Defense News: CTF 63 Air Logistics: Schedulers of the Skies

Source: United States Navy

“We are the point of contact customers reach out to when they require an airlift to be done. Whether that’s passengers, mail, HAZMAT or even repair parts, we coordinate all of that,” said Operations Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Glenn Santos, a diplomatic clearance clerk with CTF-63 from Rizal, Philippines.

“When a customer has a lift request, we draft the flight plan and send it through the Defense Attaché Office. We let them know which planes are headed where and they process the request through the local embassy,” said Santos.

CTF-63 schedules a dozen different flight crews that provide logistics support in the European theater. Four of those crews are provided by rotational squadrons, manning the C-40 Clipper and C-130 Hercules aircraft. The other eight are permanently stationed onboard Naval Support Activity, Naples and Naval Air Station Sigonella, flying the C-26 Metroliner.

“On average, we coordinate about three flights per day. If we have a [U.S. Navy aircraft carrier] strike group in the region, that number can increase, and sometimes double,” said Naval Aircrewman (Operator) 1st Class Samuel Ghinea, another diplomatic clearance clerk with CTF-63 and a native of Fremont, California.

“And we have a team of just seven to manage it all,” Ghinea continued.

Two recent passengers requiring a flight to Paris were Brutus, a military working dog (MWD) stationed in Sigonella, and Brutus’ Handler, Master-At-Arms 3rd Class Isaiah Koontz, from Massillon, Ohio.

At the direction of the United States Secret Service, Brutus and Koontz travelled to Paris to prepare areas being visited by U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

Having a dedicated flight specific to this mission was an invaluable benefit according to Koontz.

“Traveling MILAIR [military aircraft] makes traveling a lot easier,” said Koontz. “…I was able to access my dog really easily and make sure he was OK. It helps us get where we need to be faster and causes less stress. I think MILAIR is better for both the handler and the MWD,” said Koontz.

Defense News: Navy to issue DD-214-1 to Reservists separating Feb. 1 or later

Source: United States Navy

The Navy will start issuing the Certificate of Uniformed Service (Reserve Component Addendum) Feb. 1 for Reservists separating, retiring, or transitioning into the Individual Ready Reserve or Standby Reserve.

“Taking care of our teammates means setting them up for success in the next chapter after military service,” said Rear Adm. Stu Satterwhite, Commander, MyNavy Career Center (MNCC). “Having everything on one convenient form will help ensure Reservists receive the entitlements they deserve after they leave the Navy.”

The new form will document total career points, total active and inactive service, and non-regular retirement (NRR) calculations. It will provide a detailed list of activations, noting whether each qualifies for NRR eligibility age reduction, allowing Reservists with enough active service to retire with pay sooner than age 60.

“To ensure an accurate DD-214-1 and the correct entitlements, Reservists preparing to separate should continually review their retirement points, and submit accurate and timely separation or retirement requests at least 60 days before they leave the Navy,” said Satterwhite.

“Reservists can call MNCC any time to check on the status of their application or ask questions about the DD-214-1,” he added.

Navy Reservists will still receive the DD-214, or Certificate of Uniformed Service, for every individual active duty service period during their careers. Members will have copies of both forms in their Official Military Personnel File. Transaction Service Center Norfolk, MNCC’s Center of Excellence for separations, retirements, and Reserve HR, will process the DD-214-1 along with the DD-214.

The Navy is implementing the new form in compliance with DOD Instruction 1336.01, which directed all branches of service to do so by February 2025.

MNCC’s mission is to deliver modern hire-to-retire HR services through 24/7 customer service to Sailors, veterans, and their families. Through Sailor feedback, MNCC constantly strives to provide more resources and accurate resolutions. Contact MNCC at (833) 330-MNCC (6622) or AskMNCC@navy.mil. Find online self-service options on MyNavy Portal at my.navy.mil.

