Month: October 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

LAREDO, Texas – A local man and Mexican national have been ordered to federal prison following their roles in a conspiracy to distribute 42.5 kilograms of cocaine, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.

Frederico Hernandez, 29, Tamaulipas, Mexico, and Miguel Angel Cruz-Recio, 44, Laredo, pleaded guilty Oct. 2, 2019.

Today, U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo handed Cruz-Recio a sentence of 120 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. Hernandez was previously sentenced to 40 months. Not a U.S. citizen, he is expected to face removal proceedings following his incarceration. At the hearings, the court heard evidence including the high amount of drugs found. While imposing the sentences, Judge Marmolejo noted the seriousness of the crime.

At the time of their pleas, both men admitted that on June 7, 2019, they conducted a drug transaction involving 5.5 kilograms of cocaine at a Home Depot parking lot located in Laredo.

Hernandez had left the scene but authorities attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the vehicle Cruz-Recio was driving. That ultimately led to a brief police chase that ended as he crashed his vehicle into a telephone pole. He attempted to flee on foot, but was soon apprehended.

Authorities later discovered an additional 37 kilograms of cocaine and a handgun at Cruz-Recio’s residence. Law enforcement apprehended Hernandez as he attempted to apply for entry into Laredo from Mexico at the Gateway to the Americas Bridge.

Hernandez and Cruz-Recio have been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Laredo Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Harrison is prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ANCHORAGE – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska has unsealed a 13-count indictment charging Zobaidul Amin, 24, for his role in operating a child exploitation enterprise following his arrest in Kuala Lumpur by Malaysian authorities.

Amin, a Bangladeshi national, is charged in the District of Alaska with offenses related to his alleged abuse and exploitation of hundreds of minor victims in the District of Alaska and elsewhere in the United States and abroad in one of the most malicious, digitally facilitated sextortion and child pornography production schemes investigated to date by the FBI.

According to federal court documents, Amin used the Snapchat application to identify and coerce child victims to produce images and videos of sexually explicit and sadistic conduct. 

Following coordination with FBI Anchorage, Amin was taken into custody in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by Unit D11 of the Royal Malaysia Police on September 19, 2022, and subsequently charged by Prosecutors with the Malaysia Attorney General’s Chambers on 12 counts related to the possession and production of child pornography.

“There are few crimes as damaging and traumatic to a young person as sextortion,” said U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska. “It is especially evil to target impressionable children using social media apps such as Snapchat to exploit their innocence for pictures and videos. These children have been robbed of their childhood; and their lives and the lives of their families forever altered. This case highlights the immense collaboration and dedication of law enforcement partners across the country who are working tirelessly to identify the victims.”

“Seen as one of the most prolific and malicious sextortion schemes investigated by the FBI to date, this child exploitation enterprise targeted hundreds of minors in the United States and abroad through popular social media platforms,” said Special Agent in Charge Antony Jung of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. “Children would then be coerced into producing sexually explicit material and terrorized with threats of exposure if they did not continue. The protection of our children extends beyond borders, and this case demonstrates the multi-jurisdictional approach among local, state, federal, and international law enforcement partners to maximize our efforts in the pursuit of justice.”

If the public has any further information regarding Amin’s activities, please contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324).

U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker of the District of Alaska and Special Agent in Charge Antony Jung of the FBI’s Anchorage Field Office made today’s announcement.  The District of Alaska would like to thank the prosecutors of the Malaysian Attorney General’s Chambers and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs for their efforts to apprehend Amin.

The FBI Anchorage Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force is investigating the case. Also supporting the investigation are the following agencies:

Royal Malaysia Police; Alaska State Troopers; Anchorage Police Department; Laramie Police Department (Wyoming); Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation; Wyoming Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force; Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office (Oregon)[; Mercer County Sheriff’s Office (West Virginia); Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office (West Virginia); Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office (West Virginia); Guernsey County Sheriff’s Department (Oregon); Clay County Sheriff’s Office (Florida); Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office (Oregon); HSI Wenatchee, WA/Bend, OR; and the FBI Field Offices in Portland, Minneapolis, Seattle, Salt Lake, Denver, Jacksonville, Cincinnati, Detroit, Atlanta, Sacramento, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Newark, and Oklahoma City.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam Alexander and Jennifer Ivers are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, Project Safe Childhood combines federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Resources:

Parents and Guardians are encouraged to talk their children about cyber predators and what to do if someone asks them for personal information or photos. Here are a few available resources to understand sextortion and aid in the conversation:

To learn more about sextortion including what kids and teens need to know as well as what caregivers need to know: https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/sextortion

Sextortion: What Parents Should Know https://www.missingkids.org/blog/2021/sextortion-what-parents-should-know

Sextortion: The Hidden Pandemic https://www.missingkids.org/blog/2022/sextortion-the-hidden-pandemic

National Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign Kids Presentation: https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/Kids%20Cybersecurity%20Presentation.pdf

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – An Aldie man pleaded guilty today to a criminal information charging him with one count of wire fraud.

