Law Enforcement | WPN World People News

A federal district court dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the targeted killing of three American citizens by U.S. drones in Yemen in 2011. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed the case on behalf of the families of Anwar Al-Aulaqi, Samir Khan, and Al-Aulaqi’s 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman.

A joint operation has resulted in the arrest and charging of a Chinese national for importing methamphetamine concealed in shampoo bottles.

An andictment was unsealed charging Poppi Metaxas, the former chief executive officer (CEO) and president of Gateway Bank FSB (Gateway), with bank fraud, bank fraud conspiracy, and perjury. According to the indictment, in 2009, Metaxas fraudulently caused Gateway to execute a sham “round-trip” transaction in which the bank self-funded a down payment to make it appear that Gateway had sold toxic, non-performing mortgage loans. This morning, the defendant surrendered to federal agents in California and was arraigned at the federal courthouse in San Francisco, California.

Kenneth Johnson, 62, and Diana Arredondo, 56, both of Central Point, Oregon, were sentenced to federal prison based on an embezzlement and tax fraud scheme relating to the operation of a local hotel. Johnson was a partner in the Super 8 Hotel in Central Point, Oregon, since it opened in October 2005. He was in charge of the hotel’s daily operations and reported the hotel’s revenue to his partners in Montana. Johnson hired his girlfriend, Arredondo, as the assistant hotel manager. They operated the hotel from October 2005 through 2011. Johnson engaged in a scheme to defraud his hotel partners by providing them false information regarding the amount of cash collected by the hotel and diverting some of the funds for his and Arredondo’s use. Over a period of time, Johnson diverted a total of about $500,000 and shared some of the tainted funds with Arredondo. In addition, both defendants filed fraudulent income tax returns, failing to report the money embezzled from the hotel. Based on a plea agreement entered into with the government, Johnson pleaded guilty to tax fraud and wire fraud, and Aredondo pleaded guilty to tax fraud.

The Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada to stop Bill Sunga Modina, who allegedly does business as 5M Financial and 6M Financial, from preparing federal tax returns. According to the complaint, Modina has prepared over 2,200 tax returns since 1992.

A federal grand jury in Mobile, Ala., returned a one-count indictment against a former real estate investor, charging him with conspiracy to commit mail fraud as part of a scheme related to public real estate foreclosure auctions held in southern Alabama, the Department of Justice announced.

A 32-year-old US citizen is scheduled to appear before Sydney Central Local Court, charged with importing 14.9 kilograms of methamphetamine in a labelling machine.

A criminal complaint was unsealed this morning in Brooklyn federal court charging Dr. Syed Imran Ahmed, 49, with health care fraud in connection with his submission of millions of dollars in false Medicare billings. Seizure warrants seeking millions of dollars of the defendant’s alleged ill-gotten gains, including the contents of seven bank accounts, were also unsealed.

A former inspector with the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for taking more than $30,000 in bribes in relation to at least a dozen properties in and around the Koreatown District of Los Angeles.

United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill sentenced Jayson Peter Costa, 41, of Bakersfield, to 78 months’ imprisonment for his role in an extensive mortgage fraud scheme that ran from January 2004 to September 2007, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. Costa was ordered to self-surrender by May 5, 2014.