Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department announced today that the Western Union Remission Fund began its second distribution of approximately $18.5 million in funds forfeited to the United States from the Western Union Company (Western Union) to approximately 3,000 victims located in the United States and abroad. These victims stand to recover the full amount of their losses.

This is the second distribution of the second phase of the Western Union Remission. The first distribution of the second phase paid approximately $40 million to over 25,000 victims. Through two phases, the Western Union Remission Fund has distributed over $420 million to more than 175,000 victims who received full compensation for their losses.

The second phase of the Western Union Remission was opened in March 2022 to provide victims who had not filed petitions in the first phase of distributions an opportunity to file for remission. The Justice Department continues to review petitions for remission and reconsideration request forms from those victimized by the scheme. The Justice Department anticipates authorizing more distributions for victims in the coming months.

“Western Union aided and abetted fraud schemes that collectively caused thousands of victims to lose hundreds of millions of dollars,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Justice Department has now returned more than $420 million forfeited from Western Union to more than 175,000 victims, who have received full compensation for their losses. The sixth distribution from the Western Union Remission Fund demonstrates yet again that the Criminal Division is committed to using all of its authorities to make crime victims whole.”

“The latest distribution of $18.5 million to approximately 3,000 victims again highlights the commitment of our prosecutors and law enforcement partners,” said U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. “Western Union allowed fraudsters to carry out schemes against the most vulnerable people in our society, and we are proud to uphold accountability for those involved in these schemes and ensure proper compensation for the harm that victims suffered.”

“This $18.5 million disbursement to approximately 3,000 victims represents the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s commitment to the American people and the many victims of financial fraud,” said U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge Christopher Nielsen of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s (USPIS) Philadelphia Division. “The Western Union Remission process has now disbursed over $420 million to approximately 175,000 victims. This accomplishment reflects our continued efforts with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section to provide financial reimbursement to those victimized by a large scale and sophisticated mass marketing fraud.”

In 2017, Western Union entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the United States. Pursuant to the DPA, Western Union acknowledged responsibility for its criminal conduct, which included violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and aiding and abetting wire fraud, and agreed to forfeit $586 million, which has been made available to compensate victims of the international consumer fraud scheme through the remission process. Western Union simultaneously resolved a parallel civil investigation with the Federal Trade Commission.

In this scheme, fraudsters targeted consumers, including seniors, through multiple scams. Three specific scams directed towards seniors include the grandparent scam, where the fraudster would pose as the victim’s relative in need of immediate money to avoid personal harm, lottery, or sweepstakes scams; where the fraudster would tell the victim that they had won a large cash prize but had to pay fees such as taxes to claim the prize; and romance scams, where the fraudster would pose as an online love interest and request funds for a visit or for another purpose. In each of these scams, the fraudsters convinced their victims to send money through Western Union.

Certain owners, operators, or employees of Western Union agent locations were complicit in the schemes. Western Union aided and abetted the fraud scheme by failing to suspend or terminate complicit agents and by allowing them to continue to process fraud-induced monetary transactions. Western Union fulfilled its obligations under the DPA and the court granted the motion to dismiss the information.

The Justice Department, through the Asset Forfeiture Program, works diligently to restore lost funds to victims of crime and acknowledges the significant assistance of the USPIS Philadelphia Division’s Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Office in the Western Union remission. The victim compensation payments in the Western Union case would not have been possible without the extraordinary efforts of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Central District of California, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and Southern District of Florida. The FBI Los Angeles Field Office, IRS Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations Philadelphia, Federal Reserve Board and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Office of Inspector General, and Department of the Treasury Office of Inspector General provided valuable assistance.

More information about the Western Union Remission Fund and its compensation to victims is available at www.WesternUnionRemissionPhase2.com. Further questions may be directed to the Western Union Remission Administrator by phone at (855) 786-1048 or by email at info@WesternUnionRemissionPhase2.com.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A Colombian national was extradited to the United States on Friday to face charges related to kidnapping and assaulting two members of the U.S. military who were on temporary duty in Bogotá, Colombia.

