Law Enforcement | WPN World People News

A former U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) official, on Febuary 15, was sentenced for demanding and receiving bribes from three for-profit schools in exchange for enrolling disabled military veterans in those schools and facilitating over $2 million in payments from the VA using the veterans’ federal benefits.

On February 15, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against the former president and the former chief legal officer of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, a publicly traded Fortune 200 technology services company based in Teaneck, New Jersey, in connection with an alleged foreign bribery scheme.

The Department of Justice, on February 14, announced that Vital Life Institute LLC (formerly known as AgeVital Pharmacy LLC), located in Sarasota, Florida, and owners Jenny and William Wilkins have agreed to pay at least $775,000 to resolve claims that they violated the False Claims Act by engaging in an illegal kickback scheme to induce the referral of compounded drug prescriptions for TRICARE and Medicare beneficiaries. AgeVital and the Wilkinses have agreed to pay additional amounts in the event certain contingencies are triggered.

A Tulsa man, John D. Petrig, 49, pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion in U.S. District Court, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Trent Shores of the Northern District of Oklahoma, on Febuary 5.

The United States has partially intervened in a lawsuit under the False Claims Act against Wheeling Hospital Inc. (Wheeling), R & V Associates Ltd. (R & V), and Ronald Violi in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the Department of Justice announced on December 21. The government intervened with respect to allegations that Wheeling, which is located in Wheeling, WV, violated the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute, and that those violations were caused by R & V, Wheeling’s contracted management consultant, and Violi, Wheeling’s CEO.

The United States has partially intervened in a lawsuit under the False Claims Act against Wheeling Hospital Inc. (Wheeling), R & V Associates Ltd. (R & V), and Ronald Violi in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the Department of Justice announced on December 21. The government intervened with respect to allegations that Wheeling, which is located in Wheeling, WV, violated the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute, and that those violations were caused by R & V, Wheeling’s contracted management consultant, and Violi, Wheeling’s CEO.

Geoffrey Rotich pleaded guilty to aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false income tax return and making a false bankruptcy declaration, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Stephen R. McAllister of the District of Kansas.

The Justice Department, on December 17, announced that a federal grand jury in Miami indicted Florida Department of Corrections officer, Terrance Reynolds, 28, for conspiring with former sergeant Brendan Butler to physically assault and intimidate youthful offenders for conduct perceived by the officers as disruptive or disrespectful.

A federal grand jury sitting in Shreveport, Louisiana, returned an indictment charging a Shreveport husband and wife with conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and multiple counts of filing false tax returns, on December 12, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and United States Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana David C. Joseph.

A federal jury in Atlanta, Georgia, convicted Saleem Hakim, 49, of three counts of failing to file federal income tax returns, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.