Month: October 2024

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Deputy Attorney General (Deputy AG) Lisa Monaco traveled to Mirabella Eclano, Italy, on Oct. 3-4 for the G7 Interior Ministers Meeting, where she highlighted the importance of international partnerships in supporting the rule of law and protecting against persistent global threats.

The Deputy AG described the current threat environment to her G7 colleagues as a time where the threats have never been more diverse — from more aggressive actors — and all fueled by international conflicts and emerging, disruptive technologies — especially cyber and AI. She urged the ministers to stay united against threats posed by autocratic nations like Russia, Iran, and China looking to project power at home and abroad through transnational repression, malicious cyber activity, the abuse of emerging technologies, such as AI and cryptocurrencies, and malign foreign influence — especially in a global election year.

The Deputy AG joined her colleagues in committing to deepening international collaboration against these threats, as well as against terrorism, malign cyber actors, and synthetic drugs such as fentanyl. She shared how the Justice Department is targeting the broader ecosystem that allows cyber criminals and malign nation state actors to flourish — by prioritizing disruptions and placing victims first — and also highlighted how the Department is tackling all aspects of the deadly fentanyl supply chain, in every part of the globe, to protect innocent lives.

Ahead of the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s brutal October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel, the Deputy AG and Ministers unequivocally condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all forms, both online and offline. They pledged to continue the information sharing and law enforcement partnerships that are integral to thwarting acts of terror around the world. 

The Deputy AG and ministers also met virtually with Ukrainian Interior Minister, Ihor Klymenko, and reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine and their resolve to hold Russia accountable for the war crimes and atrocities it is perpetrating in its war of aggression. She reiterated the need for sustained coordination in these efforts and underscored the Justice Department’s continued efforts to deprive the Russian war machine of funding and supplies. She joined the other ministers in announcing new efforts to help Ukraine build the rule of law and fight corruption, including through a new G7 Anti-Corruption Task Force.

As part of their efforts to build cooperation and coordination among the G7 to promote the rule of law around the world, the Deputy AG and Ministers discussed common frameworks to harness the promise of AI while also protecting against the perils of its abuse. The Deputy AG cautioned that AI is changing how crimes are committed, from intensifying cyberattacks, to making fraud scams more believable, to creating child exploitative material, to supercharging malign foreign influence in elections.

On the margins of the G7 Ministerial, the Deputy AG held several bilateral meetings, including with United Kingdom Home Secretary Yvette Cooper; Canadian Minister of Public Safety Dominic Leblanc; German Minister of Interior Nancy Faeser; and European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson. The Deputy AG also met with the G7 host, Italian Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi, to thank him for his leadership of the G7 and his hospitality. In all these discussions, the Deputy AG reinforced the steadfast commitment of the Justice Department to partnerships that uphold the rule of law and strengthen democracies around the world. 

Source: United States Department of Justice

A federal grand jury in Detroit charged a Michigan attorney yesterday with filing false tax returns and willfully failing to file tax returns.

According to the indictment, Shawn Smith, who calls himself “Shawn the Law,” is a lawyer residing in Birmingham. For 2017 through 2020, Smith allegedly filed false individual income tax returns that did not report hundreds of thousands of dollars of gross receipts that he earned from his law business. In addition, Smith allegedly did not file an individual income tax return for 2021 and 2022.

If convicted, Smith faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison for each false return count and a maximum penalty of one year in prison for each count of failing to file a tax return. 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, U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison for the Eastern District of Michigan and IRS Special Agent in Charge Charles Miller made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Jeffrey A. McLellan and Kenneth C. Vert of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

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

Source: United States Department of Justice

A federal grand jury in Los Angeles returned an indictment yesterday charging a California man with evading the payment of his individual income taxes and obstructing the IRS in its efforts to collect those taxes.

According to the indictment, Gabriel Guerrero, a Los Angeles-based commercial real estate agent, did not timely file tax returns for many years. In 2014, he allegedly filed more than 10 years’ worth of returns but did not pay the amounts he self-reported he owed. When the IRS began trying to collect those outstanding taxes, Guerrero allegedly sought to prevent the IRS from being able to do so in at least two ways: by not depositing substantial commission checks he earned from commercial real estate sales into his bank accounts and using cashier’s checks to circumvent IRS levies of those accounts. The indictment also alleges that Guerrero further obstructed collection efforts by submitting false financial disclosure forms to the IRS, which significantly underreported his income and by not disclosing a bank account he used to deposit his income.

In total, Guerrero is alleged to have caused a tax loss to the IRS of more than $350,000.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for tax evasion and three years in prison for obstructing the IRS. 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 and U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Robert Kemins and Christopher Gerace of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Arkow for the Central District of California are prosecuting the case.

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

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department announced today that a federal court in the Western District of Wisconsin has entered a preliminary injunction requiring the Town of Thornapple, Wisconsin, to comply with federal law by offering an accessible voting system at each of its polling places during the Nov. 5 federal general election.

“This preliminary injunction affirms the right of voters with disabilities to participate on the same terms as every other voter,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Help America Vote Act protects that right in every town in Wisconsin, and every jurisdiction across the country, by requiring that every voter has the opportunity to use an accessible voting system.”

The United States filed a complaint on Sept. 20 alleging that the Town of Thornapple, among other defendants, had violated Section 301 of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) by failing to provide voting systems that allowed voters with disabilities to participate in the same private and independent manner as other voters during Wisconsin’s April and August federal primary elections. The preliminary injunction requires Thornapple to comply with Section 301 of HAVA by making available an accessible system during the Nov. 5 federal general election. The injunction also requires Thornapple to prominently post signage alerting voters that an accessible system is available for use, to train election officials on the use of that system, to certify to the court by Oct. 31 that its accessible system is ready for use in the November general election and to allow Justice Department personnel to monitor compliance with the terms of the injunction.

Congress passed HAVA in 2002 in part to make in-person voting more accessible for voters with disabilities. Among other things, Section 301 of HAVA requires that each polling place used for federal elections provide at least one voting system that provides voters with disabilities the same opportunity for access and participation as other voters are provided, including the same opportunity to cast ballots privately and independently.

More information about voting and elections, including guidance documents and other resources, is available at www.justice.gov/voting. Learn more about HAVA and other federal voting laws at www.justice.gov/crt/voting-section. Complaints about possible violations of federal voting rights laws can be submitted at civilrights.justice.gov or by telephone at 1-800-253-3931.