Month: June 2022

Posted on

Security News: Owner of Tech Services Company Sentenced to More than Three Years in Prison for $13 Million COVID-Relief Fraud Scheme

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Defendant convicted in federal government’s first-ever pandemic fraud trial in the District of Massachusetts

BOSTON – A Winchester man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston in connection with filing fraudulent loan applications seeking more than $13 million in forgivable loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) for COVID-19 relief through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. 

Elijah Majak Buoi, 40, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to 39 months incarceration and three years of supervised release. Buoi was also ordered to pay restitution of $2 million and forfeiture of $2 million. On Feb. 24, 2022, Buoi was convicted by a federal jury of four counts of wire fraud and one count of making a false statement to a financial institution.

Beginning in or around April 2020, and continuing until at least in or around June 2020, Buoi devised a scheme to obtain PPP funds by repeatedly filing false and fraudulent loan applications in which he systematically used false tax documents and payroll processing records until he was ultimately awarded a loan.

Buoi submitted six fraudulent PPP loan applications on behalf of his company Sosuda Tech, LLC (Sosuda) to four different SBA-approved lenders. In each loan application, Buoi misrepresented the number of employees and payroll expenses. Buoi also submitted fraudulent IRS tax forms in support of his applications. The evidence at trial showed that Sosuda was a startup company with no U.S.-based payroll and no U.S.-based employees. As a result of his scheme, Buoi obtained a $2 million PPP loan. The government recovered approximately $1.97 million of the loan funds.

The CARES Act is a federal law enacted on March 29, 2020, designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses, through the PPP. In April 2020, Congress authorized over $300 billion in additional PPP funding.

The PPP allows qualifying small-businesses and other organizations to receive loans with a maturity of two years and an interest rate of 1%. PPP loan proceeds must be used by businesses on payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities. The PPP allows the interest and principal on the PPP loan to be forgiven if businesses spend the proceeds on these expenses within a set time period and use at least a certain percentage of the loan towards payroll expenses. 

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Joleen D. Simpson, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; Stephen Donnelly, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge, Eastern Region, Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection; Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite, Special Agent in Charge of the Small Business Association, Office of Inspector General, Eastern Regional Office; and Patricia Tarasca, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General, New York Region, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mackenzie A. Queenin of Rollins’ Securities, Financial, and Cyber Fraud Unit, and Trial Attorney Della Sentilles of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

Posted on

Defense News: Rear Admiral Dave Goggins to support AUKUS Program

Source: United States Navy

“Admiral Goggins selection to lead AUKUS will further our efforts to strengthen our strategic partnerships with Australia and the United Kingdom.  Dave comes to us at a critical time in the consultation period of AUKUS and is the right person to spearhead the analysis of the submarine development production and testing efforts. Under his leadership, I’m confident the AUKUS team will help meet the objective of determining the best path toward equipping the Royals Australian Navy with a nuclear-powered, conventionally-armed class of attack submarines by March 2023.  Rear Adm. Goggins will also be leading the planning and standup of the enduring U.S. Navy efforts to implement whichever approach the Australian’s choose at the end of the consultation period.” said Secretary Del Toro.

Goggins’ prior achievements include serving at the Virginia Class Program Manager where he delivered three new-construction submarines to the Fleet and initiated the design of the Virginia Payload Module and Acoustic Superiority upgrades for the Virginia Class. He also served as the Columbia Class SSBN program manager where he accomplished major design and acquisition milestones. As PEO SSN, Goggins oversaw both the construction and delivery of Virginia Class SSNs and also lifecyle and maintenance of in-service attack submarines. 

“This move strengthens the AUKUS’s submarine’s initiative and demonstrates our commitment to the United States’ allies,” concluded Secretary Del Toro.

Information about the AUKUS partnership can be found here.

Posted on

Defense News: U.S. 2nd Fleet, U.S. Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy hold Frontier Sentinel Table Top Exercise

Source: United States Navy

Frontier Sentinel is an annual exercise between the three organizations that is the penultimate activity for ensuring the ability of the tri-party commands and tactical assets to work together. It places particular emphasis on highlighting challenges to interoperability and identifying solutions.

 “We are exercising joint and allied operational capabilities and working together to hone our competitive edge. The commandant has said we will be a more adaptive and connected U.S. Coast Guard that generates sustained readiness, resilience, and capability in new ways. Our work in this exercise is vital to that end,” said Vice Adm. Kevin Lunday, commander of U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area. “The U.S. Coast Guard is fully interoperable with the U.S. Navy and Royal Canadian Navy, and together we are ensuring readiness for strategic competition against malign actors who seek to undermine established international norms.”

During the first two days, the staffs conducted the Frontier Sentinel TTX, designed to test communication and information methods, rules of engagement, and command and control in an operation involving all three operational commands. This year’s exercise was led by the U.S. Coast Guard.

“Alliances and partnerships are a force multiplier. Serving together, studying together, and participating in exercises together only increase our combined operational readiness,” said Rear Adm. Steven Waddell, vice commander of U.S. 2nd Fleet. “Frontier Sentinel is a yearly opportunity to determine best practices to ensure we are ready to operate at the high-end, together, when we are called to do so.”

The final day of the event consisted of a planning conference for Frontier Sentinel 2023, where the senior leaders from all three commands gathered to review the results of the TTX and discuss the way forward in the year to come.

U.S. 2nd Fleet, reestablished in 2018 in response to the changing global security environment, develops and employs maritime forces ready to fight across multiple domains in the Atlantic and Arctic in order to ensure access, deter aggression and defend U.S., allied, and partner interests.