According to court documents, Kevin Lee, 38, was the controller for a McLean company. By virtue of his position, he had access to all the company’s finances, recordkeeping, and operational accounts. Between October 2018 and August 2021, Lee used his unique access to embezzle more than $7,000,000 through multiple transfers into his personal bank accounts. He disguised these transactions as payments to vendors and by falsifying information in the company’s recordkeeping software. Lee also re-directed money from an existing line of credit in the company’s name to cover revenue shortfalls created by his crime.

Lee is scheduled to be sentenced on January 12, 2023. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. 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 Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Washington Criminal Division, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff accepted the plea.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Peters, with assistance from former Assistant U.S. Attorney Monika Moore, 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. 1:22-cr-135.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that defendant EDWARD SHIN, a/k/a “Eungsoo Shin,” was sentenced to 14 months in prison for his role in defrauding a Pennsylvania-based bank (the “Bank”) while serving as its CEO.  SHIN was convicted after a three-week trial before U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan on all counts, which charged SHIN with taking bribes in connection with the Bank’s issuance of loans that were guaranteed by the United States Small Business Administration (“SBA”) and with causing the Bank to issue SBA-guaranteed and commercial loans to companies in which SHIN had a secret financial interest.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As CEO, Edward Shin was entrusted with stewardship of a Pennyslvania-based bank.  Instead of promoting and protecting the bank’s interests, Shin used the bank as his own piggy bank, stealing from it to line his pockets and the pockets of his corrupt friends.  For violating the trust placed in him, Shin will rightly serve prison time.”

According to the allegations contained in the Criminal Complaint, Indictment, and evidence adduced during trial:

The SBA helps Americans start, build, and grow businesses by guaranteeing certain loans made by banks to help those businesses succeed.  Between 2009 and 2013, the Bank offered a range of financial products, including SBA-guaranteed loans to small businesses in the New York-New Jersey area, which the Bank could extend only on the condition that all aspects of those loans complied with SBA regulations and SBA’s standard operating procedures.  In particular, SBA regulations and procedures prohibited bank officers, including SHIN, from receiving any payments in connection with SBA-backed loans and prohibited banks from extending such loans to any institution in which a bank officer held an interest.

Notwithstanding these regulations, SHIN, then the CEO of the Bank, secretly solicited and received bribe payments in connection with SBA-guaranteed loans issued by the Bank and caused the Bank to extend SBA-guaranteed and commercial loans to companies in which SHIN had secret ownership interests.  Specifically, when the Bank issued business loans that did not involve the use of any actual broker, SHIN nonetheless arranged to have his longtime friend, a real estate and loan broker (the “Broker”), inserted unnecessarily into the transaction solely to generate a broker fee that could be shared with SHIN; in fact, the Broker did no actual work to earn a commission on those transactions but split the “broker’s fee” with SHIN as an illegal kickback.

SHIN also arranged for the Bank to issue SBA-guaranteed loans to several businesses in which he secretly retained an ownership interest, in violation of SBA regulations and procedures.  For example, in or about June 2010, the Bank issued an SBA-guaranteed loan for approximately $950,000 to a business in New York, New York.  Although documents submitted to the Bank for purposes of securing the loan did not mention SHIN’s financial interest, the business was secretly operated as a partnership between SHIN, the Broker, and another individual.  The loan ultimately went into default status, resulting in a loss to the Bank of approximately $591,278.60.  On another occasion, in or about 2013, the Bank issued an SBA-guaranteed loan for approximately $1,050,000 to a business in New York, New York.  Again, even though the business was secretly operated as a partnership between SHIN and another family member of SHIN’s, the documents submitted to the Bank for purposes of securing the loan did not mention SHIN’s financial interest nor the family member’s relationship to SHIN.

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SHIN, 59, of Ambler, Pennsylvania, was convicted at trial of one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud affecting a financial institution, one count of conspiracy to commit bank bribery, one count of conspiracy to commit loan fraud, another count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and one count each of bank bribery and embezzlement of funds by a bank officer.  In addition to the prison terms, Judge Cronan sentenced SHIN to three years of supervised release and ordered SHIN to pay forfeiture in the amount of $5,506,050 and a $600 special assessment fee.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Office of Inspector General, Homeland Security Investigations, the SBA Office of the Inspector General, and the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.   

This case is being handled by the Office’s Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit.  Assistant United States Attorneys Tara La Morte, Anden Chow, and Jessica Greenwood are in charge of the prosecution.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

WICHTIA, KAN.– A federal grand jury in Wichita returned an indictment charging a Kansas man with drug trafficking related offenses.

According to court documents, Grant Lubbers, 36, of Wichita was indicted on one count of possession with intention to distribute a controlled substance -Fentanyl and one count of possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense. Lubbers is accused of possessing 40 grams or more of a substance containing a mixture of Fentanyl. 

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Metzger is prosecuting the case.

OTHER INDICTMENTS

Brandon Grulkowski, 29, of Eureka was indicted on one count of failure to register as a sex offender. The U.S. Marshal Service is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hart is prosecuting the case.

Jeremy Van Ness, 36, of Cheney was indicted on two counts of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Gordon is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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