Month: March 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Rosemary Ogbenna, 46, of the District of Columbia, was sentenced today to 32 months in prison for felony charges relating to her scheme to steal more than $400,000 in government benefit funds, provided by the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA), intended for the care and benefit of government beneficiaries.

            Ogbenna pleaded guilty on June 28, 2022, in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to charges of mail fraud and false statements. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Trevor N. McFadden ordered 36 months of supervised release and ordered Ogbenna to pay restitution in the amount of $523,696. He also ordered forfeiture in the same amount. Her sentences on the two counts were ordered to run concurrently.

            The sentence was announced today by United States Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Special Agent in Charge Michael McGill, of the Social Security Administration (SSA) – Office of Inspector General (OIG), Philadelphia Field Division, Special Agent in Charge Kim Lampkins, of the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) – Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Mid-Atlantic Field Office, and Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program Christy Goldsmith Romero.

            According to the facts admitted in her guilty plea, Ogbenna perpetrated a scheme in which she obtained and used SSA and VA benefit funds – which were intended for the care of elderly, mentally ill, disabled, and veteran beneficiaries – for her own personal use and benefit. According to Court documents, Ogbenna stole more than $400,000 in government benefits funds intended for the benefit of others who had been tenants of her rooming house business.

            The Social Security Administration administers benefit programs under federal law, including the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (“OASDI”) program, which provides monthly benefit funds to qualified retired and disabled workers and their dependents, and to survivors of insured workers. Eligibility and benefit amounts under this program are determined by a worker’s contributions to Social Security. Under another program, qualifying individuals receive monthly benefit funds under the Supplemental Security Income for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled (“SSI”) and related programs. 

            The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs serves the needs of American veterans, including providing monthly government benefit funds through its Veterans Benefits Administration.

            As Ogbenna admitted in Court documents, she carried out a scheme between at least March 19, 2009 and February 23, 2020, in which she obtained and maintained control over SSA benefit funds for some tenants of her rooming house business by becoming the Representative Payee of their SSA benefit funds. Although a Representative Payee has a duty to use SSA benefits solely on behalf of the beneficiary, Ogbenna used a portion of those funds for her own personal use and benefit. Ogbenna also gained control over some tenants’ monthly VA benefits and used a portion of those VA benefit funds for her personal use and benefit without authority. In addition, Ogbenna made false statements to agents investigating the fraud scheme, claiming she had paid back a beneficiary for using their intended funds when she had not.

            This case was investigated by the Social Security Administration (SSA) – Office of Inspector General (OIG), the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) – Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Lucas of the Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, prosecuted the case, supported by Financial Analyst Bryan Snitselaar and former Paralegal Specialist Chad Byron, and Paralegal Specialists Mariela Andrade, Daniel Haines, and Lisa Abbe.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – A Georgia man was found guilty in the District of Columbia of felony charges for his actions during the January 6, 2021, Capitol breach. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

            Bruno Joseph Cua, 20, of Milton, Georgia, was found guilty during a stipulated trial on February 24^th of two felonies: obstruction of an official proceeding; and assaulting, resisting, interfering with, intimidating, opposing, or impeding officers. The trial was conducted by U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss.

            According to the government’s evidence, the defendant and his parents drove from Milton, Georgia to Washington, D.C. on January 5, 2021. On January 6, 2021, they attended the rally at the Washington Monument, during which President Trump told the crowd they should walk down to the Capitol. After arriving on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, the defendant separated from his parents. With an asp baton in his hands, the defendant climbed scaffolding on the west side of the U.S. Capitol building.

            The defendant entered the Capitol through the Upper West Terrace doors at approximately 2:36 p.m., past a line of United States Capitol Police (USCP) officers who were guarding the door as an alarm was blaring. He walked through the Rotunda, and then up the stairs to the third floor.

            While on the third floor, the defendant walked down a hallway, tried to open multiple doors, and yelled, “This is what happens when you piss off patriots!”, “Hey! Where are the swamp rats hiding?!”, and “Where are the swamp rats hiding at?”

            At approximately 2:41 p.m., the defendant reached the doors to the Senate Gallery. At that time, on-duty USCP officers were attempting to lock the doors to the Senate Gallery to prevent the Senate Gallery and Senate Floor from being breached by the mob. The defendant assaulted one of the USCP officers by violently shoving him at least twice. As a result of the defendant’s and others’ actions, the officer retreated from the doors, without locking them.  

            At approximately 2:45 p.m., the defendant rushed into the Senate Gallery and yelled in celebration “This is our house! This is our country!” After several minutes in the Senate Gallery, the defendant jumped from the Senate Gallery down to the Senate Floor, where he walked directly to the dais at the center of the Senate Chamber, where the Secretary of the Senate, the Vice President of the United States, presides over the Senate. The defendant sat in the Vice President’s chair, reclined, and put his feet up on the desk. The defendant spent several minutes on the Senate Floor, during which time he accessed several desks belonging to U.S. Senators and helped other rioters enter the Senate Chamber.

            Law enforcement escorted the defendant out of the Capitol at 2:53 p.m.

            Before the attack on the Capitol, the defendant made multiple statements on social media about his plans to violently interrupt the certification proceedings. After January 6, the defendant made several more statements on social media confirming his participation in the riot, the use of violence during the riot, and his belief that additional violence may be necessary in the future.

            The defendant was arrested on February 5, 2021, in Georgia.

