“‘But Ford still carries a heavy burden of proof, said Hays Gorey, an attorney with GeyerGorey who spent many years with the DoJ’s Antitrust Division. “Ford will still have the burden at trial of showing that US commerce was affected by the conspiracy,” he said. “At some point, the connection between the unlawful conduct and the injury becomes too remote or too problematic to establish injury even if there was a conspiracy.’”
Monthly Archives: March 2014
Former Veterans Affairs Psychiatrist Sentenced for Medicare Fraud
A licensed psychiatrist formerly employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was sentenced today to serve 18 months in prison for falsely claiming to provide at-home services to Medicare beneficiaries.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch of the Eastern District of New York and Special Agent in Charge Thomas O’Donnell of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement.
Dr. Mikhail L. Presman, 56, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was sentenced by Judge I. Leo Glasser in the Eastern District of New York. Presman was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term and ordered to forfeit $1.2 million and pay restitution to Medicare.
According to court documents, from Jan. 1, 2006, through May 10, 2013, Presman submitted approximately $4 million in Medicare claims for home treatment of Medicare beneficiaries notwithstanding his full-time salaried position as a psychiatrist at the VA hospital in Brooklyn. Presman did not provide any treatment to a substantial number of the beneficiaries he claimed to have treated. For example, Presman submitted claims to Medicare for home medical visits at locations within New York City even though he was physically located in China at the time of these purported home visits. Presman also submitted claims to Medicare for 55 home medical visits to beneficiaries who were hospitalized on the date of the purported visits.
The case was investigated by the HHS-OIG, with assistance from the HHS’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services,, and brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Bryan D. Fields of the Fraud Section and Assistant United States Attorney Patricia E. Notopoulos of the Eastern District of New York.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,700 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5.5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, is taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch of the Eastern District of New York and Special Agent in Charge Thomas O’Donnell of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement.
Dr. Mikhail L. Presman, 56, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was sentenced by Judge I. Leo Glasser in the Eastern District of New York. Presman was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term and ordered to forfeit $1.2 million and pay restitution to Medicare.
According to court documents, from Jan. 1, 2006, through May 10, 2013, Presman submitted approximately $4 million in Medicare claims for home treatment of Medicare beneficiaries notwithstanding his full-time salaried position as a psychiatrist at the VA hospital in Brooklyn. Presman did not provide any treatment to a substantial number of the beneficiaries he claimed to have treated. For example, Presman submitted claims to Medicare for home medical visits at locations within New York City even though he was physically located in China at the time of these purported home visits. Presman also submitted claims to Medicare for 55 home medical visits to beneficiaries who were hospitalized on the date of the purported visits.
The case was investigated by the HHS-OIG, with assistance from the HHS’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services,, and brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Bryan D. Fields of the Fraud Section and Assistant United States Attorney Patricia E. Notopoulos of the Eastern District of New York.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,700 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5.5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, is taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
Army Soldier Sentenced for Facilitating Thefts of Fuel in Afghanistan
A U.S. Army soldier was sentenced to serve 12 months and one day in prison for his role in stealing fuel at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Fenty near Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney David J. Hale of the Western District of Kentucky made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas B. Russell in the Western District of Kentucky.
According to court documents, in May and June 2010, U.S. Army Sergeant Kevin Bilal Abdullah, 40, of Clarksville, Tenn., was involved in overseeing the delivery of fuel from FOB Fenty to other military bases. Abdullah created fraudulent documents called Transportation Movement Requests purporting to authorize the transport of fuel from FOB Fenty to other military bases, even though no legitimate fuel transportation was required. After the trucks were filled with fuel, these fraudulent documents were used by the drivers of the fuel trucks at FOB Fenty’s departure checkpoint to justify the trucks’ departures. In truth, the fuel was simply stolen, and Abdullah and his co-conspirators received payment in cash from a representative of the Afghan trucking company that allegedly stole the fuel.