Kenny Julieth Uribe Chiran, 35, of Bogotá, made her initial court appearance today in Miami, Florida, before Magistrate Judge Eduardo Sanchez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

According to court documents, Uribe Chiran and her co-conspirators targeted, incapacitated, and kidnapped two U.S. soldiers in Bogotá in order to rob them of their valuables.

Uribe Chiran is charged with kidnapping an internationally protected person, conspiracy to kidnap an internationally protected person, assaulting an internationally protected person, and conspiracy to assault an internationally protected person.

Uribe Chiran is the last of the three co-defendants to be extradited to the United States. Arango Castellanos was extradited in May 2023 from Colombia to the United States, pleaded guilty in January to the charges in the indictment, and was sentenced in May to 48 years and nine months in prison. Silva Ochoa was extradited in April from Chile to the United States and is currently scheduled for trial in November.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI Miami Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI is investigating the case, and the U.S. Marshals Service escorted Uribe Chiran from Colombia to the United States. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI Miami Field Office, the Office of the Legal Attaché Santiago, and the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section’s Judicial Attaché Office in Bogotá provided significant assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Uribe Chiran. The United States also thanks Colombian law enforcement authorities for their valuable assistance.

Trial Attorneys Clayton O’Connor and Elizabeth Nielsen of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Bertila Fernandez for the Southern 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

The Justice Department announced today that it has published a new guidance  addressing limits on when and how jurisdictions may remove voters from their voter lists. The guidance document reflects the department’s commitment to ensuring that every eligible voter can exercise their right to vote free of discrimination or voter intimidation.

“Ensuring that every eligible voter is able to vote and have that vote counted is a critical aspect of sustaining a robust democracy, and it is a top priority for the Justice Department,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “As we approach Election Day, it is important that states adhere to all aspects of federal law that safeguard the rights of eligible voters to remain on the active voter lists and to vote free from discrimination and intimidation.”

In its guidance, the department reminds states that efforts to ensure accurate and current voting rolls must be accomplished in compliance with federal law and in a nondiscriminatory manner. Specifically, the department explains important limits imposed by federal law on the rules and procedures states may adopt regarding their voter registration lists. For example, list maintenance efforts must be uniform and nondiscriminatory, and a program to systematically remove ineligible voters must not be done within 90 days of a federal election. There also are specific rules about how to remove registered voters because they have moved. Importantly, these federal protections apply whether the process is initiated by the state or is responsive to third-party submissions.

The department also released a fact sheet as a resource for jurisdictions and provides information on certain civil provisions of federal law that protect the right to vote.

• Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act: Federal law broadly prohibits intimidation, threats and coercion — or attempts to do so — throughout every stage of the voting process, including registering to vote, casting a ballot and counting votes.
• Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act: Federal law also prohibits discrimination in voting because of race, color or membership in a minority language group, defined to include American Indian, Asian American, Alaskan Native and Spanish heritage citizens.
• Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act: For voters with disabilities and those unable to read or write, federal law guarantees voting assistance in all aspects of the voting process by a person of the voter’s choice subject to only two exceptions barring assistance by the voter’s employer or union. And, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, state and local governments must ensure people with disabilities have a full and equal opportunity to vote.
• Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act: The fact sheet explains that some jurisdictions, as determined by the Census Bureau, are required to provide all election information that is available in English in the covered minority language.

In April, the department announced an updated website, www.justice.gov/voting, a one-stop resource for information on voting and elections. This website includes guides on a range of topics to inform voters and state and local election officials. It includes, among other topics, information about Voting Protections for Language Minority Citizens under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, state-by-state rules regarding voting after a criminal conviction, the voting rights of members of the armed services and U.S. citizens living overseas, and information related to post-election audits, including the requirements under federal law that state and local election officials “retain and preserve” voting-related records.

