Category Archives: Federal Bureau of Investigation

Marshall County physician indicted on health care fraud charges

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Wednesday, July 26, 2017

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – A physician with a pain management clinic in McMechen, West Virginia, was indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in Wheeling on June 6, 2017 on health care fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud charges, Acting United States Attorney Betsy Steinfeld Jividen announced.

Dr. Roland F. Chalifoux, Jr., age 57, of St. Clairsville, Ohio, was indicted on eleven counts of “Health Care Fraud for Travel Dates,” seven counts of “Mail Fraud,” four counts of “Wire Fraud,” and four counts of “Health Care Fraud.” The crimes are alleged to have occurred from 2008 to June 2017 in Marshall County and elsewhere in the Northern District of West Virginia.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert H. McWilliams is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the West Virginia Insurance Fraud Investigation Unit are investigating.

An indictment is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Hudson County, New Jersey, Man Sentenced To 63 Months In Prison For Masterminding Fake ID Website And Participating In ‘SIRF’ Scheme

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Thursday, July 27, 2017

NEWARK, N.J. – A Jersey City, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 63 months in prison for his role in two separate conspiracies: one to create and operate a website that sold high-quality, custom-made fake identification documents, some of which were later used to commit financial crimes, and a second to fraudulently obtain tax refund checks, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.

Ricardo Rosario, 34, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares in Newark federal court to an information charging him with conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with authentication features and conspiracy to submit false claims to the U.S. Government. Judge Linares imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From October 2012 through August 2014, Rosario, with the assistance of Abraham Corcino, 34, of Jersey City, and Alexis Scott Carthens, 38, of Newark, sold fake driver’s licenses over the Internet, running a website that was available at “fakeidstore.com” and “fakedlstore.com.” A number of the fake driver’s licenses sold by Rosario and other conspirators were used in connection with “cash out” schemes, where stolen credit card information, usually obtained through hacking or ATM skimming operations, was encoded on to counterfeit credit cards and used to steal cash from victims’ accounts.

Rosario created and ran the website. Corcino and Carthens assisted him by creating and mailing the fake driver’s licenses purchased through the website. Corcino also maintained an Instagram account to promote the website. The website sold fake New Jersey, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin driver’s licenses, and the website boasted that the licenses had “scannable barcodes” and “real” holographic overlays. The price for each fake driver’s license was approximately $150, but the website offered bulk pricing for orders of 10 or more.

The website allowed its users to pay by bitcoin, a cryptographic-based digital currency, or MoneyPak, a type of prepaid payment card that could be purchased at retail stores. The “FAQ” section of the website indicated that orders would be received approximately one to two days after payment was received and described the website’s policy with respect to returns: “No Refunds. No snitching.”

In the Stolen Identity Refund Fraud (SIRF) conspiracy, Rosario assisted Carthens, who obtained stolen personally identifiable information (PII) primarily in the form of lab testing request forms that he purchased from another individual. Rosario provided Carthens with email accounts and drop addresses used in furtherance of the scheme. The email accounts were used to register accounts for online tax filing services and prepaid card accounts used to apply for and receive the tax refunds. The drop addresses were used to physically receive the refunds in the form of prepaid debit cards.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Linares sentenced Rosario to three years of supervised release and ordered forfeiture of $232,660 and restitution of $121,922.

Corcino was sentenced on April 17, 2017, to three years of probation. Carthens pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme on April 25, 2016, and is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 28, 2017.

Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark, inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge James V. Buthorn, and special agents of IRS – Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan D. Larsen, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zach Intrater of the Economic Crimes Unit and Barbara Ward, Acting Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Unit in Newark.

Defense counsel: Brian Neary Esq., Hackensack, New Jersey

Short Hills, New Jersey, Investment Manager Sentenced To 33 Months In Prison For $675,000 Ponzi Scheme

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Thursday, July 27, 2017

NEWARK, N.J. – An investment manager with an office in Short Hills, New Jersey, was sentenced today to 33 months in prison for that he fraudulently inducing investments, concealing investment losses, and diverting more than $675,000 in investor money for his own use, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.