For more information, please visit  www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

Posted on

Security News: Former President of Environmental Services Business Sentenced for Falsifying Document and Illegally Storing Hazardous Waste

Source: United States Department of Justice News

WASHINGTON – Michelle M. Rousseff-Kemp, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Fort Wayne after previously pleading guilty to falsifying a document and illegally storing hazardous waste. U.S. District Court Judge Holly A. Brady sentenced Rousseff-Kemp to 24 months’ of probation and ordered her to pay a $5,500 fine.

According to court documents filed in this case, Rousseff-Kemp was the president and owner of a Fort Wayne, Indiana, business which held itself out as an environmental services company providing comprehensive waste management services. Among other things, the business functioned as a hazardous waste transporter and broker. Neither Rousseff-Kemp nor her company possessed a permit to store hazardous waste.

By law, a properly prepared hazardous waste manifest must accompany hazardous waste from the waste generator to the transporter, and then to the hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal (TSD) facility, where the waste is finally delivered. Ultimately, a copy of the manifest bearing signatures of the transporter and the TSD facility must be sent to the hazardous waste generator.

According to court documents, in June 2018, Rousseff-Kemp’s company picked up hazardous waste from another company that generated the waste. In November 2018, the waste generator emailed Rousseff-Kemp requesting copies of manifests for recent hazardous waste shipments. At some point, Rousseff-Kemp asked an employee of her company to sign the name of a representative of the TSD facility on the manifest for the waste picked up in June. After the employee refused, Rousseff-Kemp forged the signature of the TSD facility representative on the manifest. Rousseff-Kemp then sent a copy of the falsified manifest to the waste generator. The manifest copy contained false information purporting to show that the hazardous waste had been delivered to the TSD facility on July 15, 2018, and signed for by a representative of the TSD facility on that date. In truth, and as known by Rousseff-Kemp, the waste had not been sent to the TSD facility and remained stored by Rousseff-Kemp’s company.

“Honesty and integrity of those involved in storing and transporting hazardous waste are vital to protecting the public’s health and the environment,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “We will prosecute those who falsify records and illegally store hazardous waste.”

“Protecting public health and safety by enforcing federal criminal laws governing the proper storage of hazardous waste is paramount,” said United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.  “My Office has strong law enforcement partnerships through which we will investigate and prosecute those who jeopardize public health by criminal violations of these laws.” 

“The defendant falsified documents and knowingly violated legal requirements for the proper storage of hazardous waste,” said Larry Starfield, Acting Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.  “This case demonstrates that individuals who knowingly violate environmental laws will be held responsible for their crimes.”

“This sentencing underscores our commitment to protecting the safety and integrity of the Nation’s transportation systems” said Special Agent in Charge Andrea Kropf of the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General Midwestern Region. “Working with our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners, we will continue to pursue those who disregard the laws and regulations designed to keep the public safe from hazardous materials.”

Additionally, according to court documents, Rousseff-Kemp arranged for another transportation company to pick up hazardous waste from a waste generator in March 2019. Thereafter, the hazardous waste was stored, at Rousseff-Kemp’s direction, at her company’s facility and elsewhere until June 2019. During this time, in May of 2019, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management made arrangements with Rousseff-Kemp to conduct an inspection at her company’s facility. Prior to the scheduled inspection, Rousseff-Kemp directed an individual to transport three trailers containing drums of waste that were being stored at Rousseff-Kemp’s company’s facility to an off-site location. Among the drums of waste in the trailers were the drums of hazardous waste picked up in March. Two days later, during the IDEM inspection, Rousseff-Kemp told inspectors that the only trailers that were previously on-site that week, but were not present during the inspection, were empty.

The case was initiated through the Environmental Crimes Task Force of the Northern District of Indiana and jointly investigated by the EPA Criminal Investigation Division, the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Office of Criminal Investigations. The case was prosecuted by Stephen J. Foster and Kris Dighe of the Environmental Crimes Section of the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Nokes, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Mucha.

Posted on

Security News: U.S. Attorney Parker affirms commitment to uphold civil rights of Ohioans in Southern District

Source: United States Department of Justice News

CINCINNATI – United States Attorney Kenneth L. Parker announced today the creation of a civil rights referral initiative for the Southern District of Ohio.

Members of the public may now report potential civil rights violations directly to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. A referral form is now available at the office’s main website at https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdoh.

“My office – in coordination with the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice – is charged with enforcing federal civil rights laws throughout the Southern District of Ohio,” U.S. Attorney Parker said. “We are strongly committed to upholding the civil rights of the residents of our District. We welcome any information from the public that brings to our attention possible violations of our Nation’s civil rights laws.”

Potential civil rights violations may involve topics such as access to reproductive health, disability rights, hate crimes, housing discrimination (including sexual harassment by landlords, property managers or other housing providers), voting rights, law enforcement misconduct, and religious liberties.

“Hate and discrimination have never had a place in our society. They have no place today,” added U.S. Attorney Parker. “People should be able to practice their faith and worship, go grocery shopping, vote, find housing, and celebrate their heritage without any worry of instances of hate or discrimination being committed toward them.”

Mr. Parker noted that the U.S. Attorney’s Office is primarily a litigating office and not an investigative agency. Information provided on the civil rights referrals may be forwarded by the U.S. Attorney’s Office to the appropriate law enforcement or administrative agency.

Assistant United States Attorneys Ebunoluwa Taiwo (Criminal Division) and Michael Downey (Civil Division) will serve as the points of contact for this initiative. Inquiries can be sent to usaohs.civilrights@usdoj.gov.

To view the referral form, visit: https://www.justice.gov/file/1513341/download.

# # #