Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department announced today that, as of Aug. 2, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma has entered permanent injunctions that bar three Tulsa, Oklahoma-area men and two companies from running a fraudulent medical debt collection scheme that targeted current and former servicemembers and older Americans.

In its civil complaint, the United States alleged that Christopher Parks, 63, Christopher Noah Parks, 31, and Stephen Miller, 39, sent thousands of fraudulent debt collection notices on Assured Collections LLC and Assured Financial LLC letterhead to consumers nationwide. The letters demanded thousands of dollars in payment purportedly for medical devices that some consumers received for past medical procedures, such as leg compression devices used to prevent blood clots after surgery. The United States alleged that defendants had no authority to collect any debt from those consumers and that the debts for which defendants sought repayment were in many cases illusory — i.e., consumers did not actually owe the money, but many paid it anyway. The complaint further alleged that Christopher Parks and his co-defendants knew that the debt collection notices were fraudulent yet continued to harass consumers and demand payments. 

According to court documents, Christopher Parks directed significant aspects of the scheme while spending time in prison on other healthcare fraud charges. For example, recorded telephone calls obtained from the facility where Parks had been incarcerated revealed that Parks directed Stephen Miller to switch names and operate under Assured Financial LLC instead of Assured Collections LLC after numerous consumers filed Better Business Bureau complaints accusing Assured Collections LLC of fraud.   

Under the terms of their civil consent decrees, defendants agreed to be permanently enjoined from, among other things, engaging in any future billing and debt collection activities and accepting any future payments from any consumer who received a debt collection notice from Assured Collections LLC or Assured Financial LLC. Additionally, defendants agreed to disclose the consent decrees to any current, prospective and/or future employee, employer, business partner, client or associate engaged in the healthcare or debt collection industries.

“The department is committed to preventing vulnerable consumers from being harmed by false claims about debts they purportedly owe,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “I am thankful for the tireless efforts of our investigative partners who were integral to our success in this case.” 

“Christopher Parks, a former attorney, devised a scheme to defraud Northern District of Oklahoma citizens of millions of dollars while he was in prison for a previous healthcare fraud scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson for the Northern District of Oklahoma. “Defendants were brought to justice for their brazen scheme through a collaborative effort between the department and our investigative partners. My office will zealously pursue fraudsters who swindle citizens of their hard-earned money.” 

“Protecting the integrity of the healthcare system for our military members and their families is a top priority of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS),” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Ryan Settle of the DCIS Southwest Field Office. “DCIS will continue to work with its law enforcement partners and the Justice Department to hold fraudsters accountable for their illicit activities and to ensure America’s service members are not victimized.”

“Preserving veterans’ access to world-class health care is a priority for the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA OIG), and we will investigate anyone who would seek to exploit VA’s programs and services,” said Special Agent in Charge Kris Raper with the VA OIG’s South Central Field Office. “The VA OIG is grateful to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch and our law enforcement partners for their efforts to achieve justice in this case.”

In an unrelated case brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma, Christopher Parks was sentenced in October 2023 to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to offer and pay health care kickbacks as part of a scheme where consumers were steered to obtain prescriptions from Parks-controlled compounding pharmacies. Parks is also currently awaiting trial in the Eastern District of Texas on other federal criminal healthcare fraud charges stemming from his billing practices as the principal of a company called USA Medical.

The VA-OIG, DCIS, Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and FBI investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Wesline N. Manuelpillai and Assistant Director Patrick R. Runkle of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Marianne Hardcastle for the Northern District of Oklahoma prosecuted the case.

If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has experienced financial fraud, experienced professionals are standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This Justice Department hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, can provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying relevant next steps. Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis. Reporting is the first step. Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses. The hotline is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET. English, Spanish and other languages are available.

More information about the department’s efforts to help American seniors is available at its Elder Justice Initiative webpage. For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. Additional information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma can be found at www.justice.gov/usao-ndok. Elder fraud complaints may be filed with the Federal Trade Commission at www.reportfraud.ftc.gov/ or at 877-FTC-HELP. The Justice Department provides a variety of resources relating to elder fraud victimization through its Office for Victims of Crime, which can be reached at www.ovc.gov.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Earlier today, a complaint was unsealed in Brooklyn charging Asif Merchant, also known as Asif Raza Merchant, 46, with murder-for-hire as part of an alleged scheme to assassinate a politician or U.S. government official on U.S. soil. Law enforcement foiled the charged plot before any attack could be carried out. Merchant is in federal custody.

