Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven today sentenced Vladimir Volgaev (69, Sarasota) to two years and nine months in federal prison for theft of government property and smuggling goods from the United States, in violation of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The court also ordered Volgaev to forfeit $6,835, which is traceable to proceeds of the offense. Volgaev had pleaded guilty on August 19, 2019. According to…

TYLER, Texas – U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Cox announced today that six individuals have been arrested pursuant to a federal indictment alleging money laundering violations. “The threat posed by transnational organized crime is continuing to increase,” said U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Cox.  “Of particular concern to us is the financial exploitation of older Americans by foreign-based crime rings.  These villains are located thousands of…

CHICAGO — The owner of several Illinois nursing homes has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly skimming money from federally insured facilities that had defaulted on mortgage loans to pay expenses of a non-federally insured facility. MARK YAMPOL, 57, of St. Louis, Mo., is charged with one count of equity skimming, according to an indictment returned Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  The charge is punishable by up…

DENVER – United States Attorney Jason R. Dunn announced today that Michael Scott Leslie, age 57, of Boulder, Colorado, pleaded guilty to federal bank fraud and aggravated identity theft charges.  Leslie appeared remotely on a $50,000 unsecured bond, which was continued at the hearing’s conclusion.  The Denver office of the FBI, and the Offices of the Inspector General for both the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and…

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – U. S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Ginger Lynn Cunningham, 39, formerly of Hendersonville and currently residing in Brevard, to 14 months in prison yesterday, for selling fake title insurance policies, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. In addition to the prison term imposed, Cunningham was ordered to serve three years under court supervision and to pay $412,344 as…

NEW ORLEANS - U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced that today WESLEY T. BISHOP, age 52, of New Orleans was sentenced to 4 (four) years of probation, before U.S. District Judge Greg Guidry, for making a false statement, a crime punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment.  BISHOP admitted to knowingly and willfully making a false, material statement to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) in connection…

NEWARK, N.J. – The former acting business administrator for the Township of Orange, New Jersey, has been charged in a 28-count indictment with conspiracy, bribe-taking, money and property fraud, federal tax fraud, and making false statements in connection with a mortgage, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced today. Willis Edwards III, 49, formerly of East Orange, New Jersey, and currently of Lithonia, Georgia, was charged with 14 counts of…

The Inspector General Act of 1978 requires the Inspector General to prepare semiannual reports summarizing the activities of the Office of Inspector General for the preceding six-month periods. 

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Guaranteed Rate, Inc. has agreed to pay the United States $15.06 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) by knowingly violating material program requirements when it originated and underwrote mortgages insured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) or…

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A former government official agreed to pay $25,000 to resolve allegations that he had an improper conflict of interest with a company while he served as the Director of the Quality Assurance Division in the Office of Lender Activities and Program Compliance within the Federal Housing Administration at the United States Office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The United States alleges that Justin Burch, of Arlington, had…

Michael E. Horowitz, Chair of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), and Glenn A. Fine, Chair of CIGIE’s Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), announced today additional Inspectors General (IG) to serve as members of the PRAC. The new members are: Mitchell L. Behm, Acting Inspector General, Department of Transportation Mark Bialek, Inspector General, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve…

Today, Michael E. Horowitz, Chair of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), announced the appointment of Glenn A. Fine, Principal Deputy Inspector General Performing the Duties of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), to serve as the Chair of CIGIE’s Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC).  Mr. Horowitz appointed Mr. Fine pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and…

When I joined the Army about 20 years ago, we had a saying: Mission First, People Always. I’ve reflected upon this often in my career, and it has always served me well. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic that already has significantly altered life and work as we know it, the maxim still resonates.  The visual that comes to mind is a balance scale, with mission on one side and people on the other.  Most days in our workplaces, the…

BOSTON – The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced today a $7,000 settlement with 44 Hawthorne, LLC and its owner, Alek Vienneau, to resolve allegations that they submitted false claims to the federal government after receiving impermissible excess rent payments from a low income tenant while participating in a federal housing subsidy program. The Department of Housing and Urban Development provides federal funding through the Federal Housing Choice…

NEWARK, N.J. – A Hudson County, New Jersey, woman was arrested today for allegedly embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a non-profit corporation dedicated to providing affordable housing to residents of Englewood, New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. Yezenia Castillo, 44, of Hoboken, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with four counts of wire fraud. She is scheduled to appear this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate…

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JACQUELINE GRAHAM was sentenced today to 132 months in prison in connection with a $38 million fraudulent mortgage debt elimination scheme.  GRAHAM previously was convicted in June 2019 after a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Nelson S. Román, who also imposed today’s sentence. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:…

NEWARK, N.J. – A Union County, New Jersey, man was arrested today by federal agents on charges of mortgage fraud and scheming to defraud the Orange Public Library, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. Shenandoah Adams Sr., a/k/a “Shane Adams Sr.,” 54, of New Providence, New Jersey, is charged by indictment with six counts of wire fraud and two counts of making false statements in connection with a mortgage loan. He is scheduled to appear…

BOSTON – The principal and co-founder of a North Andover mortgage short sale assistance company was sentenced yesterday in connection with defrauding mortgage lenders and investors out of nearly $500,000 in proceeds from about 90 short sale transactions. Jaime L. Mulvihill, 40, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel to six months in prison, two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of…

WILMINGTON, Del. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment on February 13, 2020, charging a Baltimore, Maryland woman with one count of theft from a Wilmington company receiving federal funds. According to the indictment, April Pritchett, 37, engaged in a scheme to defraud her former employer, referred to as Company A in the indictment, a property management and development company based in Wilmington, Delaware.  Company A receives…

CRA/LA agreed to pay $3.1 million to resolve allegations that its predecessor violated the False Claims Act by knowingly failing to comply with federal accessibility laws when it financed and assisted in the development of affordable housing in the City of Los Angeles supported by federal funds, the Department of Justice announced.   CRA/LA is the successor of the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles, a local…