Colorado Businesswoman Pleads Guilty to Employment Tax Crimes

Source: United States Department of Justice

A Colorado businesswoman pleaded guilty today to not paying employment taxes.

According to documents and statements made in court, Shandel Arkadie, of Agate, Colorado, operated a home health care business, Alternative Choice Home Care Nursing LLC. Arkadie was responsible for withholding Social Security, Medicare and income taxes from Alternative Choice’s employees’ wages and paying those funds over to the IRS each quarter. She was also responsible for paying over Alternative Choice’s portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes. Between January 2015 and December 2020, the company withheld over $1,000,000 from its employees’ wages but did not pay the funds over to the IRS or file the requisite quarterly tax returns. In addition, the company owed approximately $500,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes, which Arkadie did not pay.

In total, Arkadie caused a tax loss to the IRS of about $1,500,000.

Arkadie is scheduled to be sentenced on May 15. She faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, 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 Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Julia Rugg and Mahana Weidler of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

Florida Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Sex Trafficking Nearly a Dozen Women and Girls

Source: United States Department of Justice

Shannima Yuantrell Session, also known as Shalamar, 47, of Lake Placid, Florida, was sentenced today to life in prison for trafficking nearly a dozen women and girls. Previously, a jury in the Southern District of Florida found him guilty of 10 counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and three counts of sex trafficking of a minor. The court has set a restitution hearing date of April 17.

“Protecting victims of human trafficking and child exploitation is a top priority for the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Michael S. Davis for the Southern District of Florida. “We are committed to aggressively combating these exploitative crimes that victimize the most vulnerable people in our society. Human beings are not commodities to be bought and sold, but rather demand our united protection. Our dedicated team of prosecutors, victim witness coordinators, and support personnel will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to combat human trafficking and child exploitation to bring these offenders to justice.”

“This substantial sentence is indicative of the egregious sexual exploitation committed by Shannima Yuantrell Session on numerous juveniles and women in Highlands County, Florida,” said Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI Miami Field Office. “It is a testament to the cooperation and commitment of several law enforcement agencies including the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. We will continue working with these and other partners to dismantle human trafficking networks that operate in the shadows and brutalize their victims.”

The evidence presented at the nine-day trial in September 2024 demonstrated that Session compelled victims to commit commercial sex acts between July 2011 and July 2013 as well as between February 2016 and February 2019. Session made promises of legitimate work and housing assistance to women and girls struggling with unstable living accommodations, substance abuse and neglect or who otherwise led unstable lives. Session’s promises were often false and empty, designed to provide him with the opportunity to learn about a victim’s vulnerabilities while misrepresenting himself as caring and empathetic. Session then exploited the victims’ vulnerabilities to compel their commercial sex acts.

At times, Session used food and housing to control and coerce the victims. For example, he would not permit one of his victims to eat if the victim did not follow his instructions. Often, Session required his victims to engage in sexual activity with him after they had spent a night having compelled sexual intercourse with up to 18 men.

Further, the evidence presented during the trial demonstrated that Session resorted to extreme physical violence to compel and intimidate certain victims. He violently punched some of the victims in the back of their heads in order not to leave marks on their bodies. Once, Session dragged a victim to a shower and beat her in the back of her head with a metal object until she fell limp to the floor. Session also choked another victim to the point that she lost consciousness, beat another victim with a bat and brutalized yet another so badly that her nose ring fell out due to the force of the assault. In addition, Session took multiple victims to a nearby lake, where he held two of their heads underwater and threatened to drown them if they did not do as he ordered.

The evidence also showed that Session used a firearm to intimidate and control his victims. He consistently kept a firearm in his possession and frequently displayed it to victims or referred to it when talking with them. Once, Session pointed a firearm at a victim while he was driving and threatened to “kill” her after she asked him how he would feel if someone treated his daughter the way he treated her.

Finally, the evidence indicated that Session manipulated and took advantage of some victims’ substance abuse problems to compel their commercial sex services. For example, Session provided victims with cocaine and methamphetamine to give them sufficient energy to engage in commercial sex acts and force them to lose weight.

