Month: January 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A  man who initiated a January 2022 shooting in north Tulsa that caused the death of an 18-year-old and seriously injured a second teenager pleaded guilty in federal court, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.

Sir Michael Morgan Jr., 19, of Tulsa, pleaded guilty to second degree murder in Indian Country.

Morgan admitted that on Jan. 29, 2022, he shot and killed victim Isaiah Jones because he believed Jones was involved in the shooting of his friend in a previous incident. Prosecutors contended that Morgan initiated the incident in which he also shot a 17-year-old, seriously injuring him. During an exchange of gunfire, Morgan was also shot.

An individual who knew the two victims said he heard the gunshots from inside his home and transported the victims to the hospital. Once there, Jones was pronounced dead from multiple gunshot wounds. The second victim survived.

Morgan was transported by ambulance to the hospital where he was treated for two gunshot wounds.

The FBI and Tulsa Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacey P. Todd is prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The former Bolivian Minister of Government was sentenced today to 70 months in prison for conspiracy to launder bribes he received in exchange for corruptly helping a U.S. company win a lucrative contract from the Bolivian government.

Arturo Carlos Murillo Prijic, 58, of Bolivia, pleaded guilty on Oct. 20, 2022, to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

According to court documents, Murillo received at least $532,000 in bribe payments from a Florida-based company in exchange for helping that company secure an approximately $5.6 million contract in 2019 to provide tear gas and other non-lethal equipment to the Bolivian Ministry of Defense. Murillo and his co-conspirators laundered the proceeds of the bribery scheme through the U.S. financial system, including bank accounts in Miami. Murillo received approximately $130,000 in cash bribe payments at a family member’s home in Miami. 

Murillo’s co-conspirators – Sergio Rodrigo Mendez Mendizabal, Luis Berkman, Bryan Berkman, and Philip Lichtenfeld – previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the same scheme and were each sentenced in June 2022.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida, and Special Agent in Special Agent in Charge Michael E. Buckley of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami Field Office made the announcement.

HSI’s Miami Field Office (Fort Lauderdale Unit) investigated the case. 

Trial Attorney Jil Simon and Assistant Chief Gerald M. Moody Jr. of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Eli S. Rubin for the Southern District of Florida prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabrielle Charest-Turken handled asset forfeiture.

The Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) matters. Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A Georgia man pleaded guilty today for his roles in two bribery conspiracies — one related to U.S. government reconstruction contracts in Afghanistan and one related to a U.S. Department of State visa fraud scheme. 

According to court documents, Orlando Clark, 57, of Smyrna, managed reconstruction projects in Afghanistan on behalf of a U.S. company. In 2011 and 2012, Clark conspired with an analyst at a different U.S. company, who evaluated bids for U.S.-funded reconstruction contracts that were awarded by the U.S. military, to receive approximately $400,000 in bribes from an Afghan company in return for assisting it in obtaining millions of dollars in contracts. To conceal his criminal conduct, Clark registered fictitious companies and bank accounts in Georgia – to which he sent bribe payments via wire transfers from Afghanistan – and created invoices to make it appear as though he was involved in a car-exporting business. In reality, Clark used the bribe payments funneled through these accounts to enrich himself and purchase personal items, including two BMWs.

In addition, between 2015 and 2020, Clark also received bribes to sign false letters of recommendation for visas authorized for Afghan nationals who worked as translators with U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Clark signed over 10 letters in which he falsely claimed to have supervised the applicants and in which he stated, without any factual basis, that he had no reason to believe that they posed a threat to U.S. national security.

Clark pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official and conspiracy to commit visa fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 12 and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on each charge. 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 Ryan K. Buchanan for the Northern District of Georgia; Inspector General John F. Sopko of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR); Special Agent in Charge Peter Tolentino of the Economic Crimes Field Office of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS); Special Agent in Charge Stanley A. Newell of the Transnational Operations Field Office of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS); and Supervisory Special Agent Gregory Batman, Chief of the Criminal Investigations Division of the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service (DOS-DSS) made the announcement.

SIGAR, NCIS, DCIS, and DOS-DSS are investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Matt Kahn of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell Phillips for the Northern District of Georgia are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A Texas return preparer pleaded guilty to engaging in a multi-year conspiracy to prepare and file false tax returns on behalf of clients and obtaining a fraudulent loan under the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). The proceeding was held before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey C. Manske.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between 2012 and 2017 Labanda Loyd, of Waco, managed two tax return preparation businesses and also worked as a return preparer. Loyd conspired with others at both businesses to prepare and file false returns that fraudulently claimed refunds the clients were not entitled to receive. As a manager, Loyd personally instructed some of her co-conspirators how to prepare false tax returns. For some clients, Loyd and her co-conspirators completely fabricated wage and tax withholdings. For others, they altered the wages and withholdings legitimately reported to the IRS by their employers. Loyd’s co-conspirators include Lashamekwa Alexander, Deidra Brandon, Melissa Johnson, Shaterian Parr, Jaleesia Sais, and Tevin Thompson, all of whom have pleaded guilty to the tax conspiracy or other crimes. In all, the co-conspirators caused a tax loss exceeding $1.8 million.

Loyd also pleaded guilty to wire fraud stemming from her false application in 2021 for a PPP loan. On the application, Loyd falsified her business’s actual gross income and included false documents to corroborate the fabricated income. As a result, Loyd received approximately $18,000 in PPP funds.

Loyd faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the conspiracy charge and twenty years in prison for wire fraud. She and her co-conspirators are all scheduled to be sentenced on March 15, 2023. A federal district court judge will determine any sentences after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case. Trial Attorneys Patrick Elwell, Matthew Hicks, and Wilson Stamm of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.