Month: February 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that ISHAN WAHI, a former product manager at Coinbase Global, Inc. (“Coinbase”), pled guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a scheme to commit insider trading in cryptocurrency assets by using confidential Coinbase information about which crypto assets were scheduled to be listed on Coinbase’s exchanges.  WAHI was arrested and charged in July 2022 and pled guilty earlier today before U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Ishan Wahi – a former Coinbase product manager – admitted in court today that he tipped others regarding Coinbase’s planned token listings so that they could trade in crypto assets for a profit.  Wahi is the first insider to admit guilt in an insider trading case involving the cryptocurrency markets.  Whether it occurs in the equity markets or the crypto markets, stealing confidential business information for your own personal profit or the profit of others is a serious federal crime.  The Southern District of New York has decades of experience pursuing insider trading cases, and we will continue to use our expertise to prosecute this crime no matter what form it takes and where it occurs.”

According to the allegations in the Indictment and statements made in public court proceedings:

At all relevant times, Coinbase was one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.  Coinbase users could acquire, exchange, and sell various crypto assets through online user accounts with Coinbase.  Periodically, Coinbase added new crypto assets to those that could be traded through its exchange, and the market value of crypto assets typically significantly increased after Coinbase announced that it would be listing a particular crypto asset.  Accordingly, Coinbase kept such information strictly confidential and prohibited its employees from sharing that information with others, including by providing a “tip” to any person who might trade based on that information.

Beginning in approximately October 2020, ISHAN WAHI worked at Coinbase as a product manager assigned to a Coinbase asset listing team.  In that role, WAHI was involved in the highly confidential process of listing crypto assets on Coinbase’s exchanges and had detailed and advanced knowledge of which crypto assets Coinbase was planning to list and the timing of public announcements about those crypto asset listings. 

On multiple occasions between June 2021 and April 2022, WAHI violated his duties of trust and confidence to Coinbase by providing confidential business information that he learned in connection with his employment at Coinbase to Nikhil Wahi and Sameer Ramani so that they could secretly engage in profitable trades around public announcements by Coinbase that it would be listing certain crypto assets on Coinbase’s exchanges.  Following Coinbase’s public listing announcements, on multiple occasions, Nikhil Wahi and Ramani sold the crypto assets for a profit. 

On April 12, 2022, a Twitter account that is well known in the crypto community tweeted regarding an Ethereum blockchain wallet “that bought hundreds of thousands of dollars of tokens exclusively featured in the Coinbase Asset Listing post about 24 hours before it was published.”  The trading activity referenced in the April 12 tweet was trading previously conducted by Ramani based on tips provided by WAHI.  Coinbase thereafter publicly replied on Twitter, noting that it had already begun investigating the matter and, a few weeks later, stated in a public blog post that any Coinbase employee who leaked confidential company information would be “immediately terminated and referred to relevant authorities (potentially for criminal prosecution).”  On May 11, 2022, Coinbase’s director of security operations emailed WAHI to inform him that he should appear for an in-person meeting relating to Coinbase’s asset listing process at Coinbase’s Seattle, Washington, office on May 16, 2022.  WAHI confirmed he would attend the meeting.

On the evening of May 15, 2022, WAHI purchased a one-way flight to India that was scheduled to depart the next day shortly before WAHI was supposed to be interviewed by Coinbase.  In the hours between booking the flight and his scheduled departure, WAHI called and texted Nikhil Wahi and Ramani about Coinbase’s investigation and sent both of them a photograph of the messages he had received on May 11, 2022, from Coinbase’s director of security operations.  Prior to boarding the May 16, 2022, flight to India, WAHI was stopped by law enforcement and prevented from leaving the country.

*                *                *

ISHAN WAHI, 32, of Seattle, Washington, pled guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which each carry, respectively, a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

 The statutory maximum sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.  WAHI is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Preska on May 10, 2023, at 12:00 p.m.

