statute prohibits discrimination based on citizenship status and national origin in hiring, firing or recruitment or referral for a fee, unfair documentary practices and retaliation and intimidation.
Find more information about how employers can avoid discrimination when verifying someone’s permission to work on IER’s website. More information on how employers may handle discrepancies in the names that appear on employees’ Form I-9 documents is available as well. Learn more about IER’s work and how to get assistance through this brief video. Applicants or employees who believe they were discriminated against based on their citizenship, immigration status or national origin in hiring, firing, recruitment or during the employment eligibility verification process (Form I-9 and E-Verify) or subjected to retaliation, may file a charge. The public can also call IER’s worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); call IER’s employer hotline at 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); email IER@usdoj.gov; sign up for a live webinar; watch an on-demand presentation or visit IER’s English and Spanish websites. Subscribe for email updates from IER.
Seven Hackers Associated with Chinese Government Charged with Computer Intrusions Targeting Perceived Critics of China and U.S. Businesses and Politicians
An indictment was unsealed today charging seven nationals of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their involvement in a PRC-based hacking group that spent approximately 14 years targeting U.S. and foreign critics, businesses, and political officials in furtherance of the PRC’s economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives.
The defendants are Ni Gaobin (倪高彬), 38; Weng Ming (翁明), 37; Cheng Feng (程锋), 34; Peng Yaowen (彭耀文), 38; Sun Xiaohui (孙小辉), 38; Xiong Wang (熊旺), 35; and Zhao Guangzong (赵光宗), 38. All are believed to reside in the PRC.
“The Justice Department will not tolerate efforts by the Chinese government to intimidate Americans who serve the public, silence the dissidents who are protected by American laws, or steal from American businesses,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “This case serves as a reminder of the ends to which the Chinese government is willing to go to target and intimidate its critics, including launching malicious cyber operations aimed at threatening the national security of the United States and our allies.”
“Over 10,000 malicious emails, impacting thousands of victims, across multiple continents. As alleged in today’s indictment, this prolific global hacking operation – backed by the PRC government – targeted journalists, political officials, and companies to repress critics of the Chinese regime, compromise government institutions, and steal trade secrets,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “The Department of Justice will relentlessly pursue, expose, and hold accountable cyber criminals who would undermine democracies and threaten our national security.”
“Today’s announcement exposes China’s continuous and brash efforts to undermine our nation’s cybersecurity and target Americans and our innovation,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “As long as China continues to target the US and our partners, the FBI will continue to send a clear message that cyber espionage will not be tolerated, and we will tirelessly pursue those who threaten our nation’s security and prosperity. This indictment underscores our unwavering commitment to disrupt and deter malicious cyber activity, and safeguard our citizens, businesses, and critical infrastructure from threats in cyberspace.”
“The indictment unsealed today, together with statements from our foreign partners regarding related activity, shed further light on the PRC Ministry of State Security’s aggressive cyber espionage and transnational repression activities worldwide,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Today’s announcements underscore the need to remain vigilant to cybersecurity threats and the potential for cyber-enabled foreign malign influence efforts, especially as we approach the 2024 election cycle. The Department of Justice will continue to leverage all tools to disrupt malicious cyber actors who threaten our national security and aim to repress fundamental freedoms worldwide.”
“These allegations pull back the curtain on China’s vast illegal hacking operation that targeted sensitive data from U.S. elected and government officials, journalists, and academics; valuable information from American companies; and political dissidents in America and abroad. Their sinister scheme victimized thousands of people and entities across the world, and lasted for well over a decade,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. “America’s sovereignty extends to its cyberspace. Today’s charges demonstrate my office’s commitment to upholding and protecting that jurisdiction, and to putting an end to malicious nation state cyber activity.”
“The recent indictments against the Chinese actors reaffirm the FBI’s relentless dedication to combating cyber threats,” said Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran of the FBI Cyber Division. “They serve as a reminder that cyber adversaries who seek to compromise our nation’s systems and target US officials cannot rely on the cloak of anonymity and will face consequences for their actions.”
“APT31 Group’s practices further demonstrate the size and scope of the PRC’s state-sponsored hacking apparatus,” said Special Agent in Charge Robert W. “Wes” Wheeler Jr. of the FBI Chicago Field Office. “FBI Chicago worked tirelessly to uncover this complex web of alleged foreign intelligence and economic espionage crimes. Thanks to these efforts, as well as our partnerships with the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and fellow Field Offices, the FBI continues to be successful in holding groups accountable and protecting national security.”
Overview
As alleged in the indictment and court filings, the defendants, along with dozens of identified PRC Ministry of State Security (MSS) intelligence officers, contractor hackers, and support personnel, were members of a hacking group operating in the PRC and known within the cybersecurity community as Advanced Persistent Threat 31 (the APT31 Group). The APT31 Group was part of a cyberespionage program run by the MSS’s Hubei State Security Department, located in the city of Wuhan. Through their involvement with the APT31 Group, since at least 2010, the defendants conducted global campaigns of computer hacking targeting political dissidents and perceived supporters located inside and outside of China, government and political officials, candidates, and campaign personnel in the United States and elsewhere and American companies.
The defendants and others in the APT31 Group targeted thousands of U.S. and foreign individuals and companies. Some of this activity resulted in successful compromises of the targets’ networks, email accounts, cloud storage accounts, and telephone call records, with some surveillance of compromised email accounts lasting many years.
Hacking Scheme
The more than 10,000 malicious emails that the defendants and others in the APT31 Group sent to these targets often appeared to be from prominent news outlets or journalists and appeared to contain legitimate news articles. The malicious emails contained hidden tracking links, such that if the recipient simply opened the email, information about the recipient, including the recipient’s location, internet protocol (IP) addresses, network schematics, and specific devices used to access the pertinent email accounts, was transmitted to a server controlled by the defendants and those working with them. The defendants and others in the APT31 Group then used this information to enable more direct and sophisticated targeted hacking, such as compromising the recipients’ home routers and other electronic devices.
The defendants and others in the APT31 Group also sent malicious tracking-link emails to government officials across the world who expressed criticism of the PRC government. For example, in or about 2021, the conspirators targeted the email accounts of various foreign government individuals who were part of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), a group founded in 2020 on the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests whose stated purpose was to counter the threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party to the international order and democratic principles. The targets included every European Union member of IPAC, and 43 United Kingdom parliamentary accounts, most of whom were members of IPAC or had been outspoken on topics relating to the PRC government.
To gain and maintain access to the victim computer networks, the defendants and others in the APT31 Group employed sophisticated hacking techniques including zero-day exploits, which are exploits that the hackers became aware of before the manufacturer, or the victim were able to patch or fix the vulnerability. These activities resulted in the confirmed and potential compromise of economic plans, intellectual property, and trade secrets belonging to American businesses, and contributed to the estimated billions of dollars lost every year as a result of the PRC’s state-sponsored apparatus to transfer U.S. technology to the PRC.