            The defendant is scheduled for sentencing on May 12, 2023. The felony obstruction charge carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The assault charge carries a statutory maximum sentence of 8 years in prison. The charges also carry potential financial penalties. The Court will determine the sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.

            The case was investigated by the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and the U.S. Capitol Police.

            In the 25 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 985 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including approximately 319 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.

            Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JAMAL ADAMSON, a/k/a “J-Rock,” was sentenced today to 25 years in prison for the June 20, 2010, murder of David Moore in East Harlem and other racketeering offenses.  ADAMSON previously pled guilty before United States District Judge Gregory H. Woods, who imposed the sentence.   

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Jamal Adamson callously took the life of another during a gang-related shooting.  As today’s sentence shows, those who commit acts of gang violence in New York City are subject to spending serious time in federal prison.”

As alleged in the Indictment and other documents filed in federal court and based on statements made in public court proceedings:

The Cash Money Boys (“CMB”) gang was a criminal enterprise involved in committing numerous acts of violence, including murder, attempted murder, robberies, and assaults, in and around Manhattan.  Members and associates of CMB engaged in violence to retaliate against rival gangs, to promote the standing and reputation of CMB, and to protect the gang’s narcotics sales. 

From at least in or about 2006 to in or about 2017, members and associates of CMB regularly distributed crack cocaine and other drugs in the vicinity of Lexington Avenue between East 122^nd Street and East 123^rd Street.  CMB controlled drug sales within this area by preventing non-members, outsiders, and rival drug dealers from selling drugs in the area controlled by the gang.  This included gang members shooting at, assaulting, and/or robbing other drug dealers and members of rival gangs who entered CMB’s territory.  

On June 20, 2010, after members of CMB and a rival gang got into a physical altercation, ADAMSON shot and killed David Moore, 23, near the corner of East 122^nd Street and Lexington Avenue. 

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In addition to his prison sentence, ADAMSON, 28, of New York, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release.    

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of the Special Agents of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the New York City Police Department.   

The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maurene Comey, Dominic A. Gentile, Christopher J. Clore, and Peter J. Davis are in charge of the prosecution.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department announced today a $9 million agreement to resolve allegations that Park National Bank (Park National), headquartered in Newark, Ohio, engaged in a pattern or practice of lending discrimination by “redlining” in the Columbus metropolitan area. The agreement is part of the Justice Department’s nationwide Combating Redlining Initiative that Attorney General Merrick B. Garland launched in October 2021.

“For far too long the doors to home ownership have been shut for Black families and many other people of color because of unlawful redlining by banks and other financial institutions,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “When banks fail to provide equal access to lending services in neighborhoods of color, they engage in modern day redlining and exacerbate the racial wealth gap in our country. The Justice Department will continue to fight to fulfill the promise of our nation’s fair lending laws while tearing down the discriminatory barriers that deny Black people and other people of color access to economic opportunity and homeownership.” 

“Let today’s settlement send a very clear message to banks: we will not tolerate discriminatory lending practices and we will hold you accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker for the Southern District of Ohio. “We are committed to enforcing fair lending laws, which require financial institutions to provide equal opportunity for every American to obtain home loans and credit. We take very seriously our duty and honor to uphold those laws.”

Redlining is an illegal practice in which lenders avoid providing credit services to individuals living in communities of color because of the race, color or national origin of the residents in those communities. The complaint filed in federal court in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio today alleges that, from at least 2015 to 2021, Park National failed to provide mortgage lending services by redlining majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in the Columbus area. Specifically, the complaint alleges that all of Park National’s branches and mortgage lenders in the Columbus area were concentrated in majority-white neighborhoods, and that the bank failed to take any meaningful measures to compensate for its lack of physical presence in majority-Black and Hispanic communities.

Under the proposed consent order, which was also filed today in federal court and is subject to court approval, Park National has agreed, among other things, to do the following:

• Invest at least $7.75 million in a loan subsidy fund to increase access to credit for home mortgage, improvement, and refinance loans, as well as home equity loans and lines of credit, in majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in the Columbus area; $750,000 in outreach, advertising, consumer financial education, and credit counseling initiatives; and $500,000 in developing community partnerships to provide services to residents of majority-Black and Hispanic areas that expand access to residential mortgage credit;

• Open one new branch and one new mortgage loan production office in majority Black-and Hispanic neighborhoods in the Columbus area; ensure that a minimum of four mortgage lenders, at least one of whom is Spanish-speaking, are assigned to serve these neighborhoods; and maintain the full-time position of Director of Community Home Lending and Development, who is responsible for overseeing lending in majority-Black and Hispanic areas; and

• Conduct a Community Credit Needs Assessment, a research-based market study, to help identify the needs for financial services in majority-Black and Hispanic census tracts in the Columbus area.

Park National worked cooperatively with the department to remedy the redlining concerns that were identified and has agreed to settle this matter without contested litigation.

The Justice Department’s Combating Redlining Initiative is a coordinated enforcement effort to address this persistent form of discrimination against communities of color. Since the Initiative was launched, the department has announced six redlining cases and settlements and secured $84 million in relief for communities of color that have been victims of lending discrimination across the country. This includes a $31 million settlement with City National Bank, the largest in Justice Department history.

More information about the department’s fair lending enforcement can be found at www.justice.gov/fairhousing. Individuals may report lending discrimination by calling the Justice Department’s housing discrimination tip line at 1-833-591-0291 or submitting a report online.