Month: November 2024

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A federal jury convicted a pharmacy owner and his brother today for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Raad Kouza, a pharmacist in Wayne County, Michigan, and his brother, Ramis Kouza, of Oakland County, Michigan, billed Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for prescription medications that they did not dispense at pharmacies they owned or operated in Michigan. The defendants collectively caused over $15 million of loss to Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

Raad Kouza and Ramis Kouza were convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud. Raad Kouza was also convicted of one count of health care fraud. Both defendants face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the conspiracy count, and Raad Kouza faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the health care fraud count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing hearings will be set at a later date.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge Cheyvoryea Gibson of the FBI Detroit Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Mario Pinto of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement.

The FBI Detroit Field Office and HHS-OIG investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Claire Sobczak Pacelli, Jeffrey A. Crapko, and Andres Q. Almendarez of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

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, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,400 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $27 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against the Mississippi State Senate for discriminating against a Black former staff attorney in its Legislative Services Office (LSO). The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, alleges that the Senate paid her about half the salary of her white colleagues in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII).

Title VII is a federal statute that prohibits racial discrimination in compensation and other forms of employment discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin or religion.

“Discriminatory employment practices, like paying a Black employee less than their white colleagues for the same work, are not only unfair, they are unlawful,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Black employee at issue in this lawsuit was paid about half the salary of her white colleagues in violation of federal law. This lawsuit makes clear that race-based pay discrimination will not be tolerated in our economy. Our work to eliminate race-based pay disparities is about promoting compliance with the law and promoting equity and fairness for all workers.”

The department alleges in the complaint that the Senate discriminated against Kristie Metcalfe by paying her significantly less than every other LSO attorney, all of whom were white. The complaint further alleges that Ms. Metcalfe and these other attorneys had substantially the same job responsibilities and yet she was paid less than these attorneys throughout her eight-year tenure. The LSO is a non-partisan office that provides legal services, such as drafting bills, for all members of the Senate. In the 34 years prior to Ms. Metcalfe’s hire, the LSO employed only white attorneys.

The complaint alleges the pay gap between Ms. Metcalfe and her white colleagues began when she was hired and was perpetuated in several additional discriminatory pay actions. In 2011, Ms. Metcalfe was paid a starting salary significantly lower than any LSO attorney in over 30 years. Just one month after her hire, every attorney but Ms. Metcalfe was given a substantial raise, further widening the pay gap and leaving her with a salary less than half of what her white colleagues were earning. In the following years, the Senate consistently paid Ms. Metcalfe many times less than her white colleagues. Finally, near the end of Ms. Metcalfe’s tenure, the Senate hired a white attorney with no previous legislative experience and a similar number of years of legal experience as Ms. Metcalfe at a salary significantly higher than Ms. Metcalfe’s. At a meeting with Senate officials responsible for setting LSO salaries, Ms. Metcalfe complained about the pay disparity with the new hire, but the Senate denied her request for comparable pay.

Through this lawsuit, the department is seeking back pay and compensatory damages for Ms. Metcalfe, in addition to injunctive and other appropriate relief.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)’s Jackson Area Office investigated and attempted to resolve Ms. Metcalfe’s charge of discrimination before referring it to the Justice Department for litigation. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov.

The full and fair enforcement of Title VII is a top priority of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division and the Employment Litigation Section is available at www.justice.gov/crt/ and www.justice.gov/crt/employment-litigation-section.

Trial Attorneys Louis Whitsett and Young Choi of the Civil Rights Division’s Employment Litigation Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney James Graves III for the Southern District of Mississippi are handling the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Shakeri Was Tasked by Iranian Regime with Surveilling and Plotting to Assassinate President-Elect Donald J. Trump

Note: View the criminal complaint here. 

Farhad Shakeri, 51, of Iran; Carlisle Rivera, also known as Pop, 49, of Brooklyn, New York; and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, of Staten Island, New York, were charged today in a criminal complaint in connection with their alleged involvement in a plot to murder a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin in New York. Rivera was arrested in Brooklyn, New York, and Loadholt was arrested in Staten Island, New York, yesterday. Shakeri remains at large and is believed to reside in Iran. Rivera and Loadholt made their initial appearance in the Southern District of New York yesterday and were ordered detained pending trial.

“There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice Department has charged an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump. We have also charged and arrested two individuals who we allege were recruited as part of that network to silence and kill, on U.S. soil, an American journalist who has been a prominent critic of the regime. We will not stand for the Iranian regime’s attempts to endanger the American people and America’s national security.”

“The charges announced today expose Iran’s continued brazen attempts to target U.S. citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump, other government leaders and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — a designated foreign terrorist organization — has been conspiring with criminals and hitmen to target and gun down Americans on U.S. soil and that simply won’t be tolerated. Thanks to the hard work of the FBI, their deadly schemes were disrupted.  We’re committed to using the full resources of the FBI to protect our citizens from Iran or any other adversary who targets Americans.”

“Actors directed by the Government of Iran continue to target our citizens, including President-elect Trump, on U.S. soil and abroad. This has to stop,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York. “Today’s charges are another message to those who continue in their efforts – we will remain unrelenting in our pursuit of bad actors, no matter where they reside, and will stop at nothing to bring to justice those who harm our safety and security. I want to thank the career prosecutors of this office and our law enforcement partners for their ongoing work in this and related investigations.  They are truly the best of the best and work tirelessly to keep our country safe.” 

