Law Enforcement | WPN World People News

United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy announced that Jaime Cuadra, the former chief financial officer of Oceanic Enterprises Inc., was sentenced by United States District Judge Marilyn L. Huff to serve 41 months in custody based on his conviction of wire fraud and filing a false federal income tax return. The charges stemmed from Cuadra’s embezzlement of $1,089,813.26 from Oceanic and its parent company, Umami Sustainable Seafood Inc., a San Diego-based, publicly traded company.

On October 9, 2013, Roxanna Foley, 52, of Bridgeport, pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement by a bank employee, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

Belair Payroll Services Inc. (Belair), a multi-branch check cashing company in Flushing, N.Y., and its owner, Craig Panzera, 47, pleaded guilty for failing to follow reporting and anti-money laundering requirements for more than $19 million in transactions, in violation of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). Panzera also pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States by willfully failing to pay income and payroll taxes.

Mary Young and Christian Young each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of aggravated identity theft for their role in a stolen identity refund fraud (SIRF) scheme , announced Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama George L. Beck Jr.

Global health care giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and its subsidiaries will pay more than $2.2 billion to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from allegations relating to the prescription drugs Risperdal, Invega and Natrecor, including promotion for uses not approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and payment of kickbacks to physicians and to the nation’s largest long-term care pharmacy provider. The global resolution is one of the largest health care fraud settlements in U.S. history, including criminal fines and forfeiture totaling $485 million and civil settlements with the federal government and states totaling $1.72 billion.

Quentin Collick of Montgomery, Ala., and Deatrice Williams of Duluth, Ga., were sentenced Nov. 1, 2013, to serve 85 and 51 months in prison, respectively, announced Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama George L. Beck Jr. Collick and Williams were previously found guilty by a jury in the Middle District of Alabama of conspiring to file false claims, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

David Raminfard of Los Angeles pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to conspiracy to defraud the United States, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) announced.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced the filing of an information in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg charging Wendy Weikal-Beauchat, age 46, of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, with wire fraud and money laundering.

Charles M. Oberly, III, United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced that Stephanie Patterson, age 41, of Royersford, Pennsylvania, pled guilty to violations of 18 USC § 286 (false claims conspiracy), 18 USC § 1341 (mail fraud), and 42 U.S.C. § 408(a)(7)(B) & 18 U.S.C. § 2 (aiding and abetting Social Security fraud). Patterson, who will be sentenced on March 13, 2014, by the Honorable Leonard P. Stark, United States District Judge for the District of Delaware, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release.

Four defendants were indicted on federal charges for their alleged roles in a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $10 million in loan proceeds from a suburban bank through the sales of 26 gas stations in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. Two defendants, Charnpal Ghuman and Aga Khan, co-owned the gas stations and sold them to purchasers financed by the bank loans and guaranteed in part by the Small Business Administration. They allegedly recruited purchasers and arranged the loans through a bank loan officer, Akash Brahmbhatt, based on false financial representations, including false tax returns prepared by Shital Mehta, an accountant, both of whom also were indicted.