Abdullah pleaded guilty on Aug. 29, 2013, to receiving payments from a representative of the trucking company in exchange for facilitating the theft of fuel in approximately 25 fuel trucks. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and to the substantive count of bribery. At sentencing, he was ordered to pay $466,250 in restitution.
Abdullah’s sentencing was the fourth conviction arising from this investigation of fuel thefts at FOB Fenty. On Aug. 3, 2012, Jonathan Hightower, a civilian employee of a military contractor who had conspired with Abdullah and others, pleaded guilty to similar charges. After cooperating with the government, he was sentenced on Oct. 28, 2013, to serve 27 months in prison. On Oct.10, 2012, Christopher Weaver, another conspirator, pleaded guilty to fuel theft charges and, after cooperating with the government, was sentenced on Oct. 28, 2013, to serve 37 months in prison. On Sept. 5, 2013, former Specialist Stephanie Charboneau pleaded guilty, and on Feb. 4, 2014, she was sentenced to serve 87 months in prison. Weaver, Hightower and Charboneau were prosecuted in the District of Colorado.
These cases were investigated by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), the Department of the Army – Criminal Investigation Division, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the FBI.
The Abdullah case was handled by Special Trial Attorney Mark H. Dubester of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, on detail from SIGAR, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Bennett.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney David J. Hale of the Western District of Kentucky made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas B. Russell in the Western District of Kentucky.
According to court documents, in May and June 2010, U.S. Army Sergeant Kevin Bilal Abdullah, 40, of Clarksville, Tenn., was involved in overseeing the delivery of fuel from FOB Fenty to other military bases. Abdullah created fraudulent documents called Transportation Movement Requests purporting to authorize the transport of fuel from FOB Fenty to other military bases, even though no legitimate fuel transportation was required. After the trucks were filled with fuel, these fraudulent documents were used by the drivers of the fuel trucks at FOB Fenty’s departure checkpoint to justify the trucks’ departures. In truth, the fuel was simply stolen, and Abdullah and his co-conspirators received payment in cash from a representative of the Afghan trucking company that allegedly stole the fuel.
Abdullah pleaded guilty on Aug. 29, 2013, to receiving payments from a representative of the trucking company in exchange for facilitating the theft of fuel in approximately 25 fuel trucks. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and to the substantive count of bribery. At sentencing, he was ordered to pay $466,250 in restitution.
Abdullah’s sentencing was the fourth conviction arising from this investigation of fuel thefts at FOB Fenty. On Aug. 3, 2012, Jonathan Hightower, a civilian employee of a military contractor who had conspired with Abdullah and others, pleaded guilty to similar charges. After cooperating with the government, he was sentenced on Oct. 28, 2013, to serve 27 months in prison. On Oct.10, 2012, Christopher Weaver, another conspirator, pleaded guilty to fuel theft charges and, after cooperating with the government, was sentenced on Oct. 28, 2013, to serve 37 months in prison. On Sept. 5, 2013, former Specialist Stephanie Charboneau pleaded guilty, and on Feb. 4, 2014, she was sentenced to serve 87 months in prison. Weaver, Hightower and Charboneau were prosecuted in the District of Colorado.
These cases were investigated by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), the Department of the Army – Criminal Investigation Division, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the FBI.
The Abdullah case was handled by Special Trial Attorney Mark H. Dubester of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, on detail from SIGAR, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Bennett.
Jury Convicts All Seven Defendants in $97 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme
A federal jury in Houston today convicted two owners of a former Houston mental health care company, Spectrum Care P.A. (Spectrum), several of its employees and the owners of certain Houston group care homes for their participation in a $97 million Medicare fraud scheme.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas, Special Agent in Charge Stephen L. Morris of the FBI’s Houston Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Mike Fields of the Dallas Regional Office of HHS’s Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU), Special Agent in Charge Joseph J. Del Favero of the Chicago Field Office of the Railroad Retirement Board, Office of Inspector General (RRB-OIG) and Special Agent in Charge Scott Rezendes of Field Operations of the Office of Personnel Management’s Office of Inspector General (OPM-OIG) made the announcement following a jury trial before U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore in the Southern District of Texas.
