Month: March 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

FLINT – A Flint convenience store operator pleaded guilty this week to engaging in more than $1.1 million in fraudulent transactions involving food and nutrition benefit programs, United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced today.

Ison was joined in the announcement by Shantel R. Robinson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, Midwest Region.

Ranjit (“Nancy”) Ghotra, age 33, formerly of Swartz Creek, Michigan, pleaded guilty to wire fraud before United States District Judge F. Kay Behm. Ghotra assisted in the operation of Cheers Market, a convenience store in Flint, Michigan.

According to the information provided to the Court at the guilty plea hearing, Ghotra engaged in a fraud scheme involving the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. These programs are funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and provide benefits to raise the level of nutrition of low-income households and children.

As part of the scheme, Ghotra permitted beneficiaries of the SNAP and WIC programs to use their benefits to buy ineligible items, such as alcohol and tobacco, or allowed them to obtain cash instead of food products, in violation of program regulations. In each case, Ghotra charged program beneficiaries approximately double the amount in benefits as the price of the ineligible items purchased or the cash provided. Between 2017 and 2020, Ghotra carried out more than $1.1 million in fraudulent SNAP and WIC transactions.

While the federal prosecution was pending, Ghotra purchased an international plane ticket and attempted to leave the country in violation of her bond conditions. She was arrested at the gate at Chicago O’Hare International Airport with the assistance of Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Patrol agents, and returned to Michigan.

Ghotra faces a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for wire fraud. Judge Behm will ultimately determine the appropriate sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

“Ranjit Ghotra spent years defrauding benefits programs that were intended to assist low-income households, and especially children,” U.S. Attorney Ison said. “This guilty plea reflects my office’s commitment to protecting the integrity of federal programs that help ensure that everyone can afford to provide their families with healthy, nutritious food.”

“This investigation and prosecution should serve as warning to all stores participating in the WIC and SNAP programs as vendors that fraud and trafficking—the purchase of WIC and SNAP benefits for cash—will be vigorously investigated and prosecuted by the USDA-OIG, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and its stakeholders. The USDA-OIG thanks the U.S. Attorney’s Office, who prosecuted this case, Homeland Security Investigations, and Genesee County Sheriff’s office for their assistance with the investigation,” said Shantel R. Robinson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, Midwest Region.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations and the Genesee County Sheriff’s office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ann Nee and Adriana Dydell.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Gisele Nguyen, a pharmacist residing in Huntington Beach, California, has agreed to pay $3,933,993 to resolve allegations that she fraudulently billed the Medicare Program for medications that were never dispensed.

The United States alleged that, from at least Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 31, 2018, Nguyen, by and through the operation of Gisele Nguyen, Inc., doing business as Natico Pharmacy, which was located in Garden Grove, California, fraudulently submitted claims to Part D of the Medicare Program for prescription medications that were never dispensed to beneficiaries. According to the United States, inventory records showed that Natico Pharmacy did not purchase enough of these medications from wholesaler distributors to fill all of the prescriptions billed to Medicare.

“Federal health care programs provide critical health care services to millions of Americans,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We will hold accountable those who seek to defraud these programs, including by billing for goods or services that they did not provide.”

The resolution obtained in this matter was handled by the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

The investigation and resolution of this matter illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).

The matter was investigated by Senior Trial Counsel Jennifer Cihon, with assistance from Assistant U.S Attorney Zoran J. Segina for the Central District of California.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only. There has been no determination of liability.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On March 29, 2023, a grand jury charged Brian Luis Valentín-Ramos with five counts related to the possession, distribution and sale of child pornography; conspiring to illegally obtain information from protected computers; and cyberstalking, all in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1030(a)(2), 2252(a)(4)(B), 2252A(a)(2), 2252A(a)(4)(B), and 2261A(2)(B), announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. 

According to the Government’s allegations, since at least 2020 through 2023, Valentín-Ramos conspired with others to gain unauthorized access to social media accounts, including SnapChat, of female victims primarily in Puerto Rico.  These included victims at the University of Puerto Rico.  The conspirators would then steal intimate pictures of the victims from those accounts, which Valentín-Ramos would publicize and sell using Twitter, Reddit and Telegram. Valentín-Ramos would claim that “I sell my content because it was obtained via hacking making it exclusive.” 

Valentín-Ramos is further charged with cyberstalking one of his adult victims. 

Valentín-Ramos also possessed, distributed, and sold sexually explicit photos of two female minors, including one who was fifteen years old.

U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow of the District of Puerto Rico; and Joseph González, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI San Juan Field Office made the announcement.

