FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Monday, October 28, 2013
Former President of Port Arthur, Texas, Chemical Company Sentenced for Federal Crimes Related to Employee Deaths
The former president of Port Arthur Chemical and Environmental Services LLC (PACES) has been sentenced for occupational safety crimes which resulted in the death of an employee, announced Robert G. Dreher, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and John M. Bales, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas.
Matthew Lawrence Bowman, 41, of Houston, pleaded guilty on May 9, 2013, to violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) and making a false statement and was sentenced to serve 12 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone. Bowman was also ordered to pay fines in the amount of $5,000.
Bowman admitted to not properly protecting PACES employees from exposure to hydrogen sulfide, a poisonous gas resulting in the death of truck driver Joey Sutter on Dec. 18, 2008. In addition, Bowman admitted to directing employees to falsify transportation documents to conceal that the wastewater was coming from PACES after a disposal facility put a moratorium on all shipments from PACES after it received loads containing hydrogen sulfide.
“Today’s sentence is a just punishment for Bowman’s actions, which placed workers at unacceptable risk and had fatal consequences,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Dreher. “The Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to vigorously investigate and prosecute those who violate the laws enacted to ensure the safety of workers handling hazardous materials and to prevent the kind of tragedies that occurred in this case.”
“The government’s prosecution of Matthew Bowman is now complete. While Mr. Bowman is being held accountable for his criminal conduct, and that is appropriate, there is no amount of time in prison; no amount of criminal fine that can be levied that will compensate for the loss of life at PACES. We extend our deepest condolences and well wishes to the friends and family of Mr. Sutter, who died pitilessly and needlessly because of the criminally negligent actions of Matthew Bowman,” said U.S. Attorney Bales. “The agents and prosecutors conducted an outstanding investigation and prosecution.”
"The sentencing today is a clear signal of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT), and its Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) commitment to protecting the public from illegally transported hazardous materials,” said Max Smith, regional Special Agent-in-Charge, USDOT OIG. “Working with our law enforcement and prosecutorial colleagues we will continue our vigorous efforts to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law those who would seek to disregard the Nation’s transportation laws and endanger the public.”
“Environmental violations are serious crimes, and in a worst-case scenario, they can kill people,” said Ivan Vikin, special Agent in Charge of EPA’s criminal enforcement program in Texas. “In this case, a senior manger’s actions led directly to the death of one of his employees. This is why we have laws regarding the safe and legal handling of hazardous materials. Enforcement of these laws must be consistent and uncompromising.”
“When a worker loses his or her life on the job, it has a ripple effect on their families, friends, community and the workplace. Matt Bowman and PACES knowingly violated workplace safety standards that led to Joey Sutter's death,” said OSHA's Deputy Regional Administrator Eric Harbin in Dallas. “OSHA standards are in place to protect workers and employers will be held accountable when they fail to follow these standards.”
According to information presented in court, Bowman was president and owner of PACES, located in Port Arthur, Texas, and CES Environmental Services (CES) located in Houston. PACES was in operation from November 2008 to November 2010, and was in the business of producing and selling caustic materials to paper mills. The production of caustic materials involved hydrogen sulfide, a poisonous gas. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, hydrogen sulfide is an acute toxic substance that is the leading cause of sudden death in the workplace. Employers are required by OSHA to implement engineering and safety controls to prevent employees from exposure above harmful limits of hydrogen sulfide.
Bowman was responsible for approving and directing PACES production operations, the disposal of hydrogen sulfide wastewater, and ensuring implementation of employee safety precautions. In some cases, Bowman personally handled the investigation of work-related employee injuries, directed the transportation of PACES wastewater, and determined what safety equipment could be purchased or maintained. In the cases at issue, hazardous materials were transported illegally with false documents and without the required placards. Most importantly, the workers were not properly protected from exposure to hazardous gases. The exposure resulted in the deaths of two employees, Joey Sutter and Charles Sittig, who were truck drivers, at the PACES facility on Dec. 18, 2008 and Apr. 14, 2009. Placarding is critical to ensure the safety of first responders in the event of an accident or other highway incident. Bowman and PACES were indicted by a federal grand jury on July 18, 2012.
This case was investigated by EPA Criminal Investigation Division; the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General; the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality - Environmental Crimes Unit, part of the Texas Environmental Enforcement Task Force; the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department - Environmental Crimes Unit; the Houston Police Department - Major Offenders, Environmental Investigations Unit; the Travis County, Texas - District Attorney’s Office; the Harris County, Texas, District Attorney’s Office - Environmental Crimes Division; the Houston Fire Department; OSHA; the U.S. Coast Guard; the Port Arthur Police Department; and the Port Arthur Fire Department.
The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas and the Environmental Crimes Section of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S REMARKS AT MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER TOM FOLEY
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
Remarks by the President at Memorial Service for Former Speaker Tom Foley
U.S. Capitol
Washington, D.C.
4:11 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: To Heather, and the Foley family; to Tom’s colleagues and friends; President Clinton; Vice President Mondale; former speakers, and those who preceded me, I am honored to join you today to remember a man who embodied the virtues of devotion and respect -- for the institution that he led, for the colleagues that he served alongside, and, most importantly, for the citizens that he had the honor to represent.
Unlike so many of you, I did not have the privilege of knowing Tom personally; I admired him from afar. But like millions of Americans, I benefit from his legacy. Thanks to Tom, more children get a head start on success in school and in life. More seniors receive better health care. More families breathe easier because they know their country will be there for them in times of need. And all of them -- all of us -- are indebted to that towering man from Spokane.
I think, in listening to the wonderful memories that have been shared, we get a sense of this man, and we recognize his humility. He often attributed much of his success to good luck -- and he may have had a point. Leader McConnell told the story about his first race; there were a couple of details that got left out. On the way to Olympia to file the paperwork for his first congressional campaign, apparently Tom blew out a tire. (Laughter.) So he and some friends hitchhiked to a service station to get it fixed. And then, as they approached the outskirts of the city, they ran out of gas. So they pushed the car up the hill, coasting into town just before the deadline. And Tom went on to win that race by a resounding 54 votes.
So there’s no question that there may have been some luck of the Irish operating when it came to Tom Foley, as well as incredible stamina. But what led him to make history as the first Speaker of the House from west of the Rockies was not luck. It was his hard work, his deep integrity, his powerful intellect, and, as Bob Michel so eloquently and movingly stated, his ability to find common ground with his colleagues across the aisle. And it was his personal decency that helped him bring civility and order to a Congress that demanded both -- and still does.
Which brings me to a final point: At a time when our political system can seem more polarized and more divided than ever before, it can be tempting to see the possibility of bipartisan progress as a thing of the past -- old school, as Bob said. It can be tempting to wonder if we still have room for leaders like Tom; whether the environment, the media, the way that districts are drawn and the pressures that those of us in elected office are under somehow preclude the possibility of that brand of leadership. Well, I believe we have to find our way back there.
Now more than ever, America needs public servants who are willing to place problem-solving ahead of politics, as the letter that President Clinton held up indicates, as the history of the crime bill shows. We are sent here to do what's right, and sometimes doing what's right is hard. And it's not free. And yet, that’s the measure of leadership.
It's important for us who feel a responsibility to fight for a cause to recognize that our cause is not advanced if we can't also try to achieve compromise, the same way our Founders saw it -- as a vital part of our democracy, the very thing that makes our system of self-government possible. That’s what Tom Foley believed. That’s what he embodied. That’s the legacy that shines brightly today.
On the last day that he presided as Speaker, Tom described what it should feel like to serve the American people in this city. He spoke about coming to work in the morning and catching a glimpse of the Capitol. And he said that it ought to give anyone a thrill, a sense not only of personal satisfaction, "but very deep gratitude to our constituents for the honor of letting us represent them.” And Tom never lost that sense of wonder.
It's interesting -- as I read that passage, what he wrote, the first time I visited Capitol Hill, Tom Foley was Speaker. I was a very young man and I was doing community work, and I remember seeing that Capitol and having that same sense of wonder. And I think now about Tom Foley being here doing that work, and inspiring what might have ultimately led me to be interested in public service as well.
When we're standing outside these magnificent buildings, we have that sense of wonder and that sense of hope. And sometimes, the longer you're here, the harder it is to hang on to that. And yet, Tom Foley never lost it -- never lost that sense of wonder, never lost the sense of gratitude. What a privilege, he felt it was, to serve. And he never forgot why he came here -- on behalf of this nation and his state and the citizens that he loved and respected so much.
And so, as a country, we have to be grateful to him. And to Heather, and to the people of the great state of Washington, thank you so much for sharing Tom with us.
God bless Tom Foley. God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)
END
Remarks by the President at Memorial Service for Former Speaker Tom Foley
U.S. Capitol
Washington, D.C.
4:11 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: To Heather, and the Foley family; to Tom’s colleagues and friends; President Clinton; Vice President Mondale; former speakers, and those who preceded me, I am honored to join you today to remember a man who embodied the virtues of devotion and respect -- for the institution that he led, for the colleagues that he served alongside, and, most importantly, for the citizens that he had the honor to represent.
Unlike so many of you, I did not have the privilege of knowing Tom personally; I admired him from afar. But like millions of Americans, I benefit from his legacy. Thanks to Tom, more children get a head start on success in school and in life. More seniors receive better health care. More families breathe easier because they know their country will be there for them in times of need. And all of them -- all of us -- are indebted to that towering man from Spokane.
I think, in listening to the wonderful memories that have been shared, we get a sense of this man, and we recognize his humility. He often attributed much of his success to good luck -- and he may have had a point. Leader McConnell told the story about his first race; there were a couple of details that got left out. On the way to Olympia to file the paperwork for his first congressional campaign, apparently Tom blew out a tire. (Laughter.) So he and some friends hitchhiked to a service station to get it fixed. And then, as they approached the outskirts of the city, they ran out of gas. So they pushed the car up the hill, coasting into town just before the deadline. And Tom went on to win that race by a resounding 54 votes.
So there’s no question that there may have been some luck of the Irish operating when it came to Tom Foley, as well as incredible stamina. But what led him to make history as the first Speaker of the House from west of the Rockies was not luck. It was his hard work, his deep integrity, his powerful intellect, and, as Bob Michel so eloquently and movingly stated, his ability to find common ground with his colleagues across the aisle. And it was his personal decency that helped him bring civility and order to a Congress that demanded both -- and still does.
Which brings me to a final point: At a time when our political system can seem more polarized and more divided than ever before, it can be tempting to see the possibility of bipartisan progress as a thing of the past -- old school, as Bob said. It can be tempting to wonder if we still have room for leaders like Tom; whether the environment, the media, the way that districts are drawn and the pressures that those of us in elected office are under somehow preclude the possibility of that brand of leadership. Well, I believe we have to find our way back there.
Now more than ever, America needs public servants who are willing to place problem-solving ahead of politics, as the letter that President Clinton held up indicates, as the history of the crime bill shows. We are sent here to do what's right, and sometimes doing what's right is hard. And it's not free. And yet, that’s the measure of leadership.
It's important for us who feel a responsibility to fight for a cause to recognize that our cause is not advanced if we can't also try to achieve compromise, the same way our Founders saw it -- as a vital part of our democracy, the very thing that makes our system of self-government possible. That’s what Tom Foley believed. That’s what he embodied. That’s the legacy that shines brightly today.
On the last day that he presided as Speaker, Tom described what it should feel like to serve the American people in this city. He spoke about coming to work in the morning and catching a glimpse of the Capitol. And he said that it ought to give anyone a thrill, a sense not only of personal satisfaction, "but very deep gratitude to our constituents for the honor of letting us represent them.” And Tom never lost that sense of wonder.
It's interesting -- as I read that passage, what he wrote, the first time I visited Capitol Hill, Tom Foley was Speaker. I was a very young man and I was doing community work, and I remember seeing that Capitol and having that same sense of wonder. And I think now about Tom Foley being here doing that work, and inspiring what might have ultimately led me to be interested in public service as well.
When we're standing outside these magnificent buildings, we have that sense of wonder and that sense of hope. And sometimes, the longer you're here, the harder it is to hang on to that. And yet, Tom Foley never lost it -- never lost that sense of wonder, never lost the sense of gratitude. What a privilege, he felt it was, to serve. And he never forgot why he came here -- on behalf of this nation and his state and the citizens that he loved and respected so much.
And so, as a country, we have to be grateful to him. And to Heather, and to the people of the great state of Washington, thank you so much for sharing Tom with us.
God bless Tom Foley. God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)
END
RABOBANK AGREES TO PAY $325 MILLION CRIMINAL PENALTY IN LIBOR/EURIBOR INTEREST RATE MANIPULATION SCHEME
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Rabobank Admits Wrongdoing in Libor Investigation, Agrees to Pay $325 Million Criminal Penalty
Coöperatieve Centrale Raiffeisen-Boerenleenbank B.A. (Rabobank) has entered into an agreement with the Department of Justice to pay a $325 million penalty to resolve violations arising from Rabobank’s submissions for the London InterBank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor), which are leading benchmark interest rates around the world, the Justice Department announced today.
A criminal information will be filed today in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut that charges Rabobank as part of a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA). The information charges Rabobank with wire fraud for its role in manipulating the benchmark interest rates LIBOR and Euribor. In addition to the $325 million penalty, the DPA requires the bank to admit and accept responsibility for its misconduct as described in an extensive statement of facts. Rabobank has agreed to continue cooperating with the Justice Department in its ongoing investigation of the manipulation of benchmark interest rates by other financial institutions and individuals.
“For years, employees at Rabobank, often working with traders at other banks around the globe, illegally manipulated four different interest rates – Euribor and LIBOR for the U.S. dollar, the yen, and the pound sterling – in the hopes of fraudulently moving the market to generate profits for their traders at the expense of the bank’s counterparties,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s criminal resolution – which represents the second-largest penalty in the Criminal Division’s active, ongoing investigation of the manipulation of global benchmark interest rates by some of the largest banks in the world – comes fast on the heels of charges brought against three former ICAP brokers just last month. Rabobank is the fourth major financial institution that has admitted its misconduct in this wide-ranging criminal investigation, and other banks should pay attention: our investigation is far from over.”
“Rabobank rigged multiple benchmark rates, allowing its traders to reap higher profits at the expense of their unsuspecting counterparties,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Leslie C. Overton of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Not only was this conduct fraudulent, it compromised the integrity of globally-used interest rate benchmarks – undermining financial markets worldwide.”
“Rabobank admitted to manipulating LIBOR and Euribor submissions which directly affected the rates referenced by financial products held by and on behalf of companies and investors around the world,” said Assistant Director in Charge Valerie Parlave of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “Rabobank’s actions resulted in the deliberate harm to counterparties holding products referencing the manipulated rates. Today’s announcement is yet another example of the tireless efforts of the FBI special agents and forensic accountants who are dedicated to investigating complex fraud schemes and, together with prosecutors, bringing to justice those who participate in such schemes.”
Together with approximately $740 million in criminal and regulatory penalties imposed by other agencies in actions arising out of the same conduct – $475 million by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) action, $170 million by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) action and approximately $96 million by the Openbaar Ministerie (the Dutch Public Prosecution Service) – the Justice Department’s $325 million criminal penalty brings the total amount to be paid by Rabobank to more than $1 billion.
According to signed documents, LIBOR is an average interest rate, calculated based upon submissions from leading banks around the world and reflecting the rates those banks believe they would be charged if borrowing from other banks. LIBOR serves as the primary benchmark for short-term interest rates globally and is used as a reference rate for many interest rate contracts, mortgages, credit cards, student loans and other consumer lending products. The Bank of International Settlements estimated that as of the second half of 2009, outstanding interest rate contracts were valued at approximately $450 trillion.
LIBOR is published by the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), a trade association based in London. At the time relevant to the conduct in the criminal information, LIBOR was calculated for 10 currencies at 15 borrowing periods, known as maturities, ranging from overnight to one year. The LIBOR for a given currency at a specific maturity is the result of a calculation based upon submissions from a panel of banks for that currency (the Contributor Panel) selected by the BBA. From at least 2005 through 2011, Rabobank was a member of the Contributor Panel for a number of currencies, including United States dollar (dollar) LIBOR, pound sterling LIBOR, and yen LIBOR.
The Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor) is published by the European Banking Federation (EBF), which is based in Brussels, Belgium, and is calculated at 15 maturities, ranging from overnight to one year. Euribor is the rate at which Euro interbank term deposits within the Euro zone are expected to be offered by one prime bank to another at 11:00 a.m. Brussels time. The Euribor at a given maturity is the result of a calculation based upon submissions from Euribor Contributor Panel banks. From at least 2005 through 2011, Rabobank was also a member of the Contributor Panel for Euribor.