More information about voting and elections is available on the Justice Department’s website at www.justice.gov/voting. Learn more about the Voting Rights Act and other federal voting laws at www.justice.gov/crt/voting-section. Complaints about possible violations of federal voting rights laws can be submitted through the Civil Rights Division’s website at civilrights.justice.gov or by telephone at 1-800-253-3931.

The www.justice.gov/voting website also provides information on the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force, which leads the department’s efforts to address violence against election workers and to ensure that all election workers — whether elected, appointed or volunteer — are able to do their jobs free from threats and intimidation. 

You can report suspected criminal activity regarding voting to the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or by filing an online complaint at tips.fbi.gov. You can also contact local law enforcement. If at any time you are in imminent danger, call 911. 

Source: United States Department of Justice

Good afternoon. I’m Matt Olsen, and I am the Assistant Attorney General for National Security.

For the National Security Division protecting Americans from terrorism and violent extremist threats is at the core of our mission. Every day, NSD’s Counterterrorism Section works with our partners to protect our citizens from terrorists and domestic violent extremists who seek to promote violence and violate the law. 

The National Security Division is here today, joining our partners in the Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento, and the FBI — because these defendants stand charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism, in addition to the hate crimes charges already outlined by Assistant Attorney General Clarke.

As alleged, Humber and Allison, the leaders of Terrorgram, conspired to solicit and provide material support to carry out attacks on federal officials and critical government infrastructure. And they provided detailed instructions for carrying out those attacks.

The defendants were motivated by their ideology of white supremacy and accelerationism — an ideology centered on the belief that the white race is superior and that violence and terrorism are necessary to ignite a race war and accelerate the collapse of the government.

In soliciting attacks on politicians and government officials, the defendants disseminated a list of “high value targets” for assassination. “The List” included the targets’ names, photographs, and home addresses. When disseminating The List, Allison encouraged users to “Take Action Now” and “Do Your Part.”

And the defendants sought to bring about mass casualty attacks and attacks on critical infrastructure to achieve their goal of causing societal collapse. As alleged in the indictment, Terrorgram targets critical infrastructure as a way to destroy citizens’ basic sense of public safety in order to further accelerationist objectives.

In January of last year, Humber celebrated an attack on an energy substation, praising the Terrogram network for its “hard work” to encourage others to carry out such attacks by demonstrating “how easy it is not only to do, but to get away with.”

In addition to soliciting, supporting, and celebrating attacks on critical infrastructure, Humber and Allison disseminated instructional manuals and videos to equip Terrorgram users to carry out the most lethal and effective attacks, including an instructional video called “How to Make a Letter Bomb.” 

And they called on followers in the Terrorgram network to conduct attacks to “fumigate” cities, which to them, meant targeting and killing people based on their race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

These are not mere words. Terrorgram users have carried out, or planned, attacks after being guided by Terrorgram publications and instructional videos.

In October 2022, a 19-year-old in Bratislava, Slovakia, murdered two people and shot a third at an LGBT bar. The perpetrator wrote a manifesto, thanking Terrorgram for inspiring and guiding him. 

In July of this year, another individual in the United States who was active in Terrorgram group chats, was arrested for plotting an attack on an energy facility in New Jersey. Fortunately, the FBI was able to identify and disrupt that plot in time.

And just last month, an 18-year-old from Turkey livestreamed himself stabbing five people outside a mosque in that country. The attacker shared multiple Terrorgram publications with others before committing the attack and Humber later posted in a Terrorgram group chat that “he was 100% our guy.”

Today’s charges underscore the National Security Division’s commitment to stopping acts of terrorism, whether domestic or international. The charges also demonstrate the Justice Department’s resolve to bring every available tool to bear in countering these threats. 

As part of our important work, we have unfortunately encountered numerous instances involving domestic violent extremists motivated by the hateful ideology of white supremacy, including perpetrators of tragic lethal attacks.

I am grateful for the strength of the partnership between the National Security Division and the Civil Rights Division in ensuring we bring the most effective charges available — whether it be hate crimes, terrorism offenses, or both — to seek justice and hold perpetrators accountable.