Physicians Mansour Sanjar, 81, and Cyrus Sajadi, 66, the owners of Spectrum, were each convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to pay kickbacks as well as related counts of health care fraud and paying illegal kickbacks. Adam Main, 33, a physician’s assistant, was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and related counts of health care fraud. Shokoufeh Hakimi, 66, administrator of Spectrum, was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, conspiracy to pay kickbacks and a related count of paying an illegal kickback. Chandra Nunn, 35, a group home owner, was also convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks and related counts of receiving illegal kickbacks. Sharonda Holmes, 40, a patient recruiter, was convicted of conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks and a related count of receiving an illegal kickback. Shawn Manney, 51, a group home owner, was convicted of conspiracy to pay and receive illegal kickbacks.
According to evidence presented at trial, Sanjar and Sajadi orchestrated and executed a scheme to defraud Medicare beginning in 2006 and continuing until their arrest in December 2011. Sanjar and Sajadi owned Spectrum, which purportedly provided partial hospitalization program (PHP) services. A PHP is a form of intensive outpatient treatment for severe mental illness. The Medicare beneficiaries for whom Spectrum billed Medicare for PHP services did not qualify for or need PHP services. Sanjar, Sajadi, Main and Moore signed admission documents and progress notes certifying that patients qualified for PHP services, when in fact, the patients did not qualify for or need PHP services. Sanjar and Sajadi also billed Medicare for PHP services when the beneficiaries were actually watching movies, coloring and playing games–activities that are not covered by Medicare.
Evidence presented at trial showed that Sanjar, Sajadi and Hakimi paid kickbacks to Nunn, Holmes, Manney and other group care home operators and patient recruiters in exchange for delivering ineligible Medicare beneficiaries to Spectrum. In some cases, the patients received a portion of those kickbacks. According to evidence presented at trial, Spectrum billed Medicare for approximately $97 million in services that were not medically necessary and, in some cases, werenot provided.
Sanjar, Sajadi and Nunn are scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 8, 2014. Main, Hakimi, Holmes and Manney are scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 15, 2014.
The case was investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG, Texas MFCU, RRB-OIG and OPM-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Laura M.K. Cordova and Trial Attorneys Jonathan T. Baum and William S.W. Chang of the Fraud Section.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,700 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5.5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, is taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas, Special Agent in Charge Stephen L. Morris of the FBI’s Houston Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Mike Fields of the Dallas Regional Office of HHS’s Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU), Special Agent in Charge Joseph J. Del Favero of the Chicago Field Office of the Railroad Retirement Board, Office of Inspector General (RRB-OIG) and Special Agent in Charge Scott Rezendes of Field Operations of the Office of Personnel Management’s Office of Inspector General (OPM-OIG) made the announcement following a jury trial before U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore in the Southern District of Texas.
Physicians Mansour Sanjar, 81, and Cyrus Sajadi, 66, the owners of Spectrum, were each convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to pay kickbacks as well as related counts of health care fraud and paying illegal kickbacks. Adam Main, 33, a physician’s assistant, was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and related counts of health care fraud. Shokoufeh Hakimi, 66, administrator of Spectrum, was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, conspiracy to pay kickbacks and a related count of paying an illegal kickback. Chandra Nunn, 35, a group home owner, was also convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks and related counts of receiving illegal kickbacks. Sharonda Holmes, 40, a patient recruiter, was convicted of conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks and a related count of receiving an illegal kickback. Shawn Manney, 51, a group home owner, was convicted of conspiracy to pay and receive illegal kickbacks.