According to the statement of facts accompanying the agreement, from as early as 2005 through at least November 2010, certain Rabobank derivatives traders requested that certain Rabobank dollar LIBOR, yen LIBOR, pound sterling LIBOR, and Euribor submitters submit LIBOR and Euribor contributions that would benefit the traders’ trading positions, rather than rates that complied with the definitions of LIBOR and Euribor.
In addition, according to the statement of facts accompanying the agreement, from as early as January 2006 through October 2008, a Rabobank yen LIBOR submitter and a Rabobank Euribor submitter had two separate agreements with traders at other banks to make yen LIBOR and Euribor submissions that benefitted trading positions, rather than submissions that complied with the definitions of LIBOR and Euribor.
The Rabobank LIBOR and Euribor submitters accommodated traders’ requests on numerous occasions, and on various occasions, Rabobank’s submissions affected the fixed rates.
According to the statement of facts, Rabobank employees engaged in this conduct through electronic communications, which included both emails and electronic chats. For example, on Sept. 21, 2007, a Rabobank Yen derivatives trader emailed the Rabobank Yen LIBOR submitter at the time with the subject line “libors,” writing: “Wehre do you think today’s libors are? If you can, I would like 1mth libors higher today.” The submitter replied: “Bookies reckon 1m sets at .85.” The trader wrote back: “I have some fixings in 1 mth so would appreciate if you can put it higher mate.” The submitter replied: “No prob mate let me know your level.” The trader responded: “Wud be nice if you could put 0.90% for 1mth cheers.” The submitter wrote back: “Sure no prob. I’ll probably get a few phone calls but no worries mate!” The trader replied: “If you may get a few phone calls then put 0.88% then.” The submitter responded: “Don’t worry mate – there’s bigger crooks in the market than us guys!” That day, as requested, Rabobank’s 1-month Yen LIBOR submission was 0.90, an increase of seven basis points from its previous submission, whereas the other panel banks’ submissions decreased by approximately a half of a basis point on average. Rabobank’s submission went from being tied as the tenth highest submission on the Contributor Panel on the previous day to being the highest submission on the Contributor Panel.
On Nov. 29, 2006, a Rabobank dollar derivatives trader wrote to Rabobank’s Global Head of Liquidity and Finance and the head of Rabobank’s money markets desk in London, who supervised rate submitters: “Hi mate, low 1s high 3s LIBOR pls !!! Dont tell [another Rabobank U.S. Dollar derivatives trader] haa haaaaaaa. Sold the market today doooooohhhh!” The money markets desk head replied: “ok mate , will do my best …speak later.” After the LIBOR submissions that day, Rabobank’s ranking compared to other panel banks dropped as to 1-month dollar LIBOR and rose as to 3-month dollar LIBOR. Two days later, on Dec. 1, 2006, the trader again wrote to the money markets desk head: “Appreciate 3s go down, but a high 3s today would be nice… cheers chief.” The money markets desk head wrote back: “I am fast turning into your LIBOR bitch!!!!” The trader replied: “Just friendly encouragement that’s all , appreciate the help.” The money markets desk head wrote back: “No worries mate , glad to help ….We just stuffed ourselves with good ol pie , mash n licker !!”
In an example of an agreement with traders at other banks, on July 28, 2006, a Rabobank rate submitter and Rabobank trader discussed their mutual desires for a high fixing. The submitter stated to the trader: “setting a high 1m again today - I need it!” to which the trader responded: “yes pls mate…I need a higher 1m libor too.” Within approximately 20 minutes, the submitter contacted a trader at another Contributor Panel bank and wrote: “morning skipper.....will be setting an obscenely high 1m again today...poss 38 just fyi.” The other bank’s trader responded, “(K)...oh dear..my poor customers....hehehe!! manual input libors again today then!!!!” Both banks’ submissions on July 28 moved up one basis point, from 0.37 to 0.38, a move which placed their submissions as the second highest submissions on the Contributor Panel that day.
As another example, on July 7, 2009, a Rabobank trader wrote to a former Rabobank yen LIBOR submitter: “looks like some ppl are talking with each other when they put libors down. . . quite surprised that 3m libors came down a lot.” The former submitter replied: “yes deffinite manipulation – always is tho to be honest mate. . . i always used to ask if anyone needed a favour and vise versa. . . . a little unethical but always helps to have friends in mrkt.”
By entering into a DPA with Rabobank, the Justice Department took several factors into consideration, including that Rabobank has no history of similar misconduct and has not been the subject of any criminal enforcement actions or any significant regulatory enforcement actions by any authority in the United States, the Netherlands, or elsewhere. In addition, Rabobank has significantly expanded and enhanced its legal and regulatory compliance program and has taken extensive steps to remediate the misconduct. Significant remedies and sanctions are also being imposed on Rabobank by several regulators and an additional criminal law enforcement agency (the Dutch Public Prosecution Service).
This ongoing investigation is being conducted by special agents, forensic accountants, and intelligence analysts of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. The prosecution of Rabobank is being handled by Assistant Chief Glenn S. Leon and Trial Attorney Alexander H. Berlin of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Trial Attorneys Ludovic C. Ghesquiere, Michael T. Koenig and Eric L. Schleef of the Antitrust Division. Deputy Chiefs Daniel Braun and William Stellmach of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, Criminal Division Senior Counsel Rebecca Rohr, Assistant Chief Elizabeth B. Prewitt and Trial Attorney Richard A. Powers of the Antitrust Division’s New York Office, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric Glover and Liam Brennan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, along with Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, have provided valuable assistance in this matter.
The investigation leading to these cases has required, and has greatly benefited from, a diligent and wide-ranging cooperative effort among various enforcement agencies both in the United States and abroad. The Justice Department acknowledges and expresses its deep appreciation for this assistance. In particular, the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement referred this matter to the department and, along with the FCA, has played a major role in the investigation. The department has also worked closely with the Dutch Public Prosecution Service and De Nederlandsche Bank (the Dutch Central Bank) in the investigation of Rabobank. Various agencies and enforcement authorities from other nations are also participating in different aspects of the broader investigation relating to LIBOR and other benchmark rates, and the department is grateful for their cooperation and assistance. In particular, the Securities and Exchange Commission has played a significant role in the LIBOR investigation, and the department expresses its appreciation to the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office for its assistance and ongoing cooperation.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Rabobank Admits Wrongdoing in Libor Investigation, Agrees to Pay $325 Million Criminal Penalty
Coöperatieve Centrale Raiffeisen-Boerenleenbank B.A. (Rabobank) has entered into an agreement with the Department of Justice to pay a $325 million penalty to resolve violations arising from Rabobank’s submissions for the London InterBank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor), which are leading benchmark interest rates around the world, the Justice Department announced today.
A criminal information will be filed today in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut that charges Rabobank as part of a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA). The information charges Rabobank with wire fraud for its role in manipulating the benchmark interest rates LIBOR and Euribor. In addition to the $325 million penalty, the DPA requires the bank to admit and accept responsibility for its misconduct as described in an extensive statement of facts. Rabobank has agreed to continue cooperating with the Justice Department in its ongoing investigation of the manipulation of benchmark interest rates by other financial institutions and individuals.
“For years, employees at Rabobank, often working with traders at other banks around the globe, illegally manipulated four different interest rates – Euribor and LIBOR for the U.S. dollar, the yen, and the pound sterling – in the hopes of fraudulently moving the market to generate profits for their traders at the expense of the bank’s counterparties,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s criminal resolution – which represents the second-largest penalty in the Criminal Division’s active, ongoing investigation of the manipulation of global benchmark interest rates by some of the largest banks in the world – comes fast on the heels of charges brought against three former ICAP brokers just last month. Rabobank is the fourth major financial institution that has admitted its misconduct in this wide-ranging criminal investigation, and other banks should pay attention: our investigation is far from over.”
“Rabobank rigged multiple benchmark rates, allowing its traders to reap higher profits at the expense of their unsuspecting counterparties,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Leslie C. Overton of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Not only was this conduct fraudulent, it compromised the integrity of globally-used interest rate benchmarks – undermining financial markets worldwide.”
“Rabobank admitted to manipulating LIBOR and Euribor submissions which directly affected the rates referenced by financial products held by and on behalf of companies and investors around the world,” said Assistant Director in Charge Valerie Parlave of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “Rabobank’s actions resulted in the deliberate harm to counterparties holding products referencing the manipulated rates. Today’s announcement is yet another example of the tireless efforts of the FBI special agents and forensic accountants who are dedicated to investigating complex fraud schemes and, together with prosecutors, bringing to justice those who participate in such schemes.”
Together with approximately $740 million in criminal and regulatory penalties imposed by other agencies in actions arising out of the same conduct – $475 million by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) action, $170 million by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) action and approximately $96 million by the Openbaar Ministerie (the Dutch Public Prosecution Service) – the Justice Department’s $325 million criminal penalty brings the total amount to be paid by Rabobank to more than $1 billion.
According to signed documents, LIBOR is an average interest rate, calculated based upon submissions from leading banks around the world and reflecting the rates those banks believe they would be charged if borrowing from other banks. LIBOR serves as the primary benchmark for short-term interest rates globally and is used as a reference rate for many interest rate contracts, mortgages, credit cards, student loans and other consumer lending products. The Bank of International Settlements estimated that as of the second half of 2009, outstanding interest rate contracts were valued at approximately $450 trillion.
LIBOR is published by the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), a trade association based in London. At the time relevant to the conduct in the criminal information, LIBOR was calculated for 10 currencies at 15 borrowing periods, known as maturities, ranging from overnight to one year. The LIBOR for a given currency at a specific maturity is the result of a calculation based upon submissions from a panel of banks for that currency (the Contributor Panel) selected by the BBA. From at least 2005 through 2011, Rabobank was a member of the Contributor Panel for a number of currencies, including United States dollar (dollar) LIBOR, pound sterling LIBOR, and yen LIBOR.
The Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor) is published by the European Banking Federation (EBF), which is based in Brussels, Belgium, and is calculated at 15 maturities, ranging from overnight to one year. Euribor is the rate at which Euro interbank term deposits within the Euro zone are expected to be offered by one prime bank to another at 11:00 a.m. Brussels time. The Euribor at a given maturity is the result of a calculation based upon submissions from Euribor Contributor Panel banks. From at least 2005 through 2011, Rabobank was also a member of the Contributor Panel for Euribor.
According to the statement of facts accompanying the agreement, from as early as 2005 through at least November 2010, certain Rabobank derivatives traders requested that certain Rabobank dollar LIBOR, yen LIBOR, pound sterling LIBOR, and Euribor submitters submit LIBOR and Euribor contributions that would benefit the traders’ trading positions, rather than rates that complied with the definitions of LIBOR and Euribor.
In addition, according to the statement of facts accompanying the agreement, from as early as January 2006 through October 2008, a Rabobank yen LIBOR submitter and a Rabobank Euribor submitter had two separate agreements with traders at other banks to make yen LIBOR and Euribor submissions that benefitted trading positions, rather than submissions that complied with the definitions of LIBOR and Euribor.
The Rabobank LIBOR and Euribor submitters accommodated traders’ requests on numerous occasions, and on various occasions, Rabobank’s submissions affected the fixed rates.
According to the statement of facts, Rabobank employees engaged in this conduct through electronic communications, which included both emails and electronic chats. For example, on Sept. 21, 2007, a Rabobank Yen derivatives trader emailed the Rabobank Yen LIBOR submitter at the time with the subject line “libors,” writing: “Wehre do you think today’s libors are? If you can, I would like 1mth libors higher today.” The submitter replied: “Bookies reckon 1m sets at .85.” The trader wrote back: “I have some fixings in 1 mth so would appreciate if you can put it higher mate.” The submitter replied: “No prob mate let me know your level.” The trader responded: “Wud be nice if you could put 0.90% for 1mth cheers.” The submitter wrote back: “Sure no prob. I’ll probably get a few phone calls but no worries mate!” The trader replied: “If you may get a few phone calls then put 0.88% then.” The submitter responded: “Don’t worry mate – there’s bigger crooks in the market than us guys!” That day, as requested, Rabobank’s 1-month Yen LIBOR submission was 0.90, an increase of seven basis points from its previous submission, whereas the other panel banks’ submissions decreased by approximately a half of a basis point on average. Rabobank’s submission went from being tied as the tenth highest submission on the Contributor Panel on the previous day to being the highest submission on the Contributor Panel.
On Nov. 29, 2006, a Rabobank dollar derivatives trader wrote to Rabobank’s Global Head of Liquidity and Finance and the head of Rabobank’s money markets desk in London, who supervised rate submitters: “Hi mate, low 1s high 3s LIBOR pls !!! Dont tell [another Rabobank U.S. Dollar derivatives trader] haa haaaaaaa. Sold the market today doooooohhhh!” The money markets desk head replied: “ok mate , will do my best …speak later.” After the LIBOR submissions that day, Rabobank’s ranking compared to other panel banks dropped as to 1-month dollar LIBOR and rose as to 3-month dollar LIBOR. Two days later, on Dec. 1, 2006, the trader again wrote to the money markets desk head: “Appreciate 3s go down, but a high 3s today would be nice… cheers chief.” The money markets desk head wrote back: “I am fast turning into your LIBOR bitch!!!!” The trader replied: “Just friendly encouragement that’s all , appreciate the help.” The money markets desk head wrote back: “No worries mate , glad to help ….We just stuffed ourselves with good ol pie , mash n licker !!”
In an example of an agreement with traders at other banks, on July 28, 2006, a Rabobank rate submitter and Rabobank trader discussed their mutual desires for a high fixing. The submitter stated to the trader: “setting a high 1m again today - I need it!” to which the trader responded: “yes pls mate…I need a higher 1m libor too.” Within approximately 20 minutes, the submitter contacted a trader at another Contributor Panel bank and wrote: “morning skipper.....will be setting an obscenely high 1m again today...poss 38 just fyi.” The other bank’s trader responded, “(K)...oh dear..my poor customers....hehehe!! manual input libors again today then!!!!” Both banks’ submissions on July 28 moved up one basis point, from 0.37 to 0.38, a move which placed their submissions as the second highest submissions on the Contributor Panel that day.
As another example, on July 7, 2009, a Rabobank trader wrote to a former Rabobank yen LIBOR submitter: “looks like some ppl are talking with each other when they put libors down. . . quite surprised that 3m libors came down a lot.” The former submitter replied: “yes deffinite manipulation – always is tho to be honest mate. . . i always used to ask if anyone needed a favour and vise versa. . . . a little unethical but always helps to have friends in mrkt.”
By entering into a DPA with Rabobank, the Justice Department took several factors into consideration, including that Rabobank has no history of similar misconduct and has not been the subject of any criminal enforcement actions or any significant regulatory enforcement actions by any authority in the United States, the Netherlands, or elsewhere. In addition, Rabobank has significantly expanded and enhanced its legal and regulatory compliance program and has taken extensive steps to remediate the misconduct. Significant remedies and sanctions are also being imposed on Rabobank by several regulators and an additional criminal law enforcement agency (the Dutch Public Prosecution Service).
This ongoing investigation is being conducted by special agents, forensic accountants, and intelligence analysts of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. The prosecution of Rabobank is being handled by Assistant Chief Glenn S. Leon and Trial Attorney Alexander H. Berlin of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Trial Attorneys Ludovic C. Ghesquiere, Michael T. Koenig and Eric L. Schleef of the Antitrust Division. Deputy Chiefs Daniel Braun and William Stellmach of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, Criminal Division Senior Counsel Rebecca Rohr, Assistant Chief Elizabeth B. Prewitt and Trial Attorney Richard A. Powers of the Antitrust Division’s New York Office, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric Glover and Liam Brennan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, along with Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, have provided valuable assistance in this matter.
The investigation leading to these cases has required, and has greatly benefited from, a diligent and wide-ranging cooperative effort among various enforcement agencies both in the United States and abroad. The Justice Department acknowledges and expresses its deep appreciation for this assistance. In particular, the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement referred this matter to the department and, along with the FCA, has played a major role in the investigation. The department has also worked closely with the Dutch Public Prosecution Service and De Nederlandsche Bank (the Dutch Central Bank) in the investigation of Rabobank. Various agencies and enforcement authorities from other nations are also participating in different aspects of the broader investigation relating to LIBOR and other benchmark rates, and the department is grateful for their cooperation and assistance. In particular, the Securities and Exchange Commission has played a significant role in the LIBOR investigation, and the department expresses its appreciation to the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office for its assistance and ongoing cooperation.
DEVELOPING VERY SENSITIVE METHANE-SENSING TECHNOLOGY
FROM: LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY
Technologies to Characterize Natural Gas Emissions Tested in Field Experiments
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., October 28, 2013—A new collaborative science program is pioneering the development of ultra-sensitive methane-sensing technology.