Mark Moskowitz, 48, of Short Hills, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden to an information charging him with one count of wire fraud. Judge Hayden imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

In a separate legal proceeding, the N.J. Bureau of Securities ordered Moskowitz and his trading company, Edge Trading LLC, to pay a $1 million civil penalty for selling unregistered fraudulent securities and misusing investors’ funds for personal expenses.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Moskowitz controlled an investment fund under the names Edge Trading Partners L.P. and Edge Trading LLC (Edge Trading). In addition to touting his investment skill and experience, Moskowitz concealed losses from investors and falsely told them that Edge Trading was growing year after year. Based on these misrepresentations, investors continued to entrust additional funds to Moskowitz and left previous investments under his control.

Edge Trading was an investment fund that Moskowitz created and operated, starting in or around 2012. Moskowitz told investors that Edge Trading was invested in U.S. and foreign equities, futures contracts, and option contracts and that the fund’s investments continued to show positive returns. In reality, Moskowitz redirected investor money to his personal use, which he concealed from the investors.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Hayden sentenced Moskowitz to three years of supervised release and ordered restitution and forfeiture of $694,577.

Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. He also thanked the N.J. Bureau of Securities in the State Attorney General’s Office, under the direction of Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino and Acting Bureau Chief Amy Kopleton, for its assistance in the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason S. Gould of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.

Defense counsel: David Holman Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defenders, Newark

FinCEN Fines BTC-e Virtual Currency Exchange $110 Million for Facilitating Ransomware, Dark Net Drug Sales

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July 26, 2017

Treasury’s First Action Against a Foreign-Located Money Services Business

WASHINGTON—The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), working in coordination with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, assessed a $110,003,314 civil money penalty today against BTC-e a/k/a Canton Business Corporation (BTC-e) for willfully violating U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) laws. Russian national Alexander Vinnik, one of the operators of BTC-e, was arrested in Greece this week, and FinCEN assessed a $12 million penalty against him for his role in the violations.

BTC-e is an internet-based, foreign-located money transmitter that exchanges fiat currency as well as the convertible virtual currencies Bitcoin, Litecoin, Namecoin, Novacoin, Peercoin, Ethereum, and Dash. It is one of the largest virtual currency exchanges by volume in the world. BTC-e facilitated transactions involving ransomware, computer hacking, identity theft, tax refund fraud schemes, public corruption, and drug trafficking.

“We will hold accountable foreign-located money transmitters, including virtual currency exchangers, that do business in the United States when they willfully violate U.S. anti-money laundering laws,” said Jamal El-Hindi, Acting Director for FinCEN. “This action should be a strong deterrent to anyone who thinks that they can facilitate ransomware, dark net drug sales, or conduct other illicit activity using encrypted virtual currency. Treasury’s FinCEN team and our law enforcement partners will work with foreign counterparts across the globe to appropriately oversee virtual currency exchangers and administrators who attempt to subvert U.S. law and avoid complying with U.S. AML safeguards.”

FinCEN acted in coordination with law enforcement’s seizure of BTC-e and Vinnik’s arrest. The Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Secret Service, and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the criminal investigation.

Among other violations, BTC-e failed to obtain required information from customers beyond a username, a password, and an e-mail address. Instead of acting to prevent money laundering, BTC-e and its operators embraced the pervasive criminal activity conducted at the exchange. Users openly and explicitly discussed criminal activity on BTC-e’s user chat. BTC-e’s customer service representatives offered advice on how to process and access money obtained from illegal drug sales on dark net markets like Silk Road, Hansa Market, and AlphaBay.

BTC-e also processed transactions involving funds stolen between 2011 and 2014 from one of the world’s largest bitcoin exchanges, Mt. Gox. BTC-e processed over 300,000 bitcoin in transactions traceable to the theft. FinCEN has also identified at least $3 million of facilitated transactions tied to ransomware attacks such as “Cryptolocker” and “Locky.” Further, BTC-e shared customers and conducted transactions with the now-defunct money laundering website Liberty Reserve. FinCEN previously issued a finding under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act that identified Liberty Reserve as a financial institution of primary money laundering concern.

BTC-e has conducted over $296 million in transactions of bitcoin alone and tens of thousands of transactions in other convertible virtual currencies. The transactions included funds sent from customers located within the United States to recipients who were also located within the United States. BTC-e also concealed its geographic location and its ownership. Regardless of its ownership or location, the company was required to comply with U.S. AML laws and regulations as a foreign-located MSB including AML program, MSB registration, suspicious activity reporting, and recordkeeping requirements. This is the second supervisory enforcement action FinCEN has taken against a business that operates as an exchanger of virtual currency, and the first it has taken against a foreign-located MSB doing business in the United States.

