Month: December 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

DETROIT – Dr. Victor Savinov, a medical doctor who practices and resides in the Eastern District of Michigan, has agreed to pay the United States $50,000 to resolve allegations that in 2009 he received remuneration in exchange for referring Medicare patients to third-party-owned home health agencies, announced United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison.

Ison was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Mario Pinto, United States Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General.

The allegations arose from a lawsuit filed in 2009 by whistleblowers, Ruqiayah Madany and John Collins, under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. Under the False Claims Act, private citizens can bring suit on behalf of the government for false claims and potentially share in any recovery. After the United States conducted its own investigation, it intervened and commenced litigation in the qui tam case in 2014. The original qui tam complaint named over 30 defendants, and the United States has either settled with or obtained judgments against most of those defendants. In March 2022, the Court granted the United States summary judgment against two defendants and awarded the United States nearly $40 million in damages and penalties.

This settlement resolves allegations that Dr. Savinov received kickbacks in the form of a credit card payment, free office space, and free use of a medical assistant in exchange for his referral of Medicare patients to home health agencies. The United States contends that the claims for payment were rendered false because they were tainted by Dr. Savinov’s receipt of unlawful kickbacks, in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b). The whistleblowers will receive $11,000 in connection with this settlement.

“The Anti-Kickback Statute was designed to ensure doctors make medical decisions based on the best interest of their patients,” said U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison for the Eastern District of Michigan. “Kickbacks threaten to corrupt that decision-making process, and our Office is prepared to pursue anyone who fails to abide by the rules that safeguard the integrity of the Medicare program.”

“The payment of kickbacks to induce referrals can undermine the trust in our nation’s providers and result in costly reductions to our federal health care programs,” said Special Agent in Charge Mario M. Pinto of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of
Inspector General. “We will continue to work together with our law enforcement partners to ensure the appropriate use of taxpayer dollars as well as pursue medical providers engaging in improper financial relationships.”

The matter was handled by Assistant United States Attorneys John Postulka and John Spaccarotella from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.

The case is docketed as United States ex rel. Madany and Collins v. Petre, et al., No. 09-cv-13693. The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the unsealing of four indictments charging Akinola Taylor (Nigeria), Olayemi Adafin (United Kingdom), Olakunle Oyebanjo (Nigeria), and Kazeem Olanrewaju Runsewe (Nigeria), with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, filing false claims with the United States, theft of public money or property, and aggravated identity theft. Taylor, Adafin, and Runsewe, were each arrested on November 30, 2022, and Oyebanjo was arrested on December 1, 2022. Taylor, Adafin, and Oyebanjo were apprehended in London, United Kingdom, and Runswewe was apprehended in Malmo, Sweden. Each will face extradition proceedings. In conjunction with the arrests, foreign authorities conducted searches of the residences of Taylor and Runsewe.

If convicted, each faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud count, as well as additional penalties for the remaining counts. The indictments also notify the defendants that the United States intends to forfeit assets which are alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offense.

According to the indictments, Taylor and Runsewe obtained unauthorized access to United States businesses’ computer servers, participated in stealing from those servers the personally identifying information of United States residents and used that information to file false and fraudulent Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 1040, United States Individual Income Tax Returns (“Form(s) 1040”) seeking income tax refunds with the IRS. Adafin and Oyebanjo assisted in the collection fraud proceeds directed to prepaid debit cards in their possession or to addresses or bank accounts they controlled or to which they had access and transferred a share of the fraud proceeds to other conspirators.

One of the places that Taylor and Runsewe had obtained unauthorized access to computer servers was the xDedic Marketplace, a website that operated for years and was used to sell access to compromised computers worldwide and personally identifiable information of U.S. residents. The xDedic administrators strategically maintained servers all over the world to facilitate the operation of the website. 

The xDedic Marketplace was taken down as part of coordinated, global enforcement operations led by the FBI (Tampa Division) the IRS-CI (Tampa Field Office) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

The investigation was led by the IRS-CI Cyber Crimes Unit (Washington, D.C). Substantial assistance was provided by the IRS-CI Tampa Field Office, the FBI Tampa Division, the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, IRS-CI International Operations at Mission UK and Canada, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the United Kingdom’s National Extradition Unit, the United Kingdom’s Eastern Region Special Operation Unit, the United Kingdom’s North West Regional Organized Crime Unit, and the Swedish Economic Crime Authority.

The cases will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rachel Jones.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven has sentenced Rossonno Borders, Jr. (25, Tampa) to three years and one month in federal prison for possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon. Borders had pleaded guilty on July 27, 2022.

According to court records, on October 6, 2021, Borders was operating a vehicle with illegally tinted windows. Officers from the Tampa Police Department (TPD) attempted to initiate a traffic stop and Borders proceeded to flee at a high rate of speed. Borders crashed the vehicle he was driving and fled the scene of the crash on foot. When TPD officers arrived at the crash scene, they observed a loaded firearm on the center console of the vehicle. Fingerprints found on the magazine of the firearm were confirmed to belong to Borders

Borders is a previously convicted felon, including for grand theft in the third degree (2019) and being a felon in possession of firearm and ammunition and felon in possession of a firearm (2021). As a convicted felon, he is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Tampa Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Terry B. Livanos.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.   

Source: United States Department of Justice News

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A federal jury convicted a Newport News man on Friday on charges of brandishing a firearm while robbing a gas station convenience store in Henrico County.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, on January 17, 2019, the defendant, Chaikim Reynolds, 21, entered a gas station convenience store in Henrico County to rob it. His co-conspirator, Darrell Pittman, 23, of Hampton, was armed with a semi-automatic handgun and trained it on the clerk while Reynolds removed U.S. currency from the cash register.

Reynolds was identified by a member of the Hampton Police Department, who saw him in an area-wide request to identify. Reynolds was arrested less than a week later while fleeing police with Pittman when Reynolds crashed the vehicle he was driving into another car, killing that car’s passenger. A loaded firearm, later identified as the one used in the robbery, was recovered from that vehicle.

Pittman previously pleaded guilty for his role in the conspiracy.

Reynolds was convicted today of interference with commerce by robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the former with a minimum penalty of seven years’ and a maximum term of life incarceration to be served consecutively on the latter when sentenced on April 25, 2023. 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; Christopher Amon, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Washington Field Division; Col. Eric D. English, Chief of Police for Henrico County Police Department; Steve R. Drew, Chief of Newport News Police; Mark G. Solesky, Chief of Chesapeake Police; and Mark Talbot, Chief of Hampton Police, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Elizabeth W. Hanes accepted the verdict.

Significant assistance was provided by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julie D. Podlesni and D. Mack Coleman are prosecuting the case. Former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy E. Cross previously provided valuable assistance in the investigation of 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. 4:22-cr-39.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Kansas man was sentenced to 27 years in prison for engaging in sexual acts with a child and taking nude pictures and videos of the child. 

According to court documents, in September 2022, Joshua Courtney, 35, of Bonner Springs pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a child and four counts of possession of child pornography.

Acting on cybertips submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, law enforcement agents found dozens of pornographic images in Courtney’s Google photos. Courtney admitted to investigators to taking nude photos of a 10-year-old child, filming while he engaged in sexual acts with the child, and sending these materials to others. He also admitted receiving child pornography of other children on his cell phone.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) and the U.S. Secret Service investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Faiza Alhambra prosecuted the case.

Project Safe Childhood
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 the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

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