“Given the importance of methane to global climate change, this study is essential,” said Manvendra Dubey of Los Alamos National Laboratory “This work aids both commercial and government sectors in an effort to better understand and mitigate fugitive methane emissions.”
“A significant part of understanding Man’s role in global climate change is the accurate measurement of the components that have a profound effect on climate. This project takes four of the top organizations in the discipline and sets their expertise to the test, that of measuring methane in the field and then making the results available to the larger scientific community,” he said.
The program is a joint effort on the part of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the Department of Energy (DOE), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Chevron Corporation. The program was launched following a field experiment at DOE’s Rocky Mountain Oil Testing Center (RMOTC) some 35 miles north of Casper, Wyoming.
Why Measure Methane?
Methane, the principal component of natural gas, is one of many gases whose presence in the atmosphere contributes to global climate change. It is a goal of industry and scientists alike to better constrain the source flux of fugitive methane emissions from man-made activities. A key tool in the measurement of methane is to understand the capabilities of currently available airborne and ground-based sensors.
Los Alamos and Chevron have worked collaboratively on sensor technology development since 2001, while the more nascent collaborative agreement between Chevron and NASA has been effective since July 2011.
The organizations have worked hard to develop a range of technologies targeting effective and responsible exploration and production of petroleum and natural gas that will ultimately provide benefit to the environment. The majority of these research projects have been focused on upstream applications in the oil and gas sector. The recent methane controlled release airborne/in situ project marks the first time that JPL and Los Alamos have worked collaboratively on an experiment this significant, the researchers said.
The Work in the Field
The summer science campaign at RMOTC (held June 20-26, 2013) was designed to measure methane abundances released at different rates using three airborne instruments on separate aircraft, a small, unmanned aerial system (sUAS), and an array of in situ sensors. The goal is to understand the sensitivity and accuracy at measuring methane for airborne sensors.
The methane was released at metered, controlled rates and observed downwind by a 45-foot tower at each release site to examine the spatiotemporal variability of methane and local winds, while the four aircraft flew overhead to allow for sensor performance appraisal under controlled conditions.
Who’s Who on the Team
The RMOTC’s primary mission is to provide facilities for advancing technologies applicable to the energy sector to promote enhanced safety and efficient energy production. As such, it provided the testing grounds for the recent Chevron/JPL/LANL methane controlled-release experiment. JPL was responsible for deployment of remote sensing airborne instruments and Los Alamos provided ground-based sensor and modeling capabilities.
Los Alamos was responsible for the in situ science including quantifying methane using tower-mounted ground based sensors and a Picarro Global Surveyor vehicle for real-time assessment of methane concentrations and its isotopic composition while conducting driving surveys.
“We have assembled a world-class dream team that harnesses national assets at NASA's JPL and DOE's LANL, each contributing their expertise to methane detection and attribution, with JPL providing airborne remote sensing expertise and LANL focusing on modeling and in situ measurements,” said Dubey, LANL’s principal investigator.
“The project is pioneering the development of ultra-sensitive methane sensing technology to fill current gaps in quantifying fugitive leaks from petroleum extraction. With US energy independence a priority to the nation, understanding the effects of varied extraction techniques is important and calls for high-quality data.”
JPL deployed three different airborne sensors: the Next Generation Airborne Visible and Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS-ng), the Hyperspectral Thermal Emission Spectrometer (HyTES), and the CARVE instrument suite. All of the airborne sensors have capability to detect enhanced concentrations of methane from ground sources.
“We’ve organized deployment of a suite of state-of-the art instruments available for methane detection whose performance in controlled release testing will demonstrate their efficacy for methane remote sensing – preliminary results from our data analysis reveal detection of robust plume signatures from these controlled experiments,” said Andrew Aubrey, project manager at JPL.
“This study demonstrates tools that can be utilized for investigations of natural and anthropogenic methane emissions while also informing us to the performance expected from the next generation remote sensing instruments currently being designed at JPL.”
Over the coming months the team plans to publish and disseminate the results of their combined aerial and ground experiments. This study is particularly relevant given the importance of methane to global climate change and the co-aligned goals of commercial and government sectors to better understand and mitigate fugitive emissions. The tools tested at RMOTC include those technologies that can help to allow safe and responsible production of gas in future operations.
Technologies to Characterize Natural Gas Emissions Tested in Field Experiments
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., October 28, 2013—A new collaborative science program is pioneering the development of ultra-sensitive methane-sensing technology.
“Given the importance of methane to global climate change, this study is essential,” said Manvendra Dubey of Los Alamos National Laboratory “This work aids both commercial and government sectors in an effort to better understand and mitigate fugitive methane emissions.”
“A significant part of understanding Man’s role in global climate change is the accurate measurement of the components that have a profound effect on climate. This project takes four of the top organizations in the discipline and sets their expertise to the test, that of measuring methane in the field and then making the results available to the larger scientific community,” he said.
The program is a joint effort on the part of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the Department of Energy (DOE), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Chevron Corporation. The program was launched following a field experiment at DOE’s Rocky Mountain Oil Testing Center (RMOTC) some 35 miles north of Casper, Wyoming.
Why Measure Methane?
Methane, the principal component of natural gas, is one of many gases whose presence in the atmosphere contributes to global climate change. It is a goal of industry and scientists alike to better constrain the source flux of fugitive methane emissions from man-made activities. A key tool in the measurement of methane is to understand the capabilities of currently available airborne and ground-based sensors.
Los Alamos and Chevron have worked collaboratively on sensor technology development since 2001, while the more nascent collaborative agreement between Chevron and NASA has been effective since July 2011.
The organizations have worked hard to develop a range of technologies targeting effective and responsible exploration and production of petroleum and natural gas that will ultimately provide benefit to the environment. The majority of these research projects have been focused on upstream applications in the oil and gas sector. The recent methane controlled release airborne/in situ project marks the first time that JPL and Los Alamos have worked collaboratively on an experiment this significant, the researchers said.
The Work in the Field
The summer science campaign at RMOTC (held June 20-26, 2013) was designed to measure methane abundances released at different rates using three airborne instruments on separate aircraft, a small, unmanned aerial system (sUAS), and an array of in situ sensors. The goal is to understand the sensitivity and accuracy at measuring methane for airborne sensors.
The methane was released at metered, controlled rates and observed downwind by a 45-foot tower at each release site to examine the spatiotemporal variability of methane and local winds, while the four aircraft flew overhead to allow for sensor performance appraisal under controlled conditions.
Who’s Who on the Team
The RMOTC’s primary mission is to provide facilities for advancing technologies applicable to the energy sector to promote enhanced safety and efficient energy production. As such, it provided the testing grounds for the recent Chevron/JPL/LANL methane controlled-release experiment. JPL was responsible for deployment of remote sensing airborne instruments and Los Alamos provided ground-based sensor and modeling capabilities.
Los Alamos was responsible for the in situ science including quantifying methane using tower-mounted ground based sensors and a Picarro Global Surveyor vehicle for real-time assessment of methane concentrations and its isotopic composition while conducting driving surveys.
“We have assembled a world-class dream team that harnesses national assets at NASA's JPL and DOE's LANL, each contributing their expertise to methane detection and attribution, with JPL providing airborne remote sensing expertise and LANL focusing on modeling and in situ measurements,” said Dubey, LANL’s principal investigator.
“The project is pioneering the development of ultra-sensitive methane sensing technology to fill current gaps in quantifying fugitive leaks from petroleum extraction. With US energy independence a priority to the nation, understanding the effects of varied extraction techniques is important and calls for high-quality data.”
JPL deployed three different airborne sensors: the Next Generation Airborne Visible and Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS-ng), the Hyperspectral Thermal Emission Spectrometer (HyTES), and the CARVE instrument suite. All of the airborne sensors have capability to detect enhanced concentrations of methane from ground sources.
“We’ve organized deployment of a suite of state-of-the art instruments available for methane detection whose performance in controlled release testing will demonstrate their efficacy for methane remote sensing – preliminary results from our data analysis reveal detection of robust plume signatures from these controlled experiments,” said Andrew Aubrey, project manager at JPL.
“This study demonstrates tools that can be utilized for investigations of natural and anthropogenic methane emissions while also informing us to the performance expected from the next generation remote sensing instruments currently being designed at JPL.”
Over the coming months the team plans to publish and disseminate the results of their combined aerial and ground experiments. This study is particularly relevant given the importance of methane to global climate change and the co-aligned goals of commercial and government sectors to better understand and mitigate fugitive emissions. The tools tested at RMOTC include those technologies that can help to allow safe and responsible production of gas in future operations.
FORMER MEDICAL EQUIPMENT COMPANY INDICTED FOR ROLE IN MEDICARE FRAUD SCHEME
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Former Owner of Salt Lake City Medical Equipment Supply Company Indicted and Three Company Employees Plead Guilty for Roles in Medicare Fraud Scheme
A former owner of a Salt Lake City medical equipment supply company has been indicted and three former company employees have pleaded guilty for allegedly engaging in a $20 million Medicare fraud scheme.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney David B. Barlow of the District of Utah, Special Agent in Charge Mary Rook of the FBI’s Salt Lake City Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Gerry Roy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Kansas City Regional Office, and Special Agent in Charge Janice M. Flores of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s (DCIS) Southwest Field Office made the announcement.
Jacob Kilgore, 34, of Fruit Heights, Utah, was indicted in the District of Utah on three counts of health care fraud, three counts of false statements relating to health care matters, and three counts of wire fraud.
According to court documents, Kilgore was the co-owner, vice president, and regional sales manager of Orbit Medical Inc. (Orbit), a durable medical equipment supplier located in Salt Lake City specializing in power wheelchairs. From approximately September 2008 through June 2011, Kilgore allegedly directed a scheme to defraud Medicare by submitting false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for power wheelchairs. Court documents allege that Kilgore and others falsified medical records – including power wheelchair prescriptions and chart notes obtained from physicians – to make it appear that beneficiaries qualified to receive power wheelchairs when they did not and that the claims otherwise met all Medicare requirements. Kilgore and others then used these falsified documents to support false and fraudulent claims from Orbit to Medicare.
Additionally, former Orbit sales representatives Morgan Workman, 35, of Farmington, Utah; David Evans, 29, of South Jordan, Utah; and Hunter Hartman, 29, of Ladera Ranch, Calif., have each pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit health care fraud, based on the same alleged scheme to defraud Medicare. They are awaiting sentencing.
The scheme allegedly resulted in more than $20 million in claims from Orbit to Medicare for power wheelchairs, of which Medicare paid more than $15 million.
The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG and DCIS. This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Niall M. O’Donnell of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Y. Hirata of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Former Owner of Salt Lake City Medical Equipment Supply Company Indicted and Three Company Employees Plead Guilty for Roles in Medicare Fraud Scheme
A former owner of a Salt Lake City medical equipment supply company has been indicted and three former company employees have pleaded guilty for allegedly engaging in a $20 million Medicare fraud scheme.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney David B. Barlow of the District of Utah, Special Agent in Charge Mary Rook of the FBI’s Salt Lake City Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Gerry Roy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Kansas City Regional Office, and Special Agent in Charge Janice M. Flores of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s (DCIS) Southwest Field Office made the announcement.
Jacob Kilgore, 34, of Fruit Heights, Utah, was indicted in the District of Utah on three counts of health care fraud, three counts of false statements relating to health care matters, and three counts of wire fraud.
According to court documents, Kilgore was the co-owner, vice president, and regional sales manager of Orbit Medical Inc. (Orbit), a durable medical equipment supplier located in Salt Lake City specializing in power wheelchairs. From approximately September 2008 through June 2011, Kilgore allegedly directed a scheme to defraud Medicare by submitting false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for power wheelchairs. Court documents allege that Kilgore and others falsified medical records – including power wheelchair prescriptions and chart notes obtained from physicians – to make it appear that beneficiaries qualified to receive power wheelchairs when they did not and that the claims otherwise met all Medicare requirements. Kilgore and others then used these falsified documents to support false and fraudulent claims from Orbit to Medicare.
Additionally, former Orbit sales representatives Morgan Workman, 35, of Farmington, Utah; David Evans, 29, of South Jordan, Utah; and Hunter Hartman, 29, of Ladera Ranch, Calif., have each pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit health care fraud, based on the same alleged scheme to defraud Medicare. They are awaiting sentencing.
The scheme allegedly resulted in more than $20 million in claims from Orbit to Medicare for power wheelchairs, of which Medicare paid more than $15 million.
The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG and DCIS. This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Niall M. O’Donnell of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Y. Hirata of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah.
FORMER CONGRESSMAN RICK RENZI SENTENCED IN CONNECTION WITH ILLEGAL FEDERAL LAND SWAP
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, EXTORTION
Monday, October 28, 2013
Former Congressman Richard G. Renzi Sentenced for Extortion and Bribery in Illegal Federal Land Swap
Former U.S. Congressman Rick Renzi was sentenced today to serve 36 months in prison following his June conviction by a federal jury in Tucson, Ariz., for extortion, bribery, insurance fraud, money laundering and racketeering. Renzi’s co-defendant, James Sandlin, was also sentenced today to serve 18 months in prison for his role in the extortion, bribery and money laundering scheme.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth A. Strange of the District of Arizona, Special Agent in Charge Douglas G. Price of the FBI’s Phoenix Division, and Special Agent in Charge Dawn Mertz of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) made the announcement following sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge David C. Bury.
Renzi, 55, of Burke, Va., and Sandlin, 62, of Sherman, Texas, were convicted on June 11, 2013. Renzi was found guilty of 17 felony offenses including conspiracy, honest services wire fraud, extortion under color of official right, racketeering, money laundering and making false statements to insurance regulators. Sandlin was convicted of 13 felony offenses including conspiracy, honest services wire fraud, extortion under color of official right and money laundering.
“Mr. Renzi abused the power – and the corresponding trust – that comes with being a member of Congress by putting his own financial interests over the interests of the citizens he had sworn to serve,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman. “He fleeced his own insurance company to fund his run for Congress, and then exploited his position for personal gain. Mr. Renzi’s conviction and today’s sentence demonstrate the Justice Department’s commitment to fighting corruption at the highest levels of government.”
“Former Congressman Renzi disregarded his oath to uphold the law, ignoring the interests of the people he was elected to serve in favor of his own interests,” stated First Assistant U.S. Attorney Strange. “The sentences imposed today reinforce the fundamental principle that no one, including an elected official, is above the law.”
“When our elected officials betray the trust of the American people it strikes at the very core of our democracy,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Price. “The sentencing of former Congressman Rick Renzi illustrates the commitment by the FBI and our law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute corruption at all levels. Today’s sentencing is a reminder that when a public official violates the public's trust they will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
“The public expects its elected officials to be honest, to be trustworthy and to show respect for the law," stated IRS Special Agent in Charge Mertz. “Those in public office should be held to a higher standard and are not exempt from criminal prosecution. The prison sentence imposed today should serve as a wake-up call to other public officials who believe there are no consequences for betraying the public trust.”
According to evidence at trial, Renzi, then a member of Congress from Arizona’s 1st Congressional District, promised in 2005 to use his legislative influence to profit from a federal land exchange that involved property owned by Sandlin, a real-estate investor.
At the time, Sandlin owed Renzi $700,000 in future payments from their business dealings, and Renzi threatened proponents of the land exchange that he would not support it unless they purchased Sandlin’s property in Cochise County, Ariz. When they refused, Renzi promised a second proponent of a land exchange that he would support the exchange if they purchased Sandlin’s property. According to an agreement reached in May 2005, Sandlin was paid $1 million in earnest money, out of which he paid $200,000 to Renzi. Just before Sandlin received the $1.6 million balance owed on the exchange, he paid an additional $533,000 to Renzi.
Evidence at trial further showed that from 2001 to 2003, Renzi engaged in insurance fraud by diverting his clients’ insurance premiums to fund his first campaign for Congress, and he subsequently sent false letters to his insurance customers and provided false statements to various state regulators who were investigating his activities.
This case was investigated by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. The prosecution was handled by Trial Attorneys David Harbach and Sean Mulryne of the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gary Restaino and James Knapp of the District of Arizona.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Former Congressman Richard G. Renzi Sentenced for Extortion and Bribery in Illegal Federal Land Swap
Former U.S. Congressman Rick Renzi was sentenced today to serve 36 months in prison following his June conviction by a federal jury in Tucson, Ariz., for extortion, bribery, insurance fraud, money laundering and racketeering. Renzi’s co-defendant, James Sandlin, was also sentenced today to serve 18 months in prison for his role in the extortion, bribery and money laundering scheme.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth A. Strange of the District of Arizona, Special Agent in Charge Douglas G. Price of the FBI’s Phoenix Division, and Special Agent in Charge Dawn Mertz of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) made the announcement following sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge David C. Bury.