Targeting of U.S. Government Officials and U.S. and Foreign Politicians and Campaigns
The targeted U.S. government officials included individuals working in the White House, at the Departments of Justice, Commerce, Treasury, and State, and U.S. Senators and Representatives of both political parties. The defendants and others in the APT31 Group targeted these individuals at both professional and personal email addresses. Additionally in some cases, the defendants also targeted victims’ spouses, including the spouses of a high-ranking Department of Justice official, high-ranking White House officials, and multiple U.S. Senators. Targets also included election campaign staff from both major U.S. political parties in advance of the 2020 election.
The allegations in the indictment regarding the malicious cyber activity targeting political officials, candidates, and campaign personnel are consistent with the March 2021 Joint Report of the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security on Foreign Interference Targeting Election Infrastructure or Political Organization, Campaign, or Candidate Infrastructure Related to the 2020 US Federal Elections. That report cited incidents when Chinese government-affiliated actors “materially impacted the security of networks associated with or pertaining to U.S. political organizations, candidates, and campaigns during the 2020 federal elections.” That report also concluded that “such actors gathered at least some information they could have released in influence operations,” but which the Chinese actors did not ultimately deploy in such a manner. Consistent with that conclusion, the indictment does not allege that the hacking furthered any Chinese government influence operations against the United States. The indictment’s allegations nonetheless serve to underscore the need for U.S. (and allied) political organizations, candidates, and campaigns to remain vigilant in their cybersecurity posture and in otherwise protecting their sensitive information from foreign intelligence services, particularly in light of the U.S. Intelligence Community’s recent assessment that “[t]he PRC may attempt to influence the U.S. elections in 2024 at some level because of its desire to sideline critics of China and magnify U.S. societal divisions.”
Targeting of U.S. Companies
The defendants and others in the APT31 Group also targeted individuals and dozens of companies operating in areas of national economic importance, including the defense, information technology, telecommunications, manufacturing and trade, finance, consulting, legal, and research industries. The defendants and others in the APT31 Group hacked and attempted to hack dozens of companies or entities operating in these industries, including multiple cleared defense contractors who provide products and services to the U.S. military, multiple managed service providers who managed the computer networks and security for other companies, a leading provider of 5G network equipment, and a leading global provider of wireless technology, among many others.
Targeting for Transnational Repression of Dissidents
The defendants and the APT31 Group also targeted individual dissidents around the world and other individuals who were perceived as supporting such dissidents. For example, in 2018, after several activists who spearheaded Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, the defendants and the APT31 Group targeted Norwegian government officials and a Norwegian managed service provider. The conspirators also successfully compromised Hong Kong pro-democracy activists and their associates located in Hong Kong, the United States, and other foreign locations with identical malware.
The charged defendants’ roles in the conspiracy consisted of testing and exploiting the malware used to conduct these intrusions, managing infrastructure associated with these intrusions, and conducting surveillance and intrusions against specific U.S. entities. For example:
Cheng Feng, Sun Xiaohui, Weng Ming, Xiong Wang, and Zhao Guangzong were involved in testing and exploiting malware, including malware used in some of these intrusions.
Cheng and Ni Gaobin managed infrastructure associated with some of these intrusions, including the domain name for a command-and-control server that accessed at least 59 unique victim computers, including a telecommunications company that was a leading provider of 5G network equipment in the United States, an Alabama-based research corporation in the aerospace and defense industries, and a Maryland-based professional support services company.
Sun and Weng operated the infrastructure used in an intrusion into a U.S. company known for its public opinion polls. Sun and Peng Yaowen conducted research and reconnaissance on several additional U.S. entities that were later the victims of the APT31 Group’s intrusion campaigns.
Ni and Zhao sent emails with links to files containing malware to PRC dissidents, specifically Hong Kong legislators and democracy advocates, as well as targeting U.S. entities focusing on PRC-related issues.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Douglas M. Pravda, Saritha Komatireddy, and Jessica Weigel for the Eastern District of New York are prosecuting the case, with valuable assistance from Matthew Anzaldi and Matthew Chang of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Updated March 25, 2024
Additional Contractors Indicted for Rigging Bids and Defrauding the U.S. Military in South Korea
A federal grand jury in the Western District of Texas returned a superseding indictment today charging a third South Korean national and a South Korean company for their roles in a bid-rigging conspiracy and a scheme to defraud the United States in connection with operation and maintenance work for U.S. military installations in South Korea.
According to the superseding indictment filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Hye Yeon “Rachel” Jo was the CEO of DESCA Co. Ltd. (DESCA), a company that performed subcontract work on U.S. military installations in South Korea. Beginning at least as early as November 2018, Jo and DESCA, along with others, conspired to rig bids and fix prices for subcontract work, and defrauded the U.S. Department of Defense to obtain millions of dollars in repair and maintenance subcontract work at U.S military installations in South Korea. Hyuk Jin Kwon and Hyun Ki Shin, who conspired with Jo and DESCA, were previously indicted on similar charges on March 16, 2022.
“These alleged crimes targeted United States military installations overseas, where we make significant investments to protect our strategic interests,” said Director Daniel Glad of the Justice Department’s Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF). “The Antitrust Division and our PCSF partners around the globe will continue to investigate and pursue charges for illegal conduct that targets U.S. military spending, wherever it occurs.”
“Fair and open competition is crucial to protecting the interests of the American taxpayer,” said Special Agent in Charge Stanley A. Newell of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s (DCIS) Transnational Operations Field Office. “The dedicated professionals of DCIS, along with our partners from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID), FBI and PCSF, remain vigilant in our efforts to bring to justice those who threaten the integrity of our military procurement system.”
“This adjudication was made possible by combining the investigative forces of Army CID’s Far East Fraud Resident Agency and the Republic of South Korea. These international partnerships are invaluable and help protect the integrity of the contracting and bidding process of the U.S. military,” said Special Agent in Charge Keith K. Kelly of the Army CID’s Fraud Field Office. “The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division is committed to identifying and holding accountable all those who would attempt to defraud the U.S. government and the American people.”
“Today’s indictment continues the results of the FBI’s investigation into a South Korean company for conspiring to defraud the United States,” said Assistant Director Michael Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “The defendants orchestrated a scheme to rig bids and fix prices to obtain millions of dollars in contract work on military bases. As this case demonstrates, the FBI is committed to taking meaningful action to maintain a fair and free marketplace both at home, and abroad.”
The eight-count indictment charges Jo, DESCA, Kwon and Shin with one count of conspiracy to restrain trade (violating the Sherman Act), one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and six counts of wire fraud. This indictment is the second in an investigation into bid rigging and price fixing for operation and maintenance work for U.S. military installations in South Korea. A South Korean company was previously sentenced for participating in the conspiracy and fraud scheme on Sept. 12, 2023.
The defendants face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for individuals and a maximum penalty of a $100 million fine for corporations for the violation of the Sherman Act. They also face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for violating the wire fraud statute. The maximum fines may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by victims if either amount is greater than the statutory maximum. Upon a conviction, a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal II Section, Army CID, FBI and DCIS investigated the case.
Trial Attorneys Daniel E. Lipton and Daniel P. Chung of the Antitrust Division are prosecuting the case, with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew B. Devlin for the Western District of Texas.
