Month: April 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Good afternoon.

I am David Newman, the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for National Security at the Department of Justice. Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen is attending to other important matters in Washington and could not be with us today. I’d like to extend my thanks to U.S. Attorney Peace, Assistant Director Driscoll and Assistant Director Sundberg for welcoming me in his stead to address these significant cases.

The trio of cases announced today detail how the People’s Republic of China, through its Ministry of Public Security, has engaged in a multi-front campaign to extend the reach and impacts of its authoritarian system into the United States and elsewhere around the world. It shows the PRC’s efforts to globalize the oppressive tactics used domestically in China to silence dissent.

Authoritarianism is a threat to democracy. The efforts of the government of the PRC to export authoritarian methods to stifle free expression in the United States is a threat to our democracy that we will not abide.

Today’s arrests and disruptions show that the Department of Justice is committed to using the rule-of-law to hold accountable authoritarian state actors who seek to threaten the integrity of American public discourse and the right to free expression that underpins our nation’s values. We are calling foul on conduct that should be out-of-bounds for any responsible nation-state actor.

The MPS is seen as the Chinese government’s principal national police authority. But the actual role of the MPS is broader, extending to intelligence and national security operations far beyond China’s borders, including the illicit, transnational repression schemes that are the targets of today’s actions.

Across these cases, the multi-dimensional nature of the PRC’s transnational repression playbook stands out: 

First, in the physical sense, the MPS established a concrete outpost – an off-the-books police station in New York City to monitor and intimidate dissidents and others critical of the PRC within one of the United States’ most vibrant diaspora communities. The complaint alleges that, on behalf of the MPS, two New Yorkers opened and operated that so-called police station starting in February 2022.

Next, in the virtual sense, the threat from the PRC manifested as its agents and operatives sought to interfere with online gatherings, online organizing and other social media critiques of the PRC regime – going so far as to conspire with an employee of a U.S.-based technology company to compromise the privacy of online, virtual meetings, which were being used by attendees as a modern-day means of public protest and an exercise of the freedom of assembly.

This fact pattern underscores the insider threat risk facing any U.S. company that does business in China and has employees in China.

In the second complaint just unsealed, we have charged 34 defendants with conspiring to harass and threaten U.S.-based critics of the PRC regime. The 34 defendants are MPS officers who are members of the “912 Special Project Working Group.” The group’s officers post, monitor and update content on various social media platforms that mirror and amplify PRC-approved public messaging.

Using false names, these fake accounts disseminate and amplify messages to manipulate public perception in favor of the PRC and to undermine and discredit its perceived adversaries, including the United States – as well as democracy generally.

The MPS also uses these accounts to extend the PRC’s reach – both online and off – in order to intimidate specific critics and dissidents.

To that end, a third complaint unsealed today – which amends and builds on a prior complaint – lays out how MPS officers targeted participants in virtual convenings hosted on the platform of a U.S. communications technology company. Participants included Chinese dissidents and critics of the regime based in the United States and around the world.

As described in the amended complaint, the actions of the MPS officers had a chilling effect on meeting participants – some of whom had fled the PRC and knew the PRC was likely monitoring them from abroad.

The complaint in that case also alleges that the MPS worked closely with another defendant to censor speech on the U.S. technology company’s platform, including speech in the United States.

As announced when the original complaint was filed in December 2020, that defendant was an employee of the U.S. technology company who was working in China. We allege that the defendant removed content critical of the PRC; fabricated evidence of terms of service violations in order to end virtual meetings critical of the PRC; and suspended and canceled user accounts that were critical of the PRC.

Whether through these physical or virtual means, these crimes created real effects for real victims in the United States – victims whose rights the Department of Justice is committed to protecting.

As the National Security Division continues to pursue its Strategy for Countering Nation-State Threats, we want to emphasize that our efforts, including today’s cases, are directed against the illicit actions of the PRC government and its agents – not the Chinese people, not the Chinese diaspora community in the United States and not at Americans of Chinese descent.

In our work in this space, we have seen that victims of transnational repression in the United States are too often individuals who came to the United States to benefit from the added protections that our Constitution and laws provide against authoritarianism and tyranny.

In the United States of America, the law protects all of us in the peaceful expression of our opinions, our beliefs, and our ideas. And in America, the law protects all of us equally from persecution, violence, and threats of violence.

As authoritarian governments – whether the PRC, Russia, Iran or others – become more brazen in their efforts to trample the rights and liberties that are the bedrock of our democracy, the Department of Justice will redouble its efforts to defend our democracy, our democratic institutions, and our sovereignty.

I’ll add my congratulations to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Attorney Peace’s team in the Eastern District of New York and my colleagues within the National Security Division, for their unflagging and continuing efforts to defend democracy from nation-state threats, regardless of where they originate.

Thank you.        

Source: United States Department of Justice News

CONCORD – A Philadelphia man was sentenced in federal court for distributing and aiding and abetting the transportation of child sexual abuse material, U.S Attorney Jane E. Young announces.

