Law Enforcement | WPN World People News

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ROBERT N. TRICARICO, 60, formerly of Darien, on October 5, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 41 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for stealing for than $1.2 million from an elderly client.

A former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) revenue officer pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in the Middle District of North Carolina to one count of tax evasion and one count of corruptly endeavoring to impede the due administration of the internal revenue laws, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo, head of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, and U.S. Attorney Ripley Rand of the Middle District of North Carolina, on October 4.

The sentencing last month of a Houston man for creating and distributing videos depicting the torture and killing of small animals brings to a close the first successful prosecutions under a 2010 federal statute specifically tailored to prohibit so-called “crush” videos.

A federal court in Helena, Montana has permanently barred Montana-based attorney James Tarpey, as well as two companies he founded, including Project Philanthropy Inc., a District of Columbia corporation which does business as Donate for a Cause, and Timeshare Closings Inc., a Colorado corporation which does business as Resort Closings Inc., from promoting an allegedly abusive timeshare donation scheme, the Justice Department announced to 29 September Tarpey and the two companies agreed to the injunction.

A New York-based alternative investment and hedge fund manager, Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC (Och-Ziff), and its wholly-owned subsidiary, OZ Africa Management GP LLC (OZ Africa), entered into resolutions to resolve criminal charges and agreed to pay a criminal penalty of more than $213 million in connection with a widespread scheme involving the bribery of officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Libya.

Branch Banking & Trust Company (BB&T) has agreed to pay the United States $83 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly originating and underwriting mortgage loans insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that did not meet applicable requirements, the Justice Department announced on September 29. BB&T is headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

A New York City man on 28 September pleaded guilty to a criminal information charging him with tax evasion for tax years 2003 through 2005 and 2007 through 2010, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo, head of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, and U.S. Attorney Robert L. Capers of the Eastern District of New York.

A retired officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on 28 September pleaded guilty to 10 money laundering offenses in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, announced Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. Gregory R. Logan, 59, of St. John, New Brunswick, was extradited to the United States on March 11. Logan, who has been detained since his extradition, will remain in jail pending his sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. for the District of Maine in Bangor, Maine.

A Miami resident pled guilty for his involvement in an identity theft tax fraud scheme involving the sale of a tax refund check.

The FBI released its annual compilation of crimes reported to its Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program by law enforcement agencies from around the nation. Crime in the United States, 2015 reveals a 3.9 percent increase in the estimated number of violent crimes and a 2.6 percent decrease in the estimated number of property crimes last year when compared to 2014 data.