Anyone with information about this investigation or other procurement fraud schemes should notify the Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF) at www.justice.gov/atr/webform/pcsf-citizen-complaint. The Justice Department created the PCSF in November 2019. It is a joint law enforcement effort to combat antitrust crimes and related fraudulent schemes that impact government procurement, grant and program funding at all levels of government – federal, state and local. For more information, visit www.justice.gov/procurement-collusion-strike-force.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Mississippi Tax Preparers Sentenced to Prison in False Tax Return Conspiracy
A group of Mississippi tax return preparers were sentenced to prison yesterday for charges related to a conspiracy to prepare and file false tax returns for clients in Jackson, Mississippi.
Adam Earnest was sentenced to 100 months in prison, James Klish was sentenced to 50 months in prison and John Wells was sentenced to 15 months in prison. Each was also ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Daniel P. Jordan III for the Southern District of Mississippi to serve three years of supervised release and to pay restitution to the United States in an amount the court will later determine.
Two other conspirators, Christopher Rendell and Jonathan Barefoot, will be sentenced at a later date.
A federal jury convicted Earnest, Klish and Rendell of conspiring to defraud the United States by preparing false tax returns at Sunbelt Tax Service, a return preparation business that operated in Jackson. Earnest and Randell were also convicted of preparing such returns. Wells and Barefoot pleaded guilty before the trial to crimes related to preparing and filing false tax returns for clients.
According to court documents and evidence presented in court, Earnest, Randell, Klish, Barefoot and Wells worked at Sunbelt and conspired together to claim inflated tax refunds for clients by reporting false education credits, itemized deductions and business profits or losses on their clients’ tax returns. Over the years, they prepared thousands of fraudulent returns, causing over $3.5 million in tax loss to the IRS.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.
Trial Attorneys Patrick Elwell, Zachary Cobb and Mary Frances Richardson of the Tax Division prosecuted the case.
Updated February 23, 2024
Apache Corporation to Pay $4 Million and Reduce Unlawful Air Pollution from Oil and Gas Wells in New Mexico and Texas, Eliminating More Than 10,000 Tons of Harmful Air Pollutants Annually
Apache Corporation (Apache) has agreed to pay $4 million in civil penalties and undertake projects expected to cost at least $5.5 million to ensure 422 of its oil and gas well pads in New Mexico and Texas comply with state and federal clean air regulations and offset past illegal emissions.
Apache’s agreement settles a civil suit – filed jointly by the United States, on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) – alleging that Apache failed to comply with federal and state requirements to capture and control air emissions from 23 of its oil and gas production operations in New Mexico and Texas. EPA and NMED identified the alleged violations through field investigations and repeated flyover surveillance conducted in 2019, 2020 and 2022.
Compliance with this robust settlement will result in annual reductions of more than 9,650 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and 900 tons of methane, which equates to more than 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). VOCs are a key component in the formation of ground-level ozone or smog, which irritates lungs, exacerbates diseases including asthma and can increase susceptibility to respiratory illnesses, such as pneumonia and bronchitis.
“Today’s settlement will ensure compliance at hundreds of oil and gas facilities across New Mexico and Texas,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Under the settlement, over 400 Apache facilities will be required to take extensive steps to reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds – which contribute to smog – as well as methane gas, which is a significant contributor to climate change.”
“Robust enforcement of Clean Air Act violations at oil and gas facilities protects communities from harmful smog and reduces methane emissions that are major contributors to global climate change,” said Assistant Administrator David M. Uhlmann of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Today’s agreement demonstrates EPA’s commitment to working with our state partners to tackle climate change and improve air quality for everyone living in the United States.”
“Noxious pollutants directly threaten the health of neighboring communities while propelling our world toward climate disaster,” said U.S. Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez for the District of New Mexico. “I applaud the tireless efforts of the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, the U.S. EPA and the NMED to protect our lungs and our earth. Environmental justice is a top priority for the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico.”
“This settlement shows that oil and gas operators deserve greater scrutiny because too many are failing to comply with federal and state rules,” said New Mexico Environment Cabinet Secretary James Kenney. “As a result, bad actors will cause greater federal and state regulation of the entire oil and gas industry as ozone levels rise and public health suffers.”
The $4 million fine outlined in the settlement will be shared equally by the United States and the State of New Mexico, with New Mexico’s portion going to the state’s general fund. The settlement document (consent decree) was filed together with the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico and requires the company to take numerous steps to ensure that 422 well pads covered by the consent decree and located in New Mexico and Texas are operated lawfully.
In addition to the $4 million fine, Apache will also spend at least $4.5 million to implement extensive design, operation, maintenance and monitoring improvements, including installing new tank pressure monitoring systems that will provide advance notification of potential emissions and allow for immediate response action by the company. Apache will also spend over $1 million to offset the harm caused by the alleged violations by replacing, on an accelerated schedule, more than 400 pollutant-emitting pneumatic devices with non-emitting devices.
Pound for pound, methane is approximately 28 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in terms of its impact on global warming. Accordingly, a reduction of 900 tons of annual methane reductions equates to more than 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) and is akin to eliminating the use of more than 2.5 million gallons of gasoline annually. Greenhouse gases from human activities are a primary cause of climate change and global warming. This enforcement settlement furthers EPA’s commitment to deliver public health protections against climate-impacting pollution and other pollutants for communities across America and helps deliver on EPA’s top commitment in its strategic plan, which is to tackle the climate crisis.
The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for criteria pollutants that are considered harmful to public health and the environment. Ozone is a criteria pollutant that is created when oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and VOCs react in the atmosphere. VOCs and NOx are emitted by oil and gas production facilities, such as those operated by Apache. During the timeframes of Apache’s alleged violations, air quality monitors in the relevant counties in New Mexico registered rising ozone concentrations exceeding 95% of the NAAQS for ozone. In counties where ozone levels reach 95% of the NAAQS, NMED is required by New Mexico state statute to take action to reduce ozone pollution.
Apache Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of APA Corporation, which is engaged in the exploration and development of oil and natural gas resources in the United States. Apache Corporation is a large producer in the Permian Basin, which is a shale oil and gas producing area located in southeast New Mexico and West Texas.
This settlement is part of EPA’s National Enforcement and Compliance Initiative, Mitigating Climate Change. EPA also has a webpage on today’s settlement.
The Justice Department’s Environmental Enforcement Section lodged today’s proposed consent decree in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico. The settlement is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. The consent decree will be available for viewing on the Justice Department’s website at www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees. The Federal Register notice will also include instructions for submitting public comment.
Updated February 13, 2024
ABA TechReport 2023 survey spotlights legal tech trends
The American Bar Association Legal Technology Resource Center has released its ABA TechReport 2023, a comprehensive online series of articles exploring how attorneys are using technology in their practices. TechReport 2023 combines data from the annual Legal Technology Survey Report with expert analysis, observations and predictions from legal technology leaders.
TechReport articles on a variety of legal technology topics will post on Law Technology Today every Monday through February 2024.
TechReport articles on a variety of legal technology topics will post on Law Technology Today every Monday through February 2024.