According to evidence presented at trial, Sanjar and Sajadi orchestrated and executed a scheme to defraud Medicare beginning in 2006 and continuing until their arrest in December 2011. Sanjar and Sajadi owned Spectrum, which purportedly provided partial hospitalization program (PHP) services. A PHP is a form of intensive outpatient treatment for severe mental illness. The Medicare beneficiaries for whom Spectrum billed Medicare for PHP services did not qualify for or need PHP services. Sanjar, Sajadi, Main and Moore signed admission documents and progress notes certifying that patients qualified for PHP services, when in fact, the patients did not qualify for or need PHP services. Sanjar and Sajadi also billed Medicare for PHP services when the beneficiaries were actually watching movies, coloring and playing games–activities that are not covered by Medicare.
Evidence presented at trial showed that Sanjar, Sajadi and Hakimi paid kickbacks to Nunn, Holmes, Manney and other group care home operators and patient recruiters in exchange for delivering ineligible Medicare beneficiaries to Spectrum. In some cases, the patients received a portion of those kickbacks. According to evidence presented at trial, Spectrum billed Medicare for approximately $97 million in services that were not medically necessary and, in some cases, werenot provided.
Sanjar, Sajadi and Nunn are scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 8, 2014. Main, Hakimi, Holmes and Manney are scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 15, 2014.
The case was investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG, Texas MFCU, RRB-OIG and OPM-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Laura M.K. Cordova and Trial Attorneys Jonathan T. Baum and William S.W. Chang of the Fraud Section.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,700 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5.5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, is taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
Smaller and more energy efficient
Reed Smith L.L.P.’s Philadelphia office is set to move its 320 lawyers and support staff from One Liberty Place to new quarters at Three Logan Square.
When the move is complete March 3, firm leaders say the firm will occupy about 20 percent less space in a reconfigured office with greater energy efficiency and more opportunities for collaboration.
“Aside from the burden of unpacking, we are excited about having brand-new surroundings,” said Leonard Bernstein, managing partner of the Philadelphia office.
The move is in keeping with a trend among law firms to use smaller spaces that reflect current thinking on how best to promote collaboration among staff while also conserving funds.
Individual attorney spaces will be smaller at the new offices. With so much legal information now available online, the law library will be smaller, too.
“The entire delivery of legal services has changed,” Bernstein said. “There is less need for library space and less need for large offices. People work from home and they work remotely.”
Reed Smith said that the energy-efficient design is projected to save the firm nearly $2 million in electricity costs over the 16-year lease.
Reed Smith, with 1,800 lawyers worldwide, including 358 in London, its largest office, said it will occupy six floors at Three Logan comprising about 130,000 square feet. The new offices will include a moot court that also can double as a Pilates room.
The firm said the transition would start Saturday with the move of library and case files, and information technology staff.
A second phase begins Friday, when the office’s remaining computer hardware, including hundreds of personal computers as well as copiers and printers, will be moved.
The firm won accolades on Capitol Hill in January for the energy-efficient design of the office space. Rep. David McKinley (R., W. Va.), in testimony before the Energy and Commerce Committee, cited it as a “Philadelphia success story” in testimony on a bill to promote energy-efficient buildings. [email protected]
Son’s Challenge to Cable Won’t End T-Mobile Deal Scrutiny
Son’s Challenge to Cable Won’t End T-Mobile Deal Scrutiny
“After buying control of third-largest U.S. wireless provider Sprint Corp. (S) last year, Son wants to acquire T-Mobile, the fourth-largest. Even if the merger sparks competition with cable, the elimination of one of four major wireless carriers won’t be overlooked by antitrust regulators, said Maurice Stucke, a law professor at the University of Tennessee.
“He has to overcome the presumption that this merger is anticompetitive,” said Stucke, a former Justice Department lawyer. ‘You can’t argue we should allow this market to be more concentrated in order to better compete in a separate market.’”