Renzi, 55, of Burke, Va., and Sandlin, 62, of Sherman, Texas, were convicted on June 11, 2013. Renzi was found guilty of 17 felony offenses including conspiracy, honest services wire fraud, extortion under color of official right, racketeering, money laundering and making false statements to insurance regulators. Sandlin was convicted of 13 felony offenses including conspiracy, honest services wire fraud, extortion under color of official right and money laundering.
“Mr. Renzi abused the power – and the corresponding trust – that comes with being a member of Congress by putting his own financial interests over the interests of the citizens he had sworn to serve,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman. “He fleeced his own insurance company to fund his run for Congress, and then exploited his position for personal gain. Mr. Renzi’s conviction and today’s sentence demonstrate the Justice Department’s commitment to fighting corruption at the highest levels of government.”
“Former Congressman Renzi disregarded his oath to uphold the law, ignoring the interests of the people he was elected to serve in favor of his own interests,” stated First Assistant U.S. Attorney Strange. “The sentences imposed today reinforce the fundamental principle that no one, including an elected official, is above the law.”
“When our elected officials betray the trust of the American people it strikes at the very core of our democracy,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Price. “The sentencing of former Congressman Rick Renzi illustrates the commitment by the FBI and our law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute corruption at all levels. Today’s sentencing is a reminder that when a public official violates the public's trust they will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
“The public expects its elected officials to be honest, to be trustworthy and to show respect for the law," stated IRS Special Agent in Charge Mertz. “Those in public office should be held to a higher standard and are not exempt from criminal prosecution. The prison sentence imposed today should serve as a wake-up call to other public officials who believe there are no consequences for betraying the public trust.”
According to evidence at trial, Renzi, then a member of Congress from Arizona’s 1st Congressional District, promised in 2005 to use his legislative influence to profit from a federal land exchange that involved property owned by Sandlin, a real-estate investor.
At the time, Sandlin owed Renzi $700,000 in future payments from their business dealings, and Renzi threatened proponents of the land exchange that he would not support it unless they purchased Sandlin’s property in Cochise County, Ariz. When they refused, Renzi promised a second proponent of a land exchange that he would support the exchange if they purchased Sandlin’s property. According to an agreement reached in May 2005, Sandlin was paid $1 million in earnest money, out of which he paid $200,000 to Renzi. Just before Sandlin received the $1.6 million balance owed on the exchange, he paid an additional $533,000 to Renzi.
Evidence at trial further showed that from 2001 to 2003, Renzi engaged in insurance fraud by diverting his clients’ insurance premiums to fund his first campaign for Congress, and he subsequently sent false letters to his insurance customers and provided false statements to various state regulators who were investigating his activities.
This case was investigated by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. The prosecution was handled by Trial Attorneys David Harbach and Sean Mulryne of the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gary Restaino and James Knapp of the District of Arizona.
Monday, October 28, 2013
PRESIDENT OBAMA, FBI DIRECTOR COMEY MAKE REMARKS REGARDING COMEY'S NEW POSITION
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
Remarks by the President and FBI Director James Comey
12:34 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you, FBI. (Applause.) Thank you so much. Please, everybody, be seated -- those of you who have seats. (Laughter.)
Well, good afternoon, everybody. I am so proud to be here and to stand once again with so many dedicated men and women of the FBI. You are the best of the best. Day in and day out, you work tirelessly to confront the most dangerous threats our nation faces. You serve with courage; you serve with integrity. You protect Americans at home and abroad. You lock up criminals. You secure the homeland against the threat of terrorism. Without a lot of fanfare, without seeking the spotlight, you do your jobs, all the while upholding our most cherished values and the rule of law.
Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity: That’s your motto. And today, we’re here to welcome a remarkable new leader for this remarkable institution, one who lives those principles out every single day: Mr. Jim Comey.
Before I get to Jim, I want to thank all the predecessors who are here today. We are grateful for your service. I have to give a special shout-out to Bob Mueller, who served longer than he was supposed to, but he was such an extraordinary leader through some of the most difficult times that we've had in national security. And I consider him a friend and I'm so grateful for him and Ann being here today. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
Now, Jim has dedicated his life to defending our laws -- to making sure that all Americans can trust our justice system to protect their rights and their well-being. He’s the grandson of a beat cop. He’s the prosecutor who helped bring down the Gambinos. He’s the relentless attorney who fought to stem the bloody tide of gun violence, rub out white-collar crime, deliver justice to terrorists. It’s just about impossible to find a matter of justice he has not tackled, and it’s hard to imagine somebody who is not more uniquely qualified to lead a bureau that covers all of it -- traditional threats like violent and organized crime to the constantly changing threats like terrorism and cyber-security. So he’s got the resume.
But, of course, Jim is also a famously cool character -- the calmest in the room during a crisis. Here’s what a fellow former prosecutor said about him. He said, “You know that Rudyard Kipling line -- ‘If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs’-- that’s Jim.”
There’s also a story from the time during his prosecution of the Gambino crime family. One of the defendants was an alleged hit man named Lorenzo. And during the trial, Jim won an award from the New York City Bar Association. When the court convened the next morning, everybody was buzzing about it, and suddenly, a note was passed down from the defendant’s table, across the aisle to the prosecutor’s table. It was handed to Jim, and it read: “Dear Jim, congratulations on your award. No one deserves it more than you. You’re a true professional. Sincerely, Lorenzo.” (Laughter.)
“Sincerely, Lorenzo.” Now, we don't know how sincere he was. (Laughter.) We don't know whether this was a veiled threat, or a plea for leniency, or an honest compliment. But I think it is fair to say that Jim has won the respect of folks across the spectrum -- including Lorenzo. (Laughter.)
He’s the perfect leader for an organization whose walls are graced by the words of a legendary former director: “The most effective weapon against crime is cooperation.” Jim has worked with many of the more than 35,000 men and women of the FBI over the course of his long and distinguished career. And it’s his admiration and respect for all of you, individually, his recognition of the hard work that you do every day -- sometimes under extraordinarily difficult circumstances -- not just the folks out in the field, but also folks working the back rooms, doing the hard work, out of sight -- his recognition that your mission is important is what compelled him to answer the call to serve his country again.
The FBI joins forces with our intelligence, our military, and homeland security professionals to break up all manner of threats -- from taking down drug rings to stopping those who prey on children, to breaking up al Qaeda cells to disrupting their activities, thwarting their plots. And your mission keeps expanding because the nature of the threats are always changing.
Unfortunately, the resources allotted to that mission has been reduced by sequestration. I’ll keep fighting for those resources because our country asks and expects a lot from you, and we should make sure you’ve got the resources you need to do the job. Especially when many of your colleagues put their lives on the line on a daily basis, all to serve and protect our fellow citizens -- the least we can do is make sure you’ve got the resources for it and that your operations are not disrupted because of politics in this town. (Applause.)
Now the good news is things like courage, leadership, judgment, and compassion -- those resources are, potentially, at least, inexhaustible. That's why it’s critical that we seek out the best people to serve -- folks who have earned the public trust; who have excellent judgment, even in the most difficult circumstances; those who possess not just a keen knowledge of the law, but also a moral compass that they -- and we -- can always count on.
And that’s who we’ve got in Jim Comey. I’ll tell you I interviewed a number of extraordinary candidates for this job, all with sterling credentials. But what gave me confidence that this was the right man for the job wasn’t his degrees and it wasn’t his resume; it was in talking to him and seeing his amazing family, a sense that this somebody who knows what’s right and what’s wrong, and is willing to act on that basis every single day. And that’s why I’m so grateful that he’s signed up to serve again.
I will spare you yet another joke about how today, no one stands taller. (Laughter.) I simply want to thank Jim for accepting this role. I want to thank Patrice and the five remarkable children that they’ve got -- because jobs like this are a team effort, as you well know.
And I want to thank most all the men and women of the FBI. I’m proud of your work. I’m grateful for your service. I’m absolutely confident that this agency will continue to flourish with Jim at the helm. And if he gets lost in the building, I want you guys to help him out. (Laughter.) Because I guarantee you that he’s going to have your back, make sure you’ve got his back as well.
Thank you very much, everybody. God bless you. (Applause.)
MR. JOYCE: And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to introduce the seventh Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation -- James B. Comey. (Applause.)
MR. COMEY: Thank you, Sean. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you so much for gracing us with your presence, for honoring us, and for speaking so eloquently about the mission of the FBI and its great people.
Thank you also to my friends and family who are gathered here today. My entire life is literally represented in this crowd, and it is a pretty picture. These are the people that I have known and loved literally my entire life and from whom I have learned so much.
I’m especially grateful that my dad and my sister and my brothers could be here today. I wish so much that Mom could be here to enjoy this amazing day. I can still hear ringing in my entire teenage years her voice as she snapped open the shades every single morning and said, “Rise and shine and show the world what you’re made of.” I found it less inspiring at the time -- (laughter) -- but it made us who we are. And I’ll never forget that.
And to my five troops and my amazing bride, who talked me into being interviewed for this job -- of course, with the caveat that she’d be okay because the President would never pick me. (Laughter.) I got to tell you, this is your last chance to talk to him about it. (Laughter.)
Mr. President, I am so grateful for this honor and this opportunity to serve with the men and women of the FBI. They are standing all around this great courtyard, and standing on duty all around this country and around this world at this moment. I know already that this is the best job I have ever had and will ever have.
That’s because I have a front row seat to watch the work of a remarkable group of people who serve this country, folks from all walks of life who joined the FBI for the same reason -- they were teachers and soldiers, and police officers and scholars, and software engineers, and people from all walks of life who wanted to do good for a living. They wanted jobs with moral content, and so they joined this great organization.
I thought about them as I stood in this courtyard just a week ago and showed a visiting foreign leader the statue that overlooks this ceremony. It’s an artist’s depiction of the words from our shield that the President mentioned: Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity. And as I thought about that statue and those words and this ceremony, I thought I would take just a couple of minutes and tell you what those words mean and why I think they belong on our shield.
First, fidelity. The dictionary defines fidelity as a strict and continuing faithfulness to an obligation, trust, or duty. To my mind, that word on our shield reminds us that the FBI must abide two obligations at the same time. First, the FBI must be independent of all political forces or interests in this country. In a real sense, it must stand apart from other institutions in American life. But, second, at the same time, it must be part of the United States Department of Justice, and constrained by the rule of law and the checks and balances built into our brilliant design by our nation’s founders.
There is a tension reflected in those two aspects of fidelity, those two values that I see in that word, and I think that tension is reflected in the 10-year term that I’ve just begun. The term is 10 years to ensure independence. But it is a fixed term of years to ensure that power does not become concentrated in one person and unconstrained. The need for reflection and restraint of power is what led Louis Freeh to order that all new agent classes visit the Holocaust Museum here in Washington so they could see and feel and hear in a palpable way the consequences of abuse of power on a massive almost unimaginable scale. Bob Mueller continued that practice. And I will again, when we have agents graduating from Quantico.
The balance reflected in my term is also a product of lessons hard learned from the history of this great institution. Our first half-century or so was a time of great progress and achievement for this country, and for the Bureau. But it also saw abuse and overreach -- most famously with respect to Martin Luther King and others, who were viewed as internal security threats.
As I think about the unique balance represented by fidelity to independence on the one hand, and the rule of law on the other, I think it also makes sense for me to offer those in training a reminder closer to our own history. I’m going to direct that all new agents and analysts also visit the Martin Luther King Memorial here in Washington. I think it will serve as a different kind of lesson -- (applause) -- one more personal to the Bureau, of the dangers in becoming untethered to oversight and accountability.
That word fidelity belongs on our shield.
Next, bravery. We have perpetrated a myth in our society that being brave means not being afraid, but that’s wrong. Mark Twain once said that bravery “is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” If you’ve ever talked to a special agent that you know well and you ask he or she about a dangerous encounter they were involved in, they’ll almost always give you the same answer, “yeah, I did it, but I was scared to heck the whole time.” But that’s the essence of bravery.
Only a crazy person wouldn't fear approaching a car with tinted windows during a late-night car stop, or pounding up a flight of stairs to execute a search warrant, or fast-roping from a helicopter down into hostile fire. Real agents, like real people, feel that fear in the pit of their stomachs. But you know the difference between them and most folks? They do it anyway, and they volunteer to do that for a living.
What makes the bravery of the men and women of the FBI so special is that they know exactly what they're in for. They spend weeks and weeks in an academy learning just how hard and dangerous this work is. Then they raise their right hands and take an oath, and do that work anyway. They have seen the Wall of Honor -- that I hope so much my friends and guests and family will get to see inside this building -- with pictures and links to the lives of those who gave the last full measure of devotion for their country as FBI employees.
Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman said this: "I would define true courage to be a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger and a mental willingness to endure it."
I called a special agent a few weeks ago after he had been shot during an arrest. I knew before I called him that he had already been injured severely twice in his Bureau career, once in a terrorist bombing and once in a helicopter crash. Yet when I got him on the phone, I got the strong sense he couldn’t wait to get me off the phone. He was embarrassed by my call. “Mr. Director, it was a through and through wound. No big deal.” He was more worried about his Bureau car, which he had left at the scene of the shooting. (Laughter.) He felt okay, though, because his wife -- also a special agent -- was going to go get the car, so everything was fine. (Laughter.)
The men and women of this organization understand perfectly the danger they're in every day and choose to endure it because they believe in this mission. That's why bravery belongs on our shield.
And, finally, integrity. Integrity is derived from the Latin word "integer," meaning whole. A person of integrity is complete, undivided. Sincerity, decency, trustworthy are synonyms of integrity. It's on our shield because it is the quality that makes possible all the good that we do. Because everything we do requires that we be believed, whether that's promising a source that we will protect her, telling a jury what we saw or heard, or telling a congressional oversight committee or the American people what we are doing with our power and our authorities. We must be believed.
Without integrity, all is lost. We cannot do the good that all of these amazing people signed up to do. The FBI's reputation for integrity is a gift given to every new employee by those who went before. But it is a gift that must be protected and earned every single day. We protect that gift by making mistakes and admitting them, by making promises and keeping them, and by realizing that nothing -- no case, no source, no fear of embarrassment -- is worth jeopardizing the gift of integrity. Integrity must be on the FBI shield.
So, you see, those three words -- Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity -- capture the essence of the FBI and its people. And they also explain why I am here. I wanted to be here to work alongside those people, to represent them, to help them accomplish their mission, and to just be their colleague.
It is an honor and a challenge beyond description. I will do my absolute best to be worthy of it. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
Remarks by the President and FBI Director James Comey
12:34 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you, FBI. (Applause.) Thank you so much. Please, everybody, be seated -- those of you who have seats. (Laughter.)
Well, good afternoon, everybody. I am so proud to be here and to stand once again with so many dedicated men and women of the FBI. You are the best of the best. Day in and day out, you work tirelessly to confront the most dangerous threats our nation faces. You serve with courage; you serve with integrity. You protect Americans at home and abroad. You lock up criminals. You secure the homeland against the threat of terrorism. Without a lot of fanfare, without seeking the spotlight, you do your jobs, all the while upholding our most cherished values and the rule of law.
Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity: That’s your motto. And today, we’re here to welcome a remarkable new leader for this remarkable institution, one who lives those principles out every single day: Mr. Jim Comey.
Before I get to Jim, I want to thank all the predecessors who are here today. We are grateful for your service. I have to give a special shout-out to Bob Mueller, who served longer than he was supposed to, but he was such an extraordinary leader through some of the most difficult times that we've had in national security. And I consider him a friend and I'm so grateful for him and Ann being here today. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
Now, Jim has dedicated his life to defending our laws -- to making sure that all Americans can trust our justice system to protect their rights and their well-being. He’s the grandson of a beat cop. He’s the prosecutor who helped bring down the Gambinos. He’s the relentless attorney who fought to stem the bloody tide of gun violence, rub out white-collar crime, deliver justice to terrorists. It’s just about impossible to find a matter of justice he has not tackled, and it’s hard to imagine somebody who is not more uniquely qualified to lead a bureau that covers all of it -- traditional threats like violent and organized crime to the constantly changing threats like terrorism and cyber-security. So he’s got the resume.
But, of course, Jim is also a famously cool character -- the calmest in the room during a crisis. Here’s what a fellow former prosecutor said about him. He said, “You know that Rudyard Kipling line -- ‘If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs’-- that’s Jim.”