The FBI Miami Field Office, Ft. Pierce Resident Agency, investigated the case, with assistance from the Highlands County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Hoover for the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorneys Leah Branch and Matthew Thiman of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit prosecuted the case.

Anyone who has information about human trafficking should report that information to the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free at 1-888-373-7888, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information about human trafficking, visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org. Information on the Justice Department’s efforts to combat human trafficking can be found at www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.

Seven Charged in Nation’s Largest COVID-19 Tax Credit Scheme

Source: United States Department of Justice

An indictment was unsealed today in Central Islip, New York, charging seven individuals with operating a multi-state conspiracy in which they attempted to defraud the United States of more than $600 million by filing more than 8,000 false tax returns claiming COVID-19-related employment tax credits. 

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact, Congress authorized a tax credit that incentivized businesses to keep employees on their payroll, also known as the “Employee Retention Credit” or ERC.

Congress also authorized a credit that reimbursed businesses for the wages paid to employees who were on sick or family leave and could not work because of COVID-19. This “paid sick and family leave credit,” or SFLC, was equal to the wages the business paid the employees during their leave.

According to the indictment, from November 2021 to June 2023, defendants Keith Williams, Jamari Lewis, Morais Dicks, Janine Davis, Tiffany Williams, James Hames Jr. and Ewendra Mathurin, all current or former New York residents, repeatedly exploited these programs that were intended to help businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme was allegedly headquartered at Credit Reset, a purported credit repair business Keith Williams owned and operated. Acting as tax preparers, the defendants allegedly filed more than 8,000 false employment tax returns with the IRS claiming COVID-related tax credits on behalf of themselves and their clients. Each of these returns were allegedly fraudulent in that they claimed SFLC in excess of the amount of wages reported on the tax return, listed the same wages as both qualified sick leave wages and qualified family leave wages or claimed the SFLC and ERC for the same wages, none of which was permitted by law. The defendants allegedly profited from the scheme by receiving tax refund checks from the U.S. Treasury and by charging clients a fee or a percentage of the tax refund the client received. The defendants also allegedly recruited others into the scheme who were compensated by receiving a percentage of fraudulently obtained U.S. Treasury checks.

In total, the defendants sought more than $600 million of which the IRS paid approximately $45 million to the defendants and their clients. 

Additionally, the defendants allegedly concealed their preparation of the false tax returns by not listing themselves as the paid preparer on the tax returns and by using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to obscure their IP addresses while filing the false returns. If a client did not have a business, members of the conspiracy allegedly would sometimes sell shell companies to them in order to file false tax returns. After noticing discrepancies in the filed returns, the IRS and Social Security Administration (SSA) allegedly requested additional information regarding the tax returns the defendants prepared. In response, members of the conspiracy allegedly would often transmit false information to the IRS and SSA.

Some of the defendants also allegedly submitted false Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications.

In total, the defendants were charged with 45 counts relating to the scheme including conspiracy to defraud the United States, wire fraud and aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns.  Keith Williams, Lewis, Mathurin, Davis, Tiffany Williams and Dicks were also charged with wire fraud in relation to fraudulent PPP applications they submitted.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the conspiracy to defraud the United States charge, a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each wire fraud charge arising out of the ERC scheme, a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison for each wire fraud charge arising out of the PPP fraud and a maximum penalty of three years in prison for each charge of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false return charge. A federal district court judge will determine the sentence of each defendant after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, U.S. Attorney John J. Durham for the Eastern District of New York, Acting Inspector in Charge Brendan Donahue of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS)’s New York Division and Special Agent in Charge Harry T. Chavis Jr. of IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) New York made the announcement.

IRS-CI and USPIS are investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Richard Kelley of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam Toporovsky and James Simmons for the Eastern District of New York are prosecuting the case. Former Tax Division Trial Attorney Samuel Bean assisted with the investigation. 

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