Tag Archives: Vienna

CEO Indicted For Wire Fraud And Aggravated Identity Theft

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Thursday, August 10, 2017

Greenbelt, Maryland – A federal grand jury has indicted Zheng Geng, a/k/a “Jason Geng”, age 59, of Vienna, Virginia, on charges related to a scheme to defraud the United States. The indictment was returned on August 9, 2017, and unsealed today upon the arrest of Geng. Geng is the Chief Executive Officer of Xigen LLC (Xigen), which has offices in Maryland and Virginia.

The indictment was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Inspector General Paul Martin of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Inspector General; Inspector General Allison Lerner of the National Science Foundation Office of Inspector General; Special Agent in Charge Nick DiGiulio of the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General; Special Agent in Charge Gordon Thompson of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General; and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

According to the six-count indictment, Geng devised a scheme between 2005 to 2016 to defraud the United States by submitting false and fraudulent grant applications under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. The SBIR program aims to stimulate United States technological innovation. A further aim is to foster and encourage participation in technical innovation by socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses that in some instances are at least 51-percent owned and controlled by women. Geng prepared materially fraudulent proposals for awards, subsequent reports, and related communications under the programs.

To support the applications, Geng submitted endorsements for his grant applications using the identities of people without their permission, or misrepresenting their positions within Xigen. In addition, he submitted endorsements that misrepresented active affiliations with various universities including, Harvard University Medical School and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and budgeted funds for subcontractors without their knowledge and without providing them with budgeted funds. With this false information, the United States government approved SBIR program awards and grants through the Department of Health and Human Service’s National Institutes of Health and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The awards totaled over $1.8 million.

According to court documents, Geng used the rewarded funds for his own personal use and the use of his family members and associates.

“The NASA Office of Inspector General will continue to aggressively investigate those who undermine and defraud NASA programs and operations,” said Inspector General Martin. “The NASA OIG appreciates the efforts of the entire investigative and prosecution team during this multi-year investigation, and we look forward to continued cooperation with our law enforcement partners in this and related matters.”

Allison Lerner, Inspector General for the National Science Foundation said, “The SBIR program is a valuable tool for advancing promising new technologies. My office will continue to vigorously pursue attempts to defraud scarce research dollars intended to promote economic growth through innovative SBIR investments.”

“The United States Department of Health and Human services provides research grant funds to qualified small businesses; we cannot tolerate the theft of taxpayer funds meant for honest research projects” said Nick DiGiulio, Special Agent in Charge for the Inspector General’s Office of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Geng faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for wire fraud and a 2-year mandatory minimum consecutive sentence for each of the aggravated identity theft charges.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the NASA Office of Inspector General, the National Science Foundation Office of Inspector General, the HHS Office of Inspector General, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General and the FBI for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Phil Selden and Jennifer Sykes, who are prosecuting the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Salem who also helped investigate this case.

Contact ELIZABETH MORSE at (410) 209-4885

www.justice.gov/usao/md       

Ivorian Man Pleads Guilty In Manhattan Federal Court To Conspiring To Provide Material Support To The FARC

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Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Raymond Donovan, Special Agent in Charge of the Special Operations Division of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), announced that FAOUZI JABER, a/k/a “Excellence,” pled guilty to conspiring to provide material support to the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (the “FARC”), a designated foreign terrorist organization.  JABER pled guilty earlier today in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katherine H. Parker.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said:  “Faouzi Jaber arranged to traffic millions of dollars’ worth of lethal weapons and narcotics in support of the FARC’s efforts to violently overthrow the government of Colombia and terrorize U.S. forces stationed there.  In a series of meetings that took him around the world, Jaber was willing to do whatever it took to help this foreign terrorist organization achieve its violent and undemocratic goals.  Our Office will continue to prosecute those who conspire to provide material support to the FARC and other dangerous terrorist organizations to the fullest extent of the law.”

DEA Special Agent in Charge Raymond Donovan said:  “DEA’s number one priority is going after individuals and organizations that pose a direct threat to the safety and security of the American people.  Faouzi Jaber demonstrated how willing he was to do business with some of the world’s most deadly terror networks that wish harm on innocent Americans and the rule of the law.  We must continue to attack these potentially deadly networks globally, no matter where they hide.”

According to the allegations contained in the Superseding Indictment, statements made during the plea proceeding, and other documents in the public record:

From the fall of 2012 through early 2014, JABER participated in a conspiracy to provide material support to the FARC, a guerilla group that, as of that time period, was dedicated to the violent overthrow of the democratically elected government of Colombia, had engaged in acts of violence against U.S. citizens and interests in Colombia and elsewhere, and was one of the world’s largest suppliers of cocaine.  JABER engaged in a series of meetings, in locations such as Accra, Ghana, and Warsaw, Poland, with individuals who identified themselves as representatives and associates of the FARC, but who were, in fact, confidential sources (the “CSes”) working for the DEA.  In the course of those meetings, which were recorded, JABER introduced the CSes to two of his associates, a weapons trafficker based in Ukraine and a narcotics trafficker based in West Africa, in furtherance of his efforts to assist the FARC.  Working together with those associates, during the meetings with the CSes, JABER agreed to provide weapons – including surface-to-air missiles, assault rifles, grenade launchers, and grenades – to the FARC, at a total price of over $8 million, with the understanding that those weapons would be used by the FARC against U.S. forces in Colombia.  JABER also agreed to assist the FARC with the transportation and storage of FARC-owned cocaine in West Africa, and with the laundering of cocaine proceeds for the FARC, including by moving the cocaine proceeds through bank accounts in New York.

In April 2014, JABER traveled to Prague, Czech Republic, to meet with certain of the CSes to continue negotiating and arranging the weapons and narcotics-trafficking transactions in support of the FARC.  On April 5, 2014, JABER was arrested in Prague by Czech authorities based on the charges in this case, at the request of U.S. authorities.  JABER was later extradited to the United States to face the charges against him.

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JABER, 61, of the Ivory Coast, pled guilty to one count of conspiring to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, i.e., the FARC, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. The maximum potential sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge. Sentencing is scheduled for November 8, 2017, at 4:00 p.m. before Chief U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon.

Mr. Kim praised the outstanding efforts of the DEA’s Special Operations Division and DEA’s Vienna, Austria Country Office; DEA’s Warsaw, Poland Country Office; DEA’s Accra, Ghana Country Office; and DEA’s New York Field Division.  Mr. Kim also thanked Czech law enforcement authorities, the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, and the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs for their assistance.

This prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorney George D. Turner is in charge of the prosecution.