There’s also a story from the time during his prosecution of the Gambino crime family. One of the defendants was an alleged hit man named Lorenzo. And during the trial, Jim won an award from the New York City Bar Association. When the court convened the next morning, everybody was buzzing about it, and suddenly, a note was passed down from the defendant’s table, across the aisle to the prosecutor’s table. It was handed to Jim, and it read: “Dear Jim, congratulations on your award. No one deserves it more than you. You’re a true professional. Sincerely, Lorenzo.” (Laughter.)
“Sincerely, Lorenzo.” Now, we don't know how sincere he was. (Laughter.) We don't know whether this was a veiled threat, or a plea for leniency, or an honest compliment. But I think it is fair to say that Jim has won the respect of folks across the spectrum -- including Lorenzo. (Laughter.)
He’s the perfect leader for an organization whose walls are graced by the words of a legendary former director: “The most effective weapon against crime is cooperation.” Jim has worked with many of the more than 35,000 men and women of the FBI over the course of his long and distinguished career. And it’s his admiration and respect for all of you, individually, his recognition of the hard work that you do every day -- sometimes under extraordinarily difficult circumstances -- not just the folks out in the field, but also folks working the back rooms, doing the hard work, out of sight -- his recognition that your mission is important is what compelled him to answer the call to serve his country again.
The FBI joins forces with our intelligence, our military, and homeland security professionals to break up all manner of threats -- from taking down drug rings to stopping those who prey on children, to breaking up al Qaeda cells to disrupting their activities, thwarting their plots. And your mission keeps expanding because the nature of the threats are always changing.
Unfortunately, the resources allotted to that mission has been reduced by sequestration. I’ll keep fighting for those resources because our country asks and expects a lot from you, and we should make sure you’ve got the resources you need to do the job. Especially when many of your colleagues put their lives on the line on a daily basis, all to serve and protect our fellow citizens -- the least we can do is make sure you’ve got the resources for it and that your operations are not disrupted because of politics in this town. (Applause.)
Now the good news is things like courage, leadership, judgment, and compassion -- those resources are, potentially, at least, inexhaustible. That's why it’s critical that we seek out the best people to serve -- folks who have earned the public trust; who have excellent judgment, even in the most difficult circumstances; those who possess not just a keen knowledge of the law, but also a moral compass that they -- and we -- can always count on.
And that’s who we’ve got in Jim Comey. I’ll tell you I interviewed a number of extraordinary candidates for this job, all with sterling credentials. But what gave me confidence that this was the right man for the job wasn’t his degrees and it wasn’t his resume; it was in talking to him and seeing his amazing family, a sense that this somebody who knows what’s right and what’s wrong, and is willing to act on that basis every single day. And that’s why I’m so grateful that he’s signed up to serve again.
I will spare you yet another joke about how today, no one stands taller. (Laughter.) I simply want to thank Jim for accepting this role. I want to thank Patrice and the five remarkable children that they’ve got -- because jobs like this are a team effort, as you well know.
And I want to thank most all the men and women of the FBI. I’m proud of your work. I’m grateful for your service. I’m absolutely confident that this agency will continue to flourish with Jim at the helm. And if he gets lost in the building, I want you guys to help him out. (Laughter.) Because I guarantee you that he’s going to have your back, make sure you’ve got his back as well.
Thank you very much, everybody. God bless you. (Applause.)
MR. JOYCE: And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to introduce the seventh Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation -- James B. Comey. (Applause.)
MR. COMEY: Thank you, Sean. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you so much for gracing us with your presence, for honoring us, and for speaking so eloquently about the mission of the FBI and its great people.
Thank you also to my friends and family who are gathered here today. My entire life is literally represented in this crowd, and it is a pretty picture. These are the people that I have known and loved literally my entire life and from whom I have learned so much.
I’m especially grateful that my dad and my sister and my brothers could be here today. I wish so much that Mom could be here to enjoy this amazing day. I can still hear ringing in my entire teenage years her voice as she snapped open the shades every single morning and said, “Rise and shine and show the world what you’re made of.” I found it less inspiring at the time -- (laughter) -- but it made us who we are. And I’ll never forget that.
And to my five troops and my amazing bride, who talked me into being interviewed for this job -- of course, with the caveat that she’d be okay because the President would never pick me. (Laughter.) I got to tell you, this is your last chance to talk to him about it. (Laughter.)
Mr. President, I am so grateful for this honor and this opportunity to serve with the men and women of the FBI. They are standing all around this great courtyard, and standing on duty all around this country and around this world at this moment. I know already that this is the best job I have ever had and will ever have.
That’s because I have a front row seat to watch the work of a remarkable group of people who serve this country, folks from all walks of life who joined the FBI for the same reason -- they were teachers and soldiers, and police officers and scholars, and software engineers, and people from all walks of life who wanted to do good for a living. They wanted jobs with moral content, and so they joined this great organization.
I thought about them as I stood in this courtyard just a week ago and showed a visiting foreign leader the statue that overlooks this ceremony. It’s an artist’s depiction of the words from our shield that the President mentioned: Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity. And as I thought about that statue and those words and this ceremony, I thought I would take just a couple of minutes and tell you what those words mean and why I think they belong on our shield.
First, fidelity. The dictionary defines fidelity as a strict and continuing faithfulness to an obligation, trust, or duty. To my mind, that word on our shield reminds us that the FBI must abide two obligations at the same time. First, the FBI must be independent of all political forces or interests in this country. In a real sense, it must stand apart from other institutions in American life. But, second, at the same time, it must be part of the United States Department of Justice, and constrained by the rule of law and the checks and balances built into our brilliant design by our nation’s founders.
There is a tension reflected in those two aspects of fidelity, those two values that I see in that word, and I think that tension is reflected in the 10-year term that I’ve just begun. The term is 10 years to ensure independence. But it is a fixed term of years to ensure that power does not become concentrated in one person and unconstrained. The need for reflection and restraint of power is what led Louis Freeh to order that all new agent classes visit the Holocaust Museum here in Washington so they could see and feel and hear in a palpable way the consequences of abuse of power on a massive almost unimaginable scale. Bob Mueller continued that practice. And I will again, when we have agents graduating from Quantico.
The balance reflected in my term is also a product of lessons hard learned from the history of this great institution. Our first half-century or so was a time of great progress and achievement for this country, and for the Bureau. But it also saw abuse and overreach -- most famously with respect to Martin Luther King and others, who were viewed as internal security threats.
As I think about the unique balance represented by fidelity to independence on the one hand, and the rule of law on the other, I think it also makes sense for me to offer those in training a reminder closer to our own history. I’m going to direct that all new agents and analysts also visit the Martin Luther King Memorial here in Washington. I think it will serve as a different kind of lesson -- (applause) -- one more personal to the Bureau, of the dangers in becoming untethered to oversight and accountability.
That word fidelity belongs on our shield.
Next, bravery. We have perpetrated a myth in our society that being brave means not being afraid, but that’s wrong. Mark Twain once said that bravery “is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” If you’ve ever talked to a special agent that you know well and you ask he or she about a dangerous encounter they were involved in, they’ll almost always give you the same answer, “yeah, I did it, but I was scared to heck the whole time.” But that’s the essence of bravery.
Only a crazy person wouldn't fear approaching a car with tinted windows during a late-night car stop, or pounding up a flight of stairs to execute a search warrant, or fast-roping from a helicopter down into hostile fire. Real agents, like real people, feel that fear in the pit of their stomachs. But you know the difference between them and most folks? They do it anyway, and they volunteer to do that for a living.
What makes the bravery of the men and women of the FBI so special is that they know exactly what they're in for. They spend weeks and weeks in an academy learning just how hard and dangerous this work is. Then they raise their right hands and take an oath, and do that work anyway. They have seen the Wall of Honor -- that I hope so much my friends and guests and family will get to see inside this building -- with pictures and links to the lives of those who gave the last full measure of devotion for their country as FBI employees.
Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman said this: "I would define true courage to be a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger and a mental willingness to endure it."
I called a special agent a few weeks ago after he had been shot during an arrest. I knew before I called him that he had already been injured severely twice in his Bureau career, once in a terrorist bombing and once in a helicopter crash. Yet when I got him on the phone, I got the strong sense he couldn’t wait to get me off the phone. He was embarrassed by my call. “Mr. Director, it was a through and through wound. No big deal.” He was more worried about his Bureau car, which he had left at the scene of the shooting. (Laughter.) He felt okay, though, because his wife -- also a special agent -- was going to go get the car, so everything was fine. (Laughter.)
The men and women of this organization understand perfectly the danger they're in every day and choose to endure it because they believe in this mission. That's why bravery belongs on our shield.
And, finally, integrity. Integrity is derived from the Latin word "integer," meaning whole. A person of integrity is complete, undivided. Sincerity, decency, trustworthy are synonyms of integrity. It's on our shield because it is the quality that makes possible all the good that we do. Because everything we do requires that we be believed, whether that's promising a source that we will protect her, telling a jury what we saw or heard, or telling a congressional oversight committee or the American people what we are doing with our power and our authorities. We must be believed.
Without integrity, all is lost. We cannot do the good that all of these amazing people signed up to do. The FBI's reputation for integrity is a gift given to every new employee by those who went before. But it is a gift that must be protected and earned every single day. We protect that gift by making mistakes and admitting them, by making promises and keeping them, and by realizing that nothing -- no case, no source, no fear of embarrassment -- is worth jeopardizing the gift of integrity. Integrity must be on the FBI shield.
So, you see, those three words -- Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity -- capture the essence of the FBI and its people. And they also explain why I am here. I wanted to be here to work alongside those people, to represent them, to help them accomplish their mission, and to just be their colleague.
It is an honor and a challenge beyond description. I will do my absolute best to be worthy of it. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY'S OP-ED REGARDING STARVATION IN SYRIA
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Assad's War of Starvation
Op-Ed
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Foreign Policy
October 28, 2013
The world already knows that Bashar al-Assad has used chemical weapons, indiscriminate bombing, arbitrary detentions, rape, and torture against his own citizens. What is far less well known, and equally intolerable, is the systematic denial of medical assistance, food supplies, and other humanitarian aid to huge portions of the population. This denial of the most basic human rights must end before the war's death toll -- now surpassing 100,000 -- reaches even more catastrophic levels.
Reports of severe malnutrition across vast swaths of Syria suffering under regime blockades prompted the United Nations Security Council to issue a presidential statement calling for immediate access to humanitarian assistance. To bolster the U.N.'s position, every nation needs to demand action on the ground -- right now. That includes governments that have allowed their Syrian allies to block or undermine vital relief efforts mandated by international humanitarian law.
Simply put, the world must act quickly and decisively to get life-saving assistance to the innocent civilians who are bearing the brunt of the civil war. To do anything less risks a "lost generation" of Syrian children traumatized, orphaned, and starved by this barbaric war.
The desperation can be eased significantly, even amid the fighting. Working through the regime, with assistance from Russia and others, inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are proving every day that professionals can still carry out essential work where there is political will. If weapons inspectors can carry out their crucial mission to ensure Syria's chemical weapons can never be used again, then we can also find a way for aid workers on a no less vital mission to deliver food and medical treatment to men, women, and children suffering through no fault of their own.
The U.S. government has undertaken significant efforts to alleviate the suffering. Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, the United States has led international donors in contributing nearly $1.4 billion for humanitarian assistance. Aid has been distributed to every section of Syria by leading international agencies, including the U.N. Refugee Agency, the World Food Program, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, and top-notch non-governmental groups.
Most of these aid workers are courageous Syrians who risk their safety to cross shifting battle lines for the good of others. They have performed miracles and saved thousands of lives. In return, they have been subjected to a catalog of horrors. They have been harassed, kidnapped, killed, and stopped at every turn from reaching the innocent civilians desperately clinging to life.
The obstacles exist on both sides of the war. Outside observers from the U.N. and non-governmental organizations have chronicled the ways in which extremist opposition fighters have prevented aid from reaching those in need, diverting supplies and violating the human rights of the people trying to deliver them.
But it is the regime's policies that threaten to take a humanitarian disaster into the abyss. The Assad government is refusing to register legitimate aid agencies. It is blocking assistance at its borders. It is requiring U.N. convoys to travel circuitous routes through scores of checkpoints to reach people in need. The regime has systematically blocked food shipments to strategically located districts, leading to a rising toll of death and misery.
The U.N. statement earlier this month calls on all parties to respect obligations under international humanitarian law. It sets out a series of steps that, if followed, would go a long way in protecting and helping the Syrian people. Convoys carrying aid need to be expedited. Efforts to provide medical care to the wounded and the sick must be granted safe passage. And attacks against medical facilities and personnel must stop.
Merely expecting a regime like Assad's to live up to the spirit, let alone letter, of the Security Council statement without concerted international pressure is sadly unrealistic. A regime that gassed its own people and systematically denies them food and medicine will bow only to our pressure, not to our hopes. Assad's allies who have influence over his calculations must demand that he and his backers adhere to international standards. With winter approaching quickly, and the rolls of the starving and sick growing daily, we can waste no time. Aid workers must have full access to do their jobs now. The world cannot sit by watching innocents die.
Assad's War of Starvation
Op-Ed
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Foreign Policy
October 28, 2013
The world already knows that Bashar al-Assad has used chemical weapons, indiscriminate bombing, arbitrary detentions, rape, and torture against his own citizens. What is far less well known, and equally intolerable, is the systematic denial of medical assistance, food supplies, and other humanitarian aid to huge portions of the population. This denial of the most basic human rights must end before the war's death toll -- now surpassing 100,000 -- reaches even more catastrophic levels.
Reports of severe malnutrition across vast swaths of Syria suffering under regime blockades prompted the United Nations Security Council to issue a presidential statement calling for immediate access to humanitarian assistance. To bolster the U.N.'s position, every nation needs to demand action on the ground -- right now. That includes governments that have allowed their Syrian allies to block or undermine vital relief efforts mandated by international humanitarian law.
Simply put, the world must act quickly and decisively to get life-saving assistance to the innocent civilians who are bearing the brunt of the civil war. To do anything less risks a "lost generation" of Syrian children traumatized, orphaned, and starved by this barbaric war.
The desperation can be eased significantly, even amid the fighting. Working through the regime, with assistance from Russia and others, inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are proving every day that professionals can still carry out essential work where there is political will. If weapons inspectors can carry out their crucial mission to ensure Syria's chemical weapons can never be used again, then we can also find a way for aid workers on a no less vital mission to deliver food and medical treatment to men, women, and children suffering through no fault of their own.
The U.S. government has undertaken significant efforts to alleviate the suffering. Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, the United States has led international donors in contributing nearly $1.4 billion for humanitarian assistance. Aid has been distributed to every section of Syria by leading international agencies, including the U.N. Refugee Agency, the World Food Program, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, and top-notch non-governmental groups.
Most of these aid workers are courageous Syrians who risk their safety to cross shifting battle lines for the good of others. They have performed miracles and saved thousands of lives. In return, they have been subjected to a catalog of horrors. They have been harassed, kidnapped, killed, and stopped at every turn from reaching the innocent civilians desperately clinging to life.
The obstacles exist on both sides of the war. Outside observers from the U.N. and non-governmental organizations have chronicled the ways in which extremist opposition fighters have prevented aid from reaching those in need, diverting supplies and violating the human rights of the people trying to deliver them.
But it is the regime's policies that threaten to take a humanitarian disaster into the abyss. The Assad government is refusing to register legitimate aid agencies. It is blocking assistance at its borders. It is requiring U.N. convoys to travel circuitous routes through scores of checkpoints to reach people in need. The regime has systematically blocked food shipments to strategically located districts, leading to a rising toll of death and misery.
The U.N. statement earlier this month calls on all parties to respect obligations under international humanitarian law. It sets out a series of steps that, if followed, would go a long way in protecting and helping the Syrian people. Convoys carrying aid need to be expedited. Efforts to provide medical care to the wounded and the sick must be granted safe passage. And attacks against medical facilities and personnel must stop.
Merely expecting a regime like Assad's to live up to the spirit, let alone letter, of the Security Council statement without concerted international pressure is sadly unrealistic. A regime that gassed its own people and systematically denies them food and medicine will bow only to our pressure, not to our hopes. Assad's allies who have influence over his calculations must demand that he and his backers adhere to international standards. With winter approaching quickly, and the rolls of the starving and sick growing daily, we can waste no time. Aid workers must have full access to do their jobs now. The world cannot sit by watching innocents die.
SEC SANCTIONS 3 ADVISORY FIRMS FOR NOT MEETING STANDARDS WHEN MAINTAINING CLIENT FUNDS OR SECURITIES
FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
The Securities and Exchange Commission today sanctioned three SEC-registered investment advisory firms for violating the “custody rule” that requires them to meet certain standards when maintaining custody of their clients’ funds or securities.
