Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice 2

Note: View order here.

Last week, a federal court in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, found Whylithia R. Robinson in contempt for violating a permanent injunction that prohibited her and her business AAA Tax Service LLC from preparing, filing, or assisting in the preparation or filing of federal tax returns for others.

The United States filed a complaint against Robinson and AAA Tax Service on Jan. 23, 2023. According to the complaint, Robinson prepared and filed 2,629 federal income tax returns for customers though AAA Tax Service from 2019-2021. The complaint further alleged that Robinson displayed a pattern of filing tax returns during this period that understated the customer’s tax liabilities and overstated tax refunds by fabricating business losses, claiming false charitable donations, or falsely claiming education credits for customers who were not entitled to them. On April 23, 2023, the court issued a default judgment of permanent injunction that barred Robinson and AAA Tax Services from preparing tax returns for others.

Following a hearing last week, the court found that the United States demonstrated that Robinson violated the permanent injunction by continuing to prepare 227 tax returns for others. For these violations, the court held Robinson in civil contempt and ordered as sanctions that she disgorge $68,100 in ill-gotten fees she earned in violation of the injunction and reimburse the United States its costs of litigation and travel expenses.

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 10 tips to avoid tax season fraud and ways to safeguard personal information.

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

“Tonight, a DC trial judge supported Tren de Aragua terrorists over the safety of Americans. TdA is represented by the ACLU. This order disregards well-established authority regarding President Trump’s power, and it puts the public and law enforcement at risk. The Department of Justice is undeterred in its efforts to work with the White House, the Department of Homeland Security, and all of our partners to stop this invasion and Make America Safe Again.”

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Mexican nationals and former leaders of the Los Zetas cartel were arraigned today in Washington, D.C., on charges of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise that involved multiple murder conspiracies, conspiring to manufacture and distribute large quantities of cocaine and marijuana destined for the United States, using firearms — including a machinegun — during and in relation to drug trafficking crimes, and conspiring to launder monetary instruments.

According to court documents, Miguel Trevino Morales, also known as Z-40, Zeta40, and 40, age 52, and Omar Trevino Morales, also known as 42 and Z-42, age 48, ascended to the highest level of leadership in Los Zetas, a violent cartel comprised of former Mexican military officers that began as an armed militaristic wing of the Gulf Cartel. Miguel Trevino Morales allegedly took over leadership of Los Zetas in October 2012 until his arrest by Mexican authorities in 2013, at which point, his brother, Omar Trevino Morales, allegedly assumed primary leadership of the cartel until his arrest by Mexican authorities in 2015. After their arrests, the defendants allegedly renamed Los Zetas to Cartel del Noreste (CDN) and continued to control the cartel while incarcerated in Mexico. Through the date of the fifth superseding indictment, CDN allegedly continued Los Zetas’ criminal drug trafficking activities and acts of violence including murders, assaults, kidnappings, assassinations, and acts of torture. On Feb. 20, 2025, the U.S. Department of State designated CDN as a foreign terrorist organization.

“The Criminal Division is dedicated to achieving the Attorney General’s goal of the Total Elimination of Cartels,” said Supervisory Official Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “As alleged, former Zetas cartel leaders Z-40 and Z-42 engaged in conspiracies to kill members of the Mexican government, Mexican citizens, members of rival cartels, members of the Guatemalan government, and Guatemalan drug traffickers. We will aggressively pursue and bring to justice in the United States violent transnational criminals and leaders of cartels and hold them accountable for the death and violence they have committed here and abroad and for the large amounts of dangerous drugs that devastate our communities.”

“As alleged, the defendants represent some of the world’s most vicious cartel leaders, who oversaw Los Zetas’ reign of terror with grotesque impunity and ruthlessness, and a sheer disregard for anything beyond their wealth, power, and control,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Alfonso of ICE Homeland Security Investigations New York. “I commend ICE Homeland Security Investigations’ El Dorado Task Force for consistently proving itself as a formidable opponent against cartels intent on causing harm. We will use whatever means necessary to protect the safety and security of Americans from threats both here and abroad.”

The defendants are charged with one count each of continuing a criminal enterprise, conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana for importation into the United States, use of a firearm in relation to drug trafficking crimes, and international money laundering conspiracy. As part of the continuing criminal enterprise count, the defendants are alleged to have engaged in conspiracies to kill members of the Mexican government, Mexican citizens, members of rival cartels, members of the Guatemalan government, and Guatemalan drug traffickers. Because the defendants are charged with engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, they face a maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment.    

The defendants were subject to longstanding U.S. extradition requests, that were not honored during the prior Administration, but the Mexican government elected to transfer to the current U.S. government in response to the Justice Department’s efforts pursuant to President Trump’s and the Attorney General’s leadership against Mexican drug cartels. On Feb. 27, the defendants were transferred by Mexican authorities to the United States.   

The Drug Enforcement Administration, ICE HSI, and the FBI are investigating the case.

Acting Deputy Chief Melanie Alsworth and Trial Attorneys Jayce Born and Kirk Handrich of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Wang for the Eastern District of New York, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).

Source: United States Department of Justice

Today, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division filed a dismissal of the complaint in United States v. Alabama. The previous administration had filed the action in 2024 after the Secretary of State in Alabama had taken steps to remove ineligible alien voters from their voter rolls in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election.   

“States are required to maintain accurate voting rolls and remove ineligible voters,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Mac Warner of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This Administration supports the efforts of states like Alabama that engage in voting security measures that ensure only citizens are voting in our elections. We are dismissing this case from the prior Administration to permit Alabama the time and space to develop a legal, efficient, and effective process to remove noncitizens from their voting roll and secure the vote for their citizens in upcoming elections.”

In mid-August 2025, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen announced a “process to remove non-citizens registered to vote in Alabama,” citing over 3,200 people who he said registered to vote and were not U.S. citizens. The stipulated notice of dismissal filed today ends the lawsuit brought by the prior administration challenging that procedure. Because of that lawsuit, Alabama was forced to cease its process in 2024.

By ending the Department of Justice’s action against them, Alabama should now have the opportunity develop a new process to ensure that ineligible voters are removed from its voter rolls, as it is required to do under Section 8 of the NVRA.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A Virginia man was sentenced today to 78 months in prison for tax crimes and his wire fraud scheme.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Rick Tariq Rahim, of Great Falls, owned and operated several businesses, including laser tag facilities and an Amazon reseller. From 2015 to 2021, Rahim did not pay the IRS the taxes withheld from his employees’ paychecks or file the required quarterly employment tax returns reporting those withholdings.

Between October 2010 and October 2012, Rahim filed two personal income tax returns on which he reported owing substantial taxes, but did not pay all the taxes due. When the IRS attempted to collect the unpaid taxes, Rahim submitted a false statement that omitted valuable assets he owned, including a helicopter, a Bentley, a Lamborghini, and real estate in Great Falls. Approximately two weeks later, Rahim transferred ownership of the Great Falls property to his wife. He also paid personal expenses from his business bank accounts, including more than $889,000 toward his mortgages and more than $669,000 to purchase or lease cars, including three different Lamborghinis. Rahim withdrew more than $1.1 million in cash in amounts less than $10,000 to avoid triggering currency transaction reports from the bank. Rahim has not filed a personal income tax return since 2012 despite earning more than $34 million in gross income.

In total, Rahim caused a loss to the IRS of at least $4.4 million.

Rahim also defrauded customers who invested using his automated trading bots and by “copying” Rahim’s supposed trading activities that he posted to Discord. He marketed his products on websites named BotsforWealth, TradeAutomation, ProChartSignals, OptionCopier, CopyAndWin, SnipeAlgo, and QQQtrade. Rahim charged customers a subscription fee to access his bots and other software, and to copy his supposed trades. Rahim also offered a “lifetime membership” to which customers received access to Rahim’s private Discord channel, some of his products, and his “in-office” trading days. Rahim personally traded stocks for at least two individuals, claiming “We’ll hit home runs and make $500k+ per day very very often.” Instead, Rahim lost over $300,000 of his clients’ funds in eight months. 

Rahim induced customers to subscribe to his products by using social media tools, including TikTok, YouTube, and Discord. He also sought to induce customers by claiming he was extremely wealthy, boasting about trading millions of dollars and posting about his large home, pool, and luxury cars, including his Lamborghini. He posted false information to his websites and to his social media accounts claiming to “beat the stock market every day” and promising extreme profit margins. His claim of regularly beating the market was exaggerated. In reality, he did not post his trades that lost money. In fact, Rahim realized over $500,000 in losses from February 2021 through December 2022, and did not earn millions in the market during this time period as he had claimed. As part of his fraud scheme, Rahim also created at least 20 Discord user profiles where he posted emojis, likes, and symbols showing agreement and excitement regarding Rahim’s posts. Rahim earned at least $1,397,000 in subscription fees during the course of his schemes.

In addition to Rahim’s prison sentence, he agreed to forfeit over $1.3 million and must pay restitution to the IRS and to his investment fraud victims.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Erik S. Siebert for the Eastern District of Virginia made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated Rahim’s tax fraud and FBI investigated his investment fraud. The case was consolidated for sentencing.

Trial Attorneys William Montague and Ashley Stein of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Shartar for the Eastern District of Virginia prosecuted Rahim for his tax fraud. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shartar prosecuted Rahim for his investment fraud.