Category: Security News

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

OPENING REMARKS

Good afternoon. My name is Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department. I am honored and proud to be with you for this important commemoration of the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, one of our most powerful tools in our efforts to combat violent bias-motivated hate crimes in America today.

Before I begin, I want to acknowledge that for many people, anxiety levels are high right now. This is an uncertain time, and we might reasonably wonder what kind of rhetoric will soon dominate our country, and what kind of conduct that rhetoric might foster. In the last week, we have seen HBCU students and high school students targeted with racist texts. My hope is that the Justice Department’s firm commitment to confronting hate can offer both reassurance and motivation.

Today we hold space together to honor the memories of people harmed or killed by bias-motivated violence. We affirm that their lives mattered. We also acknowledge the work we and our partners have done to bring justice to the people who caused that harm. And we look toward a future in which we prevent such crimes and in which we continue to hold perpetrators accountable.

Recent statistics from the FBI tell us in no uncertain terms that hate crimes persist and are rising. We need only read the news to confirm this:

• Nonprofit employees receiving death threats and verbal abuse because they were members of the Sikh faith.
• Property destroyed at a university center because it served Islamic students.
• Buildings set on fire, shot at, attacked, damaged or destroyed because they were Jehovah’s Witness Halls.
• People followed home from a grocery store or restaurant or gas station, robbed at gunpoint or carjacked because they were Hispanic.

While I could provide countless examples, I want to take a moment to honor the memory of the two men whose tragic deaths led to the law we commemorate today.

Matthew Shephard was a 21-year-old gay university student who loved fishing, horses and theater. James Byrd Jr. was a 49-year-old Black man, a people-person who loved music and his family. Tragically, both men met gruesome, hate-motivated deaths in 1998, solely on the basis of their background and identities.

As you know, those deaths, followed by courageous and tireless effort from their family members, led to the adoption of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a law that Attorney General Merrick B. Garland has called the Justice Department’s “most effective statute for hate crime prosecution.”

The act changed history. It gave us greater capacity to defend members of vulnerable communities from violence. It expanded the range of identities we protect. It lifted restrictions on the circumstances surrounding prosecutable crimes. And it directs critical funding and technical assistance to state and local law enforcement. In other words, this is a law that has helped to send a strong message about our principles and values as a nation — a nation that stands for diversity and inclusion of all people and rejects hate, exclusion and vitriol.

This crucial law would not exist without Matthew’s and James’ family members. We are indebted to these family members and their decade-long fight to bring about the act — as well as for their continued involvement. We will hear from Matthew Shepard’s parents shortly. James’ family, who also contributed invaluable advocacy, is represented by sister Louvon Byrd-Harris who has provided recorded remarks.

At the Justice Department, we firmly enforce the Shepard-Byrd Act. Since January 2021, we have charged more than 150 hate-crime defendants in more than 135 cases, obtaining more than 125 convictions. But our work goes beyond prosecution.

We have improved reporting, provided training and testimony, investigated and prosecuted criminal acts of hate and educated the public and law enforcement. With our United Against Hate initiative, every U.S. Attorneys’ Office takes action to build and strengthen ties between communities and law enforcement. We’re fortunate to have several U.S. Attorneys with us here today: Dena King for the Western District of North Carolina, Philip Sellinger for the District of New Jersey, and Matthew Graves for the District of Columbia.

These proactive measures, along with everything Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer mentioned earlier, yield real results, but so far, of course, they haven’t outright eliminated bias-fueled lawlessness. That’s why we use every tool at our disposal in seeking out justice for victims and families.

Our work includes the prosecution of defendants responsible for an alarmingly high number of hate-fueled mass shootings that we have seen in recent years, including charges against the man responsible for the tragic mass killings of 10 Black people in Buffalo, New York; prosecution of the man responsible for killing 23 and wounding 22 Latinos at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas; prosecution of the man responsible for the murder of 11 at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; prosecution of the person responsible for murdering five, wounding 19, and attempting to kill 26 others at Club Q, an LGBTQI+ establishment in Colorado Springs, Colorado and much more.

