Security News in Brief: Athens, Georgia Resident Sentenced to Prison in Elder Fraud Investigation

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ATHENS, Ga. – An Athens, Georgia, resident was sentenced to federal prison and ordered to pay restitution and a fine for illegally operating an unlicensed money transmitting business targeting elderly victims. Colin Moore, 24, of Athens, was sentenced to serve 18 months in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, $65,450 in restitution and a $95,000 fine by U.S. District Judge C. Ashley Royal on Thursday, July 15, after Moore previously pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. There is no parole in the federal system.

Security News in Brief: Environmental Safety International Inc. and its Agents to Pay $1.66 Million for Telemarketing Violations

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), today announced that the government will collect $1.66 million in civil penalties as part of a settlement to resolve alleged violations of the FTC Act and the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) by New Jersey-based Environmental Safety International Inc. (ESI), as well as its co-owners, Joseph and Sean Carney, and its telemarketer, Raymond Carney, all of whom reside in New Jersey.

James “Robert” Brown Named Assistant Director of the Operational Technology Division

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

Director Christopher Wray has named James “Robert” Brown as the assistant director of the Operational Technology Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington. Mr. Brown has served as the special agent in charge of the Louisville Field Office in Kentucky since 2018.

The Operational Technology Division provides technology-based solutions to enable and enhance the FBI’s intelligence, national security, and law enforcement operations.

Mr. Brown began his career as a special agent in 2002. In his first assignment, he investigated organized crime in the Miami Field Office, where he also served on the SWAT team and was a firearms instructor. In 2007, Mr. Brown moved to the Washington Field Office, where he served on the Attorney General’s Protective Detail.

Mr. Brown was promoted to supervisory special agent in 2009 and later to chief of the Transfer Unit in the Human Resources Division at Headquarters.

In 2011, Mr. Brown was promoted to lead the Raleigh Resident Agency, a satellite of the Charlotte Field Office in North Carolina. He led complex investigations targeting gangs and public corruption, led the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and supervised terrorism investigations and the weapons of mass destruction program.

Mr. Brown was promoted to assistant special agent in charge of the Columbia Field Office in South Carolina in 2014. He oversaw the FBI’s response and investigation of a mass shooting at the Emanuel AME church in Charleston in 2015.

In 2016, Mr. Brown was promoted to section chief in the Criminal Investigative Division at Headquarters. As section chief, he managed investigations of—and the collection of intelligence about—transnational criminal organizations based in the Western Hemisphere. In 2017, he was named deputy assistant director for the Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate.

Mr. Brown graduated from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina. He also earned a master’s in public administration from Norwich University. Prior to joining the FBI, he was a deputy sheriff for nine years.

Timothy Langan Named Assistant Director of the Counterterrorism Division

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

Director Christopher Wray has named Timothy Langan as the assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Mr. Langan has served as the special agent in charge of the Kansas City Field Office in Missouri since 2019.

Mr. Langan began his career with the FBI in 1998 as a special agent in the Dallas Field Office, where he investigated Mexican drug trafficking organizations and international terrorism. He also served on the SWAT team. He moved to the Washington Field Office in 2003, where he worked protective operations. Mr. Langan was a firearms and tactical instructor in Dallas and Washington.

In 2007, Mr. Langan was promoted to supervisory special agent and assigned to the Safe Streets and Gang Unit at FBI Headquarters. As a program manager, he supported gang investigations throughout the country. In 2009, he was promoted to legal attaché in Sofia, Bulgaria, which also covers Albania and Macedonia.

Mr. Langan returned to the U.S. in 2013 and reported to the Nashville Resident Agency of the Memphis Field Office in Tennessee to lead a squad investigating public corruption, civil rights, and complex financial crimes. He was promoted in 2016 to assistant special agent in charge of the criminal enterprise branch at the Miami Field Office.

Mr. Langan was named section chief in the International Operations Division in 2018, overseeing operational units covering Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. He also served as the division’s acting deputy assistant director.

Prior to joining the FBI, Mr. Langan served in the U.S. Marine Corps and was a police officer and detective in St. Charles, Missouri.

Security News in Brief: Chinese National Sentenced To More Than Three Years In Federal Prison For Attempting To Export Maritime Raiding Craft And Engines To China Illegally

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Harvey Schlesinger today sentenced Ge Songtao (51, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China) to three years and six months years in federal prison for conspiring to submit false export information through the federal government’s Automated Export System and to export maritime raiding craft and engines to China fraudulently, and attempting to export that equipment fraudulently, in violation of U.S. law. In addition, the Court ordered Songtao to forfeit $114,834.27, the amount caused to be wired to a U.S. manufacturer to purchase the raiding craft and engines.