The majority of investment advisers do not maintain custody of client assets, which are instead held by qualified third-party custodians like a bank or broker-dealer. Investment advisers must comply with the custody rule if they have legal ownership or access to client assets or an arrangement permitting them to withdraw client assets. The Commission amended the custody rule in 2010 to strengthen investor protections by requiring all advisers with custody to undergo an annual “surprise exam” to verify the existence of client assets. Advisers also must have a reasonable basis to believe that a qualified custodian is sending account statements to fund investors at least quarterly. Advisers with custody of hedge fund or other private fund assets may alternatively comply with the custody rule through fund audits by a PCAOB-registered auditor, after which financial statements must be delivered to investors.
SEC investigations following referrals by agency examiners found that New York-based Further Lane Asset Management, Massachusetts-based GW & Wade, and Minneapolis-based Knelman Asset Management Group failed to maintain client assets with a qualified custodian or engage an independent public accountant to conduct surprise exams. The firms also committed other violations of the federal securities laws. Each firm has agreed to settle the SEC’s charges.
“The heart of the relationship between advisers and their customers is the safety of client assets. Surprise exams or procedures associated with audited financial statements provide additional safeguards against assets being stolen or misused,” said Andrew Ceresney, co-director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “These firms failed to comply with their custody rule obligations, and other firms who hold client assets should take notice that we will vigorously enforce such requirements.”
The SEC issued orders instituting settled administrative proceedings against the three firms for deficiencies related to the custody rule – Rule 206(4)-2 under Section 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
According to the SEC’s order against Further Lane Asset Management (FLAM) and its CEO Jose Miguel Araiz, despite maintaining custody of assets of hedge funds managed by FLAM and affiliated adviser Osprey Group Inc. (OGI), Araiz and FLAM failed to arrange an annual surprise examination to verify the funds’ assets. The funds’ investors also did not receive quarterly account statements from a qualified custodian of the funds as required by the custody rule. FLAM and Araiz additionally engaged in fraud related to a fund-of-funds under their control. They caused the fund to acquire a promissory note from another entity that Araiz owned without informing investors in writing that the fund might acquire related party promissory notes or otherwise materially deviate from its fund-of-funds investment strategy. The order details other securities law violations, including FLAM and OGI engaging in securities transactions with advisory clients on a principal basis without providing prior written disclosure to clients or obtaining their consent. In consenting to a censure and cease-and-desist order, Araiz, FLAM and OGI agreed to pay disgorgement and prejudgment interest totaling $347,122. Araiz additionally agreed to pay a $150,000 penalty and be suspended from the industry for one year. FLAM consented to comply with certain compliance-based undertakings.
According to the SEC’s order against GW & Wade, the firm was subject to the custody rule in part due to its practice of using pre-signed letters of authorization and then transferring client funds without always obtaining contemporaneous client signatures. The firm did not have proper safeguards as a custodian of client funds, and failed to identify itself as a custodian to its independent auditors or in public disclosures. This practice exposed clients to potential harm and ultimately contributed to a third-party fraud in one client account in June 2012, when someone hacked into the client’s e-mail account and posed as the client. The imposter requested that GW & Wade wire the client’s funds to a foreign bank, and the scheme was not discovered until three separate wires totaling $290,000 had been sent to the foreign bank. The firm reimbursed the client. GW & Wade additionally made inaccurate Form ADV disclosures about the amount of client assets in custody and its custody arrangements. In consenting to a censure and cease-and-desist order, GW & Wade agreed to pay a $250,000 penalty.
According to the SEC’s order against Knelman Asset Management Group (KAMG) and its CEO and chief compliance officer Irving P. Knelman, KAMG had custody of the assets of a fund of private equity funds named Rancho Partners I. However, Rancho’s funds were not subject to annual surprise examinations and Rancho members did not receive quarterly account statements from a qualified custodian. Alternatively, Rancho’s financial statements were not audited or distributed to Rancho members. The order details other violations of the securities laws, including improper discretionary cash distributions to Rancho members, failure to adopt and implement controls designed to safeguard client assets, and failure to conduct annual compliance reviews. In consenting to a censure and cease-and-desist order, KAMG agreed to pay a $60,000 penalty. Knelman agreed to pay a $75,000 penalty and be barred from acting as a chief compliance officer for at least three years. KAMG and Knelman also consented to compliance training and other compliance-based undertakings.
The SEC’s investigation of Further Lane Asset Management was conducted by Asset Management Unit members Mark D. Salzberg, Robert Guzman, Igor Rozenblit, and Valerie A. Szczepanik as well as Daphna A. Waxman and Roseann Daniello in the New York Regional Office. The preceding examination was conducted by Raymond Slezak, Michael O’Donnell, Charles Hooper, and Dave Miller of the New York office.
The SEC’s investigation of GW & Wade was conducted by Asset Management Unit members Mayeti Gametchu and Kevin Kelcourse in the Boston Regional Office. The preceding SEC examination was conducted by Raymond Tan, Matthew Keating, John Clark, and Melissa Clough of the Boston office.
The SEC’s investigation of Knelman Asset Management Group was conducted by Asset Management Unit member Paul Montoya as well as Ruta Dudenas and Delia Helpingstine of the Chicago Regional Office. The preceding examination was conducted by Vanessa Horton, Kristin Dryer, and Steven Levine of the Chicago office.
The Securities and Exchange Commission today sanctioned three SEC-registered investment advisory firms for violating the “custody rule” that requires them to meet certain standards when maintaining custody of their clients’ funds or securities.
The majority of investment advisers do not maintain custody of client assets, which are instead held by qualified third-party custodians like a bank or broker-dealer. Investment advisers must comply with the custody rule if they have legal ownership or access to client assets or an arrangement permitting them to withdraw client assets. The Commission amended the custody rule in 2010 to strengthen investor protections by requiring all advisers with custody to undergo an annual “surprise exam” to verify the existence of client assets. Advisers also must have a reasonable basis to believe that a qualified custodian is sending account statements to fund investors at least quarterly. Advisers with custody of hedge fund or other private fund assets may alternatively comply with the custody rule through fund audits by a PCAOB-registered auditor, after which financial statements must be delivered to investors.
SEC investigations following referrals by agency examiners found that New York-based Further Lane Asset Management, Massachusetts-based GW & Wade, and Minneapolis-based Knelman Asset Management Group failed to maintain client assets with a qualified custodian or engage an independent public accountant to conduct surprise exams. The firms also committed other violations of the federal securities laws. Each firm has agreed to settle the SEC’s charges.
“The heart of the relationship between advisers and their customers is the safety of client assets. Surprise exams or procedures associated with audited financial statements provide additional safeguards against assets being stolen or misused,” said Andrew Ceresney, co-director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “These firms failed to comply with their custody rule obligations, and other firms who hold client assets should take notice that we will vigorously enforce such requirements.”
The SEC issued orders instituting settled administrative proceedings against the three firms for deficiencies related to the custody rule – Rule 206(4)-2 under Section 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
According to the SEC’s order against Further Lane Asset Management (FLAM) and its CEO Jose Miguel Araiz, despite maintaining custody of assets of hedge funds managed by FLAM and affiliated adviser Osprey Group Inc. (OGI), Araiz and FLAM failed to arrange an annual surprise examination to verify the funds’ assets. The funds’ investors also did not receive quarterly account statements from a qualified custodian of the funds as required by the custody rule. FLAM and Araiz additionally engaged in fraud related to a fund-of-funds under their control. They caused the fund to acquire a promissory note from another entity that Araiz owned without informing investors in writing that the fund might acquire related party promissory notes or otherwise materially deviate from its fund-of-funds investment strategy. The order details other securities law violations, including FLAM and OGI engaging in securities transactions with advisory clients on a principal basis without providing prior written disclosure to clients or obtaining their consent. In consenting to a censure and cease-and-desist order, Araiz, FLAM and OGI agreed to pay disgorgement and prejudgment interest totaling $347,122. Araiz additionally agreed to pay a $150,000 penalty and be suspended from the industry for one year. FLAM consented to comply with certain compliance-based undertakings.
According to the SEC’s order against GW & Wade, the firm was subject to the custody rule in part due to its practice of using pre-signed letters of authorization and then transferring client funds without always obtaining contemporaneous client signatures. The firm did not have proper safeguards as a custodian of client funds, and failed to identify itself as a custodian to its independent auditors or in public disclosures. This practice exposed clients to potential harm and ultimately contributed to a third-party fraud in one client account in June 2012, when someone hacked into the client’s e-mail account and posed as the client. The imposter requested that GW & Wade wire the client’s funds to a foreign bank, and the scheme was not discovered until three separate wires totaling $290,000 had been sent to the foreign bank. The firm reimbursed the client. GW & Wade additionally made inaccurate Form ADV disclosures about the amount of client assets in custody and its custody arrangements. In consenting to a censure and cease-and-desist order, GW & Wade agreed to pay a $250,000 penalty.
According to the SEC’s order against Knelman Asset Management Group (KAMG) and its CEO and chief compliance officer Irving P. Knelman, KAMG had custody of the assets of a fund of private equity funds named Rancho Partners I. However, Rancho’s funds were not subject to annual surprise examinations and Rancho members did not receive quarterly account statements from a qualified custodian. Alternatively, Rancho’s financial statements were not audited or distributed to Rancho members. The order details other violations of the securities laws, including improper discretionary cash distributions to Rancho members, failure to adopt and implement controls designed to safeguard client assets, and failure to conduct annual compliance reviews. In consenting to a censure and cease-and-desist order, KAMG agreed to pay a $60,000 penalty. Knelman agreed to pay a $75,000 penalty and be barred from acting as a chief compliance officer for at least three years. KAMG and Knelman also consented to compliance training and other compliance-based undertakings.
The SEC’s investigation of Further Lane Asset Management was conducted by Asset Management Unit members Mark D. Salzberg, Robert Guzman, Igor Rozenblit, and Valerie A. Szczepanik as well as Daphna A. Waxman and Roseann Daniello in the New York Regional Office. The preceding examination was conducted by Raymond Slezak, Michael O’Donnell, Charles Hooper, and Dave Miller of the New York office.
The SEC’s investigation of GW & Wade was conducted by Asset Management Unit members Mayeti Gametchu and Kevin Kelcourse in the Boston Regional Office. The preceding SEC examination was conducted by Raymond Tan, Matthew Keating, John Clark, and Melissa Clough of the Boston office.
The SEC’s investigation of Knelman Asset Management Group was conducted by Asset Management Unit member Paul Montoya as well as Ruta Dudenas and Delia Helpingstine of the Chicago Regional Office. The preceding examination was conducted by Vanessa Horton, Kristin Dryer, and Steven Levine of the Chicago office.
APARTMENT OWNER AND STAFF CHARGED WITH DISCRIMINATION AGAINST FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Friday, October 25, 2013
Justice Department Charges California Apartment Owner and Staff with Discrimination Against Families with Children
The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit against the owner and operators of a Fremont, Calif., apartment complex, alleging that they had discriminated against families with children in violation of the Fair Housing Act by prohibiting children from playing in the common grassy areas of the complex.
“Families with children should have the same ability to enjoy their homes as all other tenants,” said Jocelyn Samuels, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges that the owners and rental staff of Woodland Garden Apartments, a 37 unit apartment complex, adopted and enforced a policy prohibiting children from playing outside in the common grassy areas of the complex. The complex is owned by Fred Martin and managed by Fatima Rivera, both of whom are named in the suit. Alfredo Rivera, a former maintenance worker who participated in enforcing the policy, is also named as a defendant in the suit.
This lawsuit arose as a result of complaints filed with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by five families with children who lived at Woodland Garden Apartments, and Project Sentinel, a non-profit organization based in Santa Clara, Calif., that promotes fair housing. After HUD investigated the complaints, it issued a charge of discrimination and the matter was referred to the Justice Department.
“Housing providers cannot impose more restrictive policies on families with children or evict them simply because their children leave the unit,” said Bryan Greene, HUD Acting Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “HUD and DOJ are committed to enforcing the fair housing rights of all people, including families with children.”
The lawsuit seeks a court order prohibiting future discrimination by the defendant, monetary damages for those harmed by the defendant’s actions and a civil penalty.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin and disability.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Justice Department Charges California Apartment Owner and Staff with Discrimination Against Families with Children
The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit against the owner and operators of a Fremont, Calif., apartment complex, alleging that they had discriminated against families with children in violation of the Fair Housing Act by prohibiting children from playing in the common grassy areas of the complex.
“Families with children should have the same ability to enjoy their homes as all other tenants,” said Jocelyn Samuels, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges that the owners and rental staff of Woodland Garden Apartments, a 37 unit apartment complex, adopted and enforced a policy prohibiting children from playing outside in the common grassy areas of the complex. The complex is owned by Fred Martin and managed by Fatima Rivera, both of whom are named in the suit. Alfredo Rivera, a former maintenance worker who participated in enforcing the policy, is also named as a defendant in the suit.
This lawsuit arose as a result of complaints filed with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by five families with children who lived at Woodland Garden Apartments, and Project Sentinel, a non-profit organization based in Santa Clara, Calif., that promotes fair housing. After HUD investigated the complaints, it issued a charge of discrimination and the matter was referred to the Justice Department.
“Housing providers cannot impose more restrictive policies on families with children or evict them simply because their children leave the unit,” said Bryan Greene, HUD Acting Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “HUD and DOJ are committed to enforcing the fair housing rights of all people, including families with children.”
The lawsuit seeks a court order prohibiting future discrimination by the defendant, monetary damages for those harmed by the defendant’s actions and a civil penalty.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin and disability.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY'S STATEMENT REGARDING RELEASE OF KEVIN SUTAY FROM FARC
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Release of Kevin Sutay From Captivity by the FARC
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
October 27, 2013
We welcome the release today of Kevin Scott Sutay from captivity at the hands of the FARC.
The United States is profoundly grateful to the Government of Colombia and commends its tireless efforts to secure his release. We offer special thanks to President Juan Manuel Santos for his assistance.
We also appreciate the contributions of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Governments of Norway and Cuba in securing Mr. Sutay’s freedom. And we thank the Reverend Jesse Jackson for his efforts in consistently advocating for Mr. Sutay’s release.
Release of Kevin Sutay From Captivity by the FARC
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
October 27, 2013
We welcome the release today of Kevin Scott Sutay from captivity at the hands of the FARC.
The United States is profoundly grateful to the Government of Colombia and commends its tireless efforts to secure his release. We offer special thanks to President Juan Manuel Santos for his assistance.
We also appreciate the contributions of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Governments of Norway and Cuba in securing Mr. Sutay’s freedom. And we thank the Reverend Jesse Jackson for his efforts in consistently advocating for Mr. Sutay’s release.
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S WEEKLY ADDRESS ON OCTOBER 26, 2013
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
Weekly Address: Enrolling in the Affordable Care Act Marketplace
WASHINGTON, DC— In this week’s address, President Obama discussed the launch of the Health Insurance Marketplace for the Affordable Care Act, which gives millions of Americans the opportunity to have access to affordable and reliable healthcare—many for the first time.
Remarks for President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
October 26, 2013
Hi, everybody. A few weeks ago, we launched an important new part of the Affordable Care Act.
It’s called the Marketplace. And for Americans without health insurance, and Americans who buy insurance on their own because they can’t get it at work, it’s a very big deal.
If you’re one of those people, the Affordable Care Act makes you part of a big group plan for the first time. The Marketplace is where you can apply and shop for affordable new health insurance choices. It gathers insurers under one system to compete for your business. And that choice and competition have actually helped bring prices down.
Ultimately, the easiest way to buy insurance in this Marketplace will be a new website, HealthCare.gov. But as you may have heard, the site isn’t working the way it’s supposed to yet. That’s frustrating for all of us who have worked so hard to make sure everyone who needs it gets health care. And it’s especially frustrating for the Americans who’ve been trying to get covered. The site has been visited more than 20 million times so far. Nearly 700,000 people have applied for coverage already. That proves just how much demand there is for these new quality, affordable health care choices. And that’s why, in the coming weeks, we are going to get it working as smoothly as it’s supposed to. We’ve got people working overtime, 24/7, to boost capacity and address these problems, every single day.
But even as we improve the website, remember that the website isn’t the only way to apply for coverage under these new plans. We’ve updated HealthCare.gov to offer more information about enrolling over the phone, by mail, or in person with a specially-trained navigator who can help answer your questions. Just call 1-800-318-2596 or visit LocalHelp.HealthCare.gov. Don’t worry – these plans will not sell out. We’re only a few weeks into a six-month open enrollment period, and everyone who wants insurance through the Marketplace will get it.
Some people have poked fun at me this week for sounding like an insurance salesman. And that’s okay. I’d still be out there championing this law even if the website were perfect. I’ll never stop fighting to help more hardworking Americans know the economic security of health care. That’s something we should all want.