According to the complaint and other public statements and filings, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran (the Government of Iran) is actively targeting nationals of the United States and its allies living in countries around the world for attacks, including assault, kidnapping, and murder, both to repress and silence dissidents critical of the Iranian regime and to take vengeance for the January 2020 death of then-Commander of the Islamic  Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qods Force (IRGC-QF), Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad. The IRGC is an Iranian military and counterintelligence agency under the authority of Iran’s Supreme Leader, comprised of components including an external operations force, the IRGC-QF, and has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. Secretary of State since April 15, 2019. The IRGC has publicly stated its desire to avenge the death of Soleimani, and, among its activities, the IRGC plots and conducts attack operations outside Iran targeting U.S. citizens residing in the United States and abroad.

Shakeri is an IRGC asset residing in Tehran, Iran. Shakeri immigrated to the United States as a child and was deported in or about 2008 after serving 14 years in prison for a robbery conviction. In recent months, Shakeri has used a network of criminal associates he met in prison in the United States to supply the IRGC with operatives to conduct surveillance and assassinations of IRGC targets. Two members of Shakeri’s network are his co-defendants, Loadholt and Rivera. At Shakeri’s instruction, Loadholt and Rivera have spent months surveilling a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin residing in the United States (Victim-1). Victim-1 is an outspoken critic of the Iranian regime and has been the target of multiple prior plots for kidnapping and/or murder directed by the Government of Iran. In exchange for Shakeri’s promise of $100,000, Rivera and Loadholt repeatedly sought to locate Victim-1 for murder.

During their efforts to locate and kill Victim-1, Shakeri, Loadholt, and Rivera shared messages about their progress and photographs relating to their scheme. For example, in or about February 2024, Rivera and Loadholt messaged about an incoming payment from Shakeri, and then traveled to Fairfield University, where Victim-1 was scheduled to appear, and took photographs on campus. In or about April, Shakeri sent Rivera a series of voice notes discussing their efforts to locate and kill Victim-1. In one voice note, Shakeri told Rivera that Victim-1 spent most of her time in particular locations of her home, and told Rivera that “you just gotta have patience … You gotta wait and have patience to catch her either going in the house or coming out, or following her out somewhere and taking care of it. Don’t think about going in. In is a suicide move.” On several occasions over the last several months, consistent with this instruction from Shakeri, Rivera and/or Loadholt have surveilled a location in Brooklyn that they had identified as associated with Victim-1.

In addition, according to statements made by Shakeri in recorded interviews with law enforcement agents, the IRGC has also tasked Shakeri with carrying out other assassinations against U.S. and Israeli citizens located in the United States. In particular, Shakeri has informed law enforcement that he was tasked on Oct. 7, 2024, with providing a plan to kill President-elect Donald J. Trump. During the interview, Shakeri claimed he did not intend to propose a plan to kill Trump within the timeframe set by the IRGC. He also stated he was tasked with surveilling two Jewish American citizens residing in New York City and offered $500,000 by an IRGC official for the murder of either victim. He was also tasked with targeting Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka.

Shakeri, Rivera, and Loadholt have all been charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; and money laundering conspiracy, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Shakeri has also been charged with conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison;  providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and sanctions against the Government of Iran, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. If convicted, a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI New York Field Office is investigating the case. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection New York Field Office and Drug Enforcement Administration New York Division assisted in the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacob H. Gutwillig and Michael Lockard and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Isaacson for the Southern District of New York, Trial Attorneys Dmitry Slavin of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, and Christopher Rigali and Leslie Esbrook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

A complaint 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

A Florida man and woman both pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring to defraud the United States by not paying employment taxes to the IRS.

According to court documents and statements made in court, William Skaggs Jr. owned and operated Nastar Roofing, a roofing company that operated throughout the Fort Myers area. Billie Adkison was the business’s main office administrator, whose duties included managing payroll.

Between 2013 and 2023, Nastar employees, including Skaggs and Adksion, and others acting at their direction withdrew over $21 million from the company’s bank accounts to pay employees predominantly in cash without withholding Social Security, Medicare and federal income taxes from those wages. They did this to escape paying employment taxes they knew were legally required.

At times, Nastar used a payroll provider to issue nominal employee paychecks, but Nastar did not inform the payroll company about the cash wages. As such, when the payroll company filed employment tax returns with the IRS that included wages for Nastar employees, the forms were false in that they did not report the cash wages. Similarly, when Nastar did not use a payroll provider and filed its own employment tax returns, it failed to report the substantial cash wages paid to employees. Both Skaggs and Adkison signed a number of these tax returns, knowing that they were false.

In total, Skaggs and Adkison caused a tax loss to the IRS of nearly $2.5 million.

Skaggs and Adkison are scheduled to be sentenced at a later date. They face a maximum penalty of five years in prison. They also face a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. 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 Roger Handberg for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Kevin Schneider of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Leeman for the Middle District of Florida are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued a permanent injunction yesterday against Miami tax return preparer Niclas Pierre, and his tax return preparation business, Niclas Tax and Express Inc. The court also issued a permanent injunction against Elius Bessard and his tax return preparation business, Bessard Immigrations and Tax Services LLC.

The injunctions bar Pierre and Bessard from preparing tax returns, working for or owning a tax preparation business, assisting others to prepare tax returns or transferring a list of customers. The court also ordered Pierre to pay $563,000 and Bessard to pay $208,000 in ill-gotten gains received from their return preparation businesses. Pierre and Bessard each agreed to both the injunction and the order to pay.

The complaint alleged that Pierre and Bessard prepared returns for customers that claimed various false or fabricated deductions and credits, including fabricated residential energy credits, false and fraudulent deductions and inflated business expenses. According to the complaint, Pierre and Bessard each prepared over a thousand tax returns for customers over the past six years.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.

Taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant against unscrupulous tax preparers. The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax return preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers. The IRS also offers guidance on the credentials and qualifications that taxpayers should seek from their return preparer.

In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.