Month: January 2023

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Individual Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Laundering Unemployment Benefits and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Funds

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SAN JUAN, P.R. – Martín Scamaroni-Cintrón was sentenced on January 18, 2023 by United States District Court Judge Aida Delgado-Colón to 30 months in prison for laundering Unemployment Benefits and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Funds from his bank account in Puerto Rico.

Scamaroni-Cintrón pleaded guilty on November 15, 2022 to sixteen violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1596(a)(1)(B)(i) and admitted to withdrawing in excess of $87,000 in fraudulently obtained funds from his bank account from September 2020 to December 2021. As alleged in the Indictment, the funds were fraudulently obtained from the Unemployment Insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program from multiple states as well as the proceeds of U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) loans that he was not qualified and authorized to receive. The applications for Unemployment Insurance UI and PUA were fraudulently submitted in the names of other persons, who never applied for UI and PUA benefits or SBA loans, but the applications utilized the defendant’s bank account and routing numbers.

Scamaroni-Cintrón was also ordered to pay restitution to all the agencies involved in his scheme:

  • SBA- $204,800.00
  • Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services- $51,543.00
  • Maine Department of Labor- $10,295.00
  • Arizona Department of Jobs and Family Services- $13,257.00
  • Washington State Employment Security Department- $10,710.00
  • Illinois Department of Employment Security- $71,078.00

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (USDOL-OIG), and the Puerto Rico Department of Treasury (Hacienda).

Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSA) Victor Acevedo and Manuel Muñiz Lorenzi handled the prosecution of the case.

To report a COVID-19-related fraud scheme or suspicious activity, contact the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) by calling the NCDF Hotline at 1-866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form

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Statement from United States Attorney Kevin G. Ritz

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Memphis, TN – Kevin G. Ritz, United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, issued the following statement today:

“Last week, Tyre Nichols tragically died, a few days after he was involved in an incident where Memphis Police Department officers used force during his arrest. State authorities have publicly announced that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating. In addition, the United States Attorney’s Office, in coordination with the FBI Memphis Field Office and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, has opened a civil rights investigation. As this is an open investigation, we are not able to provide additional comment or release further information at this time.”

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For more information, please contact Public Information Officer Cherri Green at 901-544-4231 or cherri.green@usdoj.gov. Follow@WDTNNews on Twitter for office news and updates.

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Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. Delivers Remarks on Founder and Majority Owner of Cryptocurrency Exchange Charged with Processing Illicit Funds

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Thank you, Deputy Attorney General Monaco.

When the Department announced the creation of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team in late 2021, we set forth the blueprint on how NCET would work to disrupt criminal abuse of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. We named Eun Young Choi – an accomplished leader on cyber and cryptocurrency issues and a seasoned Department prosecutor – to be NCET’s first Director. We said that NCET would investigate those who enable the use of digital assets to facilitate crime, with a particular focus on virtual currency exchanges and services. And we said that NCET would enhance the Department’s collaboration with domestic and foreign partners in aggressively investigating and prosecuting crimes involving cryptocurrency.

Today’s actions against Bitzlato – the first public enforcement action led by NCET – are precisely what we had in mind. As the Deputy Attorney General described, Bitzlato is a cryptocurrency exchange that allegedly facilitated illicit activities by making it easier for bad actors, including ransomware groups and dark-web drug pushers, to conceal their identities and profit from their misconduct. Bitzlato accomplished this in part by flouting key requirements of anti-money-laundering programs and helping criminals hide their transactions behind the anonymity of the blockchain. 

But today, Bitzlato’s co-founder and senior executive is in handcuffs in the United States, and agencies around the world have taken strong action to ensure that Bitzlato can no longer facilitate crime.

None of this would have been possible without strong partnerships on the domestic and international levels—between NCET, other parts of the Criminal Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, and the stellar teams of FBI agents; between U.S. law enforcement and our counterparts in France; and between the Department and our colleagues at FinCEN. The Department also drew heavily today on its deep bench of international experts, including our new Cyber Operations International Liaison and our legal attaché in Paris. 

The work announced here today is a textbook case for what can be accomplished when NCET works with its partners here and abroad to disrupt the harm caused by criminal cryptocurrency platforms. And we’re just getting started.

I will now turn the program over to U.S. Attorney Breon Peace.

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CPA Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Promote Fraudulent Tax Shelter Scheme

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Helped Obtain Fraudulent Syndicated Conservation Easement Tax Breaks for High-Income Earners

A Florida CPA pleaded guilty in the District of New Jersey today to conspiring to sell fraudulent tax deductions disguised as charitable deductions to high-income clients.

According to the Information and other court documents and statements made in court, Ralph B. Anderson of Naples, Florida, promoted and sold fraudulent syndicated conservation easement tax shelters that allowed high-income clients to buy tax deductions to illegally shelter their income from taxes. These illegal tax shelters facilitated high-income taxpayers in claiming inflated charitable contribution tax deductions in connection with the donation of a conservation easement over land. Between 2013 and 2019, while working as a CPA, Anderson, along with others, promoted and helped sell such fraudulent syndicated conservation easement tax shelters.  To carry out the scheme, the conspirators obtained falsely inflated appraisals in order to achieve the desired amount of tax deductions. Anderson was paid more than $300,000 in commissions for his promotion and sale of the tax shelters. He also was given “free units” he could use to take false deductions for charitable contributions on his own tax returns. As a part of his guilty plea, Anderson admitted his conduct resulted in a loss of nearly $3.5 million.

Anderson is scheduled to be sentenced on June 7, 2023, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

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

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Christopher Magnani and Richard Rolwing of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

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Plaquemines Parish Man Sentenced on Federal Drug Trafficking Charges

Source: United States Department of Justice News

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – LONNIE WILLIAMS, age 39, a resident of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, was sentenced on January 17, 2023 to 30 months imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release, and a mandatory $200 special assessment fee by U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine base (“crack”), announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.

According to court documents, DEA agents started investigating WILLIAMS in June 2020 as a narcotics distributor in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. On August 24, 2020, agents observed WILLIAMS engage in a drug deal with a co-conspirator. Following the deal, officers made a traffic stop where they discovered that WILLIAMS was in possession of distributable amounts of crack cocaine.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office. The prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorney J. Benjamin Myers.