“For years, the Justice Department has been working aggressively to counter Iran’s brazen and unrelenting efforts to retaliate against American public officials for the killing of Iranian General Soleimani,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice Department will spare no resource to disrupt and hold accountable those who would seek to carry out Iran’s lethal plotting against American citizens and will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to target American public officials and endanger America’s national security.”

“This dangerous murder-for-hire plot exposed in today’s complaint allegedly was orchestrated by a Pakistani national with close ties to Iran and is straight out of the Iranian playbook,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “A foreign-directed plot to kill a public official, or any U.S. citizen, is a threat to our national security and will be met with the full might and resources of the FBI.”  

“The complaint unsealed today underscores, yet again, that those who engage in lethal plotting on U.S. soil will face the full force of the American justice system,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The targeting of former and current officials by foreign actors is an affront to our sovereignty and our democratic institutions and the Department of Justice will use every possible tool to expose and disrupt this egregious activity.”

“Working on behalf of others overseas, Merchant planned the murder of U.S. government officials on American soil,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. “This prosecution demonstrates that this office and the entire Department of Justice will take swift and decisive action to protect our nation’s security, our government officials and our citizens from foreign threats

“Fortunately, the assassins Merchant allegedly tried to hire were undercover FBI Agents,” said Acting Assistant Director Christie Curtis of the FBI New York Field Office. “This case underscores the dedication and formidable efforts of our agents, analysts and prosecutors in New York, Houston, and Dallas. Their success in neutralizing this threat not only prevented a tragic outcome but also reaffirms the FBI’s commitment to protecting our nation and its citizens from both domestic and international threats.”

According to allegations contained in the complaint and related publicly filed court documents, Merchant orchestrated a plot to assassinate a politician or U.S. government official on U.S. soil. In approximately April 2024, after spending time in Iran, Merchant arrived in the United States from Pakistan and contacted a person he believed could assist him with the scheme. That person reported Merchant’s conduct to law enforcement and became a confidential source (the CS). 

In early June, Merchant met the CS in New York and explained his assassination plot. Merchant told the CS that the opportunity he had for the CS was not a one-time opportunity and would be ongoing. Merchant then made a “finger gun” motion with his hand, indicating that the opportunity was related to a killing. Merchant further stated that the intended victims would be “targeted here,” meaning in the United States. Merchant instructed the CS to arrange meetings with individuals whom Merchant could hire to carry out these actions. Merchant explained that his plot involved multiple criminal schemes: (1) stealing documents or USB drives from a target’s home; (2) planning a protest; and (3) killing a politician or government official. 

At that meeting, Merchant began planning potential assassination scenarios and quizzed the CS on how he would kill a target in the various scenarios. Specifically, Merchant asked the CS to explain how a target would die in different scenarios. Merchant told the CS that there would be “security [] all around” the person. 

Merchant stated that the assassination would occur after he left the United States and he would communicate with the CS from overseas using code words. The CS asked whether Merchant had spoken to the unidentified “party” back home with whom Merchant was working. Merchant responded that he had and that the party back home told him to “finalize” the plan and leave the United States.

In mid-June, Merchant met with the purported hitmen, who were in fact undercover U.S. law enforcement officers (the UCs) in New York. Merchant advised the UCs that he was looking for three services from them: theft of documents, arranging protests at political rallies, and for them to kill a “political person.” Merchant stated that the hitmen would receive instructions on who to kill either the last week of August or the first week of September, after Merchant had departed the United States. 

Merchant then began arranging means to obtain $5,000 in cash to pay the UCs as an advance payment for the assassination, which he eventually received with assistance from an individual overseas. On June 21, Merchant met with the UCs in New York and paid them the $5,000 advance. After Merchant paid the $5,000 to the UCs, one of the UCs stated, “now we’re bonded,” to which Merchant responded “yes.” The UC then stated “Now we know we’re going forward. We’re doing this,” to which Merchant responded “Yes, absolutely.”  

Merchant subsequently made flight arrangements and planned to leave the United States on Friday, July 12, 2024. On July 12, law enforcement agents placed Merchant under arrest before he could leave the country. Merchant has stated that he has a wife and children in Iran and a wife and children in Pakistan.

The FBI is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sara K. Winik, Gilbert Rein, and Douglas Pravda for the Eastern District of New York and Trial Attorneys David Smith and Joshua Champagne of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.

