Law Enforcement | WPN World People News

The Department of Justice announced on April 27 that Z Gallerie LLC has agreed to pay $15 million to resolve allegations that the company engaged in a scheme to evade customs duties on imports of wooden bedroom furniture from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), in violation of the False Claims Act. Z Gallerie sells upscale furniture and accessories in stores across the United States and through the Internet. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

An Austell, Georgia husband and wife pleaded guilty to charges relating to their involvement in a stolen identity income tax refund fraud scheme on April 22, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney John A. Horn of the Northern District of Georgia.

The owner of several Reno, Nevada landscaping and rock hauling businesses on Friday pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of failure to file over employment taxes, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden of the District of Nevada, on April 22. The bookkeeper for the businesses pleaded guilty to one count of willful failure to pay taxes.

Gang members shot through the front door of a Washington couple’s house during a violent home invasion in November 2014.

A San Antonio, Texas, artist pleaded guilty on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio to one count of failure to file a tax return, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

An 18-count superseding indictment was unsealed on Thursday charging Amin Yu, 53, of Orlando, Florida, with acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government in the United States without prior notification to the Attorney General, conspiring to defraud the United States and to commit offenses against the United States, committing unlawful export information activities, smuggling goods from the United States, conspiring to and committing international money laundering and making false statements to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The former owner and president of Chestnut Consulting Group Inc. and Chestnut Consulting Group Co. (the Chestnut Group) pleaded guilty to bribing an official at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), on April 20.

A federal court entered a permanent injunction Wednesday against Grandview, Washington tax return preparer Jose Magana and his business, Genesis Bookkeeping and Accounting. The injunction bars Magana and Genesis Bookkeeping from preparing tax returns for others. Magana and Genesis Bookkeeping admitted in a court filing that they had interfered with the enforcement and administration of the federal tax laws. They agreed to entry of the injunction.

A Lincoln, Montana, on April 19, man was sentenced to five years in prison for manufacturing marijuana, being a felon in possession of a firearm and tax evasion, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Michael W. Cotter for the District of Montana.

Timothy M. Longmeyer, the former Secretary of the Kentucky Personnel Cabinet, on April 19 admitted in federal court that he solicited and accepted over $200,000 in kickbacks from a private consultant during his tenure.