Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Today, the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jointly launched a public inquiry to identify unfair and anticompetitive practices and conduct in the live concert and entertainment industry. The agencies invite members of the public to submit comments and information on harmful practices and on potential regulation or legislation to protect consumers in the industry. The Agencies will use the information in their preparation of the report and recommendations directed by President Trump’s Executive Order 14254, Combating Unfair Practices in the Live Entertainment Market.   

“Competitive live entertainment markets should deliver value to artists and fans alike,” said Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “We will continue to closely examine this market and look for opportunities where vigorous enforcement of the antitrust laws can lead to increased competition that makes tickets more affordable for fans while offering fairer compensation for artists.”

“Many Americans feel like they are being priced out of live entertainment by scalpers, bots, and other unfair and deceptive practices,” said FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson. “Now their voices are being heard. President Trump has sent a clear message that bad actors who exploit fans and distort the marketplace will not be tolerated. The FTC is proud to help deliver on that promise and restore fair and competitive markets that benefit ordinary Americans.”

On March 31, President Trump issued Executive Order 14254, Combating Unfair Practices in the Live Entertainment Market. The Executive Order directs the Attorney General and the FTC to “ensure that competition laws are appropriately enforced in the concert and entertainment industry.” The Executive Order also directs the FTC to “rigorously enforce the Better Online Tickets Sales Act, 15 U.S.C. 45c.”

The Executive Order also directs the Attorney General, with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Chairman of the FTC, to submit a report that identifies “recommendations for regulations or legislation necessary to protect consumers” in the industry. In furtherance of this direction, the agencies will work together, along with the Secretary of the Treasury, on a joint report, with the FTC taking the lead on issues relating to the Better Online Ticket Sales Act.

The agencies therefore seek information from the public about unfair and anticompetitive conduct and practices in the live concert and entertainment industry. The agencies also encourage comments providing information on the competitive effects of current state and federal regulations and laws in the live concert and entertainment industry, including the secondary ticketing market.

The public will have 60 days to submit comments at Regulations.gov, no later than July 6, 2025. Once submitted, comments will be posted to Regulations.gov (Docket No. ATR-2025-0002). All market participants are invited to provide comments, including consumers, artists, small businesses, trade groups, industry analysts, and other entities that are impacted by anticompetitive practices in the live concert and entertainment industry.

The Justice Department, along with 40 state and district attorneys general, is also currently litigating a civil antitrust lawsuit brought last year against Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Ticketmaster LLC for monopolization and other unlawful conduct that thwarts competition in markets across the live entertainment industry. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Today, the Department of Justice announced the results of Operation Restore Justice, a coordinated enforcement effort to identify, track and arrest child sex predators. The operation resulted in the rescue of 115 children and the arrests of 205 child sexual abuse offenders in the nationwide crackdown. The coordinated effort was executed over the course of five days by all 55 FBI field offices, the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Department’s Criminal Division, and United States Attorney’s Offices around the country. 

“The Department of Justice will never stop fighting to protect victims — especially child victims — and we will not rest until we hunt down, arrest, and prosecute every child predator who preys on the most vulnerable among us,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “I am grateful to the FBI and their state and local partners for their incredible work in Operation Restore Justice and have directed my prosecutors not to negotiate.”

“Every child deserves to grow up free from fear and exploitation, and the FBI will continue to be relentless in our pursuit of those who exploit the most vulnerable among us,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Operation Restore Justice proves that no predator is out of reach and no child will be forgotten. By leveraging the strength of all our field offices and our federal, state and local partners, we’re sending a clear message: there is no place to hide for those who prey on children.”

Those arrested are alleged to have committed various crimes including the production, distribution, and possession of child sexual abuse material, online enticement and transportation of minors, and child sex trafficking. In Minneapolis, for example, a state trooper and Army Reservist was arrested for allegedly producing child sexual abuse material while wearing his uniforms. In Norfolk, VA, an illegal alien from Mexico is accused of transporting a minor across state lines for sex. In Washington, D.C., a former Metropolitan Police Department Police Officer was arrested for allegedly trafficking minor victims.

In many cases, parental vigilance and community outreach efforts played a critical role in bringing these offenders to justice. For example, a California man was arrested about eight hours after a young victim bravely came forward and disclosed their abuse to FBI agents after an online safety presentation at a school near Albany, NY.

This effort follows the Department’s observance of National Child Abuse Prevention Month in April, this effort and underscores the Department’s unwavering commitment to protecting children and raising awareness about the dangers they face. While the Department, including the FBI, investigates and prosecutes these crimes every day, April serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of preventing these crimes, seeking justice for victims, and raising awareness through community education.

The Justice Department is committed to combating child sexual exploitation. These cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

The Department partners with and oversees funding grants for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which receives and shares tips about possible child sexual exploitation received through its 24/7 hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST and on missingkids.org.

The Department urges the public to remain vigilant and report suspected exploitation of a child through the FBI’s tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324), tips.fbi.gov, or by calling your local FBI field office.

Other online resources:

Electronic Press Kit

Violent Crimes Against Children

How we can help you: Parents and caregivers protecting your kids

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

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Note: View permanent injunction here.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued a permanent injunction today against Cooper City, Florida, tax return preparer Sunil Ramchandani and his business, SR Chandra Inc. doing business as AHS Income Tax Services. The court ordered the closure of AHS Income Tax Services and barred Ramchandani from preparing or assisting in preparing federal income tax returns for others or transferring his customer lists. Ramchandani agreed to the injunction against him and his business. AHS Income Tax Services had already agreed to entry of a preliminary injunction before the start of filing season.