Mr. Williams praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  He also acknowledged the assistance of the Justice Department’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, as well as that of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which separately initiated civil proceedings against WAHI.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Noah Solowiejczyk and Nicolas Roos are in charge of the prosecution.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

DETROIT – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan settled a complaint regarding an allegation that a Walmart store located in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan failed to make reasonable modifications to its policies so that an individual with a mobility disorder had an equal opportunity to access the goods or services that Walmart offered for sale. The settlement agreement resolves the Office’s investigation, prompted by the complaint of an individual with quadriplegia  that  he was not allowed to purchase alcohol at the Mt. Pleasant Walmart because his aide who  was assisting him with shopping was not over 21 years old.   

Civil rights enforcement is a priority of my office, which includes ensuring that all public accommodations are fully available to all of our residents.” U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison said. “I commend Walmart for agreeing to take these steps to make its stores more accessible to everyone in the Eastern District of Michigan and across the United States.”

Walmart has fully cooperated with the investigation and has agreed to update its corporate ADA policies to clarify its ongoing responsibilities to make reasonable modifications provide live training on its updated ADA policies for store management and Front End Associates at the Mt. Pleasant Walmart store, assign training on its updated ADA policies for store management and front end associate across the United States, and pay damages to the complainant.

The investigation was led by Executive Assistant United States Attorney Luttrell Levingston. The full and fair enforcement of the ADA is a priority of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan. The Civil Rights Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan was established in 2010 with the mission of prioritizing federal civil rights enforcement. For more information on the Office’s civil rights efforts, including a copy of the agreement, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmi/programs/civil-rights.

Individuals who believe they have been subjected to discrimination or experienced a civil rights violation can submit a complaint with the U.S. Attorney’s Office by email at usamie.civilrights@usdoj.gov or by phone at (313) 226-9151. Complaints can also be submitted to the Civil Rights Division through its complaint portal.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

DETROIT – A Garden City, Michigan man was sentenced yesterday to 15 years in federal prison for attempted sexual exploitation of children based on his request to an undercover federal agent to create child pornography, announced United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison. 

Ison was joined in the announcement by James A. Tarasca, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

Collin Patrick Valenti, 25, was sentenced by United States District Judge Victoria A. Roberts. Valenti pleaded guilty to asking a person who he believed was a parent of a young child—but in reality was an undercover law enforcement officer—to create and send a video of the parent performing a sex act on that individual’s minor child.

In addition to the attempt offense that he pleaded guilty to committing, Valenti engaged in the hands-on abuse of a small child. He also pretended to be a teenage girl online to obtain sexually explicit photographs of a minor teenage boy. Valenti admitted that on approximately 50 other occasions he sought sexually explicit images of children from individuals he believed to be the parents of the children.

“This offender requested that another individual create a horrific image of sexual abuse. We can only be thankful that he was communicating with an undercover law enforcement officer and not another abuser so that he could not cause harm to another minor. This office will continue to work with law enforcement agencies as they proactively work to find and stop those who seek to exploit and abuse children.” U.S. Attorney Ison stated.

This case was investigated by the Northeast Michigan Trafficking and Exploitation Crimes Task Force of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Rawsthorne.  

Source: United States Department of Justice News

EL PASO, Texas – A former Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer stationed in El Paso was sentenced Monday to eight months in jail plus three years of supervised release for receiving a bribe by a public official.

According to court documents, Roberto Padilla, 51, was persuaded to reveal law enforcement sensitive information in exchange for a $500 payment to satisfy his drug debt.  Padilla was arrested Aug. 6, 2021 and released on bond Aug. 13, 2021.  He was immediately placed on administrative leave by ICE following his arrest and eventually relieved of employment entirely on Aug. 23, 2021.  Padilla pleaded guilty to the charge Nov. 10, 2022.

“This former agent jeopardized his law enforcement career, his life and the reputation of his agency,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas.  “We will always vigorously prosecute public officials who abuse their authority, especially law enforcement officers who corruptly sell access to sensitive law enforcement databases.”

“Roberto Padilla engaged in conduct that betrayed the oath he took to faithfully serve the citizens of the United States of America,” said Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey R. Downey of the FBI El Paso Field Office. “His behavior should not take away from the outstanding work done each day by the vast majority of law enforcement professionals at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The FBI encourages the public to continue to support our active and ongoing efforts to root out public corruption by reporting corrupt activity to the FBI El Paso Field Office at (915) 832-5000.”