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FinCEN’s mission is to safeguard the financial system from illicit use and combat money laundering and promote national security through the collection, analysis, and dissemination of financial intelligence and strategic use of financial authorities.

CONTACT: Steve Hudak 703-905-3770

Assessment:

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New Jersey Man Sentenced To 39 Months In Prison For Defrauding Investors

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Tuesday, July 25, 2017

NEWARK, N.J. – A North Caldwell, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 39 months in prison for fraudulently using more than $550,000 in investment funds that he solicited to purchase and sell consumer products in bulk, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.

Michael Esposito, 45, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini to an information charging him with one count of wire fraud. Judge Martini imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

According to the documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From August 2013 through February 2017, Esposito was the president of numerous entities that purported to purchase consumer products in bulk from manufacturers for resale to wholesalers and retailers. Esposito told potential investors that he could purchase consumer goods – such as soda and bottled water – at substantial discounts, and that he had buyers ready to purchase the products at a significant profit.

In return for providing the funds necessary to purchase the products, Esposito promised the victim investors a large percentage of the profits. However, Esposito used the funds for his personal expenses and to pay other investors in order to make it appear the money was properly used. Esposito admitted that his actions resulted in losses of more than $550,000.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Martini sentenced Esposito to three years of supervised release. Restitution will be determined at a late date.

Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited special agents with the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark, with the investigation. He also thanked investigators with the Florida Office of Financial Regulation for their assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Kogan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Economic Crimes Unit and Sarah Devlin of the Asset Forfeiture Unit in Newark.

Defense counsel: Brooke M. Barnett Esq., Newark

Pharmacist Pleads Guilty to Health Care Fraud Charges for Role in $192 Million Compounded Medication Scheme; Pharmacy Marketer Also Pleads Guilty

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Tuesday, July 25, 2017

The Pharmacist in Charge of a Hattiesburg, Mississippi compounding pharmacy pleaded guilty today to health care fraud charges for his role in a scheme that defrauded TRICARE and private insurance companies out of at least $192 million in payments for medically unnecessary compounded medications.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Harold Brittain of the Southern District of Mississippi, Special Agent in Charge Christopher Freeze of the FBI’s Jackson Division, Special Agent in Charge Jerome R. McDuffie of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation’s New Orleans Field Office and John F. Khin and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service Southeast Field Office made the announcement.

May, 40, of Lamar County, Mississippi, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and money laundering before U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett of the Southern District of Mississippi. Sentencing has been scheduled for October 17 before Judge Starrett.

As part of his guilty plea, May admitted that he conspired with others to select compounded medication formulas based on profitability, rather than on effectiveness or patient need. He further admitted that he conspired with co-owners of the pharmacy to circumvent fraud prevention measures, such as collecting copayments, so that patients were incentivized to receive, and continue to receive, medically unnecessary medications.  According to plea documents, May dispensed these medically unnecessary compounded medications and caused fraudulent claims to be submitted to TRICARE, a health care program that benefits members of the U.S. armed forces, and other health care benefit programs. Based on these fraudulent claims, May and his co-conspirators received at least $192 million in reimbursements.

In a related case, Gerald Schaar, 46, of Biloxi, Mississippi, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud for his role in the scheme to defraud TRICARE. According to plea documents, Schaar admitted to soliciting physicians and other medical professionals to write prescriptions without seeing patients for medically unnecessary compounded medications dispensed by the pharmacy. According to the plea documents, Schaar further admitted to conspiring with others to falsify patient records to make it appear as though medical professionals had seen patients prior to the date prescriptions were written, when in reality, no examinations had occurred. As a result of the fraudulent prescriptions obtained by Schaar, and ultimately forwarded to the pharmacy, TRICARE reimbursed approximately $2.3 million in false and fraudulent claims submitted by the pharmacy. Sentencing for Schaar has been scheduled for October 17 before Judge Starrett.

This case was investigated by the FBI Jackson Division’s Hattiesburg Resident Agency, the IRS Criminal Investigation, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, and other government agencies. Trial Attorneys Dustin Davis and Katherine Payerle of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Helen Wall of the Southern District of Mississippi are prosecuting the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which is part of a joint initiative between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country. The Medicare Fraud Strike Force operates in nine locations nationwide.  Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force has charged over 3,500 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for over $12.5 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

Individuals who believe that they may be a victim in this case should visit the Fraud Section’s Victim Witness website for more information.