The sale and distribution of child pornography charges carry a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of twenty years. Cyberstalking carries maximum sentence of five years of imprisonment. Possession of child pornography carries a maximum of 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. The defendant was arrested on Friday, March 24, and ordered detained pending trial due to an adjudication that he is a danger to the community.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeanette Collazo is in charge of the prosecution of the case.  FBI Special Agent Christian Nieves of the San Juan Cyber Division is in charge of the investigation.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Stuart M. Goldberg, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, and James C. Lee, Chief of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), announced that DANIEL WÄLCHLI pled guilty today to conspiring to defraud the United States in connection with a scheme to help wealthy American clients conceal more than $60 million in income and assets held in undeclared offshore bank accounts and evade U.S. income taxes.  WÄLCHLI was a member of the executive board of a Swiss holding company that owned, among other entities, a Zurich-based private bank called Privatbank IHAG Zurich AG (“IHAG”).  WÄLCHLI pled guilty earlier today before U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods. 

According to the allegations in the Indictment, court filings, and statements made in Court:

From in or about 2009 to in or about 2014, WÄLCHLI and his co-conspirators defrauded the IRS by concealing income and assets of three wealthy U.S. clients with undeclared bank accounts at IHAG.  In order to assist the U.S. clients, WÄLCHLI and his co-conspirators devised and implemented a scheme dubbed the “Singapore Solution” to fraudulently conceal the bank accounts of the U.S. clients, their assets, and their income from U.S. authorities.  In furtherance of the fraudulent scheme, WÄLCHLI and his co-conspirators agreed to transfer more than $60 million from undeclared IHAG bank accounts of the U.S. clients through a series of nominee bank accounts in Hong Kong and other locations before returning the funds to newly opened accounts at IHAG in the name of a Singapore-based asset-management firm that WÄLCHLI helped establish.  The U.S. clients paid large fees to IHAG and others to help them conceal their assets and evade U.S. income taxes. 

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WÄLCHLI, 55, of Switzerland, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. 

The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as WÄLCHLI’s sentence will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of IRS-CI.  Mr. Williams thanked the Department of Justice’s Tax Division for their partnership on this case. 

This prosecution is being handled by the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Department of Justice’s Tax Division.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Olga I. Zverovich of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and Senior Litigation Counsel Nanette Davis and Trial Attorney Christopher Magnani of the Tax Division are in charge of the prosecution.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina M. Khan, and Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager of the European Commission met today in Washington, D.C., for the third meeting of the U.S.-EU Joint Technology Competition Policy Dialogue (TCPD). The principals and senior staff met to continue work on cooperation in ensuring and promoting fair competition in the digital economy.

“Agencies around the world are adjusting their competition enforcement and regulatory regimes to account for new market realities and in particular the challenges of the digital economy,” said Assistant Attorney General Kanter. “Sharing best practices with the European Commission through the TCPD has been extraordinarily valuable to the U.S. agencies.”

“The Joint Dialogue continues to provide an invaluable forum for the U.S. agencies to engage with the European Commission on challenges in digital markets,” said FTC Chair Khan. “At this moment of unique risk and opportunity, it is especially critical that we deepen our cooperation with key enforcement partners.”

“Today’s meeting has proven once again how fruitful it is to keep engaging in a close cooperation between the European Commission and the U.S. competition authorities,” said European Commission Executive Vice President Vestager. “Exchanging our experiences and ideas on how best to anticipate and address the fast-moving trends in tech markets is vital for achieving the shared goal of a fair, inclusive and pro-competitive digital transformation, to the benefit of consumers and businesses in both the EU and U.S.”

The discussions centered on critical themes the agencies are facing, including the reasons mergers between digital players may lead to competition concerns. The agencies also shared policy reflections in the area of abuse of dominance and monopolization in the digital sector and presented recent policy initiatives in this field. They also exchanged views on the evolving business strategies of big tech companies as well as on their implications for enforcement.

The agencies also announced planned liaisons of agency experts from the Antitrust Division and the FTC in Brussels, with each agency sending an official to assist with implementation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

On Dec. 7, 2021, the Justice Department, the FTC, and the European Commission launched the TCPD to further boost transatlantic cooperation on competition policy and enforcement in the digital sector in light of the common challenges facing the three authorities. Upon its launch, the Commission and U.S. competition agencies issued a statement regarding the TCPD and reaffirming their longstanding tradition of close cooperation on competition matters. 

On June 15, 2021, President Biden and the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen launched the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC). The TTC serves as a forum for the United States and European Union to coordinate approaches to key global trade, economic and technology issues and to deepen transatlantic trade and economic relations based on shared democratic values.

The Justice Department, the FTC, and the European Commission have a longstanding tradition of close cooperation in antitrust enforcement and policy, beginning even before the formal 1991 cooperation agreement between the European Commission and the United States regarding the application of their competition laws.