The FBI, Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Professional Responsibility investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Osterberg prosecuted the case.

###

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Court documents were unsealed this week charging 23 Michigan residents for their alleged involvement in two illegal schemes to defraud Medicare of more than $61.5 million by paying kickbacks and bribes and billing Medicare for unnecessary medical services that were never provided.

“As alleged, the defendants and their co-conspirators repeatedly paid illegal bribes and kickbacks so they could submit claims for medically unnecessary home health services throughout the Detroit metropolitan area, exposing patients to needless physician services and drug testing and costing Medicare tens of millions of dollars,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “As these actions demonstrate, we will work tirelessly to tackle complex, illegal schemes that take advantage of vulnerable populations and defraud federal programs of taxpayer dollars meant to provide health care to millions of Americans.”

United States v. Jamil, et al.

According to court documents, Walid Jamil, 62, and Jalal Jamil, 69, both of Oakland County, owned and operated several home health agencies in the Detroit metropolitan area. They allegedly concealed their ownership interest in these agencies using straw owners – including family members and other associates – and submitted approximately $50 million in fraudulent home health care claims to Medicare. Specifically, Walid and Jalal Jamil allegedly paid bribes to other co-conspirators to recruit patients in violation of the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute. These patients did not need home health care, did not qualify for home health care under Medicare rules, and in many instances were not actually provided the care for which Medicare was billed. Walid and Jalal Jamil allegedly entered into quid pro quo relationships with physician clinics to receive the necessary information to fraudulently bill Medicare. Based on their fraudulent claims, Walid and Jalal Jamil received more than $43 million from Medicare, which they misappropriated for their personal benefit.

“The alleged actions of these defendants is an astonishing abuse of our health care system,” said U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison for the Eastern District of Michigan. “By allegedly submitting fraudulent claims and paying illegal kickbacks, these defendants looted Medicare in order to line their own pockets at great cost to taxpayers. My office is grateful for the continued work of the Health Care Fraud Strike Force to root out corrupt medical professionals.”

Carol Ibrahim, 45, of Oakland County, and Delaine Jackson, 48, of Wayne County, were employed by one or more of the Jamil home health agencies and operated these agencies at the direction of Walid Jamil. They each allegedly made illegal payments to patient recruiters and submitted false claims to Medicare. Ibrahim was also allegedly a straw owner of one of the Jamil home health agencies.

Ibrahim Sammour, 62, of Wayne County, was a registered nurse employed by the Jamil home health agencies. Sammour is alleged to have fraudulently billed Medicare for home health services he never provided and falsely certified patients as “homebound.”

Mary Smelter-Bolton, 69, of Oakland County, and Cass Hawkins, 52, of Wayne County, were allegedly recruiters paid by various Jamil home health agencies to refer them Medicare beneficiaries for home health services that were then billed to Medicare, even though the claims were not eligible for reimbursement.

United States v. Malas, et al.

According to court documents, beginning in at least February 2015, Radwan Malas, 43, of Oakland County, operated Infinity Visiting Physician Services PLC (Infinity) as a home visiting physician company and allegedly ordered the physicians he employed to certify patients referred by Walid Jamil and Jalal Jamil for medically unnecessary home health services. He then allegedly billed Medicare for services that were never actually provided to these patients – including 60-minute complex patient visits – and for services that were not medically necessary – including B-12 and Toradol injections. Malas also allegedly demanded that physicians in his office order the highest-reimbursing urine drug test for patients, which was medically unnecessary, but for which Malas allegedly received a referral fee from the laboratory that processed the samples.

As part of this scheme, the defendants billed Medicare over $11.5 million in fraudulent claims for which they were paid nearly $4 million, which they misappropriated for their personal benefit. Malas is also alleged to have laundered the misappropriated funds by conducting illegal financial transactions.

“At the FBI, we swear an oath to protect the American people,” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “Fraudsters look to orchestrate their schemes at the cost of our health care systems, patients, and taxpayers. The FBI and our law enforcement partners remains dedicated to investigating and bringing to justice those who seek to exploit our U.S. healthcare system at the expense of its patients.”