I want to thank Assistant Attorney General Clarke of the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert, our Counterterrorism Section and the dedicated prosecutors in these offices. I would also like to thank the FBI’s Sacramento Field Office and Domestic Terrorism Operations Section for their hard work in disrupting this dangerous online network.

Source: United States Department of Justice

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Good afternoon. My name is Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department. Joining me are Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Philip Talbert for the Eastern District of California and FBI Deputy Assistant Director for Counterterrorism Timothy Stone. Our offices have collaborated closely on this matter.

Today, a federal grand jury in California charged two leaders of a transnational terrorist group called the Terrorgram Collective on 15 criminal counts. The indictment accuses Matthew Allison, 37, of Boise, Idaho, and Dallas Humber, 34, of Elk Grove, California, of conspiracy, soliciting hate crimes, soliciting the murder of federal officials, transmitting interstate threatening communications, distributing bombmaking instructions and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.

The indictment alleges that defendants solicited others to engage in hate crimes and terrorist attacks against Black, immigrant, LGBT and Jewish people, to attack government infrastructure and to target politicians and government officials, as well as leaders of private companies and non-governmental organizations. The defendants’ goal, the indictment charges, was to ignite a race war, “accelerate” the collapse of what they viewed as an irreparably corrupt government and bring about a white ethnostate. As the indictment lays out, defendants used the internet platform Telegram to post messages promoting their white supremacist “accelerationism.”

This indictment reflects the department’s response to the new technological face of white supremacist violence — as those seeking mass violence expand their online reach to encourage, solicit and facilitate terrorist activities. Technology evolves, and we keep up. These charges reveal that the department will come after violent white supremacists with every legitimate means at our disposal.

I will address the hate crime charges in the indictment. Assistant Attorney General Olsen will describe the counts related to national security. U.S. Attorney Talbert will discuss next steps and FBI Deputy Assistant Director Stone will discuss law enforcement efforts and collaboration.

The indictment accuses defendants of using Terrorgram to solicit others to commit bias-motivated attacks targeting victims because of their race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or gender identity. The indictment charges that defendants identified targets for attack, urged followers to kill those targets, explained how to do so and celebrated the perpetrators of past terrorist attacks by developing a so-called “saint” culture. Defendant Humber explained that this “canonization of mass shooters” made aspiring attackers more willing to perpetrate violence to attain “sainthood” and inspire future attacks. According to the indictment, this strategy proved effective. A Terrorgram user who livestreamed himself stabbing five people outside a mosque in Turkey stated in his manifesto that he wanted to be recognized as a saint, cited Terrorgram publications and encouraged others to livestream their attacks to inspire future saints.

The defendants are charged with actually soliciting hate crimes, not abstract advocacy or wishful thinking. According to the indictment, the defendants expressly took credit for inspiring and guiding a 19-year-old Slovakian man who sent a violent manifesto to the defendants before shooting three people — killing two of them — at an LGBT Bar in Bratislava, and then killing himself while being pursued by the police.

Based on these and other actions, count one of the 15-count indictment charges that defendants conspired among themselves and with other people to solicit hate crimes, to dox federal employees and to convey threats in interstate or foreign commerce.

Count two alleges that defendants solicited others to cause bodily injury to people because of their race, specifically, because they were Black or were whites who associated with Black people and therefore were, according to defendants, “race traitors.”

Count three accuses defendants of soliciting others to commit bias-motivated attacks against Jewish people.

Count four alleges solicitation of such attacks against immigrants and count five solicitation of such attacks against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

In 1790, George Washington stated the aspiration that the new nation should “give[] to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.” That remains a fundamental tenet of our democracy.

Hate crimes fueled by bigotry and white supremacy, and amplified by the weaponization of digital messaging platforms, are on the rise and have no place in our society. Everyone has the right to live without fear of violence based on who they are, where they are from, how they worship or who they love. The department will protect that right, and we will resolutely strive to bring to justice those who seek to threaten, undermine or extinguish it.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen will speak with you now.