Employee Of New Jersey-Based Trucking Company Gets 33 Months In Prison For Stealing More Than $3 Million From Her Employer

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Monday, July 24, 2017

TRENTON, N.J. – A former employee of a New Jersey based-trucking company was sentenced today to 33 months in prison for stealing more than $3 million by issuing company checks for her own benefit, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.

Tracey Perrigan, 55, of Sparta, Tennessee, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan to Count One of an indictment charging her with wire fraud. Judge Sheridan imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Perrigan was an employee of a company identified in the indictment as “Company A,” the corporate parent of several subsidiary trucking, rigging, and transportation companies. Company A was headquartered in Oceanside, New York, and had a Branchburg, New Jersey, facility where Perrigan worked.

Company A used the “Comchek” system, which enables clients to authorize and monitor fuel and repair expenditures by drivers in remote locations. As part of her duties, Perrigan was responsible for authorizing Comcheks drawn on Company A’s bank account. From March 2007 through August 2015, Perrigan diverted $3.25 million from her employer to an entity identified as “Company B,” a trucking and towing company based in Tennessee that she owned with another person. Company B never conducted any business with Company A.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Sheridan sentenced Perrigan to three years of supervised release. Perrigan must also pay restitution of $3,251,419.65.

Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark, with the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason S. Gould of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.

Defense counsel: Carol Gillen Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defender, Newark

Former Employee Of Commercial Supply Company Admits Fraud, False Testimony Before Grand Jury

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Monday, July 24, 2017

TRENTON, N.J. – A former salesman at Bayway Lumber, a Linden, New Jersey, company that sold commercial and industrial products to numerous public and private entities, today admitted his role in a scheme to defraud customers and lying to a federal grand jury, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.

Adam Martignetti, 43, of South River, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan in Trenton federal court to Counts 1 and 6 of an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and making false declarations before a grand jury.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Martignetti admitted that from 2011 through 2013 he conspired with others to defraud certain Bayway Lumber customers by providing free items to customers’ employees and then recouping the cost of the items (plus additional revenue for Bayway Lumber) by overbilling and fraudulently billing the customers. Martignetti also admitted to supplying lower-quality, less expensive plywood to a customer, but charging for the more expensive, higher-quality plywood the customer had ordered.

Martignetti gave a variety of personal items to employees of some of Bayway Lumber’s customers, including Amtrak, the City of Elizabeth, and the Plainfield Board of Education.  These items included a laptop, several iPads, a camera and sound system, patio furniture, and other merchandise. Under the supervision of Robert Dattilo, president and partial owner of Bayway Lumber, Martignetti then overbilled and fraudulently billed those customers. Dattilo kept a running tally of how much Martignetti and others overbilled and fraudulently billed customers, which many at Bayway Lumber referred to as the “Bank,” to ensure that Bayway Lumber recovered the full cost of the free items. Dattilo previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and was sentenced in July 2016 to 48 months in prison and ordered to pay $708,386 in restitution.

Martignetti also conspired to provide one Bayway Lumber customer, Consolidated Edison Co. of New York Inc. (Con Edison), with lower-quality wood than it ordered and paid for. When Con Edison ordered graded plywood, a type of plywood graded by mills that had met a certain set of specifications, Martignetti, at Dattilo’s instruction, routinely sent plywood that was of a lower grade or not graded at all, including “reject” plywood, but charged Con Edison for the higher-quality plywood that it ordered.

Martignetti also pleaded guilty to falsely testifying before a federal grand jury while appearing as a witness under oath in March 2013 that he had never given Bayway Lumber items to City of Elizabeth employees for free, and that Elizabeth was never charged for items that were for Elizabeth employees’ personal use.

The conspiracy to commit wire fraud charge to which Martignetti pleaded guilty carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The charge of knowingly making false statements before a grand jury guilty carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss associated with the offense, whichever is greatest. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 28, 2017.

Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited special agents with the Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Christina Scaringi; the Office of Inspector General, Amtrak, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael Waters; and the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cari Fais of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara R. Llanes, Chief, General Crimes Unit, of the U.S. Attorney’s Criminal Division, in Newark.

Defense Counsel: Michael Armstrong Esq., Willingboro, New Jersey

Houston Physician Convicted of Conspiracy in $1.5 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme

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Friday, July 21, 2017

A federal jury convicted a Houston physician today for his role in a scheme involving approximately $1.5 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for home health care services and various medical testing and services.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez of the Southern District of Texas, Special Agent in Charge Perrye K. Turner of the FBI’s Houston Field Office, Special Agent in Charge C.J. Porter of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Dallas Region and the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) made the announcement.

