Month: November 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Thank you for that warm welcome, Acting Assistant Secretary Barkoff. It is a pleasure to join you once again and to represent the Department of Justice at the Elder Justice Coordinating Council, alongside Andy Mao, the Department’s National Elder Justice Coordinator.    

I would like to thank Deputy Secretary Palm for the leadership role that HHS has played on the Council and for partnering with Council participants to protect older Americans from abuse, neglect and financial exploitation. 

For the past decade, combating elder fraud and abuse has been a top priority for the Justice Department. We remain committed to doing all we can to restore dignity to older adults who have been abused, and to repair the sense of safety and security for those who have been financially exploited or defrauded. Prevention, early detection and early intervention — combined with partnership at every level of government — are all necessary to combat elder abuse.

Let me begin with some updates since I last spoke to this group.

As outlined in our recent annual report to Congress, the Department pursued nearly 300 criminal and civil cases in the past year on issues ranging from COVID-19 fraud to grossly substandard care in nursing homes. We also returned millions of dollars to elder-fraud victims through asset forfeitures and other actions. At the same time, we developed tools for elder justice professionals on the front lines and devoted substantial resources to victim assistance, including by responding to a record number of calls on the National Elder Fraud Hotline. And the Department participated in public outreach on numerous elder justice topics to over 150,000 individuals, including members of law enforcement, legal aid attorneys, elder justice professionals and members of the public.

Collaboration and coordination at all levels of government have been key to the success of these departmental initiatives.  

First and foremost, this is reflected in our close partnership with other federal agencies. As many of you know, the Justice Department has focused much of our elder justice enforcement on transnational schemes, which comprised nearly 40% of our cases in the past year. Our whole-of-government approach has been critical to detecting and disrupting these schemes, which include grandparent scams, romance fraud, identity theft and lottery fraud. Our work to investigate, build and prosecute these cases has involved collaboration with the U.S. Postal Inspection Services, the Department of Homeland Security, the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General, as well as the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Our federal partners have likewise been instrumental in helping raise awareness on issues impacting older adults. For example, with the help of the Administration for Community Living, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the National Institute on Aging and others, we convened a three-day virtual symposium last April focused on the role that decision-making capacity plays in elder justice proceedings, where criminal and civil judges are frequently called upon to undertake the complex and nuanced task of trying to assess the abilities of older adults to make independent decisions about personal and financial matters. 

Equally critical for the department’s work has been our continued collaboration and coordination at the state and local level. Our federal initiatives have long benefitted from the assistance of our state and local law enforcement partners — and I am excited that the Council will be hearing today from some of our state partners who are so committed to this work. 

We also have several efforts in the works to strengthen these partnerships in the days ahead.  

One example of a successful collaboration is the National Nursing Home Initiative. Launched in 2020, this initiative is designed to coordinate and enhance civil and criminal enforcement related to nursing homes that provide grossly substandard care by drawing on a wide network of state and local professionals, including state Medicaid Fraud Control Units, adult protective services, Long-Term Care Ombudsmen, state and local law enforcement and many others. 

Next month, the initiative will launch a significant new training effort with state Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Directors across the nation. In a series of six virtual convenings, the Justice Department’s Elder Justice and Health Care Fraud Coordinators will meet with Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Directors to discuss the most effective ways to collaborate on priority substandard care cases and share best practices related to this enforcement work.

And just last month, the Justice Department’s Office for Victims of Crime announced the first of its kind effort to support a National Elder Justice Coalition Center to support the development of new state and tribal coalitions that will collaborate with federal agencies to coordinate elder justice work. The National Elder Justice Coalition Center will release a competitive solicitation early next summer to fund and support additional elder justice coalitions across the country.   

Finally, a bit of a coming attraction: I am pleased to announce that in the fall of 2023, the Justice Department will host an Elder Justice Summit specifically for state and local law enforcement. This Summit will provide a national platform for sharing strategies and best practices, information, and resources. Stay tuned for more information on this.

On behalf of the Justice Department, I want to thank you again for all that you have done and will do to advance the cause of elder justice. My colleagues and I look forward to continuing to partner with you on this important issue.   