Separated into nine different articles on technology topics, TechReport 2023 covers the prominent areas in technology that lawyers face today. The survey report focuses on issues relating to technology use, not product use.
Examples of statistical information included in the annual survey report are:
Fifty-six percent of all respondents regularly use fee-based internet/online services for legal research and 21% occasionally use this resource. Twelve percent of respondents report that they never use fee-based online services for legal research.
Sixty-four percent of firms budget for technology (compared with 65% in 2022 and 2021, and 62% in 2020). As in prior years, this percentage increases with firm size: 51% of solo respondents, 52% from firms of 2-9 attorneys, 74% from firms of 10-49 attorneys (compared with 65% in 2022, 69% in 2021 and 78% in 2020) and 86% from firms of 100 or more attorneys. Overall, 11% indicated they did not know if their firms budget for technology.
During the past four years, there has been a downward trend in the percentage of respondents using a desktop as their primary computer. Forty percent of all respondents (compared to 41% in 2022, 44% in 2021, and 49% in 2020) report using a desktop as their primary computer. Fifty-four percent of all respondents (compared to 56% in 2022, 53% in 2021, and 47% in 2020) report laptops as their primary computer.
Respondents who report describing their practice as a virtual law practice (11% overall) were asked what they consider to be the defining characteristics of their virtual law practice. A majority of respondents chose “ability to travel and work from anywhere” (76%), “ability to work outside of normal business hours” (67%), “better work-life balance” (64%), “minimal in-person contact with clients” (60%) and “lack of traditional physical office” (53%).
The TechReport articles, appearing in Law Technology Today each Monday through February 2024, focus on a variety of topics that include:
Litigation and Technology-assisted Review (TAR)
Technology training
Websites and marketing
Budgeting and planning
Practice management
Solo and small firm
Cloud computing
Cybersecurity
AI
The Legal Technology Survey Report, launched more than two decades ago by the ABA Law Practice Division, is recognized as the primary source for information regarding the use of technology by attorneys in private practice. It is based on responses by practicing lawyers — not consultants, vendors or IT staff.
AAPC Condemns Latest Ban on Legitimate Political Advertising
McLean, VA – The American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) condemns Xandr’s recent decision to reverse its policy on allowing candidate and issue ads on its platform, raising concerns about the implications on the free exchange of ideas essential to our democratic process.
“Programmatic technology has revolutionized the advertising landscape, enabling campaigns and non-profits to connect with their target audiences more efficiently and effectively, especially young and diverse voters who may not access traditional forms of media,” said Larry Huynh, Democrat consultant and President of AAPC. “By imposing sweeping bans on legitimate advertising, Xandr is curtailing the free exchange of ideas that allow individuals to make informed decisions on critical issues.”
At the heart of programmatic technology lies innovation and efficiency, benefiting campaigns of all sizes and voters alike. These advancements have democratized advertising by providing smaller campaigns with opportunities to compete in the marketplace of ideas. “We urge Xandr to reconsider this policy and find ways to promote responsible political advertising while protecting democratic discourse.” said Kyle Roberts, Republican consultant and Vice President of AAPC.
As an organization dedicated to political free speech and ethical advertising practices, AAPC supports the foundational principles enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and urges full access to social media networks, email service providers, texting platforms and digital news and content publishers for all official campaigns and political and non-profit organizations. We applaud platforms that support political advertising as an essential means for candidates and organizations to communicate with the public openly and transparently.
AAPC believes that suppression of political advertising reduces the ability for people to participate and learn about the democratic process – including the candidates, political organizations, and policy issues that matter to them. Suppressing advertising is restricting free speech and a campaign’s ability to reach a broad community online.
AAPC stands ready to work with all media partners to develop strong policies to uncover and stop misinformation while protecting free speech for campaigns and issue advocacy efforts.
About AAPC
Founded in 1969, the AAPC is a multi-partisan organization of political and public affairs professionals dedicated to improving democracy. The AAPC has more than 1,600 members hailing from all corners of the globe. The Board of Directors is comprised of thirty-two members, evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats. It is the largest association of political and public affairs professionals in the world. The AAPC Foundation supports efforts to protect free speech, defend democracy, and prepare the next generation of political consultants to thrive. For more information, see www.theaapc.org.
Departments of Justice, Commerce and Treasury Issue Joint Compliance Note on Voluntary Self-Disclosure of Potential Violations
The Justice Department, Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today issued a joint compliance note focusing on the voluntary self-disclosure policies that apply to U.S. sanctions, export controls and other national security laws, including recent updates to certain of those policies. Today’s note marks the second collective effort by the three agencies to inform the private sector about enforcement trends and provide guidance to the business community on compliance with U.S. sanctions and export laws.
“American businesses play a vital role in defending our national security because they are gatekeepers for sensitive technologies and key participants in the financial system,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Responsible companies that come forward as soon as they learn of potential sanctions and export control violations will benefit from the protections of these self-disclosure policies.”
“When it comes to protecting our cutting-edge technology from falling into the wrong hands, industry is our first line of defense,” said Assistant Secretary Matthew S. Axelrod of the Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement. “As this joint compliance note makes clear, we need companies to tell us when they have potentially violated our rules and offer them concrete benefits for doing so.”
The compliance note describes the voluntary self-disclosure policies of BIS, the Justice Department’s National Security Division, and OFAC, and highlights recent updates related to these policies. Additionally, the compliance note highlights the Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN)’s Anti-Money Laundering and Sanctions Whistleblower Program, which incentivizes individuals in the United States and abroad to provide information to the government about violations of U.S. trade and economic sanctions, in addition to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.
“As adversaries leverage increasingly sophisticated efforts to evade international sanctions and export controls, it’s more important than ever to maintain open communication between the public and private sectors,” said Director Andrea Gacki of the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. “By taking advantage of our voluntary self-disclosure policy, companies can both help themselves and help us protect our financial system.”
The note underscores the importance of an effective and robust compliance program. If a company discovers a potential violation, whether it is an administrative or criminal violation, that company must promptly disclose and remediate. Not only does such reporting make the disclosing company potentially eligible for significant mitigation, but it also alerts national security agencies to activities that may pose a threat to the national security and foreign policy objectives of the U.S. government.
Justice Department Finds State of South Carolina Unnecessarily Segregates Adults with Mental Illness in Adult Care Homes
The Justice Department announced that it has concluded an investigation into whether the State of South Carolina subjects adults with mental illness to unnecessary institutionalization and serious risk of institutionalization in adult care homes, in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The Justice Department determined that there is reasonable cause to believe South Carolina violates the ADA by failing to provide sufficient community-based services to prevent unnecessary institutionalization of adults with mental illness. Instead, the state subsidizes their stay in adult care homes where people have little contact with people without disabilities, often leaving the homes only for medical appointments and group visits to grocery and convenience stores. Critical services that would allow adults with mental illness to live instead in their own homes and communities are not sufficiently available across the state.
“People with disabilities should not be isolated in institutions for years on end when they can and want to live in their own homes,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Division will safeguard the rights of people with disabilities to ensure that they are able to participate fully in community life.”