Alejandro Mataverde, 79, of Oakland County, Cornelius Oprisiu, 82, of Livingston County, both physicians, and Shafiq Rehman, 59, of Wayne County, a licensed nurse practitioner, were employed by Infinity. They allegedly provided medically unnecessary services to Medicare beneficiaries or submitted claims to Medicare for medical services that were not provided to the patients.

“Those who attempt to defraud Medicare often do so at the risk of compromising the integrity of federal health care programs and disregarding the health and wellbeing of patients,” said Special Agent in Charge Mario Pinto of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG is proud to work alongside our law enforcement partners to protect federal health care programs and hold bad actors accountable for their actions.”

Michael Molloy, 50, of Wayne County, was co-owner of Integra Lab Management LLC (Integra), which processed the high-reimbursing and allegedly medically unnecessary urine tests submitted by Infinity. Molloy and his co-owners allegedly paid the salary of Infinity employees and made monthly payments to Malas in exchange for the physician orders for the medically unnecessary urine drug testing. As a result of the illegal kickbacks, Integra submitted approximately $2.8 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare and was paid more than $730,000.

Montaha Hogeige, 39, of Wayne County, was a medical assistant employed by Infinity who allegedly agreed to receive her salary from Integra as an illegal kickback to Infinity in exchange for physician orders for high-reimbursing urine drug testing.

“Medicare is designed to provide vital government funded services to our people. It is not a slush fund for thieves and fraudsters,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Charles Miller of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Detroit Field Office. “IRS-CI will work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to investigate those who illegally target our Medicare program for personal financial gain.”

The charges alleged in the indictments against these defendants for their alleged participation in these schemes are described in the following table:

Defendant	Charges (and maximum term of imprisonment)
Walid Jamil	Conspiracy to commit health care fraud (10 years) Specific instances of health care fraud (10 years each) Conspiracy to defraud the United States through the payment and receipt of illegal health care kickbacks (5 years) Payment of illegal healthcare kickbacks (10 years)
Jalal Jamil	Conspiracy to commit health care fraud (10 years) Specific instances of health care fraud (10 years each)
Carol Ibrahim	Conspiracy to commit health care fraud (10 years) Health care fraud (10 years) Conspiracy to defraud the United States through the payment of illegal health care kickbacks (5 years) Payment of illegal health care kickbacks (10 years)
Delaine Jackson	Conspiracy to commit health care fraud (10 years) Health care fraud (10 years) Conspiracy to defraud the United States through the payment of illegal health care kickbacks (5 years) Payment of illegal health care kickbacks (10 years)
Ibrahim Sammour	Conspiracy to commit health care fraud (10 years)
Mary Smelter-Bolton	Conspiracy to defraud the United States through the receipt of illegal health care kickbacks (5 years) Receipt of illegal health care kickbacks (10 years)
Cass Hawkins	Conspiracy to defraud the United States through the receipt of illegal health care kickbacks (5 years) Receipt of illegal health care kickbacks (10 years)
Radwan Malas	Conspiracy to commit health care fraud (10 years) Health care fraud (10 years) Conspiracy to defraud the United States through the payment and receipt of illegal health care kickbacks (5 years) Receipt of illegal health care kickbacks (10 years) Money laundering (10 years)
Alejandro Mataverde	Conspiracy to commit health care fraud (10 years) Health care fraud (10 years)
Cornelius Oprisiu	Conspiracy to commit health care fraud (10 years) Health care fraud (10 years)
Shafiq Rehman	Conspiracy to commit health care fraud (10 years) Health care fraud (10 years)
Michael Molloy	Conspiracy to commit health care fraud (10 years) Conspiracy to defraud the United States through payment of illegal health care kickbacks (5 years) Payment of illegal health care kickbacks (10 years)
Montaha Hogeige	Conspiracy to defraud the United States through the payment and receipt of illegal health care kickbacks (5 years)

Ten other individuals were also charged by criminal information for their alleged participation in the fraud schemes.

The FBI Detroit Field Office, HHS-OIG, and IRS-CI are investigating the cases.

Trial Attorney Shankar Ramamurthy of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is prosecuting the cases.

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 25 federal districts, has charged more than 5,000 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $24 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.

An indictment and an information are merely allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.