Month: July 2022

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Security News: Woman Pleads Guilty to Multimillion-Dollar COVID-19 Loan Fraud Conspiracy

Source: United States Department of Justice News

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Stockbridge, Georgia, woman pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring with others to submit millions of dollars in fraudulent disaster-related loan applications in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

According to court documents, Nikki Mitchum, 44, participated in a conspiracy to obtain disaster-related loan benefits in the form of Small Business Administration (SBA) sponsored Economic Injury Disaster loans (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. These programs, initiated and expanded under the Cares Act, are designed to provide support for small businesses for expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nikki Mitchum and her co-conspirators, including Malik Mitchum, 26, and Jenna Mitchum, 25, of Hampton, submitted fraudulent claims for government benefits in the name of businesses that they falsely represented were struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Between March 2020 and May 2021, 12 fraudulent applications for pandemic-related loan benefits were submitted using Nikki Mitchum’s information that contained false statements and misrepresentations about their income, employment, and claimed business entities. Nikki Mitchum is further linked to four other fraudulent loan applications by the IP address used to submit the applications. Finally, Nikki Mitchum is connected with 17 fraudulent loan applications submitted by other co-conspirators who paid kickbacks in an approximate amount of $204,000 to the companies owned and operated by Nikki Mitchum.

Malik and Jenna Mitchum previously pleaded guilty and were linked to more than $5.1 million in intended loss and caused more than $1.4 million in actual loss to the United States and participating financial institutions. Nikki Mitchum has agreed to pay more than $1.3 million in restitution to the United States for actual losses from her role in the conspiracy and is linked with intended fraud loss of more than $4 million.

Nikki Mitchum pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 7. She faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. Malik and Jenna Mitchum pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution. They both face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. Malik and Jenna Mitchum are scheduled to be sentenced on July 29. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Brian Dugan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement after U.S. Magistrate Judge Lawrence R. Leonard accepted the plea.

Assistant U.S. Attorney D. Mack Coleman is prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:21-cr-85 and 4:22-cr-47.

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Security News: Assumption Parish Man Sentenced for Theft of More Than $213,000 From New Orleans Company

Source: United States Department of Justice News

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that   RODNEY ROUSSELL (“ROUSSELL”), age 40, of Belle Rose, Louisiana, was sentenced on July 12, 2022 for Bank Fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344(2).

The case against ROUSSELL began as a result of a complaint from a New Orleans company (“Company A”) to the FBI. According to documents filed in federal court, in August, 2017, ROUSSELL began working for Company A through a work re-entry program for persons with criminal records. Company A’s operational headquarters was in New Orleans, Louisiana, and they maintained a business account with JPMorgan Chase Bank (“Chase Bank”).

As Company A’s employee, ROUSSELL did not have access to Company A’s Chase Bank account, and was not authorized to make payments of any kind using funds in the account. Beginning in or about April 2018, and continuing until in or about June 2018, ROUSSELL utilized Chase Bank’s web portal and mobile banking app to transfer money from Company A’s account to accounts held by ROUSSELL, including MC & Associates Management, Inc.  In total, ROUSSELL  illegally obtained $213,372.05 from Company A’s Chase Bank account.

U.S. District Judge Greg G. Guidry sentenced ROUSSELL to seventy (70) months imprisonment, followed by five (5) years of supervised release, a $100.00 mandatory special assessment fee, and ordered ROUSSELL to pay restitution in the amount of $213,372.05 to Company A.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office would also like to acknowledge the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation with this matter. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba, Chief of the Financial Crimes Unit.

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Security News: Baton Rouge Man Sentenced to 41 Months Imprisonment for Embezzling Funds from the New Orleans Firefighters Pension and Relief Fund

Source: United States Department of Justice News

NEW ORLEANS, LA –  On July 12, 2022, United States District Court Judge Greg Guidry sentenced WAYNE TRICHE, 72, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to forty-one (41) months imprisonment, announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.  Triche pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343 and Title 26, United States Code, Section 7206(1), respectively.  Triche was ordered to pay $937,658.77 restitution to the New Orleans Firefighters Pension and Relief Fund, $329,895.00 to the Internal Revenue Service, and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.  Upon release from imprisonment, he will serve a one  (1) year term of supervised release.

According to Court documents, TRICHE was responsible for managing a portion of the New Orleans Firefighters Pension and Relief Fund’s (“NOFPRF”) investments.  Rather than return the profits earned to the NOPRF, TRICHE embezzled approximately $937,658.77 and used those funds for personal expenses such as a civil court judgment, credit card charges, and gambling.  The tax fraud charges stem from TRICHE’s failure to claim the embezzled funds on his personal income tax returns, resulting in tax due and owing to the Internal Revenue Service in the amount of $329,895.00.

“Today’s sentencing demonstrates that individuals like Mr. Wayne Triche who commit financial crimes to enrich themselves will be held accountable,” said FBI New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Douglas A. Williams, Jr. “We thank our partners at the United States Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Louisiana and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation for helping disrupt fraud and bringing justice to the victims.”