“A sacred promise of the ADA includes giving people a meaningful choice for where they wish to live, including in their own private home,” said U.S. Attorney Adair F. Boroughs for the District of South Carolina. “I hope that the violations identified by the Justice Department can be remedied so that these South Carolinians will be able to leave the shadow of institutional living and instead live in and contribute to their communities.”
The Department’s investigation found South Carolina lacks needed community-based mental health services such as assertive community treatment, supported employment, permanent supportive housing, intensive case management, and peer support. These services are provided in certain parts of the state but are not sufficiently available to afford opportunities to avoid or move out of adult care homes and live in the community. As a result, thousands of adults with mental illness are segregated in adult care homes for years.
The Department’s investigation involved extensive review and analysis of documents; interviews of staff and people living in adult care homes, South Carolina state employees, and stakeholders; and visits to adult care homes statewide. Individuals with information relevant to this matter can contact the Department by emailing Community.SouthCarolina@usdoj.gov.
Additional information about the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is available on its website at Civil Rights Division | Rights Of Persons With Disabilities (justice.gov) and www.ada.gov.
Russian National Arrested and Charged with Conspiring to Commit LockBit Ransomware Attacks Against U.S. and Foreign Businesses
The Justice Department today announced charges against a Russian national for his involvement in deploying numerous LockBit ransomware and other cyberattacks against victim computer systems in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Africa.
Ruslan Magomedovich Astamirov (АСТАМИРОВ, Руслан Магомедовичь), 20, of Chechen Republic, will make his initial appearance later today.
“This LockBit-related arrest, the second in six months, underscores the Justice Department’s unwavering commitment to hold ransomware actors accountable,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “In securing the arrest of a second Russian national affiliated with the LockBit ransomware, the Department has once again demonstrated the long arm of the law. We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to disrupt cybercrime, and while cybercriminals may continue to run, they ultimately cannot hide.”
According to a criminal complaint obtained in the District of New Jersey, from at least as early as August 2020 to March 2023, Astamirov allegedly participated in a conspiracy with other members of the LockBit ransomware campaign to commit wire fraud and to intentionally damage protected computers and make ransom demands through the use and deployment of ransomware. Specifically, Astamirov directly executed at least five attacks against victim computer systems in the United States and abroad.
“Astamirov is the third defendant charged by this office in the LockBit global ransomware campaign, and the second defendant to be apprehended,” said U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey. “The LockBit conspirators and any other ransomware perpetrators cannot hide behind imagined online anonymity. We will continue to work tirelessly with all our law enforcement partners to identify ransomware perpetrators and bring them to justice.”
According to the criminal complaint, the LockBit ransomware variant first appeared around January 2020. LockBit actors have executed over 1,400 attacks against victims in the United States and around the world, issuing over $100 million in ransom demands and receiving at least as much as tens of millions of dollars in actual ransom payments made in the form of bitcoin.
In furtherance of his LockBit-related activities, Astamirov owned, controlled, and used a variety of email addresses, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, and other online provider accounts that allowed him and his co-conspirators to deploy LockBit ransomware and to communicate with their victims. Additionally, in at least one circumstance, law enforcement was able to trace a portion of a victim’s ransom payment to a virtual currency address in Astamirov’s control.
“The FBI is committed to pursuing ransomware actors like Astamirov, who have exploited vulnerable cyber ecosystems and harmed victims,” said FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate. “We, in collaboration with our federal and international partners, are fully committed to effecting the permanent dismantlement of these types of ransomware campaigns that intentionally target people and our private sector partners. We will continue to leverage every resource to prevent this type of malicious, criminal activity.”
Astamirov is charged with conspiring to commit wire fraud and conspiring to intentionally damage protected computers and to transmit ransom demands. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the first charge and a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the second charge. Both charges are also punishable by a maximum fine of either $250,000 or twice the gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greatest.
This announcement follows LockBit-related charges in two other cases from the District of New Jersey. In November 2022, the department announced criminal charges against Mikhail Vasiliev, a dual Russian and Canadian national, who is currently in custody in Canada awaiting extradition to the United States. In May 2023, the department announced the indictment of Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev, aka Wazawaka, aka m1x, aka Boriselcin, aka Uhodiransomwar, for his alleged participation in separate conspiracies to deploy LockBit, Babuk, and Hive ransomware variants against victims in the United States and abroad.
The FBI Newark Field Office’s Cyber Crimes Task Force is investigating the case. The Jersey City Police Department, New Jersey State Police, Newark IRS Criminal Investigation, and the international partners from Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre, Eurojust, National Police Agency of Japan, France’s Gendarmerie Nationale Cyberspace Command (Cyber Crime Investigation Unit / C3N), National Crime Agency and South West Regional Organized Crime Unit of the United Kingdom, Kantonspolizei Zürich of Switzerland, Landeskriminalamt Schleswig-Holstein and the Bundeskriminalamt of Germany, and Swedish Police Authority of Sweden also provided valuable assistance.
Trial Attorney Jessica C. Peck and Jorge Gonzalez of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew M. Trombly, Vinay Limbachia, and David E. Malagold for the District of New Jersey’s Cybercrime Unit in Newark are prosecuting the case.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs also provided significant assistance.
Victims of LockBit ransomware should contact their local FBI field office and visit StopRansomware.gov for further information.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
ABA issues ethics opinion to guide lawyers’ handling of prepaid fees for individual clients
CHICAGO — The American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility released a formal opinion today that examines a lawyer’s ethical obligations for fees paid for legal work to be performed by the lawyer in the future.
Formal Opinion 505 points to the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct — and particularly applications of model rules related to fees and safekeeping of others property — to explain how lawyers should handle advance fees paid by individual clients, usually for a single legal matter that will not recur on a regular basis. These matters could include divorce, defense of criminal charges or civil matters not handled on a contingent fee basis.
The opinion notes that a retainer is often conflated with an advance fee, and it says in a footnote the former should not be construed as a “payment for the performance of services, but rather is compensation for the lawyer’s promise of availability … (and) is not an advance deposit against future legal services.”
“Given the rarity and unusual nature of a general retainer, and the fact that very few clients would actually need or benefit from one, the nature of the fee and lawyer’s obligations and client’s benefits under such an agreement must be explained clearly and in detail,” the opinion said.
Formal Opinion 505 was blunt in defining the problem. “These terms are most often used in an attempt to make an advance fee nonrefundable,” it said, before adding the model rules “do not allow a lawyer to sidestep the ethical obligation to safeguard client funds with an act of legerdemain: characterizing an advance as ‘nonrefundable’ and/or ‘earned upon receipt.’ This approach does not withstand even superficial scrutiny. A lawyer may not charge an unreasonable fee.”
The formal opinion also provides three hypothetical situations, including scenarios involving a divorce case, to examine situations when a lawyer might tell a client that the prepaid fee was nonrefundable. In most cases, the opinion suggests, the lawyer would be acting contrary to the model rules.
“We offer the following suggestions in relation to the matters addressed in this opinion. Use plain language,” it said. “Thus, instead of ‘retainer’ say ‘advance’ and explain that it is a ‘deposit for fees.’ Explain that the sum deposited will be applied to the balance owed for work on the matter, and how and when this will happen.”
The ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility periodically issues ethics opinions to guide lawyers, courts and the public in interpreting and applying ABA model ethics rules to specific issues of legal practice, client-lawyer relationships and judicial behavior. Other recent ABA ethics opinions are available here.
The ABA is the largest voluntary association of lawyers in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.
Employers and Temporary Workers to Benefit from Family Work Permits to Address Labour Shortages
EDMONTON, AB, Dec. 2, 2022 – The pace of Canada’s economic recovery has made it hard for employers, including those in the tourism industry, to find the workers they need.
The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, and the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, announced that Canada is extending work permits to family members of temporary foreign workers. Expanding the eligibility for work permits to family members accompanying the principal applicant to Canada will help address labour shortages by assisting employers in finding the workers they need.
Prior to this announcement, spouses were only eligible for a work permit if the principal applicant was working in a high-skill occupation. This temporary measure aims to improve the emotional well-being, physical health and financial stability of workers by keeping families together. As a result, it is expected that the worker will better integrate into their overall work environment and community.
Starting in January 2023, through a temporary 2-year measure, Canada will expand eligibility to work in Canada to spouses and working-age children through a phased approach for workers at all skill levels. This would include families of workers in health care, trades and hospitality, for example. As a result of this new approach, it is estimated that family members of more than 200,000 foreign workers could begin working in Canada, offering a greater opportunity for both foreign workers seeking to work in Canada and for employers addressing their labour needs.
The temporary measure will be implemented in 3 phases to ensure its successful implementation:
Phase 1 will enable family members of workers coming to Canada through the high-wage stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program or the International Mobility Program to apply for an open work permit.
Phase 2 aims to expand the measure to the family members of workers from the low-wage stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, following consultations.
Phase 3 will include consultation with agricultural partners and stakeholders to assess operational feasibility for expanding the measure to family members of agricultural workers.
Immigration will continue to play a vital role in addressing Canada’s labour shortages, and the Government of Canada will continue to implement policies aimed at helping employers with their staffing needs across all skill levels.
Quotes:
“Everywhere I go, employers across the country continue to identify a lack of workers as their biggest obstacle. Today’s announcement will help employers find the workers they need to fill their labour gaps by expanding work permits to family members at all skill levels, resulting in family members of over 200,000 foreign workers being able to work in Canada. Our government is going to continue helping employers overcome labour shortages, while also supporting the well-being of workers and uniting their families.”
– The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
“Labour is the number 1 challenge facing Canada’s tourism sector as we position ourselves for post-pandemic growth. Today, our government is bringing in innovative, family-based solutions to resolve this issue and help our tourism partners grow to meet the global demand for Canadian experiences from coast to coast to coast.”
– The Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance
Quick facts:
The measure will be phased in, beginning with the high-wage stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and the International Mobility Program.
Canada has issued over 645,000 work permits between January and October 2022—nearly 4 times more than the 163,000 issued over the same period in 2021.
Associated links:
An Immigration Plan to Grow the Economy
Strategy to Expand Transitions to Permanent Residence
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SOURCE Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
CONTACT: Contacts for media only: Bahoz Dara Aziz, Press Secretary, Minister’s Office, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Bahoz.DaraAziz@cic.gc.ca; Media Relations, Communications Branch, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, 613-952-1650, media@cic.gc.ca
Families Of Americans Killed And Injured By Al-Qaeda And Taliban Terrorists, Including 115 Gold Star Families, Sue Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Danske Bank, And Two Money Remitters For Financing The Attacks
WASHINGTON, Feb. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Yesterday, hundreds of Americans amended their Anti-Terrorism Act lawsuit against Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Danske Bank, Wall Street Exchange, and Placid Express, which stand accused of supporting a campaign of terrorism in Afghanistan led by al-Qaeda and carried out by the Taliban.
Plaintiffs’ amended complaint, in Wildman, et al. v. Deutsche Bank AG, et al., Case 1:21-cv-04400 (E.D.N.Y.), followed a multi-year investigation by the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Sparacino PLLC and came less than six weeks after Sparacino PLLC helped secure a comprehensive Anti-Terrorism Act victory in the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit against Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, GE Healthcare, AstraZeneca, and Roche, on behalf of more than 1,200 Americans, in Atchley et al. v. AstraZeneca UK Ltd., et al., Case 1:17-cv-02136 (D.D.C.); Sparacino serves as lead investigative counsel in both cases and followed the same investigative method and complaint-drafting approach in each.
In the Wildman amended complaint, filed yesterday, 487 Americans, including 115 Gold Star families and dozens of severely injured veterans, accuse Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Danske Bank, Placid Express, and Wall Street Exchange of violating the Anti-Terrorism Act by knowingly financing al-Qaeda and its affiliates from 2001 through 2016.
After 9/11, Osama bin Laden organized al-Qaeda’s long-standing affiliates in Afghanistan and Pakistan into an anti-American jihadist alliance that was dedicated to killing Americans in Afghanistan. Through what the U.S. government described as al-Qaeda’s “Syndicate” of terrorism, al-Qaeda planned, authorized, and often jointly committed attacks throughout Afghanistan alongside its allies the Taliban, including the Haqqani Network, Lashkar-E-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and D-Company.
As alleged in the Amended Complaint, Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Danske Bank, Placid Express, and Wall Street Exchange aided these terrorists by knowingly serving them as what people in the financial industry call a “Laundromat”: a bank or money remitter that operates as a criminal enterprise by knowingly profiting from transactions that help terrorists.
As alleged, each defendant pursued longstanding “Laundromat” schemes to maximize profits by knowingly helping al-Qaeda, the Haqqani Network, and their allies raise, manage, secure, transfer, and deploy their illicit money. The allegations in the Complaint show that these schemes violated U.S. law and collectively caused hundreds of millions of U.S. Dollars to flow from American financial institutions to al-Qaeda and its allies from 2001 through 2016.
The plaintiffs are Americans who were severely physically injured, or whose loved ones were killed or severely physically injured, in Afghanistan by terrorist attacks from 2011 through 2016 that were planned, authorized, and often jointly committed, by al-Qaeda in alliance with its long-standing affiliates in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the Taliban and its Haqqani Network.
As it did in the Atchley case, Sparacino PLLC’s attorneys and investigators exhaustively reviewed the facts prior to filing the complaint, continued investigating thereafter, and obtained nonpublic data that confirmed the core allegation—a full copy of a confidential “final” investigative summary memorandum prepared by an elite western law enforcement agency that memorialized, among other things, how one or more member of a key fundraising cell at issue “generally confessed” to the scheme and “cooperat[ed] with the investigation.”
“As alleged, Deutsche Bank knowingly aided violent terrorist sociopaths known to target Americans,” said Mr. Sparacino, “and, until 2017, Deutsche Bank made a choice to institutionally profit by aiding terroristic violence and did not care if its customers were known to rape girls for sport (as Jeffrey Epstein did while Deutsche served him), coerce enslaved boys to fight and kill Christians and Jews (as Iran did while Deutsche served its terror fronts), or kill and maim thousands of American, British, and German servicemembers and civilians (as al-Qaeda did while Deutsche laundered its money), as long as Deutsche’s profits kept pouring in.”