That’s why it’s also interesting to see Republicans in Congress expressing so much concern that people are having trouble buying health insurance through the new website – especially considering they’ve spent the last few years so obsessed with denying those same people access to health insurance that they just shut down the government and threatened default over it.
As I’ve said many times before, I’m willing to work with anyone, on any idea, who’s actually willing to make this law perform better. But it’s well past the time for folks to stop rooting for its failure. Because hardworking, middle-class families are rooting for its success.
The Affordable Care Act gives people who’ve been stuck with sky-high premiums because of preexisting conditions the chance to get affordable insurance for the first time.
This law means that women can finally buy coverage that doesn’t charge them higher premiums than men for the same care.
And everyone who already has health insurance, whether through your employer, Medicare, or Medicaid, will keep the benefits and protections this law has already put in place. Three million more young adults have health insurance on their parents’ plans because of the Affordable Care Act. More than six million people on Medicare have saved an average of $1,000 on their prescription medicine because of the Affordable Care Act. Last year, more than 8 million Americans received half a billion dollars in refunds from their insurers because of the Affordable Care Act. And for tens of millions of women, preventive care like mammograms and birth control are free because of the Affordable Care Act.
That’s all part of this law, and it’s here to stay.
We did not fight so hard for this reform for so many years just to build a website. We did it to free millions of American families from the awful fear that one illness or injury – to yourself or your child – might cost you everything you’d worked so hard to build. We did it to cement the principle that in this country, the security of health care is not a privilege for a fortunate few, but a right for every one of us to enjoy. We have already delivered on part of that promise, and we will not rest until the work is done.
Thank you, and have a great weekend.
Weekly Address: Enrolling in the Affordable Care Act Marketplace
WASHINGTON, DC— In this week’s address, President Obama discussed the launch of the Health Insurance Marketplace for the Affordable Care Act, which gives millions of Americans the opportunity to have access to affordable and reliable healthcare—many for the first time.
Remarks for President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
October 26, 2013
Hi, everybody. A few weeks ago, we launched an important new part of the Affordable Care Act.
It’s called the Marketplace. And for Americans without health insurance, and Americans who buy insurance on their own because they can’t get it at work, it’s a very big deal.
If you’re one of those people, the Affordable Care Act makes you part of a big group plan for the first time. The Marketplace is where you can apply and shop for affordable new health insurance choices. It gathers insurers under one system to compete for your business. And that choice and competition have actually helped bring prices down.
Ultimately, the easiest way to buy insurance in this Marketplace will be a new website, HealthCare.gov. But as you may have heard, the site isn’t working the way it’s supposed to yet. That’s frustrating for all of us who have worked so hard to make sure everyone who needs it gets health care. And it’s especially frustrating for the Americans who’ve been trying to get covered. The site has been visited more than 20 million times so far. Nearly 700,000 people have applied for coverage already. That proves just how much demand there is for these new quality, affordable health care choices. And that’s why, in the coming weeks, we are going to get it working as smoothly as it’s supposed to. We’ve got people working overtime, 24/7, to boost capacity and address these problems, every single day.
But even as we improve the website, remember that the website isn’t the only way to apply for coverage under these new plans. We’ve updated HealthCare.gov to offer more information about enrolling over the phone, by mail, or in person with a specially-trained navigator who can help answer your questions. Just call 1-800-318-2596 or visit LocalHelp.HealthCare.gov. Don’t worry – these plans will not sell out. We’re only a few weeks into a six-month open enrollment period, and everyone who wants insurance through the Marketplace will get it.
Some people have poked fun at me this week for sounding like an insurance salesman. And that’s okay. I’d still be out there championing this law even if the website were perfect. I’ll never stop fighting to help more hardworking Americans know the economic security of health care. That’s something we should all want.
That’s why it’s also interesting to see Republicans in Congress expressing so much concern that people are having trouble buying health insurance through the new website – especially considering they’ve spent the last few years so obsessed with denying those same people access to health insurance that they just shut down the government and threatened default over it.
As I’ve said many times before, I’m willing to work with anyone, on any idea, who’s actually willing to make this law perform better. But it’s well past the time for folks to stop rooting for its failure. Because hardworking, middle-class families are rooting for its success.
The Affordable Care Act gives people who’ve been stuck with sky-high premiums because of preexisting conditions the chance to get affordable insurance for the first time.
This law means that women can finally buy coverage that doesn’t charge them higher premiums than men for the same care.
And everyone who already has health insurance, whether through your employer, Medicare, or Medicaid, will keep the benefits and protections this law has already put in place. Three million more young adults have health insurance on their parents’ plans because of the Affordable Care Act. More than six million people on Medicare have saved an average of $1,000 on their prescription medicine because of the Affordable Care Act. Last year, more than 8 million Americans received half a billion dollars in refunds from their insurers because of the Affordable Care Act. And for tens of millions of women, preventive care like mammograms and birth control are free because of the Affordable Care Act.
That’s all part of this law, and it’s here to stay.
We did not fight so hard for this reform for so many years just to build a website. We did it to free millions of American families from the awful fear that one illness or injury – to yourself or your child – might cost you everything you’d worked so hard to build. We did it to cement the principle that in this country, the security of health care is not a privilege for a fortunate few, but a right for every one of us to enjoy. We have already delivered on part of that promise, and we will not rest until the work is done.
Thank you, and have a great weekend.
SECRTARY OF STATE KERRY'S STATEMENT ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DAY
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
International Religious Freedom Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
October 27, 2013
Freedom of religion is a core American value, but it is not an American invention. It is the birthright of every individual, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The freedom of religion is a priority for President Obama, as it is for me as Secretary of State, because it is essential to human dignity and individual liberty, and it remains an integral part of our global diplomatic engagement.
We call on the international community – governments, civil society, and citizens alike – to speak out against religious persecution, and to stand unequivocally for religious freedom.
We do so humbly, knowing that our own journey as Americans was not without challenge, that the Pilgrims who fled across the ocean to escape religious persecution and landed in my home state of Massachusetts, would soon witness congregations break away and found Connecticut and Rhode Island in search of their own freedom to worship.
We also know that centuries later, we would see Catholics persecuted simply for being who they were and believing what they believed. But even as we are humble about the challenges of our history, we are proud that no place has ever welcomed so many different faiths to worship so freely as here in the United States of America.
This is why we believe so deeply that governments everywhere must fulfill their responsibility to protect religious freedom equally for all and to ensure that those who claim religion as justification for criminal acts do not walk away with impunity.
Nations that protect this fundamental freedom will have the partnership of the United States and the abiding commitment of the American people as we seek to advance freedom of religion worldwide.
International Religious Freedom Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
October 27, 2013
Freedom of religion is a core American value, but it is not an American invention. It is the birthright of every individual, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The freedom of religion is a priority for President Obama, as it is for me as Secretary of State, because it is essential to human dignity and individual liberty, and it remains an integral part of our global diplomatic engagement.
We call on the international community – governments, civil society, and citizens alike – to speak out against religious persecution, and to stand unequivocally for religious freedom.
We do so humbly, knowing that our own journey as Americans was not without challenge, that the Pilgrims who fled across the ocean to escape religious persecution and landed in my home state of Massachusetts, would soon witness congregations break away and found Connecticut and Rhode Island in search of their own freedom to worship.
We also know that centuries later, we would see Catholics persecuted simply for being who they were and believing what they believed. But even as we are humble about the challenges of our history, we are proud that no place has ever welcomed so many different faiths to worship so freely as here in the United States of America.
This is why we believe so deeply that governments everywhere must fulfill their responsibility to protect religious freedom equally for all and to ensure that those who claim religion as justification for criminal acts do not walk away with impunity.
Nations that protect this fundamental freedom will have the partnership of the United States and the abiding commitment of the American people as we seek to advance freedom of religion worldwide.
MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN STOLEN PRISONER NAMES IDENTITY FRAUD
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Friday, October 25, 2013
Alabama Man Pleads Guilty to His Involvement in an Identity Theft Scheme Using Stolen Prisoner Names and a Corrupt Postal Employee
Harvey James pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft for his role in a Stolen Identity Refund Fraud (“SIRF”) scheme , announced Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama George L. Beck Jr.
According to court documents and court proceedings, Harvey James obtained stolen identities from individuals who had access to inmate information from the Alabama Department of Corrections. For several years, James, his sister, Jacqueline Slaton, and others used those inmate names to file false federal and state tax returns. James and Slaton directed some of the false refunds to be sent to either prepaid debit cards or issued via check. In 2012, James and Slaton enlisted the assistance of U.S. Postal Service mail carrier Vernon Harrison in the scheme. Harrison, who provided James and his co-conspirators with mailing addresses to which they could mail debit cards, retrieved the debit cards from the mail and delivered them to James and his co-conspirators. In exchange, Harrison received substantial payments. Between 2010 and 2012, James and his co-conspirators filed hundreds of federal and state income tax returns that claimed over $1,000,000 in fraudulent tax refunds.
Sentencing has not yet been scheduled. James faces a minimum sentence of two years in prison and a maximum sentence of twenty-two years in prison, three years of supervised release, restitution and a maximum fine of $250,000. Slaton already pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 70 months in prison. In July 2013, Harrison was found guilty by a jury for his role in the scheme. Harrison will be sentenced on Oct. 31, 2013.
The case was investigated by Special Agents of the IRS - Criminal Investigation. Trial Attorneys Jason H. Poole and Michael Boteler of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Brown are prosecuting the case.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Alabama Man Pleads Guilty to His Involvement in an Identity Theft Scheme Using Stolen Prisoner Names and a Corrupt Postal Employee
Harvey James pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft for his role in a Stolen Identity Refund Fraud (“SIRF”) scheme , announced Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama George L. Beck Jr.
According to court documents and court proceedings, Harvey James obtained stolen identities from individuals who had access to inmate information from the Alabama Department of Corrections. For several years, James, his sister, Jacqueline Slaton, and others used those inmate names to file false federal and state tax returns. James and Slaton directed some of the false refunds to be sent to either prepaid debit cards or issued via check. In 2012, James and Slaton enlisted the assistance of U.S. Postal Service mail carrier Vernon Harrison in the scheme. Harrison, who provided James and his co-conspirators with mailing addresses to which they could mail debit cards, retrieved the debit cards from the mail and delivered them to James and his co-conspirators. In exchange, Harrison received substantial payments. Between 2010 and 2012, James and his co-conspirators filed hundreds of federal and state income tax returns that claimed over $1,000,000 in fraudulent tax refunds.
Sentencing has not yet been scheduled. James faces a minimum sentence of two years in prison and a maximum sentence of twenty-two years in prison, three years of supervised release, restitution and a maximum fine of $250,000. Slaton already pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 70 months in prison. In July 2013, Harrison was found guilty by a jury for his role in the scheme. Harrison will be sentenced on Oct. 31, 2013.
The case was investigated by Special Agents of the IRS - Criminal Investigation. Trial Attorneys Jason H. Poole and Michael Boteler of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Brown are prosecuting the case.
REDUCING WASTEFUL CHARGE-CARRIER INTERACTIONS THAT COMPETE WITH LIGHT PRODUCTION
FROM: LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY
Nanoscale Engineering Boosts Performance of Quantum Dot Light Emitting Diodes
Making the light at the end of the tunnel more efficient
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., October 25, 2013—Dramatic advances in the field of quantum dot light emitting diodes (QD-LEDs) could come from recent work by the Nanotechnology and Advanced Spectroscopy team at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Quantum dots are nano-sized semiconductor particles whose emission color can be tuned by simply changing their dimensions. They feature near-unity emission quantum yields and narrow emission bands, which result in excellent color purity. The new research aims to improve QD-LEDs by using a new generation of engineered quantum dots tailored specifically to have reduced wasteful charge-carrier interactions that compete with the production of light.
“QD-LEDs can potentially provide many advantages over standard lighting technologies, such as incandescent bulbs, especially in the areas of efficiency, operating lifetime and the color quality of the emitted light,” said Victor Klimov of Los Alamos.
Incandescent bulbs, known for converting only 10 percent of electrical energy into light and losing 90 percent of it to heat, are rapidly being replaced worldwide by less wasteful fluorescent light sources. However, the most efficient approach to lighting is direct conversion of electricity into light using electroluminescent devices such as LEDs.
Due to spectrally narrow, tunable emission, and ease of processing, colloidal QDs are attractive materials for LED technologies. In the last decade, vigorous research in QD-LEDs has led to dramatic improvements in their performance, to the point where it nearly meets the requirements for commercial products. One outstanding challenge in the field is the so-called efficiency roll-off (known also as “droop”), that is, the drop in efficiency at high currents.
“This ‘droop’ problem complicates achieving practical levels of brightness required especially for lighting applications,” said Wan Ki Bae, a postdoctoral researcher on the nanotech team.
By conducting spectroscopic studies on operational QD-LEDs, the Los Alamos researchers have established that the main factor responsible for the reduction in efficiency is an effect called Auger recombination. In this process, instead of being emitted as a photon, the energy from recombination of an excited electron and hole is transferred to the excess charge and subsequently dissipated as heat.
A paper, “Controlling the influence of Auger recombination on the performance of quantum-dot light-emitting diodes” is being published Oct. 25 in Nature Communications. In addition, an overview article on the field of quantum-dot light-emitting diodes and specifically the role of Auger effects appeared in the September Materials Research Society Bulletin, Volume 38, Issue 09, also authored by researchers of the Los Alamos nanotech team.
Not only has this work identified the mechanism for efficiency losses in QD-LEDs, Klimov said, but it has also demonstrated two different nano-engineering strategies for circumventing the problem in QD-LEDs based on bright quantum dots made of cadmium selenide cores overcoated with cadmium sulfide shells.
The first approach is to reduce the efficiency of Auger recombination itself, which can be done by incorporating a thin layer of cadmium selenide sulfide alloy at the core/shell interface of each quantum dot.
The other approach attacks the problem of charge imbalance by better controlling the flow of extra electrons into the dots themselves. This can be accomplished by coating each dot in a thin layer of zinc cadmium sulfide, which selectively impedes electron injection. According to Jeffrey Pietryga, a chemist in the nanotech team, “This fine tuning of electron and hole injection currents helps maintain the dots in a charge-neutral state and thus prevents activation of Auger recombination.”
Nanoscale Engineering Boosts Performance of Quantum Dot Light Emitting Diodes
Making the light at the end of the tunnel more efficient
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., October 25, 2013—Dramatic advances in the field of quantum dot light emitting diodes (QD-LEDs) could come from recent work by the Nanotechnology and Advanced Spectroscopy team at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Quantum dots are nano-sized semiconductor particles whose emission color can be tuned by simply changing their dimensions. They feature near-unity emission quantum yields and narrow emission bands, which result in excellent color purity. The new research aims to improve QD-LEDs by using a new generation of engineered quantum dots tailored specifically to have reduced wasteful charge-carrier interactions that compete with the production of light.
“QD-LEDs can potentially provide many advantages over standard lighting technologies, such as incandescent bulbs, especially in the areas of efficiency, operating lifetime and the color quality of the emitted light,” said Victor Klimov of Los Alamos.
Incandescent bulbs, known for converting only 10 percent of electrical energy into light and losing 90 percent of it to heat, are rapidly being replaced worldwide by less wasteful fluorescent light sources. However, the most efficient approach to lighting is direct conversion of electricity into light using electroluminescent devices such as LEDs.
Due to spectrally narrow, tunable emission, and ease of processing, colloidal QDs are attractive materials for LED technologies. In the last decade, vigorous research in QD-LEDs has led to dramatic improvements in their performance, to the point where it nearly meets the requirements for commercial products. One outstanding challenge in the field is the so-called efficiency roll-off (known also as “droop”), that is, the drop in efficiency at high currents.
“This ‘droop’ problem complicates achieving practical levels of brightness required especially for lighting applications,” said Wan Ki Bae, a postdoctoral researcher on the nanotech team.
By conducting spectroscopic studies on operational QD-LEDs, the Los Alamos researchers have established that the main factor responsible for the reduction in efficiency is an effect called Auger recombination. In this process, instead of being emitted as a photon, the energy from recombination of an excited electron and hole is transferred to the excess charge and subsequently dissipated as heat.
A paper, “Controlling the influence of Auger recombination on the performance of quantum-dot light-emitting diodes” is being published Oct. 25 in Nature Communications. In addition, an overview article on the field of quantum-dot light-emitting diodes and specifically the role of Auger effects appeared in the September Materials Research Society Bulletin, Volume 38, Issue 09, also authored by researchers of the Los Alamos nanotech team.
Not only has this work identified the mechanism for efficiency losses in QD-LEDs, Klimov said, but it has also demonstrated two different nano-engineering strategies for circumventing the problem in QD-LEDs based on bright quantum dots made of cadmium selenide cores overcoated with cadmium sulfide shells.