A criminal complaint 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

Shujun Wang, 75, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Chinese descent, an academic and author who helped start a pro-democracy organization in Queens, New York, that opposes the current communist regime in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), was convicted today on all four counts of an indictment charging him with acting and conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the U.S. Attorney General, criminal use of identification and making false statements to law enforcement.

“This defendant infiltrated a New York-based advocacy group by masquerading as a pro-democracy activist all while covertly collecting and reporting sensitive information about its members to the PRC’s intelligence service,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Today’s verdict demonstrates that those who would seek to advance the Chinese government’s agenda of transnational repression will be held accountable.”

“The indictment could have been the plot of a John LeCarre or Graham Greene spy novel, but the evidence is shockingly real that the defendant led a double life, pretending for years to be an activist for democracy while he was secretly passing information to the Chinese government,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. “The defendant was a perfect stooge for the PRC, a well-known academic and founder of a pro-democracy organization who was willing to betray those who respected and trusted him. When confronted with his shameful conduct, Wang lied to the FBI, but today’s verdict revealed the truth of his crimes and now he will face the consequences.”

“This conviction underscores the FBI’s commitment to countering espionage schemes by holding those accountable who collect U.S. activist information for the benefit of China,” said Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI’s National Security Branch. “Any support for transnational repression is unacceptable, and the FBI works diligently with its partners to seek out and bring to justice those who support such activities.”

Wang is one of the founders of the pro-democracy Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang Memorial Foundation, an organization located in Flushing, Queens, whose members are well-known pro-democracy dissidents who oppose the current government of the PRC. But instead of promoting democracy in the PRC, Wang, at the direction of PRC government officials, used his position within the Memorial Foundation and his status within the Chinese diaspora community to collect information about prominent activists, academics and dissidents, and reported that information to the PRC government.

According to court documents, since at least 2006, Wang operated under the direction and control of his co-defendants – four officials of China’s Ministry of State Security, which is responsible for the PRC’s foreign intelligence collection. At the MSS’ direction, Wang gathered information on people and groups that the PRC considers subversive, such as Hong Kong democracy protestors, advocates for Taiwanese independence and Uyghur and Tibetan activists, both in the United States and abroad. Wang conducted face-to-face meetings with MSS officials while on trips to the PRC and used an encrypted messaging application to receive taskings from his co-defendants and to send and receive written messages and files.

Wang often memorialized the information he collected in email “diaries” to be accessed by the MSS. These “diaries” included details about Wang’s private conversations with prominent dissidents, as well as the activities of pro-democracy activists and human rights organizations. Law enforcement recovered from Wang’s residence approximately 163 “diary” entries that he wrote to He, Ji, Li and Lu and other MSS officials. Additionally, in connection with his work for the MSS, Wang possessed telephone numbers and contact information belonging to Chinese dissidents.

Wang made materially false statements to federal law enforcement, falsely denying that he had contacts with PRC officials or the MSS. Over the course of three separate interviews, between 2017 to 2021, Wang repeatedly denied having any contact with individuals from the Chinese intelligence agency. During one of the interviews, in 2019, Wang was interviewed by federal law enforcement agents at John F. Kennedy Internation Airport in Queens, after he returned from China. Wang falsely stated that he had no contact with anyone from the Chinese government and that he had no Chinese government contact information. 

The verdict followed a one-week trial. Wang’s co-defendants in the espionage and transnational repression scheme, Feng He, Jie Ji, Ming Li and Keqing Lu are MSS officials who remain at large. Wang is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 9, 2025 and faces up to 25 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ellen Sise and Nina Gupta for the Eastern District of New York and Trial Attorney Garrett Coyle of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section prosecuted the case. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Remarks as Delivered

Thanks, Greg, for that generous introduction. And for your leadership of this office.

I came here to talk with our prosecutors and law enforcement leaders who are gathered at this table. They are working together every day as partners in confronting violent crime and protecting the citizens of Wisconsin.

When I became Attorney General three and a half years ago, I knew that the most powerful tool we would have to address violent crime would be partnerships like these. That was my experience when I was a line attorney prosecuting violent crime and narcotics in the early 1990s. That was my experience when I was a supervisor at the Justice Department organizing and supervising our activities in that regard later in the 1990s.

So, we built an anti-violent crime strategy rooted in strengthening our collaboration across federal law enforcement; with state and local law enforcement; and with the communities that all of us serve.

