Law Enforcement | WPN World People News

Two employees of an international engineering consulting firm were charged in a superseding indictment filed , on May 24, for their alleged participation in a scheme to launder bribe payments to foreign government officials for the benefit of a Columbus, Ohio-based subsidiary of Rolls-Royce plc, to secure a contract to supply equipment and services to power a gas pipeline from Kazakhstan to China.

A federal grand jury sitting in the Western District of Virginia returned an indictment charging a Collinsville, Virginia pharmacist with failing to account for and pay over employment taxes, on May 24, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Thomas T. Cullen for the Western District of Virginia.

Pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Inc. (Pfizer), based in New York, NY, has agreed to pay $23.85 million to resolve claims that it used a foundation as a conduit to pay the copays of Medicare patients taking three Pfizer drugs, in violation of the False Claims Act, the Justice Department announced on May 24.

Following a two-week trial, a federal jury in Denver, Colorado, has convicted a California man of multiple charges for his role in an investment scheme in which he falsely told investors that he was a billionaire who could access certain financing, including hundreds of millions in cash in an overseas bank account, in exchange for up-front fees.

The owner of a Michigan home health agency, on May 22, pleaded guilty to charges for his role in a scheme involving Medicare claims for home health services that were procured through the payment of illegal kickbacks.

A former U.S. Air Force staff sergeant, on May 22, pleaded guilty to seeking and receiving a bribe from an Afghan contractor while serving in Afghanistan. The sergeant worked at the Humanitarian Aid Yard (HA Yard) at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan and was involved in the issuance of contracts to replenish supplies at the HA Yard under the Commander’s Emergency Response Program (CERP). The sergeant is the eighth defendant to plead guilty in the investigation of this matter.

A grand jury sitting in the Eastern District of Michigan, on May 21, returned an indictment charging a former healthcare consultant with wire fraud, mail fraud, corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the internal revenue laws, and tax evasion, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

The owner of a Michigan home health agency, on May 17, pleaded guilty to fraud charges for his role in a scheme involving approximately $8 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for home health services that were procured through the payment of illegal kickbacks.

A federal grand jury has returned an indictment, which was unsealed on May 16, against a Rogersville, Tennessee resident charging him with obstruction of the internal revenue laws, filing fraudulent multi-million dollar liens against government employees, and filing false claims for tax refunds, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

A resident of Lee County, Florida pleaded guilty to stealing government funds and corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the internal revenue laws, on May 15, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez of the Middle District of Florida.