Law Enforcement | WPN World People News

A Winston-Salem, North Carolina, resident was sentenced to 21 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States by filing false tax returns, on July 1, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Matthew G. T. Martin for the Middle District of North Carolina.

Wagdy A. Guirguis, owner of several engineering businesses, was sentenced to five years in prison in Honolulu, Hawaii, on June 28, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and United States Attorney Kenji M. Price for the District of Hawaii.

A federal grand jury in Madison, Wisconsin, indicted a La Crosse, Wisconsin, dentist for tax evasion, on June 27, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Scott C. Blader for the Western District of Wisconsin.

A former Venezuelan government minister and a former officer at Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled electricity company, on June 27th, Corporación Eléctrica Nacional, S.A. (Corpoelec), were charged in an indictment returned for their alleged roles in laundering the proceeds of violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in connection with their alleged receipt of bribes to award Corpoelec business to U.S.-based companies.

A doctor who practiced in New Jersey and Pennsylvania was charged in an indictment unsealed for his alleged participation in a scheme to receive bribes and kickbacks from a pharmaceutical company in exchange for prescribing large volumes of a powerful fentanyl narcotic, on June 25.

TechnipFMC plc (TFMC), a publicly traded company in the United States and a global provider of oil and gas services, and its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, Technip USA, Inc. (Technip USA), have agreed to pay a combined total criminal fine of more than $296 million to resolve foreign bribery charges with authorities in the United States and Brazil.

A federal jury in Charlotte, North Carolina, convicted a former tax return preparer of filing false tax returns for her clients and herself, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray for the Western District of North Carolina.

A dual U.S.-Venezuelan citizen who controlled multiple U.S.-based companies pleaded guilty for his role in the Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) foreign bribery scheme, on May 29. The case involves bribes paid to PDVSA officials - Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company - and its Houston, Texas-based subsidiary Citgo Petroleum Corporation (Citgo), to corruptly secure and retain energy and logistics contracts.

A North Carolina man was sentenced to prison for health care fraud related to the submission of false claims to Medicaid and for tax evasion, on May 24, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Matthew G.T. Martin for the Middle District of North Carolina.

A Texas couple was convicted of conspiracy and tax charges by a federal jury in Austin, on May 23, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.