Law Enforcement | WPN World People News

The Department of Justice has forfeited a Manhattan condominium and a Virginia residence – with a combined value of approximately $ 2.1 million – purchased with the proceeds of alleged bribes paid to the family of the former President of Taiwan, Shui-Bian Chen, as part of the department’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.

Two New Jersey women admitted today that they defrauded a charity program out of more than $7 million in donated HIV and cancer medication using their access to a company hired to administer the program, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

A former U.S. Army major was sentenced yesterday to 18 months in prison for his participation in a bribery scheme related to his activities as a contracting official in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, in 2005 and 2006, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

Kwame R. Brown, the former chairman of the council of the District of Columbia, was sentenced yesterday to a day in confinement and six months of home detention on a federal charge of bank fraud. He also was ordered to perform 480 hours of community service.

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Mary Galligan, the Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced on Friday that Berton Hochfeld, the manager of Hochfeld Capital Management LLC (“Hochfeld Capital”), was arrested on securities fraud and wire fraud charges for orchestrating an investment scheme in which he allegedly stole more than $1 million from investors.

MoneyGram International Inc. – a global money services business headquartered in Dallas – has agreed to forfeit $100 million and enter into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the Justice Department in which it admits to criminally aiding and abetting wire fraud and failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program, as charged in an information filed on Friday in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

An Army National Guard recruiter pleaded guilty on Friday in the Western District of Texas for his role in a bribery and fraud scheme that caused approximately $98,000 in losses to the Army National Guard Bureau, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

The Justice Department announced on Friday that it has asked a federal court in Columbus, Ohio, to permanently bar John Allen from promoting tax-fraud schemes and preparing federal tax returns.

The United States has sued Charles Sewell of Bristol, Va., to bar him from promoting an alleged scheme involving fraudulent tax refund claims, the Justice Department announced on Friday.

A federal grand jury today returned an indictment charging Virgin Islands Senator Alvin Williams, Jr., 34, with operating and participating in a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in illegal activities, including bribery, mail fraud, and wire fraud. Two of Williams’ legislative staff members, Garry Sprauve, 64, and Kim Blackett, 29, also were charged in the indictment.