Pharmaceutical Company to Pay $27.6 Million to Settle Allegations Involving False Billings to Federal Health Care Programs
Pharmaceutical manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. and a subsidiary, IVAX LLC, have agreed to pay the government and the state of Illinois $27.6 million for allegedly violating the False Claims Act by making payments to induce prescriptions of an anti-psychotic drug for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries . Teva Pharmaceuticals USA is located in North Wales, Pa., and IVAX LLC is a Florida company.
“The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that pharmaceutical manufacturers who make payments to doctors to influence prescribing decisions are held accountable,” said Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division Stuart F. Delery. “Schemes such as the one alleged in this case undermine the health care system and take advantage of vulnerable patients.”
“Pharmaceutical companies must not be allowed to improperly influence physicians’ decisions in prescribing medication for their patients,” said U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Fardon for the Northern District of Illinois. “Instead, those decisions must be made solely on the basis of the patient’s best medical interests.”
The settlement resolves allegations that Teva and IVAX made payments to an Illinois physician, Dr. Michael J. Reinstein, to induce the prescription of generic clozapine, an anti-psychotic medication. Clozapine has serious potential side effects and is generally considered a drug of last resort, particularly for elderly patients. While clozapine has been approved for treatment-resistant forms of schizophrenia, it is also reported to cause numerous side effects, including a potentially deadly decrease in white blood cells, seizures, inflammation of the heart muscle and increased mortality in elderly patients. The United States alleged that the payment scheme involving Reinstein began in August 2003, when Reinstein agreed to switch his patients to generic clozapine if IVAX, which was subsequently acquired by Teva Pharmaceuticals’ parent corporation, agreed to pay Reinstein $50,000 under a one-year “consulting agreement” and to provide other benefits to Reinstein, in violation of the federal Medicare and Medicaid Anti-Kickback Statute. In addition to direct payments to Reinstein, IVAX allegedly also provided all-expenses paid trips to Miami for Reinstein, his wife and several of his employees. Reinstein quickly became the largest prescriber of generic clozapine in the country, and prescribed the drug for many elderly patients. Allegedly, the payments and other forms of remuneration from IVAX and later Teva Pharmaceuticals continued for many years, and resulted in the submission of thousands of false claims to the Medicare Part D and Illinois Medicaid programs.
The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits offering, paying, soliciting or receiving remuneration to induce referrals of items or services covered by Medicare, Medicaid and other federally funded programs. The Anti-Kickback Statute is intended to ensure that a physician’s medical judgment is not compromised by improper financial incentives and is instead based on the best interests of the patient.
On Nov. 15, 2012, the United States filed a civil action against Reinstein in United States v. Reinstein , alleging that he violated the False Claims Act as a result of his involvement in the payment scheme with Teva and IVAX. The civil action against Reinstein remains pending in the Northern District of Illinois.
The government’s settlement of these allegations illustrates its emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered a total of more than $19 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $13.4 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.
The settlement with Teva Pharmaceuticals and IVAX was the result of a coordinated effort by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Sprint wants T-Mobile, but Don’t Count on it.
“T-Mobile made good on its promise as an innovator. That’s why Allen Grunes, an antitrust lawyer for Geyer Gorey in Washington, D.C., said the odds are stacked against a merger this time as well.
‘That tells the DOJ they were right,’ Grunes said. ‘The decision to block was the correct decision, so why would you let another telecom take them over?'”
Two Northern California Real Estate Investors Charged with Bid Rigging at Public Foreclosure Auctions Investigation Has Yielded 46 Plea Agreements to Date
Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Two Northern California Real Estate Investors Charged with Bid Rigging at Public Foreclosure Auctions Investigation Has Yielded 46 Plea Agreements to Date
Two Northern California real estate investors pleaded guilty for their roles in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California, the Department of Justice announced.
