Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

An indictment was unsealed today charging Ping Li, 59, of Wesley Chapel, Florida, with conspiring to act as an agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) without notification to the Attorney General and with acting as an agent of the PRC without notification to the Attorney General. If convicted, Li faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. 

According to the court documents, the PRC’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) is in charge of civilian intelligence collection for the PRC. The MSS often uses “cooperative contacts” located in countries outside of the PRC in furtherance of their intelligence goals, which include obtaining information concerning foreign corporate or industrial matters, foreign politicians or intelligence officers and information concerning PRC political dissidents residing in those countries. These cooperative contacts assist the MSS in a variety of ways, including by conducting research on topics of interest to the PRC that can be used to further the MSS’ mission.

The indictment alleges that Li was a U.S. citizen who immigrated to the United States from the PRC. At various times, Li worked for a major U.S. telecommunications company and an international information technology company.

From as early as 2012, Li allegedly served as a cooperative contact working at the direction of officers of the MSS to obtain information of interest to the PRC government. Li obtained a wide variety information at the request of the MSS, including information concerning Chinese dissidents and pro-democracy advocates, members of the Falun Gong religious movement, and U.S.-based non-governmental organizations, and to report that information to the MSS. Li also provided the MSS with information obtained from his employer. Li used a variety of anonymous online accounts for the purpose of communicating with the MSS, and traveled to the PRC to meet with the MSS.

For example, according to the indictment, in August 2012, an MSS officer requested that Li provide information about practitioners of Falun Gong and pro-democracy advocates in the United States. Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a religious movement that originated in the PRC in the 1990s. Falun Gong is not one of the five religions formally recognized by the PRC government, and it has been banned since 1999. Its adherents both in China and abroad are of particular interest to the PRC government because of Falun Gong’s advocacy of ideas deemed subversive to the PRC government. Less than a week after receiving this request, Li sent the name and biographical information of an individual affiliated with Falun Gong residing in St. Petersburg, Florida.       

In March 2015, an MSS officer requested information from Li about branch offices that Li’s employer, a major U.S. telecommunications company, had opened in the PRC. Li responded with the requested information three weeks later.          

In March 2017, an MSS officer requested a training instruction plan from Li. In April 2017, Li responded indicating that he had uploaded materials to an online account that he shared with the MSS officer and asked the MSS officer to delete the materials after reading them.         

In May 2021, an MSS officer requested information from Li concerning hacking events targeting U.S. companies, including a widely publicized hacking of a major U.S. company by the Chinese government. Within four days, Li responded with the requested information.      

In March 2022, an MSS officer requested from Li information concerning Li’s new employer, an international information technology company, as well as materials relating to cybersecurity training. That same day, Li sent the requested information about his employer as well as materials relating to cybersecurity training.          

In June 2022, an MSS officer requested from Li information concerning an individual who, according to the officer, had resided in the PRC but fled to the United States, and the name and suspected residential address in the United States of that individual. That same day, Li responded with information about the owners of that residential address.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the National Security Division, Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI’s National Security Branch and U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement.

The FBI is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel J. Marcet and Karyna Valdes for the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Scott Claffee of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section 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

An Ohio man was sentenced today for threatening to destroy a reproductive health services facility in Columbus, Ohio, and for conspiring to commit money laundering.

Mohamed Waes, 33, was sentenced to 66 months in prison, three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $273,982.08 in restitution.

“This defendant threatened to burn down a reproductive health clinic in order to intimidate its employees from providing care to patients,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Using threats of violence to obstruct access to reproductive health care is simply unlawful. The Justice Department will continue to protect both patients seeking reproductive health services and providers offering those services, wherever and whenever these criminal violations occur.”  

“Threats of violence against healthcare providers and deception against our financial system are acts that must be punished in our courts of justice,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth Parker for the Southern District of Ohio. “We will continue our unified vigilance against such actions and remain prepared to hold accountable those who commit them.”

“IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) enforces the nation’s tax laws, but also takes particular interest in cases where someone, for their own personal benefit, has taken what belonged to others. With both law enforcement and financial investigation expertise, our agents are uniquely qualified to assist state and federal law agencies with these types of cases by following the money,” said Special Agent in Charge Karen Wingerd of IRS-CI’s Cincinnati Field Office. “Today’s sentencing is a reminder that there are real and damaging consequences for not only stealing money from small businesses, the lifeblood of the American economy, but also trying to hide the proceeds of the crime.”

Waes pleaded guilty on Feb. 9 to a misdemeanor charge under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which prohibits a person from intentionally interfering with or intimidating any person because that person is providing reproductive health services, and to a felony charge of communicating interstate threats. According to court documents and statements made in court, on July 5, 2022, Waes intentionally interfered with and intimidated employees of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio by threatening over the phone to burn down their building because they were providing reproductive health services.

Waes also previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. According to court documents, Waes attempted to launder a total of $1,972,792.84 in business email compromise fraud schemes proceeds, of which he successfully laundered $273,982.08. As part of this conspiracy, scammers created fake email domains which mimicked legitimate email domains and then sent emails to various companies impersonating vendors and asking that payments be made on actual invoices to bank accounts controlled by Waes and others.

The FBI Cincinnati Field Office and IRS-CI investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Rausch and Peter K. Glenn-Applegate for the Southern District of Ohio and Trial Attorney Daniel Grunert of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) recently partnered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to host a workshop to enhance coordination in addressing environmental crime and examine improved enforcement techniques. Individuals from the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Coast Guard – as well as representatives of Europol and the governments of Scotland, Canada and Mexico – also attended the workshop.

Chapter 24 of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) – entered into in 2020 – outlines seven multilateral environmental agreements, including to combat wildlife and fauna trafficking and to address air quality and ocean pollution. The workshop focused on pollution and waste crimes.

Speakers highlighted the increased importance of enforcing environmental laws and international agreements in light of climate change and its devastating and increasingly apparent effects around the globe. But investigating and prosecuting environmental crime can be challenging because of the intersection of complex white-collar crime, financial structures and technical and scientific issues.

Against this background, the workshop expanded on new enforcement techniques, like using data analytics and unmanned aerial vehicles, to improve the investigation and prosecution of environmental crimes across international borders. The workshop closed with identifying specific ways to deliver operational enforcement activities within the next year.

“Environmental crimes are often transnational, affecting a variety of communities in myriad ways. It is important to foster collaboration within the U.S. government, and between our government and those of other nations, to enforce laws to reduce waste and pollution, among other things. This week’s workshop did that, and highlighted ways to incorporate more sophisticated enforcement resources. We thank all who attended the workshop for their commitment to uphold the rule of law.”

— Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of ENRD.

The workshop builds on ENRD’s work to improve collaboration around the world in addressing environmental crimes, including in Guatemala, Mozambique and Ghana, Southeast Asia, Cameroon and Ukraine.

Source: United States Department of Justice

A federal grand jury in Charleston, West Virginia, returned an indictment today charging a West Virginia man with not paying employment taxes and not filing his personal tax returns.

According to the indictment, since 1994, Dean Dawson, of Hurricane, owned and operated Real Property Consulting Group LLC, a real estate appraisal business. The indictment charges that from the third quarter of 2018 to 2023, Dawson did not pay to the IRS the Social Security, Medicare and federal income taxes that were withheld from employees’ paychecks or file quarterly tax returns reporting those withholdings, as required by law. Though Dawson allegedly provided his employees with Forms W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, he did not file those forms with the Social Security Administration. Dawson allegedly used his business bank account to pay his personal expenses and directed funds to his wife who was not an employee. The indictment further alleges that Dawson did not file personal tax returns from 2018 to 2023. 

Dawson was charged with 19 counts of failing to collect and pay over employment taxes and six counts of willfully failing to file personal tax returns tax returns. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each employment tax count and a maximum penalty of one year in prison for each count of failure to file a tax return. 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 and U.S. Attorney William S. Thompson for the Southern District of Western Virginia made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Brian E. Flanaghan and Rebecca A. Caruso of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Storage for the Southern District of West Virginia 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

A Peruvian national pleaded guilty today for his participation in a transnational mail and wire fraud conspiracy. 