We are also increasingly aware of the transnational dimensions of hate, amplified by the weaponization of social media and digital messaging platforms. Just two months ago, a federal grand jury in California charged two leaders of a transnational terrorist group called the Terrorgram Collective on 15 criminal counts. Our indictment alleged that defendants solicited others to engage in hate crimes and terrorist attacks against Black, immigrant, LGBT and Jewish people, and more. The defendants’ alleged goal was to ignite a race war, “accelerate” the collapse of what they viewed as an irreparably corrupt government and bring about a white ethnostate. They used the internet platform Telegram to post messages promoting their white supremacist “accelerationism.” Our work here makes clear the new technological face of white supremacist violence — as those seeking mass violence expand their online reach to encourage, solicit and facilitate terrorist activities. But as technology evolves, we keep up.

But today we will focus on the ways in which hate crimes disrupt society and destroy lives.

In a South Carolina case you will hear more about today, a jury convicted the man who murdered Dime Doe, a Black transgender woman, of a hate crime. He received a life sentence.

In Virginia, a man was charged with a hate crime for attempting to kill congregants at a church.

In Kansas, a man received an 80-month sentence for making death threats against a person he believed was in an interracial relationship and for threatening two young Black men at a gas station.

Hate mongers fueled with racist, antisemitic, Islamophobic, anti-LGBTQI or xenophobic motivations have no place in America today. Rest assured, we will keep moving towards an inclusive and more peaceful America while holding accountable those responsible for senseless, vile and hate-filled crimes.

Hate crimes are message crimes. Their perpetrators understand that such violence touches many more people than their individual victims. It instills fear in communities, and it sows trauma in the hearts and bodies of the loved ones left behind.

We listen to and we hear the survivors of hate crimes. We center their experiences and we acknowledge their trauma in our work. Today, we’ll hear from some of them, and from those who work every day to preserve others from the kind of pain they experience.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A Virginia man pleaded guilty today for committing insider trading and making false statements about his trading to his employer, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (FRBR).

According to court documents, Robert Brian Thompson, 43, of Mosley, worked as a bank examiner and senior manager with supervisory duties for the FRBR. Due to his position, Thompson was privy to confidential information about certain financial institutions under FRBR’s supervision, including confidential supervisory information (CSI), which is the property of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. As an employee of the FRBR, Thompson was also required annually to file a “Form for Employees Involved with Supervision and Regulation,” which is also called a “Form D.” Among other things, Form D requires employees to disclose if they have any assets, including any equity interest in any banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System and/or bank holding companies.

From October 2020 through February 2024, Thompson misappropriated confidential information, including CSI, to execute trades in publicly traded financial institutions. In total, Thompson executed 69 trades in seven different publicly traded financial institutions for a total of approximately $771,678 in personal profits. To conceal the scheme, in each year from 2020 through 2024, Thompson falsely represented on the FRBR’s Form D that he had no assets, including no equities in any publicly traded financial institutions, and that he had not engaged in any activity that would constitute conflicts of interest, violations of FRBR policies, or violations of law.

Thompson pleaded guilty to one count of insider trading and one count of making false statements. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 19, 2025, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the insider trading count and five years in prison on the false statements count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Special Agent in Charge John Perez of Headquarters Operations, Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (FRB-OIG) made the announcement.

FRB-OIG is investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Della Sentilles and former Assistant Chief Leslie S. Garthwaite of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas A. Garnett for the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

On Nov. 15, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York returned an indictment charging Noor Nabi Chowdhury, 56, of Cheektowaga, New York, and his brother, Mohammad Rahman, 36, of Dhaka, Bangladesh, with conspiracy to provide to the public an illicit digital transmission service; providing an illicit digital transmission service; conspiracy to commit wire fraud; and aggravated identity theft. The charges stem from their operation of 247TVStream, an online subscription-based service that permitted users to stream copyrighted content, such as live sports programming and television shows, without the permission of the relevant copyright owners.