The complaint alleged that Ramchandani prepared customers’ returns that fraudulently claimed false or inflated residential energy credits, false fuel tax credits, fictious business losses, and other false or inflated deductions and credits, including false education credits and fictitious child and dependent credits.

According to the complaint, the IRS estimated a tax loss of more than $10 million in 2022 and 2023 alone from returns prepared by Ramchandani and AHS Income Tax Services.

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 warns taxpayers to avoid “ghost preparers” and lists other improper acts that tax preparers engage in to take advantage of their unsuspecting customers.

In the past decade, the Justice Department’s 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 on 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.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Last week, a federal grand jury in Orlando, Florida, returned an indictment charging four Honduran nationals with operating an illegal, off-the-books cash payroll system for construction workers to avoid paying employment taxes to the IRS and to defraud workers’ compensation insurance companies. Through the scheme, the conspirators facilitated the employment of undocumented aliens working illegally in the United States.

The defendants, Iris Villafranca, Mario Flores, Osman Zapata, and Cristofer Oseguera Giron, were charged with conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Villafranca was additionally charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and with filing false tax returns.

The following is according to the indictment: from 2015 to 2022, the defendants used a series of shell companies to run an unlicensed check cashing and cash courier service business that cashed approximately $89 million in checks from subcontractors in the construction industry. The subcontractors allegedly paid their workers using the cash. As a fee for their services, the defendants allegedly charged a percentage of the dollar amount of the checks they cashed. This scheme allegedly allowed construction contractors and subcontractors to pay their workers in cash without regard to required payroll taxes or whether the workers were legally authorized to work in the United States. Indeed, according to the indictment, the defendants caused the filing of false tax documents with the IRS to conceal the off-the-books payroll scheme and made only minimal employment tax deposits. As another aspect of the scheme, the defendants allegedly defrauded workers’ compensation insurance companies by leasing their certificates of insurance to contractors, and by providing false and fraudulent information to the insurers about, among other things, the number of workers covered by the insurance and the amount workers were paid.

The indictment also alleges that Villafranca filed false individual income tax returns for 2019 through 2022 that did not report all the income she earned from the scheme and also did not report rental income she earned from her real estate.

If convicted, Villafranca faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiracy to commit tax fraud. She additionally faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison for each count of filing false tax returns.

If convicted, Flores, Zapata, and Giron face a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, and a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiracy to commit tax fraud.

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 and U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case. Homeland Security Investigations assisted during the investigation.

Senior Litigation Counsel Sean Beaty and Trial Attorneys Kavitha Bondada and Rebecca A. Caruso of the Tax Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Daniels for the Middle District of Florida 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

A California man was sentenced yesterday to 12 years in prison and three years of supervised release for his role in a years-long scheme to defraud Medicare of more than $17 million through sham hospice companies and his home health care company.

According to court documents, Petros Fichidzhyan, 44, of Granada Hills, schemed with others to bill Medicare for hospice services that were not medically necessary and never provided. Fichidzhyan and his co-schemers controlled hospice entities and used foreign nationals’ personal identifying information (PII) to conceal the scheme, using the PII to, among other things, open bank accounts, submit information to Medicare, and sign property leases. The defendant and his co-schemers also misappropriated the names and PII of several doctors, two of whom were deceased, to fraudulently bill Medicare for purported hospice services. Medicare paid the sham hospices nearly $16 million, of which Fichidzhyan received nearly $7 million, with more than $5.3 million laundered through a dozen shell and third-party bank accounts. Fichidzhyan also obtained more than $1 million in false claims paid to his home health care agency, which fraudulently used a doctor’s name and identifying information as having certified Medicare beneficiaries for home health care. When the doctor confronted Fichidzhyan about the fraud, Fichidzhyan attempted to cover up the scheme by paying the doctor $11,000.

Fichidzhyan pleaded guilty to health care fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering in February 2025. At sentencing, he was also ordered to pay $17,129,060 in restitution, and the court preliminarily ordered the forfeiture of a home bought with fraudulent proceeds. The government has seized $2,920,383 from bank accounts associated with the fraud. The sentence imposed today is the most recent step in the Justice Department’s ongoing effort to combat hospice fraud in the greater Los Angeles area.

“For years, the defendant, working with others, ran multiple sham hospice and home health care schemes, fraudulently billing Medicare over $17 million,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The defendant’s egregious scheme relied on layers of deception and sophisticated money laundering, and wasted millions in taxpayer money. With the help of our law enforcement partners, the Department of Justice is fully committed to stopping these criminal networks and protecting the public fisc.”

“Health care fraud is not a victimless crime. Defrauding the Medicare program not only wastes valuable taxpayer dollars, it causes significant harm to enrollees,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Omar Pérez Aybar at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Los Angeles Regional Office. “HHS-OIG, in collaboration with our law enforcement partners, will continue to investigate and hold accountable those who defraud federal health care programs.”

“Mr. Fichidzhyan lined his pockets at the expense of the American taxpayer,” said Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “The level of fraud and exploitation committed by the defendant is astounding and I’m proud of our investigators and prosecutors who were able to detect his schemes and hold him accountable.”

The FBI and HHS-OIG are investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Eric C. Schmale and Sarah E. Edwards 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 5,800 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $30 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.