“For decades, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered Bank have acted as if they were above the law. In the United States, however, no one is above the law, and Plaintiffs will do everything they can to hold Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered Bank accountable,” said Mr. Sparacino.
“But this case is about much more than Deutsche and Standard Chartered. Given the unprecedented nature, and breadth, of the terrorist finance schemes alleged in Wildman, this case is the most important Anti-Terrorism Act lawsuit ever filed against any bank, and the world can assume that Plaintiffs will be served by an expanded legal team that is led by an elite American law firm widely known as one of the preeminent trial powerhouses in the United States befitting the stakes of this case for the Americans in it who lost so much,” said Mr. Sparacino.
Plaintiffs’ case is captioned Wildman, et al. v. Deutsche Bank AG, et al., Case 1:21-cv-04400 (E.D.N.Y. Compl. Filed Aug. 5, 2021). The full Amended Complaint is available https://afghanistan.terrorismcase.com/afghanistan-documents/wildman-amended-complaint/.
Media Contact: TerrorismCaseMedia@sparacinopllc.com
SOURCE Sparacino PLLC
THE AFRICAN PROBLEM IS A LEADERSHIP CRISIS By Kenneth Walley
If you give three people a knife each, one may choose to use it as a meat carver, another may choose to use it as a wood worker while the third may use it to murder others. Certainly, the fault is not with either the knife or the one who gave off those knives rather, it’s what each recipient chose to do with it. Many contend that after independence, African nations abandoned their rich culture of fashion, language as well as made the wrong choice of religion instead of technology to run on as it’s fuel and hence the deplorable condition of the continent.
Peripheral Issues
The famous civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jnr., once said: “I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” With this generally accepted statement we can filter some of the assertions people sometimes contend are the African problem such as whether we should abandon the fashion, language, and religion of the ‘white man’.
Prior to the covid pandemic, many citizens of France advocated the banning of the hijab which is the head and face coverings of mostly Muslim women. I understand that for some, it was a security concern which has its merits but then for those who simply felt offended by the hijab, time has proved them wrong. The wearing of the hijab like most cultural practices, have stories behind them. Owing to the pandemic, the wearing of masks has become mandatory in several places and is being integrated into fashion on a global scale. Simply put, mask wearing has come to stay as a new addition to fashion culture.
Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, and other African politicians have forever proudly worn colorful native regalia for their official duties both locally and in international meetings without offense. Whether we wear agbada, aso oke, bubu or kente for the purpose of work and business has not prevented the massive corruption that has rigged the socioeconomic landscape of the continent. Such issues are simply ‘color of skin’ issues that in no way define the content of human character. I wouldn’t be surprised if in a few years the so called ‘white people’ and others start wearing perhaps agbada, aso oke, bubu or kente for official business across the globe.
A Togolese or Beninois would naturally choose France for further education, while a Nigerian, Ghanaian or Zimbabwean would choose England. When you travel to other countries where you can read basic signs and communicate freely without the need for an interpreter, the experience is so refreshing, and it tells why those who were colonized and taught the language of their colonial masters naturally emigrate to these countries. In the same way, using the English language or French or Arabic as official language does not in any way define who we are. It is simply a question of lingua-franca convenience.
To understand the African problem as whole, we must do some historical analysis of England, the United States, India and South Korea which have often been cited in case studies as modern models of successful advancement. Approximately 300 years ago, England was at a place like some African nations today in terms of governance and economic conditions. The political system of government was a monarchy that was oppressive and triggered corrupt practices of the elite. The industrial revolution was on at the time and scientists as well as industrialists were working hard to foster economic growth in society. Amidst all these developments, the repression in English society and Europe was so bad it triggered the quest of some to look elsewhere for survival. The result was the discovery of North America. The founding fathers of the United States resolved to establish a system of government that did not resemble the English or European monarchies in any way hence, the democratic system that is practiced in the United States today.
The underlying corruption in England was not overcome until spiritual awakenings broke out with notable revivalists such as Charles Spurgeon, William Booth of Salvation Army, John, and Charles Wesley who founded the Methodist Church, Evan Roberts, Smith Wigglesworth amongst others. These revivalists appealed to the conscience of the nation and fostered the moral compass by which the English reinvented themselves. Martin Luther and John Calvin were the spiritual reformists whose writings amongst others are credited to the moral compass by which the Europeans exited the vices dark ages to some extent.
Though the founding fathers of the United States adopted many scriptural principles in crafting the constitution of the new nation, the same corruption that plagued England and Europe began to surface with industrial development. Here again, it took Spiritual Revivalists such as Maria Woodworth Ether, D.L. Moody, John G. Lake, Alexander Dowie, Oral Roberts, Gordon Lindsay, Billy Graham amongst others to restore the moral compass that has sustained the American experiment.
India, and most nations of Africa were colonized by the British and Europeans in the race to expand their domains. South Korea was a colony of Japan. Eventually these colonies won their independence and so have governed themselves for decades.
India’s independence and development is largely credited to Mahatma Ghandhi. Let’s take a closer look at this man. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India’s independence from British rule, and to later inspire movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Born and raised in a Hindu family in coastal Gujarat, Gandhi trained in the law at the Inner Temple, London, and was called to the bar at age 22 in June 1891. After two uncertain years in India, where he was unable to start a successful law practice, he moved to South Africa in 1893 to represent an Indian merchant in a lawsuit. He went on to live in South Africa for 21 years. It was here that Gandhi raised a family and first employed nonviolent resistance in a campaign for civil rights. In 1915, aged 45, he returned to India and soon set about organizing peasants, farmers, and urban labourers to protest against excessive land-tax and discrimination.
Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women’s rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, and, above all, achieving swaraj or self-rule. Gandhi adopted the short dhoti woven with hand-spun yarn as a mark of identification with India’s rural poor. He began to live in a self-sufficient residential community, to eat simple food, and undertake long fasts as a means of both introspection and political protest. Bringing anti-colonial nationalism to the common Indians, Gandhi led them in challenging the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (250 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930 and in calling for the British to quit India in 1942. He was imprisoned many times and for many years in both South Africa and India.