According to court documents, Chowdhury and Rahman allegedly ran the illegal scheme for years and collected more than $7 million in subscriber fees from 247TVStream subscribers. The estimated harm to legitimate copyright owners caused by 247TVStream is more than $100 million. Chowdhury and Rahman also allegedly used a victim’s identification to facilitate the infrastructure for the scheme.

The indictment was unsealed earlier today, following Chowdhury’s arrest, and he appeared for his arraignment in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York this afternoon. An arrest warrant was issued for Rahman, who remains at large.

“According to the indictment, Chowdhury and Rahman ran an illicit digital streaming site that infringed upon more than a hundred million dollars of intellectual property owned by legitimate copyright owners,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Thanks to the work of our prosecutors, along with our domestic and international law enforcement partners, the illicit digital streaming site no longer exists, and Chowdhury is in custody. These actions demonstrate the Criminal Division’s commitment to protecting intellectual property rights by vigorously enforcing the laws against illicit digital transmission services.”

“As alleged, the defendants operated a bootleg online streaming service that distributed copyrighted television programs that they stole for their personal enrichment,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. “My office and the Justice Department are committed to protecting the rights of intellectual property holders from digital pirates like these defendants.”

“Noor Nabi Chowdhury and Mohammad Rahman are accused of committing copyright infringement to the tune of over $100 million,” said Special Agent in Charge William S. Walker of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York Field Office. “As alleged and in furtherance of their criminal scheme, the defendants stole an unsuspecting victim’s identity to exploit major American businesses, in pursuit of illicit wealth. HSI New York proudly stands alongside our law enforcement and private sector partners, both domestic and abroad, to thwart criminal organizations who seek to financially capitalize on their wrongdoing.”

Also today, HSI executed a seizure order from the Eastern District of New York against website domain names used by Chowdhury and Rahman to operate 247TVStream. The seizure of these domains by the government will prevent the owners and third parties from using the sites to operate 247TVStream. Individuals, including subscribers, visiting those sites now will see a message indicating that the site has been seized by the federal government. In addition, in coordination with international law enforcement partners to enforce criminal copyright laws, United Kingdom authorities have seized the servers hosting a portion of the 247TVStream infrastructure.

If convicted, Chowdhury and Rahman each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the conspiracy to provide the illicit digital transmission service charge; three years in prison on the providing the illicit digital transmission service charge; 20 years in prison for the conspiracy to commit wire fraud charge; and a mandatory penalty of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft, to run consecutive to the other sentences.

The HSI New York Field Office is investigating the case, with assistance from the HSI Buffalo Field Office and their Attaché Offices in Ottawa, The Hague, and London.

The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs also assisted. The Justice Department appreciates the additional assistance provided by the Surrey and City of London Police of the United Kingdom and Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Trial Attorneys Vasantha Rao and Jeff Pearlman of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Schuman for the Eastern District of New York 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

Dell Technologies Inc. and Dell Federal Systems L.P. (collectively Dell), located in Austin, Texas, have agreed to pay $2,300,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting and causing the submission of non-competitive bids to the Army and thereby overcharging the Army under the Army Desktop and Mobile Computing 3 (ADMC-3) contract. Iron Bow Technologies LLC (Iron Bow), located in Herndon, Virginia, also agreed to pay $2,051,000 for its role in the scheme.

The settlements resolve allegations that from May 2020 to April 2024, Dell operated a deal registration program, whereby it gave advantageous pricing to Iron Bow to sell certain Dell computer hardware products to the Army in response to solicitations under the AMDC-3 contract. The United States alleged that Dell also submitted its own direct bids to the Army on the same solicitations, knowing that its prices would be higher than Iron Bow’s, thereby creating a false appearance of competition. The United States further alleged that Dell’s practice of providing higher direct bids influenced the Army’s source selection process and enabled Iron Bow to overcharge the Army for certain Dell products.

“The United States relies on competition to get the best value and price for the American taxpayers,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “This settlement demonstrates the department’s commitment to hold accountable those who overcharge the government through collusion or other unlawful conduct.”

“Fraud in the government contracting process costs taxpayers untold dollars each year,” said U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona for the Northern District of Alabama. “We will continue to work with our federal law enforcement partners to investigate and pursue those who commit government contracting fraud.”