And we fortified those partnerships by bringing to bear the latest technologies for identifying and prosecuting the criminals who represent the greatest danger to our communities.

We have deployed our anti-violent crime strategy here in Wisconsin and across the country to arrest violent felons, to disrupt violent drug trafficking, and to prosecute the repeat offenders who are most responsible for driving violent crime.

For this U.S. Attorney’s Office, that has meant working with state, local, and Tribal law enforcement, as well as with our federal partner agencies, to stop the flow of fentanyl into Wisconsin communities.

Here in Milwaukee, and across the country, this work is paying off. A few months ago, the Milwaukee Police Department released promising data indicating a 10% drop in overall crime and a 39% drop in homicides in the first quarter of this year as compared to the first quarter of 2023.

And nationwide, last year we saw one of the lowest violent crime rates in 50 years. That included the largest drop in homicides in 50 years. And according to a recent report, the first six months of this year show further declines in violent crime across 40 American cities.

But we know that progress may be uneven in many communities is. And of course, there is no level of violent crime that is acceptable.

That is why this office is not relaxing its efforts. It is continuing to pursue investigations and prosecutions that keep the people of Wisconsin safe.

In March of this year, working with the Oshkosh Police Department, the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), this office secured a nine-year sentence for a man who illegally possessed a firearm. Last year, children had called 911 to a residence in Oshkosh after that defendant pointed a gun at them and used his gun to hit their mother so hard that he wounded her scalp. The defendant was arrested by a SWAT team after a nearly six-hour standoff.

In May, this office successfully convicted four men for multiple pharmacy robberies in Milwaukee. The men used handguns to threaten pharmacy staff and stole significant quantities of controlled substances, intending to distribute them.

The office is also working relentlessly to disrupt the flow of fentanyl into Wisconsin communities.

In April, this office worked with the Brown County Drug Task Force, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the ATF to secure a 25-year sentence for a Green Bay man responsible for distributing counterfeit prescription pills laced with fentanyl, resulting in the deaths of two teenagers.

And last month, the office worked with those same three law enforcement agencies to secure a 20-year sentence for another man who distributed fentanyl to a teenager who died as a result. The defendant described himself as a “middler,” one who connected customers to a larger drug distributer. The Justice Department has made clear that we are committed to breaking apart every link in the fentanyl chain.

This office also worked to successfully prosecute a man from Appleton for fentanyl crimes. This man distributed nearly 1 million fentanyl pills in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Arizona. He even bragged that “There’s not a single pill in the Valley” — referring to Fox Valley — “that doesn’t have my name on it.” Last month, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

In that same month, this office secured a 12-year sentence of a man responsible for fentanyl crimes in Menominee and Ho-Chunk Tribal communities. We know how hard the fentanyl epidemic has hit Tribal communities. That is why we are working alongside law enforcement in Tribal communities to end it. I am grateful to the Menominee Tribal Police Department, the Central Wisconsin Narcotics Task Force, the FBI, and the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory for helping us secure that conviction.

Fentanyl is the deadliest drug this country has ever faced. And this office will continue to use every tool at its disposal to go after all those who profit from this deadly epidemic.

I know that this U.S. Attorney’s Office will not rest until every person, in every neighborhood, in every community in Wisconsin is safe from violent crime.

I also know that these examples are just a snapshot of the work this office does every day to fulfill the Justice Department’s mission to keeping our country safe, keeping our communities safe, protecting civil rights, and upholding the rule of law.

I am very proud of the work of U.S. Attorney Haanstad and all the men and women of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. I am equally proud of the partnerships they have nurtured with the federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies that work every day to keep the people of Wisconsin safe.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A New York man pleaded guilty today to failing to collect and pay over employment taxes from wages of his company’s employees.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between 2015 and 2021, Nicholas Arcuri, of Staten Island — owner and president of Capri Upholstery Custom Furnishing LLC — paid approximately $2.6 million in off-the-books cash payroll to employees, from which he did not withhold from his employees’ wages any Social Security, Medicare or income taxes or pay over those taxes to the IRS. Arcuri concealed the cash payroll from his return preparer, knowing that he was required to pay taxes. 

In total, Arcuri caused a tax loss to the IRS of $486,753.

Arcuri is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 23, 2025. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. He also faces 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 made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Richard J. Kelley and Jeffrey A. McLellan of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.