Gandhi’s vision of an independent India based on religious pluralism was challenged in the early 1940s by a Muslim nationalism which demanded a separate homeland for Muslims within British India. In August 1947, Britain granted independence, but the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two dominions, a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan. As many displaced Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs made their way to their new lands, religious violence broke out, especially in the Punjab and Bengal. Abstaining from the official celebration of independence, Gandhi visited the affected areas, attempting to alleviate distress. In the months following, he undertook several hunger strikes to stop the religious violence. The last of these, begun in Delhi on 12 January 1948 when he was 78, also had the indirect goal of pressuring India to pay out some cash assets owed to Pakistan. Although the Government of India relented, as did the religious rioters, the belief that Gandhi had been too resolute in his defence of both Pakistan and Indian Muslims, especially those besieged in Delhi, spread among some Hindus in India. Among these was Nathuram Godse, a militant Hindu nationalist from western India, who assassinated Gandhi by firing three bullets into the chest at an inter-faith prayer meeting in Delhi on 30 January 1948. (Biography of Mahatma Gandhi is courtesy of Wikipedia)
A brief excerpt of how South Korea overcame Japanese imperialism from Wikipedia states that… “Of the several dailies and magazines founded shortly after the March First Movement, the newspapers Dong-A Ilbo (“East Asia Daily”) and Chosun Ilbo (“Korea Daily”) spoke the loudest for the Korean people and inspired them with the ideals of patriotism and democracy. In the academic community, scholars conducted studies on Korean culture and tradition. Novels and poems in colloquial Korean enjoyed new popularity. David Yongi Cho founded the world’s largest single Church in South Korea, impacted the moral compass of the young nation that today boasts Samsung, LG, Hyundai, Kia and so many global technology brands.
Three significant figures involved in the fight for the independence of African nations such as Nigeria were Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo and Tafawa Balewa. In Ghana it was notably Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Kenneth Kaunda for Zambia, Robert Mugabe for Zimbabwe, Jomo Kenyatta for Kenya, Kamuzu Banda for Malawi, and the list goes on. The various roles they played together with others in fostering the independence and establishment of their young nations are no secret. However, the inward fighting, tribalism and overwhelming corruption that has marked the leadership of African nations are all too obvious. In the seventies and early eighties some of us were witnesses to the rise of great industrialists in South Africa and Nigeria. Many local entrepreneurs established enterprises with potentials that could have eventually matched the achievements of the Samsung’s, Apple and Microsoft’s of today. The question is ‘what happened?’ Did the Churches or Spiritual leaders kill the industrial potential of Africa? The answer is obvious. Spiritual leaders arise to the forefront of national consciousness when there are obvious repressions, depravities, and deprivation that plague society. We must not make the mistake of apportioning blame wrongly or else we shall be ignoring the real issues and end up in another kind of crisis.
The Leadership Issue
When as a young man I bought peeled orange from a hawker in Lagos or Accra or Lusaka or Blantyre or Harare or Gaborone or Lomé or Cotonou or Abidjan and after sucking the juice, I threw the remains on the streets, I demonstrated the lack of leadership. By using the word leadership, I am not relegating it to only Political leadership but to all aspects of human existence such as Family, Community, Business, Educational, Spiritual/Religious etc. Leadership entails having a vision which is a mental picture of some possibilities. We then follow-up this mental projection with diligent steps until it materializes.
The great musician Steve Wonder was once asked how he was able to achieve so much in life and he answered “vision”. The interviewer was amused and retorted “but you don’t have sight?” Steve Wonder laughed and replied that you don’t need eyes to have a vision. I earlier on made mention of South Korea and how their intellectuals rose to the occasion of their challenges and newspapers published articles that revived their national consciousness and values by which they overcame Japanese imperialism and rose to global prominence. I also gave an extensive bio of Mahatma Gandhi the renowned Indian leader who by a ‘selfless vision’ steered India in the right direction after Independence.
This is not to suggest in any way that there have been no African leaders who have demonstrated ‘selfless vision’ and made an impact. I remember former Governor Lateef Jakonde of Lagos State and his vision of free and accessible education for all. Upon assuming office, he harnessed available land in existing schools and expanded classrooms. He built new schools and successfully reduced the school dropout rate in the state. When I was young, I remember an FM Radio Station in Lagos that often played public service jingles intermittently during their broadcasts. The voice of ‘Okoro’, famed character of the ‘Village Headmaster’ drama series would come through…. “Buy made in Nigeria ooooo” as well as many other appeals to the national consciousness.
No singular kind of leadership can fix the sophisticated challenges that plague the African society. It must be a combined effort of leadership at various fronts. Leadership and selfless vision must be taught in our schools, echoed on mass media, and rewarded publicly. Africa needs leaders who would be first to take responsibility for the dysfunctional society we find ourselves in. Family heads must have a selfless vision for their families… Educators must have a selfless vision for their students… Entrepreneurs must have a selfless vision for their customers…. Journalists must have a selfless vision for their audience… Spiritual Leaders must have a selfless vision for their congregations… Politicians must have a selfless vision for their constituents…
Notice that in the previous paragraph I have consistently qualified the need for vision with the word ‘selfless’. I want to focus on its essence. Let us assume that I am at a self-serve party buffet, and due to ‘long-throat’ I serve myself with so much meat, leaving almost nothing for the next person in line. Though such courtesy is usually an unstated premise, it is disorderly to be inconsiderate of others who are at the party. Selfless means to be orderly.
When South Korea became an independent nation, it was reeling from imperialism and a civil war that had shattered the nation very badly. In the same way the British at independence handed over the economy of most African nations with so much capital, the United States granted South Korea millions to spur development of their economy. The South Korean government in turn identified local entrepreneurs with the potential to grow the economy and gave them grants to pursue their enterprise visions. These grants are core to the success story of South Korean entrepreneurs with global brands like Samsung, LG, KIA, Hyundai etc.
If you look closely at how several politicians including the likes of Umaru Dikko plundered the Nigeria government coffers of about $2.5 billion US dollars only to stash it away in overseas bank accounts. Many African politicians such as Mobutu Sese Seko are also guilty of the same practice. It is obvious they all had a vision that was hardly selfless. It was a vision of just acquiring money! Sadly, many Entrepreneurs, Educators, Spiritual and Community Leaders in Africa as a whole share the same vision! It has become a glorified culture such that possession of much money is equated to being prosperous. Hence most people in African society are simply out to get money whether by fair or foul means.
There is a certain order that pervades some of our cultures in Africa but then hardly qualifies to be selfless. Such cultures have been perverted and ultimately self-serving to those in powerful positions of authority. I am not referring to the noble culture of respect for elders which is fundamental to any form of order, rather the over-extensions by which leaders exploit the vulnerable. Vices such as favoritism and injustice meted to those who don’t have lots of cash to flounder around.
A selfless vision is one that becomes a platform for the benefit of everyone. The family head is not trying to exploit family members… the Chief and Judge are not offering justice to the highest bidder …. The Entrepreneur is not out to trick customers …. The Politician is not scheming a way to defraud the people…
I am beginning to sound like an ‘idealist’ or perhaps a ‘preacher’. Well, the reality is, that is how selfless vision is articulated. Someone must sell it to the masses or preach it to the audience. Audacious leaders must arise with that optimism and like Mahatma Gandhi, demonstrate it by a lifestyle of penance. Every nation on the continent of Africa needs such selfless leaders to set the tone for a new kind of order where we frown on selfishness and rather celebrate people for how they diligently impact their communities through selfless works.
What we chose to use ‘the knife’ the ‘white man’ left us with has always been our prerogative. Change starts with me as the legitimate steward of my nuclear family. I must have a selfless vision for all those who look up to me in my community and work. Envisage a selfless possibility of your stewardship, project it and follow it. This is only the first step forward for Africa.
Kenneth R. Walley is a Business Analyst and Gospel Minister…