Michael Wilcox, 33, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Laplante to 90 months in prison and 5 years of supervised release. Wilcox was also ordered to pay $8,000 in restitution.  

“Today’s sentence sends a strong message to those who exploit the most vulnerable members of our community that they will be prosecuted, and upon conviction, they will be sentenced to lengthy periods of incarceration,” United States Attorney Jane E. Young said.  “We will work tirelessly to expose the perpetrators of these heinous crimes and bring them to justice.”

Wilcox engaged in sexually explicit online chats with a law enforcement officer on various social media platforms.  During those chats, Wilcox offered to sell child sexual abuse material to the undercover officer in exchange for payment via CashApp.  Wilcox sent various images and videos of child sexual abuse material to the undercover officer as “samples” of material that he had available for sale.  He later sent links to online cloud storage folders that contained hundreds of additional images, many of them depicting child sexual abuse material.

Homeland Security Investigations led the investigation. Valuable assistance was provided by the Nashua Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kasey Weiland prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

On April 13 and 14, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division traveled to Vilnius, Lithuania, to meet with the Ukraine Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which is investigating core international crimes committed in Ukraine.

Representatives of the JIT in attendance were from the countries of Lithuania, Ukraine, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, and Romania, as well as Eurojust and the International Criminal Court.

“We had productive conversations on ongoing investigations, and I pledged the U.S. Department of Justice’s increased support,” said Assistant Attorney General Polite. “Just one month ago, on March 3, in Lviv, Ukraine, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with all seven JIT national members, becoming the first country to do so. On Thursday, in an effort to further strengthen this partnership, the U.S. Department of Justice pledged to second an experienced prosecutor to the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine (ICPA) that will be based at Eurojust in The Hague. We look forward to providing additional resources to assist our colleagues from Ukraine and other JIT member partners, including by sharing our expertise to enhance investigations into atrocities committed by Russian perpetrators. Our mission is clear, our resolve will not weaken, and our determination to seek justice will not waiver. The U.S. Department of Justice is committed to holding Russian perpetrators accountable for their brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.”

One of the main agenda points of the JIT coordination meeting was the implementation of the ICPA implementation and future work. The ICPA will be part of the existing support structure for the JIT at Eurojust at The Hague, with a specific focus on supporting and enhancing investigations into the crime of aggression against Ukraine. AAG Polite concluded April 13 by attending a reception organized by the Lithuanian Prosecutor General’s Office.

On April 14, AAG Polite attended separate meetings with Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin and Prosecutor General of the Republic of Lithuania Nida Grunskienė. They discussed the U.S. contribution to the ICPA and the development of Eurojust’s Core International Crimes Evidence Database. The three leaders and Eurojust Vice-President and National Member for Lithuania, Ms. Margarita Šniutytė-Daugėlienė, delivered remarks at a press conference with Lithuanian press.

AAG Polite also had a courtesy call with U.S. Ambassador Robert Gilchrist and Deputy Chief of Mission Tamir Waser to convey the Department’s gratitude for the Embassy’s support for the Justice Department’s personnel and programs.  

The AAG’s trip concluded with a visit to Lithuania’s Old Town city.  

Partners agreed to cooperate extensively and to their shared commitment and dedication to ensuring that Russian war crimes in Ukraine are prosecuted to the fullest extent.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

DETROIT, Mich. – A West Bloomfield physician pleaded guilty today to illegally distributing over 7,000 oxycodone pills, a Schedule II prescription drug-controlled substance, announced United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison.

Ison was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Orville Greene, Drug Enforcement Administration, Detroit Field Division.

Scott Henry Cooper, 61, pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Denise Page Hood. 

According to court records, Cooper practiced as a primary care physician at a medical clinic, Comprehensive Medical Associates, located in West Bloomfield, MI, from 2013 through 2018.  A portion of his practice involved patients who sought highly abused and valuable prescription drug-controlled substances such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, methadone, alprazolam (Xanax) and dextroamphetamine-amphetamine (Adderall).  The defendant was required by his employer to see Medicaid (low income) patients. Cooper admitted that his controlled substance patients were problem patients, he did not want to see them, and in fact he often did not see them while continuing to prescribe controlled substances. 

One such patient served time in prison from January 9, 2015 until December 7, 2017.  For almost three years the defendant wrote monthly prescriptions for the patient without an examination or determination of medical necessity.  The prescriptions were picked up at the front desk by a relative while the patient was in prison.  The drugs prescribed by Cooper to the patient while the patient was in prison totaled over 7,000 dosage units.  The count of conviction relates to a prescription written on October 16, 2017,  without an examination or determination of medical necessity.  The prescription was for 120 dosage units of oxycodone 15mg.   

Under the terms of the guilty plea agreement, the judge must impose a sentence of at least 44 months in prison and may impose a sentence of up to 87 months of imprisonment.  The exact sentence imposed will be determined at sentencing, which will take place on August 24, 2023, at 2 PM. 

The defendant has not been able to prescribe any prescription drug-controlled substances since June of 2020, due to bond conditions imposed by the court. 