Felony charges were filed on June 30, 2011, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Oakland, against Grant Alvernaz, of Pleasant Hill, Calif., and Douglas Moore, of Walnut Creek, Calif. Alvernaz pleaded guilty to the charges on Sept. 7, 2011. Moore pleaded guilty to the charges on Aug. 24, 2011. The charges and the guilty pleas were unsealed yesterday. Including Alvernaz and Moore, a total of 46 individuals have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty as a result of the department’s ongoing antitrust investigation into bid rigging and fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California.
According to court documents, Alvernaz and Moore conspired with others not to bid against one another, and instead to designate a winning bidder to obtain selected properties at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Contra Costa and Alameda counties, Calif. Alvernaz and Moore were also charged with conspiring to commit mail fraud by fraudulently acquiring title to selected Contra Costa and Alameda County properties sold at public auctions and making and receiving payoffs and diverting money to co-conspirators that would have gone to mortgage holders and others by holding second, private auctions open only to members of the conspiracy. The department said that the selected properties were then awarded to the conspirators who submitted the highest bids in the second, private auctions. The private auctions often took place at or near the courthouse steps where the public auctions were held. Alvernaz and Moore pleaded guilty to participating in the conspiracies in Contra Costa County beginning as early as February 2009 and continuing until in or about December 2010 and in Alameda County from as early as March 2009 and continuing until about November 2010.
“The integrity of real estate foreclosure markets depends on open and honest competition, which the perpetrators of these collusive schemes undermined,” said Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. “The division will continue to pursue those who illegally enrich themselves at the expense of lenders and financially distressed homeowners.”
The department stated that the primary purpose of the conspiracies was to suppress and restrain competition in order to obtain selected real estate offered at Contra Costa and Alameda County public foreclosure auctions at non-competitive prices. When real estate properties are sold at these auctions, the proceeds are used to pay off the mortgage and other debt attached to the property, with remaining proceeds, if any, paid to the homeowner. According to court documents, these conspirators paid and received money that otherwise would have gone to pay off the mortgage and other holders of debt secured by the properties and, in some cases, the defaulting homeowner.
“The unsealed court documents narrate the criminal actions taken as part of this real estate bid-rigging conspiracy in northern California,” said David J. Johnson, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the San Francisco Field Office. “The public should consider this an example of how a competitive marketplace can be taken advantage of by those who are shortsighted by greed.”
A violation of the Sherman Act carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for individuals. The maximum fine for the Sherman Act charges may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims if either amount is greater than $1 million. A count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The government can also seek to forfeit the proceeds earned from participating in the conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
The charges are the latest filed by the department in its ongoing investigation into bid rigging and fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in San Francisco, San Mateo, Contra Costa and Alameda counties, Calif. These investigations are being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office and the FBI’s San Francisco Office. Anyone with information concerning bid rigging or fraud related to public real estate foreclosure auctions should contact the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office at 415-436-6660, or call the FBI tip line at 415-553-7400.
Today’s cases were brought in connection with the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. Attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it is the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed nearly 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants, including more than 2,900 mortgage fraud defendants.
French Citizen Pleads Guilty to Obstructing Criminal Investigation into Alleged Bribes Paid to Win Mining Rights in the Republic of Guinea
Frederic Cilins, 51, a French citizen, pleaded guilty today in the Southern District of New York to obstructing a federal criminal investigation into whether a mining company paid bribes to win lucrative mining rights in the Republic of Guinea.
Mythili Raman, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York; and George Venizelos, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office, made the announcement.
Cilins pleaded guilty to a one-count superseding information filed today, which alleges that Cilins agreed to pay money to induce a witness to destroy, or provide to him for destruction, documents sought by the FBI. According to the superseding information, those documents related to allegations concerning the payment of bribes to obtain mining concessions in the Simandou region of the Republic of Guinea.
