Month: November 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Stefanie Marie Wells, 37, of of Jasonville, Indiana, was sentenced today to two years and six months in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release, for bank fraud and aggravated identify theft. Wells was also ordered to pay $10,100 in restitution.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on October 19, 2020, Wells wrote a $2,700 check from a stolen checkbook and cashed it at a bank in Mount Hope by presenting a stolen driver’s license. Wells admitted to obtaining the stolen license and checkbook on or some time prior to October 19, 2020.

Wells cashed three additional checks totaling $7,400 from the stolen checkbook on October 19, 2020. Wells used the same stolen driver’s license to cash the stolen checks at banks in Beaver and Beckley, and a different stolen driver’s license to cash the third stolen check at a Montgomery bank.

Wells further admitted to several unsuccessful attempts at fraud. On October 20, 2020, Wells attempted to cash a $2,650 check from the stolen checkbook at a Charleston bank while using one of the stolen driver’s licenses. On November 23, 2020, Wells attempted to cash a $2,300 stolen check at a Beckley bank, and then attempted to withdraw $2,500 by presenting a stolen driver’s license at a Summersville bank. Each of these attempts was unsuccessful.

United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Park Police, the Beckley Police Department, and the Summersville Police Department.

United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Nowles Heinrich prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:21-cr-191.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Ge Tang (41, St. Augustine) and Yanshen Huang (36, St. Johns) have pleaded guilty to harboring undocumented aliens for commercial advantage and private financial gain. Each faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. As part of their plea agreements, Tang and Huang have agreed to forfeit to the United States a residence in St. Augustine and a residence in St. Johns, which were used to house undocumented aliens, along with a 2021 Toyota Sienna van that was used to transport the aliens between the residences and the restaurants and $35,720 in cash.

Their sentencing hearings have been scheduled for January 24, 2023.

According to their plea agreements, Tang and Huang owned and operated Tanks Sushi Bistro Seafood & Steaks in St. Augustine and Tanks Sushi Bistro in Ponte Vedra. At the restaurants, they employed aliens who were unlawfully present in the United States and who were not legally authorized to work in the United States. Contrary to federal law, Tang and Huang did not require the workers to provide documents to establish that they could legally work in the United States.

Tang and Huang also owned two residences, each of which was near one of the restaurants, at which they provided housing to the undocumented workers. They also provided the workers with transportation between the houses and the restaurants at the beginning and end of each workday.

Tang and Huang paid the workers in cash, did not withhold taxes and other payments from the workers’ wages, and did not pay the employer’s portion of these taxes to government authorities. They also did not report the workers to state revenue authorities as required under Florida law to ensure the collection of the proper amount of unemployment compensation tax.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with assistance from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Arnold B. Corsmeier. Assistant United States Attorney Mai Tran is handling forfeiture of the residences, van, and cash.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Two New York men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering for using New York-area pharmacies to submit false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and then laundering the criminal proceeds.

Arkadiy Khaimov, 39, of Forest Hills, pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Peter Khaim, 42, also of Forest Hills, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering on Nov. 3.

According to court documents, Khaim and Khaimov engaged in a complex money laundering conspiracy to launder the proceeds of a fraudulent health care scheme involving over a dozen New York-area pharmacies that they and their co-conspirators owned and controlled. Specifically, Khaim and Khaimov used the New York pharmacies to submit millions of dollars in fraudulent claims to Medicare, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. These fraudulent claims included claims for expensive cancer medications Targretin Gel 1% and Panretin Gel 0.1% that were not prescribed by physicians or dispensed to patients, and that were purportedly dispensed during periods when certain pharmacies were closed. Khaim, Khaimov, and their co-conspirators exploited the COVID-19 emergency for their own financial gain by using COVID-19-related “emergency override” billing codes to submit additional fraudulent claims for Targretin Gel 1%.

To conceal over $18 million of their criminal proceeds, Khaim, Khaimov, and their co-conspirators funneled money through several shell companies, including sham pharmacy wholesale companies designed to look like legitimate wholesalers. Khaim and Khaimov typically sent the funds from the pharmacy bank accounts they controlled to the sham wholesale companies. The funds were then typically sent to companies in China for distribution to individuals in Uzbekistan and the defendants received some of these funds in cash. At other times, the fraudulent proceeds were sent from the sham wholesale companies to Khaim, Khaimov, their relatives, or their designees, in the form of certified cashier’s checks and cash. Khaim and Khaimov used the proceeds of the scheme to purchase real estate and other luxury items.

Khaimov is scheduled to be sentenced on May 3, 2023. Khaim is scheduled to be sentenced on May 10, 2023. They each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York; Assistant Director in Charge Michael J. Driscoll of the FBI New York Field Office; Acting Special Agent in Charge Susan Frisco of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); Special Agent in Charge Thomas M. Fattorusso of the IRS Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) New York Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Patricia Tarasca of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG) made the announcement.

The HHS-OIG, FBI, IRS-CI, and FDIC-OIG are investigating the case. 

Acting Principal Assistant Deputy Chief Jacob Foster of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Trial Attorney Andrew Estes of the Fraud Section’s Brooklyn Strike Force are prosecuting the case. Former Fraud Section Trial Attorney Patrick Mott previously worked on the investigation.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, comprised of 15 strike forces operating in 24 federal districts, has charged more than 4,200 defendants who collectively have billed the Medicare program for more than $19 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

AUGUSTA, GA:  A Burke County man faces decades in prison after admitting he coerced a child to produce sexually explicit images.

Keyshawn Omar Cooper, 20, of Waynesboro, Ga., awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Production of Child Pornography, said David H. Estes, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. The plea subjects Cooper to a statutory penalty of up to 30 years in prison, along with payment of restitution and substantial financial penalties, followed by a minimum of five years of supervised release and registration as a sex offender after completion of his prison term.

There is no parole in the federal system.

“Keyshawn Cooper’s crime represents the nightmare scenario for parents whose children connect over the internet with predatory strangers,” said U.S. Attorney Estes. “Thanks to the vigilance of one of those parents and diligent law enforcement partners, Cooper will be held accountable for his reprehensible activities.”

As described in court, Cooper admitted that around May 9, 2021, he communicated via an internet application with a child in Missouri, and persuaded the victim to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of creating visual depictions that the victim then sent to Cooper. The child’s mother discovered the activity and reported it to police in Cape Girardeau, Mo., who enlisted the assistance of the FBI in identifying and locating Cooper.

The investigation determined that the child and Cooper met online while playing a video game.

“The FBI has unfortunately seen an increasing amount of sextortion crimes across the country over the past year and we want this plea to send a message that we make crimes targeting children a top priority”, said Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “Let this be a reminder to parents and caregivers, people can pretend to be anyone online, and you need to remain vigilant with monitoring your child’s online activity and educating them about the risks of communicating with strangers.”

The case was investigated by the Cape Girardeau, Mo., Police Department and the FBI, and prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremiah L. Johnson.

Anyone with information on suspected child sexual exploitation can contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 800-843-5678, or https://report.cybertip.org/.