“A doctor who supplies a patient with addictive and dangerous controlled substances without assessing the patient’s need for the drugs endangers the patient and the community,” stated U.S. Attorney Ison. “My office is committed to keeping highly addictive opioids off the street, and we will aggressively investigate and prosecute doctors who illegally distribute controlled substances.”

Special Agent in Charge Orville stated, ““Dr. Cooper’s actions were reckless and criminal. This type of negligence by medical personnel is what fuels addiction. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate and hold accountable those who act illegally and put patients’ health and safety at risk.”

The case was investigated by agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Wayne F. Pratt of the Health Care Fraud Unit.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department announced today the indictment and arrest of John Can Unsalan, aka Hurrem Can Unsalan, the president of Metalhouse LLC, for engaging in a three-year scheme to violate U.S. sanctions against oligarch Sergey Kurchenko and two of Kurchenko’s companies by providing those sanctioned parties with over $150 million in return for steelmaking materials.

As alleged in the indictment, between July 2018 and October 2021, Unsalan, 41, of Orlando, Florida, acting through his company, Metalhouse, transferred over $150 million to Kurchenko and companies controlled by Kurchenko. In return, Unsalan received from Kurchenko metal products used in steelmaking and attempted to collect from Kurchenko millions of dollars of funds for undelivered products.

“The arrest of John Can Unsalan should serve as a warning to those who seek to do business with sanctioned individuals or entities that endanger the security of the United States and our allies,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice Department is relentlessly pursuing those whose seek to evade sanctions imposed against the Russian regime and whose crimes enable the regime to continue its unjust, illegal war in Ukraine.”

“For over three years, the defendant pursued personal profit at the expense of our national security, by unlawfully transacting with sanctioned entities that were propping up puppet governments in Russian-occupied Ukraine, as alleged in today’s indictment,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “The Department of Justice will use all of its authorities to stop those who would conspire with Kremlin cronies to support Russia’s unprovoked attacks on Ukraine.” 

“For years, John Can Unsalan engaged in a scheme to do business with a sanctioned oligarch and his company through more than $150 million in illegal transactions,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “Today’s arrest demonstrates the FBI’s steadfast commitment to pursue those who seek to violate sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s unprovoked aggression toward Ukraine.”  

“Economic sanctions are critical tools used to protect the national security of the United States and our allies,” said Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the FBI Washington Field Office. “During a three-year scheme, Unsalan allegedly transferred $150 million to Sergey Kurchenko, who was sanctioned for his role in misappropriating Ukrainian state assets. Let the defendant’s arrest serve as a reminder of the FBI’s commitment to bringing to justice those who try to evade U.S. sanctions in an effort to support sanctioned Russian oligarchs.”

“As highlighted by this arrest, we are firmly committed to enforcing the sanctions imposed by the United States against Russia for its malevolent military invasion of Ukraine,” said U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg for the Middle District of Florida. “Thanks to the dedicated investigative work by our law enforcement partners, an individual who willfully sent more than $150 million to a sanctioned oligarch is facing the possibility of a lengthy term of imprisonment.”

Kurchenko was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in 2015 for his role in misappropriating state assets of Ukraine or of an economically significant entity in Ukraine. The two sanctioned companies – Kompaniya Gaz-Alyans, OOO (Gaz-Alyans), based in the Russian Federation, and ZAO Vneshtorgservis (Vneshtorgservis), based in the Russian occupied Georgian region of South Ossetia – were designated by OFAC in 2018 for acting on behalf of and providing material support to the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic in the separatist-controlled regions of eastern Ukraine. 

Unsalan allegedly engaged in trade with these sanctioned individuals and entities to procure steelmaking equipment and raw material despite knowing that Kurchenko, Gaz-Alyans, and Vneshtorgservis were subject to U.S. sanctions that prohibited Unsalan from doing business with them. No licenses from OFAC were applied for or issued for these payments or transfers. 

Unsalan is charged with one count of conspiring to violate and evade U.S. sanctions, in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA); 10 counts of violating IEEPA; one count of conspiring to commit international money laundering; and ten counts of international money laundering. The indictment also provides notice of the United States’ intention to forfeit from Unsalan the proceeds of his offenses.  

Unsalan made his initial court appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Norway of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count of conviction. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI Tampa Field Office, Orlando Resident Agency, and Washington Field Office, International Corruption Unit, are investigating the case, with valuable assistance provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and OFAC. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Chauncey A. Bratt for the Middle District of Florida, Trial Attorney Emma Ellenrieder of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, and Trial Attorney Sean O’Dowd of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section are prosecuting the case.

The investigation was coordinated through the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export controls and economic countermeasures that the United States, along with its foreign allies and partners, has imposed in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine. Announced by the Attorney General on March 2, 2022, and under the leadership of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, the task force will continue to leverage all of the department’s tools and authorities to combat efforts to evade or undermine the collective actions taken by the U.S. government in response to Russian military aggression.

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