“Today’s sentencing exemplifies the patience and long arm of the law in its pursuit of financial fraud and criminal tax violations,” said James E. Dorsey, Special Agent in Charge of IRS-CI’s Atlanta Field Office.  “Mr. Wayne Triche perpetuated an elaborate scheme driven by his insatiable greed and a blatant disregard for the tremendous damage inflicted on the New Orleans Firefighters Pension and Relief Fund  and its members.  Be assured that IRS Criminal Investigation, together with our federal partners, will hold those who engage in similar behavior fully accountable.”

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tracey N. Knight.

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Defense News: SIRI-2 to Qualify Technologies for Radiation Detection in Space

Source: United States Navy

U.S. Naval Research Laboratory scientists launched the second Strontium Iodide Radiation Instrument (SIRI-2) instrument in December 2021 onboard Space Test Program (STP) Sat-6. SIRI-2, a gamma-ray spectrometer, will demonstrate the performance of europium-doped strontium iodide gamma ray detection technology with sufficient active area for Department of Defense (DoD) operational needs.
 
The first SIRI mission was launched Dec. 3, 2018 onboard STP Sat-5 with a one-year mission to investigate the detector’s response to on-orbit background radiation in low Earth orbit (LEO). The much larger, SIRI-2 instrument is operating in a geosynchronous orbit where the radiation background is significantly different in composition.
 
“The technology being demonstrated in SIRI-2 will need to detect small radiation signatures or signals in the highly variable background radiation fields found in space,” Lee Mitchell, Ph.D., an NRL Research Physicist said. “The instrument will also study transient phenomena, such as solar flares during the one-year mission.”
 
The SIRI line of instruments is designed to space-qualify new gamma-ray scintillator materials and readout electronics.
 
A scintillator is a material that exhibits the property of luminescence when excited by ionizing radiation and is commonly used for radiation detection. Luminescent materials, when struck by incoming particles, absorb its energy and re-emit the absorbed energy in the form of visible light.
 
The instrument will also test new Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) technology which converts the scintillation light to electronic signals and is expected to replace conventional photomultiplier tubes. These materials and electronics, to varying degrees, react differently to the intense on-orbit background radiation.
 
“We hope to show this technology can be used in space, since it can be difficult for some technologies developed for terrestrial applications to operate in the harsh space environment,” Mitchell said.
 
The DoD has been utilizing scintillation detectors in space since the 1960’s Vela high-altitude nuclear detection program. Scintillator technology is widely used throughout the scientific community in areas such as astrophysics and solar and earth science.
“While we reduced the cost, weight and power for comparable sized instruments,” Mitchell said. “These improvements led to greater sensitivity and in turn improve source detection and identification.”
 
SIRI-2 completed on-orbit checkout on Jan. 10. Mitchell said, “So far, the instrument is performing well.”
 
One thing that has Mitchell and his team excited is seeing the pickup of solar activity. The solar cycle is an 11-year change in the Sun’s activity measured in terms of variations in the number of observed sunspots on the solar surface, and the mission is well aligned with the peak of Solar Cycle 25.
 
“While the peak of the solar cycle is expected to occur in 2025, it appears the Sun is showing significant activity earlier than expected,” Mitchell said. “Solar flare activity is most active at the peak of the solar cycle, so we hope to not only space-qualify new technology for the DoD but also make significant contributions to solar physics by studying gamma-rays emitted during solar flares.”
 
A follow on to SIRI-2, SIRI-3 will take knowledge gained from the previous missions to develop a large prototype instrument that is expected to launch in late 2025.

 
About the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory

NRL is a scientific and engineering command dedicated to research that drives innovative advances for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps from the seafloor to space and in the information domain. NRL is located in Washington, D.C. with major field sites in Stennis Space Center, Mississippi; Key West, Florida; Monterey, California, and employs approximately 3,000 civilian scientists, engineers and support personnel.
 
For more information, contact NRL Corporate Communications at (202) 480-3746 or nrlpao@nrl.navy.mil.
 

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Defense News: Exercise Bell Buoy wraps up in Hawaii during RIMPAC 2022

Source: United States Navy

The purpose of Bell Buoy is to develop respective Naval Cooperation and Guidance for Shipping (NCAGS) and maritime trade operations capabilities and foster the interchangeablility of PACIOSWG member nations in the protection of seaborne trade.

Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet and U.S. Fleet Forces Command hosted the 11 member nations and more than 44 participants.

The command and control of the multi-national Shipping Coordination Center in Hawaii, and multi-location shipping control teams, spanned the globe from the United Kingdom to Brazil, with New Zealand and Singapore as outstations. Using established doctrine and published procedures, the exercise refreshed the practice of NCAGS skills in order to realize trade protection outcomes. The major themes for training involved harassment of shipping issues and piracy, and included a vessel visit and briefing on NCAGS at Honolulu Harbor.

Twenty-six nations, 38 ships, four submarines, more than 170 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 29 to Aug. 4 in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. The world’s largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity while fostering and sustaining cooperative relationships among participants critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world’s oceans. RIMPAC 2022 is the 28th exercise in the series that began in 1971.