Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Stanislav Romanyuk, 39, a citizen of Ukraine last residing in Estonia, was sentenced today to 33 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for his role in a scheme to violate U.S. export laws and regulations by attempting to smuggle a dual-use export-controlled item to Russia.

According to court documents and statements made in court, beginning in 2018, Romanyuk, who operated Estonia-based BY Trade OÜ, conspired with Vadims Ananics and Eriks Mamonovs, both citizens of Latvia who operated the Latvia-based corporation CNC Weld. Romanyuk, Ananics, and Mamonovs violated U.S. export laws and regulations with individuals in Russia and a Russian company to smuggle to Russia a 500 Series CPWZ Precision Jig Grinder that was manufactured in Connecticut.

A jig grinder is a high-precision grinding machine system that does not require a license to export to European Union countries, but does require a license for export and reexport to Russia because of its potential application in nuclear proliferation and defense programs. Romanyuk and his co-conspirators knew that the jig grinder could not be exported from the United States to Russia, and they did not apply for, receive, or possess a license of authorization from the U.S. Department of Commerce to export or reexport the jig grinder to Russia, as required by the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), which restrict the export of items that could make a significant contribution to the military potential of other nations or that could be detrimental to U.S. foreign policy and national security.

In April 2019, Romanyuk brokered the sale of the jig grinder from By Trade OÜ to a Russian company using funds wired to it from the Russian company to purchase the jig grinder from Sapphire Universal LLP, a company in Latvia. Sapphire Universal, which Romanyuk knew was in the business of obtaining dual-use items from the United States for sale in Russia, used CNC Weld as the claimed recipient and end-user of the jig grinder because no license was required to export the jig grinder to Latvia from the United States. In August 2019, to finalize the purchase of the jig grinder, Ananics and others traveled to Bridgeport, Connecticut, where Ananics informed the sellers that the jig grinder was being purchased for the benefit of CNC Weld. In September 2021, Romanyuk provided a false statement to Estonian authorities about the jig grinder transaction in order to cover up his involvement in this scheme.

U.S. authorities, working with Latvian authorities, intercepted the jig grinder in Riga, Latvia, before it was to be shipped to Russia. Approximately $826,000 in funds involved in the purchase of the jig grinder were subsequently forfeited, and a substantial portion of the forfeited funds were transferred to Estonia to provide aid to Ukraine.

Romanyuk was arrested on June 13, 2022, in Estonia. On May 23, he pleaded guilty to international money laundering conspiracy. He has been detained since his arrest. Ananics and Mamonovs pleaded guilty to related charges.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod of the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI’s National Security Branch, and U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery for the District of Connecticut, Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol of Homeland Security Investigations in New England made the announcement.

The Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) Field Offices in New Haven and the Hague, Netherlands; HSI Counter Proliferation Mission Center; U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement in Boston and Portland, Oregon; FBI; and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation investigated the case. The Prosecutor-General’s Office of the Republic of Latvia, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Estonia, Latvian Tax and Customs Police, Estonian Tax and Customs Board, and the Latvian State Police assisted in the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Konstantin Lantsman, Stephanie Levick, and Daniel George for the District of Connecticut and Trial Attorney Brendan Geary of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section prosecuted the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided valuable assistance.

This case is being prosecuted through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program and is being supported by OCDETF’s International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center (IOC-2). OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations through a prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. Additional information about OCDETF can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

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.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division held its quarterly convening of state and local civil and human rights partners to commemorate Veterans Day and discuss efforts to protect the civil rights of servicemembers and veterans.

“We owe our servicemembers, veterans and their families a deep debt of gratitude for their service to our country,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Through rigorous enforcement of federal civil rights laws, the Justice Department is working hard to ensure that the rights of the brave servicemembers and veterans are safeguarded from discrimination and unfair treatment.”