According to publicly filed documents, Cilins allegedly attempted to obstruct an ongoing federal grand jury investigation concerning potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and laws proscribing money laundering. Court documents state the federal grand jury was investigating whether a particular mining company and its affiliates – on whose behalf Cilins had been working – transferred into the United States funds in furtherance of a scheme to obtain and retain valuable mining concessions in the Republic of Guinea’s Simandou region. During monitored and recorded phone calls and face-to-face meetings, Cilins allegedly agreed to pay substantial sums of money to induce a witness to the bribery scheme to turn over documents to Cilins for destruction, which Cilins knew had been requested by the FBI and needed to be produced before a federal grand jury. Court documents also allege that Cilins sought to induce the witness to sign an affidavit containing numerous false statements regarding matters under investigation by the grand jury.
Court documents allege that the documents Cilins sought to destroy included original copies of contracts between the mining company and its affiliates and the former wife of a now-deceased Guinean government official, who at the relevant time held an office in Guinea that allowed him to influence the award of mining concessions. The contracts allegedly related to a scheme by which the mining company and its affiliates offered the wife of the Guinean official millions of dollars, which were to be distributed to the official’s wife as well as ministers or senior officials of Guinea’s government whose authority might be needed to secure the mining rights.
According to court documents, the official’s wife incorporated a company in 2008 that agreed to take all necessary steps to secure the valuable mining rights for the mining company’s subsidiary. That same contract stipulated that $2 million was to be transferred to the official’s wife’s company and an additional sum was to be “distributed among persons of good will who may have contributed to facilitating the granting of” the valuable mining rights. According to the complaint, in 2008, the mining company and its affiliates also agreed to give 5 percent of its ownership of particular mining areas in Guinea to the official’s wife.
The case is being investigated by the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Tarek Helou of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant United States Attorney Elisha J. Kobre of the Southern District of New York. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and Office of Enforcement Operations also assisted in the investigation.
Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa .
Mythili Raman, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York; and George Venizelos, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office, made the announcement.
Cilins pleaded guilty to a one-count superseding information filed today, which alleges that Cilins agreed to pay money to induce a witness to destroy, or provide to him for destruction, documents sought by the FBI. According to the superseding information, those documents related to allegations concerning the payment of bribes to obtain mining concessions in the Simandou region of the Republic of Guinea.
According to publicly filed documents, Cilins allegedly attempted to obstruct an ongoing federal grand jury investigation concerning potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and laws proscribing money laundering. Court documents state the federal grand jury was investigating whether a particular mining company and its affiliates – on whose behalf Cilins had been working – transferred into the United States funds in furtherance of a scheme to obtain and retain valuable mining concessions in the Republic of Guinea’s Simandou region. During monitored and recorded phone calls and face-to-face meetings, Cilins allegedly agreed to pay substantial sums of money to induce a witness to the bribery scheme to turn over documents to Cilins for destruction, which Cilins knew had been requested by the FBI and needed to be produced before a federal grand jury. Court documents also allege that Cilins sought to induce the witness to sign an affidavit containing numerous false statements regarding matters under investigation by the grand jury.
Court documents allege that the documents Cilins sought to destroy included original copies of contracts between the mining company and its affiliates and the former wife of a now-deceased Guinean government official, who at the relevant time held an office in Guinea that allowed him to influence the award of mining concessions. The contracts allegedly related to a scheme by which the mining company and its affiliates offered the wife of the Guinean official millions of dollars, which were to be distributed to the official’s wife as well as ministers or senior officials of Guinea’s government whose authority might be needed to secure the mining rights.
According to court documents, the official’s wife incorporated a company in 2008 that agreed to take all necessary steps to secure the valuable mining rights for the mining company’s subsidiary. That same contract stipulated that $2 million was to be transferred to the official’s wife’s company and an additional sum was to be “distributed among persons of good will who may have contributed to facilitating the granting of” the valuable mining rights. According to the complaint, in 2008, the mining company and its affiliates also agreed to give 5 percent of its ownership of particular mining areas in Guinea to the official’s wife.
The case is being investigated by the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Tarek Helou of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant United States Attorney Elisha J. Kobre of the Southern District of New York. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and Office of Enforcement Operations also assisted in the investigation.
Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa .