Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A Massachusetts man was arrested on May 9 for allegedly acting as an agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) without providing notification to the U.S. Attorney General.

Litang Liang, 63, of Brighton, was indicted on one count of acting as an agent of a foreign government without providing notification to the U.S. Attorney General and one count of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without providing notification to the U.S. Attorney General.

“We will not tolerate the PRC’s efforts to interfere with public discourse and threaten civic participation in the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “This case demonstrates, once again, the lengths that the PRC government, including its Ministry of Public Security, will go to target people in the U.S. who exercise their rights to speak out against the PRC.”

“The Department of Justice will protect these individual rights and protect our country against those who seek to unlawfully act on behalf of foreign governments while within our borders,” said U.S. Attorney Rachael S. Rollins for the District of Massachusetts. “We allege that Mr. Liang engaged in a series of acts on behalf of the PRC government including providing information on Boston-area residents, organizations and dissidents to PRC government officials – potentially placing people at risk here in Massachusetts and abroad. Attempts to repress constitutionally protected rights here in the United States will never be tolerated. Anyone who infringes upon those rights on American soil will be identified and held to account.”

“The United States requires agents of foreign countries to register with our government, and for good reason – in such cases, those agents often act against the interests of the United States,” said Assistant Director Suzanne Turner of the FBI Counterintelligence Division. “The FBI is not going to stand by and allow undeclared agents of the People’s Republic of China to operate in our country unchecked. We will continue to steadfastly enforce the law of the land, uncovering these efforts and holding accountable all those who work with foreign governments to violate our laws.”

According to the charging documents, from in or around 2018 through at least 2022, Liang acted within the United States as an agent of the PRC government by allegedly providing PRC government officials with information on Boston-area individuals and organizations; organizing a counter-protest against pro-democracy dissidents; providing photographs of and information about dissidents to PRC government officials; and providing the names of potential recruits to the PRC’s Ministry of Public Security. At no point did Liang notify the U.S. Attorney General that he was acting as a PRC government agent.

Specifically, beginning in or around 2018, Liang allegedly provided information about Chinese individuals and organizations in the Boston area to PRC government officials – including PRC officials formerly in the United States, the Ministry of Public Security, and the United Front Work Department, an entity which reports directly to the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and works to further the CCP’s goals.

It is alleged that Liang provided PRC government officials with information regarding members and leaders of Boston-area, Chinese family associations and community organizations with pro-Taiwan leanings. Additionally, it is alleged that Liang sent information regarding anti-PRC dissidents to PRC officials including: identification of an individual he accused of having “sabotaged” PRC flags in Boston’s Chinatown in October 2018; video of a dissident attending the “Boston Stands with Hong Kong” march in August 2019; and photographs of anti-PRC dissidents in front of the Boston Public Library in September 2019.

The charge of acting as an agent of a foreign government without providing notification to the U.S. Attorney General provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without providing notification to the U.S. Attorney General provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy H. Kistner for the District of Massachusetts is prosecuting the case. Valuable assistance was provided by Trial Attorney Elizabeth Abraham of the Justice Department’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department announced today that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama has provisionally approved its $2 million settlement agreement with the Sheriff of Mobile County, Alabama. The agreement, announced by the department on April 24, resolves the department’s lawsuit alleging that female corrections officers at the Mobile County Metro Jail were regularly subjected to severe and pervasive sexual harassment in the workplace by male inmates and that the sheriff’s office failed to take prompt and effective action to remedy this harassing conduct as required by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The court’s provisional approval means that the parties can begin to implement the agreement, including by providing notice to the current and former employees who have a right to request a monetary award under the agreement. Those individuals will then have an opportunity to submit comments on the settlement, which the court will consider at a fairness hearing on Aug. 25, 2023, before giving final approval to the agreement.

“The Justice Department brought this litigation to bring an end to the hostile work environment faced by women employed at the Mobile County Metro Jail,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The court’s action will help ensure that impacted female employees receive the relief that they rightly deserve.”

Under the terms of the agreement, the sheriff will pay compensatory damages to plaintiffs named in the lawsuit. The sheriff will also establish a $1.41 million settlement fund to compensate other women harmed by the discrimination alleged by the department.

• All women who have worked as corrections officers or corporals at the Mobile County Metro Jail at any time between Jan. 1, 2011, and April 21, 2023 are potentially eligible to recover monetary relief under the fund.
• Over the next several weeks, a claims administrator retained by the department will contact women who may be eligible to notify them of the fund and provide specific instructions about next steps, including when they can apply to the fund.
• People with questions about the agreement and claims process can contact the Justice Department at mcso@usdoj.gov or 1-800-556-1950 (option 6).

In addition to the monetary relief, the agreement also requires the sheriff to implement specific changes at the jail to reduce the instances of sexual harassment of female jail employees. These changes are based on recommendations from a corrections expert who has run jails and consulted with dozens of jails throughout the country for over three decades. None of the settlement funds will be used to implement these changes.

This lawsuit is part of the Civil Rights Division’s Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Initiative. The initiative is aimed at eradicating sexual harassment in state and local government workplaces. It focuses on litigation, outreach, and development of effective remedial measures to address and prevent future sex discrimination and harassment.

The full and fair enforcement of Title VII is a top priority of the Civil Rights Division’s Employment Litigation Section. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division and the Employment Litigation Section is available on its websites www.justice.gov/crt and www.justice.gov/crt/employment-litigation-section.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Two cousins were found guilty in the District of Columbia of felony and misdemeanor charges for their actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. Their actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

            Thomas Harlen Smith, 44, of Mathiston, Mississippi, was found guilty of 11 charges, including nine felony counts and two misdemeanors, following a jury trial before U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton, who scheduled sentencing for August 17, 2023. Smith was convicted of assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon; obstruction of an official proceeding; two counts of civil disorder; two counts of assaulting, impeding, or resisting officers; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon. He was also convicted of two misdemeanors: disorderly conduct in the Capitol grounds or buildings and an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.

            Donnie Duane Wren, 44, of Athens, Alabama, was found guilty of three charges, including two felony counts and one misdemeanor. His sentencing is also set for August 17, 2023, before U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton. Wren was convicted of assaulting, impeding, or resisting officers; civil disorder; and entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds.

            According to evidence presented in court, Smith and Wren traveled from Mississippi and Alabama to D.C. to attend former President Trump’s rally. After reaching the Capitol grounds, Smith entered the Tunnel, attempted to break a window with his flagpole, and pushed into the Capitol. Later, on the Upper West Terrace, Smith and Wren pushed against a police line –holding them back for twenty seconds. Smith then kicked an officer to the ground and threw a metal pole — hitting an officer in the head. After the he left Capitol grounds, Smith messaged on Facebook, “we stormed the capitol.”

            Smith’s most serious assault charge and the obstruction charge each carry a statutory maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Wren’s assault charge carries a statutory maximum sentence of up to 8 years in prison. A federal court judge will determine the appropriate sentence after considering all factors and the U.S. Sentencing guidelines.

            The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern District of Mississippi, the Northern District of Alabama, and the Southern District of Florida.

            The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington and Birmingham Field Offices and the Homestead Florida and Oxford Mississippi Resident Agencies which listed Wren as #219 on their seeking information photos. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police, the Metropolitan Police Department, and the Prince George’s County Police Department.

            In the 28 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,000 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 320 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing. 

            Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

Source: United States Department of Justice

A North Carolina land appraiser pleaded guilty today to conspiring to defraud the United States as part of a syndicated conservation easement tax shelter scheme – involving inflated charitable contribution deductions based on a fraudulent appraisal value of a conservation easement on land – that claimed more than $1.3 billion in fraudulent tax deductions.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from 2008 to 2019, Walter “Terry” Douglas Roberts II of Shelby, North Carolina, conspired with others to defraud the United States by fraudulently inflating the value of the conservation easements upon which the tax deductions were based.

Roberts became a licensed appraiser in 2007 and began providing appraisals of conservation easements that same year. From 2008 through 2019, as part of the scheme, Roberts fraudulently inflated the values of at least 18 conservation easements by, among other things, not following normal appraisal methods, making false statements, and either personally manipulating or relying on knowingly manipulated data, in order to reach a targeted appraisal value – communicated to him by coconspirators – that would result in the desired tax deduction amount.

Roberts inflated some of his appraisals by at least 70%. The 18 conservation easements Roberts fraudulently appraised claimed approximately $466,961,000 in tax deductions, resulting in a tax loss to the IRS exceeding $129,000,000.

Roberts is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 14 and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, as well as 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, U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan for the Northern District of Georgia, and IRS Criminal Investigation Chief James C. Lee made the announcement.

IRS-CI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Richard M. Rolwing, Grace Albinson, Parker Tobin, Jessica Kraft, and Nicholas J. Schilling Jr., of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Huber, Deputy Chief of the Complex Frauds Section for the Northern District of Georgia are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brittney Campbell for the District of Idaho, formerly of the Tax Division, also previously worked on this case.

Source: United States Department of Justice

The Department of Justice, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), today announced a civil enforcement action against XCast Labs, Inc. for allegedly violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) by assisting and facilitating illegal telemarketing campaigns.

According to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, XCast Labs, Inc., provided voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services that transmitted billions of illegal robocalls to American consumers, including scam calls that fraudulently claimed to be from government agencies. These robocalls delivered prerecorded marketing messages, and many of them were delivered to numbers listed on the National Do Not Call Registry, failed to truthfully identify the seller of the services being marketed, falsely claimed affiliations with government entities, contained other false or misleading statements to induce purchases, or were transmitted with “spoofed” caller ID information. The complaint alleges that XCast Labs continued to allow its services to transmit these calls even after being alerted to their illegality.

The complaint seeks monetary civil penalties and a permanent injunction to prohibit the defendant from future violations.

“The Department of Justice is committed to stopping telecommunications providers from enabling unscrupulous telemarketers to bombard American consumers with illegal robocalls,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We will continue to work with the FTC to enforce the Telemarketing Sales Rule.”

“XCast Labs played a key role in helping telemarketers flood homes with unlawful robocalls, including robocalls impersonating the Social Security Administration,” said Director Samuel Levine of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “VoIP providers like XCast Labs that bury their heads in the sand when their customers use their services to break the law can expect to hear from the FTC.”     

A complaint is merely a set of allegations that, if the case were to proceed to trial, the government would need to prove by a preponderance of the evidence.

The case is being handled by attorneys in the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, including Trial Attorney Zachary A. Dietert, in conjunction with staff at the FTC’s Division of Marketing Practices. 

For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the FTC, visit its website at https://www.FTC.gov.