Source: United States Department of Justice

The Justice Department announced today that it has opened a pattern or practice investigation into the Worcester Police Department (WPD). This civil investigation will assess whether WPD engages in a pattern or practice of excessive force or engages in discriminatory policing based on race or sex. The investigation will include a comprehensive review of policies, procedures, trainings, investigatory files and data. The investigation will also include a review of WPD’s systems of accountability, including its systems to address misconduct complaints and discipline. The department will also evaluate how WPD officers interact with the public, collect evidence and complete investigations.

“Based on information provided to the Justice Department, we find significant justification to investigate whether the Worcester Police Department engages in a pattern or practice of racially discriminatory and gender-biased policing, and uses excessive force,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Ensuring that our law enforcement officers act in a constitutional and non-discriminatory manner is among the highest priorities of the Department of Justice. Our pattern or practice investigations are a key tool in our efforts to ensure community safety and promote constitutional policing across the country. We look forward to working with officials towards the shared goals of ensuring constitutional, effective policing and fostering greater trust between law enforcement officers and the community members they serve.”

“The City of Worcester is a thriving and vital part of our district and we work closely every day with its Police Department,” said  U.S. Attorney Rachael S. Rollins for the District of Massachusetts. “WPD officers have a challenging job of ensuring the safety of the Worcester community. This often means responding to or encountering tense and at times dangerous conflicts and situations. I am well aware that the overwhelming majority of officers serve and do their jobs with honor, pride, restraint and distinction. The purpose of this civil investigation is to determine – through objective and thorough examination – whether or not there is an overall pattern or practice of conduct that violates the Constitution or federal law. This is the beginning of the process. We will go where the facts take us. You will hear from me at the end of the investigation, irrespective of outcome. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that policing in Worcester is constitutional, safe, and effective all while the civil rights of their residents remain intact. We thank the City of Worcester, and specifically Chief Sargent, for their cooperation and collaboration in this matter.”

The investigation is being conducted pursuant to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which prohibits state and local governments from engaging in a pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers that deprives individuals of rights protected by the Constitution or federal law. The statute allows the department to remedy such misconduct through civil litigation. The Justice Department will be assessing law enforcement practices under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, as well as under the Safe Streets Act of 1968 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

This is the second investigation of a Massachusetts law enforcement agency conducted pursuant to this statute. In 2018, the Justice Department opened an investigation of the Springfield Police Department, which was resolved by a consent decree in 2022.

Prior to this announcement, department officials informed Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty, Worcester Acting City Manager Eric Batista and Worcester Police Chief Steven Sargent of the investigation. They pledged to cooperate with the investigation. As part of this investigation, the department officials will reach out to community groups and members of the public to learn about their experiences with WPD.

The Special Litigation Section of the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts will jointly conduct this investigation. Individuals with relevant information are encouraged to contact the Department of Justice via email at community.wpd@usdoj.gov or by toll free phone at 888-221-6023. Individuals can also report civil rights violations regarding this or other matters using the Civil Rights Division’s reporting portal, available at https://civilrights.justice.gov/.  

Information specific to the Civil Rights Division’s Police Reform Work can be found here: https://www.justice.gov/crt/file/922421/download. 

Source: United States Department of Justice

A Michigan man was charged, in an indictment unsealed today in the Eastern District of Michigan, with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, aka ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist organization, and for being a felon in possession of a destructive device.

According to the indictment, Aws Mohammed Naser, 34, formerly of Westland, attempted to provide material support to ISIS, in the form of personnel (including himself) and services, knowing that ISIS was a designated terrorist organization, and that ISIS engages in terrorism. In addition, Naser is charged with being a felon in possession of a destructive device in October 2017.

Naser will be arraigned on the indictment at the federal courthouse in Detroit today at 1:00 p.m. ET. If convicted, Naser faces a maximum statutory penalty of up to 20 years in prison for the attempted material support charge and up to 15 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a destructive device.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison for the Eastern District of Michigan and Special Agent in Charge James A. Tarasca of FBI Detroit Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Saima Mohsin for the Eastern District of Michigan is prosecuting the case, with assistance from Trial Attorney Dmitriy Slavin of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.