After a four-day trial, Ronald F. Kahn, M.D., 62, of Harris County, Texas, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to pay and receive illegal kickbacks. Sentencing has been scheduled for September 25, before U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt, who presided over the trial.

According to evidence presented at trial, from approximately 2006 until 2013, Kahn and others engaged in a scheme to defraud Medicare out of approximately $1.5 million in fraudulent claims for home heath care services in connection with Allied Covenant Home Health, Inc., a Houston home healthcare agency (Allied).  Kahn fraudulently admitted patients for home health care with Allied when they did not qualify for such services, the evidence showed. To make it appear that these patients did qualify, Kahn falsified medical records and signed false documents purporting to show that patients admitted to Allied’s home health program satisfied Medicare’s requirements for admission, the evidence showed.

The evidence also showed that Kahn paid illegal kickbacks for patients from Harris Health Care Group, a Houston medical clinic (Harris). Kahn paid illegal kickbacks to the owner of Harris in order to bill Medicare for facet injections that were medically unnecessary, not provided or both, the evidence showed.

The case was investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG and Texas MFCU, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of 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 Ashlee McFarlane and Trial Attorney Scott Armstrong of the Fraud Section.

The Fraud Section leads the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which is part of a joint initiative between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country.  The Medicare Fraud Strike Force operates in nine locations nationwide.  Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force has charged over 3,500 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for over $12.5 billion.

Former Worksource DeKalb Supervisor Charged with Bribery

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Wednesday, July 19, 2017

ATLANTA – Roderick L. Wyatt, 61, of Stone Mountain, Ga., has been charged with accepting bribe payments in exchange for approving the enrollment of almost 20 students to a local college, through a federal workforce program in DeKalb County. The federal indictment alleges that Wyatt agreed to accept payments from the college president for each student sent to the college through Worksource DeKalb, a federally funded program.

“Wyatt allegedly sold his supervisory position with WorkSource DeKalb for cash. In doing so, he allegedly accepted a “bounty” for each student sent to a specific college,” said U. S. Attorney John A. Horn.

“An important mission of the Office of Inspector General is to investigate allegations of fraud relating to Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act grants issued by the U.S. Department of Labor. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate these types of allegations,” said Rafiq Ahmad, Special Agent in Charge, Atlanta Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General.

Public corruption is the FBI’s top criminal investigative priority because it takes a significant toll on the public’s pocketbooks by siphoning off tax dollars,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. LeValley. “This case is another example of our commitment to combat corruption by investigating public officials who choose to abuse federally funded programs.”

According to United States Attorney Horn, the charges, and other information presented in court: the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act is a federal public law designed to improve and modernize America’s workforce development system by providing dislocated and low-income individuals with the skills and education needed to obtain employment and by providing employers with trained and qualified workers to fill employment vacancies.

WorkSource DeKalb (formerly DeKalb Workforce Development) was a DeKalb County department funded exclusively by the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. WorkSource DeKalb (“WSD”) served the unemployed and underemployed citizens of DeKalb County by providing work readiness programs, services, and activities necessary to obtain sustainable wages. Using federal funds, WSD paid the cost for unemployed and underemployed individuals to attend pre-screened schools or programs where the individuals gained the technical or vocational skills needed to obtain employment in fields such as nursing, truck driving, or welding. After reviewing the unemployed individuals’ career aspirations and educational interests, WSD staff members recommended the individuals to particular pre-screened schools or programs.

From 2013 to April 2017, Wyatt served as a WSD Employment and Training Supervisor. As a supervisor, Wyatt reviewed and approved the school/program recommendations made by WSD staff members.

In 2014, the president and founder of a pre-screened school that offered its students nursing assistant and medical technician certifications approached Wyatt and offered to pay him for each individual that WSD referred to the College. In 2014 and 2015, Wyatt approved the enrollment of approximately 19 students to the College. The College’s president paid Wyatt $100 for each student approved to attend his school. In total, the College received approximately $82,000 in federal funds under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. The name of the college has not been identified in the Information or any of the court pleadings.

This case is being investigated by the Department of Labor – Office of the Inspector General and Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey W. Davis and Special Assistant United States Attorney Tyler Man prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.