The Servicemembers and Veterans Initiative, housed in the Civil Rights Division, hosted today’s meeting with state and local civil and human rights partners, including representatives from various State Attorneys’ General offices and state-based civil rights agencies. . During the meeting, attendees celebrated the commitment of veterans and discussed the portability of professional licenses for servicemembers and their spouses; employment protections for servicemembers; outreach efforts by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices; federal, state, and local Veteran Treatment Programs; and federal rights relating to service and assistance animals.

This year, the Justice Department has aggressively defended the rights of servicemembers and veterans. Highlights of our work include:

• Vigorously enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act on behalf of Veterans and other people with disabilities in Virginia Beach, Virginia, by reaching an agreement with the city to remove accessibility barriers to buildings such as police stations, libraries, technology centers, community centers and places of recreation.
• Securing over $200,000 in compensation and penalties against the City of El Paso, Texas, and its contracted towing companies to resolve allegations that the city and towing companies disposed of over 170 vehicles owned by servicemembers without first obtaining court orders, as required by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). Since 2011, the department has obtained over $481 million in monetary relief for over 147,000 servicemembers through its enforcement of the SCRA.
• Enforcing the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), which entitles servicemembers to return to their civilian employment upon completion of their military service with the seniority, status and rate of pay that they would have obtained had they remained continuously employed by their civilian employer. USERRA also prohibits discrimination based on present, past and future military service. In a recent example, the Justice Department sued Oklahoma City Public Schools to protect rights guaranteed to an Air Force Reserve Senior Airman by USERRA. The lawsuit alleges that the Oklahoma City Public Schools violated USERRA when it failed to reinstate the airman in a teacher position upon his return from a military deployment.
• Continuing to expand access to the portability of professional licenses under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Military spouses previously reported difficulty transferring their professional licenses, such as licenses to practice as a realtor or massage therapist, from one jurisdiction to another, hindering their ability to find jobs when moving due to their spouse’s military orders. A new SCRA provision added by Congress in 2023 helps servicemembers and their spouses use their professional licenses and certificates in certain circumstances when they relocate due to military orders. As a result of our work in this space, at least five states have changed their policies, procedures and websites to comport with the SCRA.
• Developing a fact sheet and training presentation on service and assistance animals to inform people with disabilities of their rights to live and travel with the aid of a service animal or assistance animal.

Learn more about the Servicemember and Veterans Initiative at www.justice.gov/servicemembers.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

An Ohio doctor pleaded guilty today to corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the due administration of the internal revenue laws.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Dr. Suman Jana, of Strongsville, was a client of fraudulent tax shelter promoter Michael Meyer and his sub-promoter Rao Garuda. Dr. Jana used Meyer’s scheme, the “Ultimate Tax Plan,” to fraudulently claim $764,350 in charitable contribution tax deductions for tax years 2012 through 2015. Meyer and his co-conspirators marketed the scheme as a way for high-income clients to reduce their taxes by claiming they had donated valuable property to charities Meyer controlled, while in reality retaining complete control and use over their “donated” assets. Clients, such as Dr. Jana, were able to use the funds in the purported charities’ accounts to pay for personal expenses. In fact, Dr. Jana used the funds he claimed to have donated to charity to, among other things, purchase several cars for him and his wife.

On Jan. 5, 2017, after claiming five years-worth of charitable contribution tax deductions, Dr. Jana bought back the company he had “donated” to Meyer’s charity for $10,000 — reclaiming his purported donation and exiting the plan.

On April 3, 2018, the Justice Department filed a civil complaint for permanent injunction against Meyer in U.S. district court. On May 24, 2018, the Justice Department served a civil subpoena on Dr. Jana requesting that he produce records in connection with the Ultimate Tax Plan. In response to the subpoena, Meyer and Garuda instructed Dr. Jana to pretend that the buyback did not occur. Meyer prepared backdated transaction documents, written acknowledgements and promissory notes for Dr. Jana to sign and submit in response to the civil subpoena. The false documents were created to make it look as if Dr. Jana signed the promissory notes at the time that he and his wife paid personal expenses out of the purported charity.

In June 2018, Dr. Jana signed the false documents and sent them to the Justice Department in response to the civil subpoena.

Dr. Jana is scheduled to be sentenced on March 7, 2025, and faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison. He also faces 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 made the announcement. The Tax Division thanks U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida for his office’s assistance.

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

Assistant Chief Michael Boteler and Trial Attorney Andrew Ascencio of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

An Idaho man was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for hacking into the computer servers of 19 victims across the United States, stealing personally identifiable information (PII) belonging to more than 132,000 people, and attempting to extort a Florida orthodontist for payment in Bitcoin by threatening to disclose stolen patient records and other PII.

According to court documents, in June 2017, Robert Purbeck, 45, of Meridian, purchased access to the computer server of a Griffin, Georgia, medical clinic on a darknet marketplace. He then used the stolen credentials to illegally access the computers of the medical clinic and removed records that contained sensitive PII for over 43,000 individuals, including names, addresses, birth dates, and social security numbers. In February 2018, Purbeck purchased access to a City of Newnan, Georgia, Police Department server on a darknet marketplace. Purbeck used the stolen credentials to hack into the City of Newnan computer systems and stole police reports and other documents, including PII for over 14,000 people.

Purbeck also attempted to extort a Florida orthodontist in July 2018, demanding a ransom payment in Bitcoin in return for his stolen patient files, threatening to sell the patient and personal information unless the orthodontist paid the ransom. Additionally, Purbeck threatened to sell the PII of the orthodontist’s minor child. Purbeck harassed the orthodontist and his patients for 10 days with numerous threatening emails and text messages.

On Aug. 21, 2019, the FBI executed a federal search warrant at Purbeck’s home in Meridian. During the search, the FBI seized multiple computers and electronic devices, which contained personal information of over 132,000 individuals, obtained through Purbeck’s numerous data breaches.

On March 19, Purbeck pleaded guilty to two counts of intentionally accessing and obtaining information from a protected computer without authorization.

In addition to his term of imprisonment, Purbeck was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay restitution to his victims in the amount of $1,048,702.98.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan for the Northern District of Georgia; and Acting Special Agent in Charge Sean Burke of the FBI Atlanta Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Atlanta Field Office investigated the case, with valuable assistance provided by the FBI Boise Resident Agency.

Trial Attorney Brian Mund of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Herskowitz, Nathan Kitchens, and Alex R. Sistla for the Northern District of Georgia prosecuted the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho also provided valuable assistance in this case.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department announced today that it has opened an investigation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into whether the State of Michigan unnecessarily institutionalizes adults with serious mental illness in state psychiatric hospitals. The department will investigate whether the state fails to provide necessary community-based mental health services to enable people to transition from the state psychiatric hospitals and remain stable in the community.

Prior to the announcement, the department informed the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the State Attorney General’s Office of the initiation of the investigation.

“The Americans with Disabilities Act protects people’s right to receive mental health services in the community, rather than remaining in hospitals when they are ready to go home,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This investigation will assess whether Michigan is honoring the ADA’s promise that people with disabilities be served in the most integrated setting appropriate. The Civil Rights Division will continue to advocate for states to provide people with disabilities the services they need to avoid unnecessary institutionalization.”

“Our office is committed to investing the resources necessary to investigate these claims because we will never tire of ensuring that every citizen is afforded the full protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act,” said U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison for the Eastern District of Michigan.

“We open this investigation as part of our mission to protect civil rights and to ensure our neighbors with mental health disabilities can succeed and thrive in their communities,” said U.S. Attorney Mark A. Totton for the Western District of Michigan.

The Justice Department has not reached any conclusions regarding the subject matter under investigation. Individuals with relevant information are encouraged to contact the department via email at Community.Michigan@usdoj.gov, 888-392-5415 or through the Civil Rights Division’s Civil Rights Portal at civilrights.justice.gov/.

Additional information about the Civil Rights Division’s ADA enforcement is available at www.justice.gov/crt/rights-persons-disabilities and www.justice.gov/crt/disability-rights-section.