According to court documents, Jose Alejandro Zuñiga Cano, 40, of Lima, Peru, was the operator of a Peruvian call center that defrauded and extorted Spanish-speaking U.S. residents by falsely threatening them with arrest, court proceedings and immigration consequences. Zuñiga was extradited from Peru in March to face charges related to the scheme.

Zuñiga is the 12th defendant to be convicted in connection with a $15 million transnational fraud scheme that defrauded and threatened Spanish-speaking U.S. consumers, claiming they would suffer legal consequences if they did not pay for English-language learning products they never requested. The scheme was responsible for defrauding more than 30,000 Spanish-speaking residents of the United States. Many of the victims were recent immigrants who had expressed interest in learning English.    

The 12 defendants include eight Peruvian call center owner-operators and four distribution center owner-operators who processed payments, distributed products and facilitated the fraud in the United States. Many of the defendants shared strategies on how to defraud Spanish-speaking residents of the United States. 

“The Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch is dedicated to protecting vulnerable U.S. consumers from fraudsters, including those who reside beyond our borders,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Individuals who defraud our immigrant communities will be brought to justice and held accountable in U.S. courts.” 

“The long arm of the American justice system has no limits when it comes to reaching fraudsters who prey on our nation’s most vulnerable populations, to include the elderly and recent immigrants,” said U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida. “We will not allow transnational criminals to use fear tactics and intimidation to steal money from the public we serve. Individuals who defraud American consumers will be brought to justice, no matter where they are located.”

“This investigation attests that justice will be pursued relentlessly to protect U.S. consumers,” said Inspector in Charge Juan A. Vargas of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Miami Field Division. “The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch and the U.S. Attorney’s Office worked steadfastly to uphold the integrity of our legal system and the postal system. Today’s 12th conviction should send a strong message to those who exploit the mail for criminal use. You will be brought to justice.”

According to court documents, Zuñiga owned and operated a call center in Lima that placed unsolicited calls to Spanish-speaking consumers in the United States and falsely claimed that they had won or qualified for free products, including computer tablets and English language courses. On later calls, Zuñiga and his co-conspirators falsely claimed that victims were contractually obligated to pay large sums to receive the products. Zuñiga and his co-conspirators impersonated lawyers, court officials, police officers and representatives of a supposed “minor crimes court” to intimidate victims and force them to send payments. Zuñiga and his co-conspirators threatened victims with court proceedings, arrest and immigration consequences if they did not pay. 

Victims who paid were later re-victimized by Zuñiga and his co-conspirators with a related restitution scheme. According to court documents, the defendant and his co-conspirators placed additional calls to victims who had already paid and, while posing as lawyers for a U.S. court, falsely represented that victims were entitled to restitution payments and would receive their money back if they paid the lawyer who purportedly brought the case on their behalf. In reality, there was no lawyer, no restitution order and no funds returned to the victims who made those additional payments. Instead, Zuñiga kept those additional victim payments for himself. 

Today, Zuñiga pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 10. Zuñiga faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Zuñiga is the eighth defendant to be extradited from Peru and plead guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud related to Peruvian call centers. In 2021 and 2022, U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. sentenced Henrry Milla, Carlos Espinoza, Jerson Renteria, Fernan Huerta, Omar Cuzcano, Evelyng Milla and Josmell Espinoza to sentences ranging from 88 to 110 months in prison. Additionally, four other co-conspirators who facilitated the operations of these call centers have also been sentenced. Most recently, in March 2023, U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Seitz sentenced Luis Rendon, the operator of a U.S. distribution center that facilitated a substantial part of the fraud scheme, to 65 months in prison.   

USPIS and the Consumer Protection Branch investigated the case.

Senior Trial Attorney and Transnational Criminal Litigation Coordinator Phil Toomajian and Trial Attorney Carolyn Rice of the Consumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Annika Miranda for the Southern District of Florida is handling asset forfeiture. The Federal Trade Commission, Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, U.S. Marshals Service, Peruvian National Prosecutor General’s Office and Peruvian National Police provided critical assistance. 

The Justice Department continues to investigate and bring charges in other similar matters involving threats against Spanish-speaking residents of the United States.

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: 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. Elder fraud complaints may be filed with the FTC at 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.

Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its fraud enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.