The Dell settlement also resolves a lawsuit filed against Dell under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private parties to sue on behalf of the government when they believe that a defendant has submitted false claims for government funds and receive a share of any recovery. The settlement in this case provides for the whistleblower, Brent Lillard, an executive of another IT reseller, to receive a $345,000 share of the recovery from Dell. The qui tam case is captioned United States ex rel. Lillard v. Dell Technologies Inc., No. 5:20-CV-1613-HNJ (NDAL).

The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama, with assistance from the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General, Army Criminal Investigation Division, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Inspector General and General Services Administration Office of Inspector General.

Trial Attorney Samson Asiyanbi of the Justice Department’s Civil Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Blutter for the Northern District of Alabama handled the matter.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only. There has been no determination of liability. 

Dell Settlement

Iron Bow Settlement

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

John Chen, 71, of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Los Angeles, was sentenced today to 20 months in prison for acting as unregistered agents of the PRC and bribing an IRS agent in connection with a plot to target U.S.-based practitioners of Falun Gong — a spiritual practice banned in the PRC.

According to court documents, from at least approximately January 2023 to May 2023, Chen and co-defendant Lin Feng, 44, a PRC citizen and resident of Los Angeles, California, worked inside the United States at the direction of the PRC government, including an identified PRC government official PRC Official-1, to further the PRC government’s campaign to repress and harass Falun Gong practitioners. The PRC government has designated the Falun Gong as one of the “Five Poisons,” or one of the top five threats to its rule. In China, Falun Gong adherents face a range of repressive and punitive measures from the PRC government, including imprisonment.

As part of the PRC’s campaign against the Falun Gong, Chen and Feng engaged in a PRC government-directed scheme to manipulate the IRS’ Whistleblower Program in an effort to strip the tax-exempt status of an entity run and maintained by Falun Gong practitioners, the Shen Yun Performing Arts Center. After Chen filed a defective whistleblower complaint with the IRS (the Chen Whistleblower Complaint), Chen and Feng paid $5,000 in cash bribes and promised to pay substantially more to a purported IRS agent (Agent-1) who was, in fact, an undercover officer, in exchange for Agent-1’s assistance in advancing the complaint. Neither Chen nor Feng notified the Attorney General that they were acting as agents of the PRC in the United States.

In the course of the scheme, Chen, on a recorded call, explicitly noted that the purpose of paying these bribes, which were directed and funded by the PRC, was to carry out the PRC government’s aim of “toppl[ing] . . . the Falun Gong.” During a call intercepted pursuant to a judicially authorized wiretap, Chen and Feng discussed receiving “direction” on the bribery scheme from PRC Official-1, deleting instructions received from PRC Official-1 in order to evade detection, and “alert[ing]” and “sound[ing] the alarm” to PRC Official-1 if Chen and Feng’s meetings to bribe Agent-1 did not go as planned. Chen and Feng also discussed that PRC Official-1 was the PRC government official “in charge” of the bribery scheme targeting the Falun Gong.

As part of this scheme, Chen and Feng met with Agent-1 in Newburgh, New York, on May 14, 2023. During the meeting, Chen gave Agent-1 a $1,000 cash bribe as an initial, partial bribe payment. Chen further offered to pay Agent-1 a total of $50,000 for opening an audit on the Shen Yun Performing Arts Center, as well as 60% of any whistleblower award from the IRS if the Chen Whistleblower Complaint were successful. On May 18, 2023, Feng paid Agent-1 a $4,000 cash bribe at John F. Kennedy International Airport as an additional partial bribe payment in furtherance of the scheme.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York, and Executive Assistant Director Robert R. Wells of the FBI’s National Security Branch made the announcement.

In addition to the prison term, Chen was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $50,000. Feng was sentenced on Sept. 26, to a time-served sentence of 16 months in prison.

The FBI and Office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Qais Ghafary, Michael D. Lockard, and Kathryn Wheelock for the Southern District of New York and Trial Attorney Christina Clark of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section prosecuted the case.