The first approach is to reduce the efficiency of Auger recombination itself, which can be done by incorporating a thin layer of cadmium selenide sulfide alloy at the core/shell interface of each quantum dot.
The other approach attacks the problem of charge imbalance by better controlling the flow of extra electrons into the dots themselves. This can be accomplished by coating each dot in a thin layer of zinc cadmium sulfide, which selectively impedes electron injection. According to Jeffrey Pietryga, a chemist in the nanotech team, “This fine tuning of electron and hole injection currents helps maintain the dots in a charge-neutral state and thus prevents activation of Auger recombination.”
$20.5 MILLION AWARDED FOR MAKE IT IN AMERICA CHALLENGE GRANTS
FROM: U.S. LABOR DEPARTMENT
Obama administration awards $20.5 million for Make it in America Challenge grants to spur business investment and job creation
U.S. Departments of Commerce and Labor, as well as Delta Regional Authority, to fund 10 projects for worker training, domestic and foreign business investment, and supply chain access
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny S. Pritzker, U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez and Delta Regional Authority Federal Co-Chairman Christopher A. Masingill today announced the 10 winners of the Make it in America Challenge, an Obama administration initiative to accelerate job creation and encourage business investment in the United States. The grantees are receiving a total of $20,533,409 for projects supporting regional economic development, advanced skills training, greater supply chain access and other enhancements. The programs are designed to encourage U.S. companies to keep, expand or reshore their manufacturing operations — and jobs — in America, and to entice foreign companies to build facilities and make their products here.
The U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration, the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration, and the Delta Regional Authority are funding the winning proposals. Additionally, Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership plans to make awards in early FY2014 in support of this initiative.
"Making smart investments in a skilled workforce are critical to continuing our recovery and unleashing the economy's full potential," said Secretary of Labor Perez. "In an increasingly sophisticated economy, equipping workers with the skills they need to succeed on the job isn't just a workforce development issue, but also an economic development issue and the partnerships funded through these Make it in America Challenge grants are helping to lead the way."
"Supporting innovative, regionally-based strategies that create an environment that encourages businesses to invest in the U.S. is vital to enhancing our nation's global competitiveness," said Secretary of Commerce Pritzker. "These Make It In America Challenge grants reward promising ideas that will advance the Obama administration's goals of improving our economy by strengthening our manufacturing sector and making our country a more attractive place to do business."
The 10 winners of the Make it in America Challenge will pursue projects in nine states. Descriptions of each project, including grant amount breakdowns by agency are available at http://www.eda.gov/challenges/MakeItInAmerica/winners.htm.
The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority of Brunswick, Maine ($2,050,000)
The Center for Automotive Research of Ann Arbor, Mich. ($1,471,800)
The Mississippi State University of Starkville, Miss. ($1,931,935)
The Board of Curators at the University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo. ($1,842,977)
N.E.O. Foundation of Cleveland, Ohio ($1,796,867)
The Buckeye Hills-Hocking Valley Regional Development District of Reno, Ohio ($1,700,844)
The Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments of Salem, Ore. ($1,714,376)
The SEDA Council of Governments of Lewisburg, Pa. ($1,800,000)
Clemson University of Clemson, S.C.: 2 projects (construction and non-construction) ($3,549,610)
The Innovate Washington of Spokane, Wash. ($2,675,000)
The Make it in America Challenge was issued on March 18, 2013. Under President Obama's leadership, federal agencies are collaborating more effectively to make smart investments that provide stakeholders with a seamless process for applying for federal resources. To that end, the Make it in America Challenge allowed applicants to submit one application to fund projects that: help distressed regions build on existing assets, promote a competitive environment for foreign-owned and domestic firms to establish and grow their U.S. operations, create jobs and develop a skilled workforce for specific industries.
A forthcoming announcement will be made regarding additional funding from the National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which will focus on developing greater connectivity of regional supply chains in addition to assisting small- and medium-sized enterprises.
The Make it in America Challenge builds on the United States' significant competitive advantages — from a strong business climate, to a highly-skilled and productive workforce — that make it a profitable place for businesses to invest. Investing in businesses and production here can help put more Americans back to work. Some of the ways in which the administration has already helped American workers and businesses thrive include: enhancing the general business climate, securing access to markets for U.S. exports, providing financial and technical support for companies to grow and expand, providing funding to improve education and training opportunities to develop a skilled workforce, and enforcing global trade rules to ensure that American businesses and workers are competing on a level playing field.
Obama administration awards $20.5 million for Make it in America Challenge grants to spur business investment and job creation
U.S. Departments of Commerce and Labor, as well as Delta Regional Authority, to fund 10 projects for worker training, domestic and foreign business investment, and supply chain access
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny S. Pritzker, U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez and Delta Regional Authority Federal Co-Chairman Christopher A. Masingill today announced the 10 winners of the Make it in America Challenge, an Obama administration initiative to accelerate job creation and encourage business investment in the United States. The grantees are receiving a total of $20,533,409 for projects supporting regional economic development, advanced skills training, greater supply chain access and other enhancements. The programs are designed to encourage U.S. companies to keep, expand or reshore their manufacturing operations — and jobs — in America, and to entice foreign companies to build facilities and make their products here.
The U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration, the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration, and the Delta Regional Authority are funding the winning proposals. Additionally, Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership plans to make awards in early FY2014 in support of this initiative.
"Making smart investments in a skilled workforce are critical to continuing our recovery and unleashing the economy's full potential," said Secretary of Labor Perez. "In an increasingly sophisticated economy, equipping workers with the skills they need to succeed on the job isn't just a workforce development issue, but also an economic development issue and the partnerships funded through these Make it in America Challenge grants are helping to lead the way."
"Supporting innovative, regionally-based strategies that create an environment that encourages businesses to invest in the U.S. is vital to enhancing our nation's global competitiveness," said Secretary of Commerce Pritzker. "These Make It In America Challenge grants reward promising ideas that will advance the Obama administration's goals of improving our economy by strengthening our manufacturing sector and making our country a more attractive place to do business."
The 10 winners of the Make it in America Challenge will pursue projects in nine states. Descriptions of each project, including grant amount breakdowns by agency are available at http://www.eda.gov/challenges/MakeItInAmerica/winners.htm.
The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority of Brunswick, Maine ($2,050,000)
The Center for Automotive Research of Ann Arbor, Mich. ($1,471,800)
The Mississippi State University of Starkville, Miss. ($1,931,935)
The Board of Curators at the University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo. ($1,842,977)
N.E.O. Foundation of Cleveland, Ohio ($1,796,867)
The Buckeye Hills-Hocking Valley Regional Development District of Reno, Ohio ($1,700,844)
The Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments of Salem, Ore. ($1,714,376)
The SEDA Council of Governments of Lewisburg, Pa. ($1,800,000)
Clemson University of Clemson, S.C.: 2 projects (construction and non-construction) ($3,549,610)
The Innovate Washington of Spokane, Wash. ($2,675,000)
The Make it in America Challenge was issued on March 18, 2013. Under President Obama's leadership, federal agencies are collaborating more effectively to make smart investments that provide stakeholders with a seamless process for applying for federal resources. To that end, the Make it in America Challenge allowed applicants to submit one application to fund projects that: help distressed regions build on existing assets, promote a competitive environment for foreign-owned and domestic firms to establish and grow their U.S. operations, create jobs and develop a skilled workforce for specific industries.
A forthcoming announcement will be made regarding additional funding from the National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which will focus on developing greater connectivity of regional supply chains in addition to assisting small- and medium-sized enterprises.
The Make it in America Challenge builds on the United States' significant competitive advantages — from a strong business climate, to a highly-skilled and productive workforce — that make it a profitable place for businesses to invest. Investing in businesses and production here can help put more Americans back to work. Some of the ways in which the administration has already helped American workers and businesses thrive include: enhancing the general business climate, securing access to markets for U.S. exports, providing financial and technical support for companies to grow and expand, providing funding to improve education and training opportunities to develop a skilled workforce, and enforcing global trade rules to ensure that American businesses and workers are competing on a level playing field.
Saturday, October 26, 2013
COURT STOPS COLLECTION OF ALLEGEDLY PHANTOM PAYDAY LOANS FROM CONSUMERS
FROM: FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
At the FTC's Request, Court Halts Collection of Allegedly Fake Payday Debts
Defendants' Robocalls and Collectors Threatened Legal Action and Arrest, FTC Alleges
At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a U.S. district court has halted an operation based in Atlanta and Cleveland that allegedly used deceptive and threatening tactics to collect phantom payday loan “debts” that consumers either did not owe, or did not owe to the defendants. The court order freezes the defendants’ assets to preserve the possibility of providing redress to consumers, and appoints a receiver.
According to the FTC, the defendants operated under a host of fictitious business names that implied an affiliation with a law firm or a law enforcement agency, such as Global Legal Services, Allied Litigation Group, United Judgment & Appeals, Dockets Liens & Seizures, and United Judgment Center. Using robocalls and voice messages that threatened legal action and arrest unless consumers responded within a few days, the defendants have collected and processed millions of dollars in payment for phantom debts, according to the complaint. Their practices have generated almost 3,000 complaints to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel.
According to documents filed with the court, a typical message stated: “[T]his is the Civil Investigations Unit. We are contacting you in regards to a complaint being filed against you, pursuant to claim and affidavit number D00D-2932, where you have been named a respondent in a court action and must appear. There is a contact number on file which you must call, 757-301-4745. Please forward this information to your attorney in that the order to show cause contains a restraining order. You or your attorney will have 24 to 48 hours to oppose this matter.”
Working out of offices in Cleveland and Atlanta, the defendants threatened consumers that if they did not pay, their bank accounts would be closed, their wages would be garnished, they would face felony fraud charges, they would have to appear in court thousands of miles from their homes, or they would be arrested at their workplace, according to documents filed with the court. Many consumers ended up paying the defendants for debts they did not owe because they feared the threatened repercussions of failing to pay, believed the defendants were legitimate and collecting real debts, or simply wanted to stop the harassment, according to the complaint.
The FTC’s complaint names Lisa J. Jeter, Nichole C. Anderson, Hope V. Wilson, Angela J. Triplett, DeMarra J. Massey, and their companies Pinnacle Payment Services, LLC, Velocity Payment Solutions, LLC, Heritage Capital Services, LLC, Performance Payment Processing, LLC, Credit Source Plus, LLC (Ohio), Credit Source Plus, LLC (Georgia), Reliable Resolution, LLC, Premium Express Processing, LLC (Ohio), and Premium Express Processing, LLC (Atlanta).
This is the FTC’s fifth recent case involving allegedly fraudulent, online payday-loan-related operations. Other cases include American Credit Crunchers, LLC, Broadway Global Master Inc., Pro Credit, and Vantage Funding.
The complaint charges the defendants with violating the FTC Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by falsely telling consumers that:
they were delinquent on a payday loan or other debt that the defendants had the authority to collect;
they had the legal obligation to pay the defendants;
they would be arrested or imprisoned if they did not pay; and
the defendants had taken or would take legal action.
The complaint also charges that the defendants illegally called consumers at inconvenient
times or places, including at their workplaces, despite being asked to stop; disclosed supposed debts to family members, employers, and other third parties; harassed consumers with repeated calls; failed to disclose their identity as debt collectors; and failed to provide a required written notice telling consumers how to dispute the alleged debts.
For more consumer information on this topic, see Dealing with Debt.
The Commission vote authorizing the staff to file the complaint was 4-0. The complaint and request for a temporary restraining order were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division. On October 24, 2013, the court granted the FTC’s request.
NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The case will be decided by the court
At the FTC's Request, Court Halts Collection of Allegedly Fake Payday Debts
Defendants' Robocalls and Collectors Threatened Legal Action and Arrest, FTC Alleges
At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a U.S. district court has halted an operation based in Atlanta and Cleveland that allegedly used deceptive and threatening tactics to collect phantom payday loan “debts” that consumers either did not owe, or did not owe to the defendants. The court order freezes the defendants’ assets to preserve the possibility of providing redress to consumers, and appoints a receiver.
According to the FTC, the defendants operated under a host of fictitious business names that implied an affiliation with a law firm or a law enforcement agency, such as Global Legal Services, Allied Litigation Group, United Judgment & Appeals, Dockets Liens & Seizures, and United Judgment Center. Using robocalls and voice messages that threatened legal action and arrest unless consumers responded within a few days, the defendants have collected and processed millions of dollars in payment for phantom debts, according to the complaint. Their practices have generated almost 3,000 complaints to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel.
According to documents filed with the court, a typical message stated: “[T]his is the Civil Investigations Unit. We are contacting you in regards to a complaint being filed against you, pursuant to claim and affidavit number D00D-2932, where you have been named a respondent in a court action and must appear. There is a contact number on file which you must call, 757-301-4745. Please forward this information to your attorney in that the order to show cause contains a restraining order. You or your attorney will have 24 to 48 hours to oppose this matter.”
Working out of offices in Cleveland and Atlanta, the defendants threatened consumers that if they did not pay, their bank accounts would be closed, their wages would be garnished, they would face felony fraud charges, they would have to appear in court thousands of miles from their homes, or they would be arrested at their workplace, according to documents filed with the court. Many consumers ended up paying the defendants for debts they did not owe because they feared the threatened repercussions of failing to pay, believed the defendants were legitimate and collecting real debts, or simply wanted to stop the harassment, according to the complaint.
The FTC’s complaint names Lisa J. Jeter, Nichole C. Anderson, Hope V. Wilson, Angela J. Triplett, DeMarra J. Massey, and their companies Pinnacle Payment Services, LLC, Velocity Payment Solutions, LLC, Heritage Capital Services, LLC, Performance Payment Processing, LLC, Credit Source Plus, LLC (Ohio), Credit Source Plus, LLC (Georgia), Reliable Resolution, LLC, Premium Express Processing, LLC (Ohio), and Premium Express Processing, LLC (Atlanta).
This is the FTC’s fifth recent case involving allegedly fraudulent, online payday-loan-related operations. Other cases include American Credit Crunchers, LLC, Broadway Global Master Inc., Pro Credit, and Vantage Funding.
The complaint charges the defendants with violating the FTC Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by falsely telling consumers that:
they were delinquent on a payday loan or other debt that the defendants had the authority to collect;
they had the legal obligation to pay the defendants;
they would be arrested or imprisoned if they did not pay; and
the defendants had taken or would take legal action.
The complaint also charges that the defendants illegally called consumers at inconvenient
times or places, including at their workplaces, despite being asked to stop; disclosed supposed debts to family members, employers, and other third parties; harassed consumers with repeated calls; failed to disclose their identity as debt collectors; and failed to provide a required written notice telling consumers how to dispute the alleged debts.
For more consumer information on this topic, see Dealing with Debt.
The Commission vote authorizing the staff to file the complaint was 4-0. The complaint and request for a temporary restraining order were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division. On October 24, 2013, the court granted the FTC’s request.
NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The case will be decided by the court
FDIC AND PEOPE'S BANK OF CHINA SIGN MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
FROM: FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION
Beijing, China -- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the agency and the People's Bank of China (PBOC) designed to extend their effective international working relationship in the areas of deposit insurance and resolution. The purpose of the MOU is to develop and expand the interaction between the FDIC and the PBOC and to demonstrate a shared commitment to cooperation among banking agencies. The MOU also seeks to enhance cooperation in analyzing of cross-border financial institution recovery and resolution issues, and planning for potential recovery and resolution scenarios, including appropriate simulations, contingency planning and other work designed to improve preparations to manage troubled institutions with operations in the United States and the PBOC. The agreement was signed by FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg and Governor Zhou Xiaochuan of the PBOC and updates an existing MOU that was signed on August 2nd, 2007.
FDIC Chairman Gruenberg said, "There is a long history of close collaboration and cooperation between the PBOC and the FDIC, and I am honored to have the opportunity to build on this strong foundation through this MOU. China and the U.S. have a shared interest in maintaining and expanding our interaction on economic and financial issues, particularly in the areas of deposit insurance and cross-border resolution issues. Among U.S. financial regulators, the FDIC is uniquely positioned to engage and offer our experience with deposit insurance and resolution issues internationally. I welcome this expanded agreement with the PBOC and would like to thank our Chinese hosts, particularly Governor Zhou and the officials at the PBOC, for accommodating the delegation from the FDIC."
Beijing, China -- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the agency and the People's Bank of China (PBOC) designed to extend their effective international working relationship in the areas of deposit insurance and resolution. The purpose of the MOU is to develop and expand the interaction between the FDIC and the PBOC and to demonstrate a shared commitment to cooperation among banking agencies. The MOU also seeks to enhance cooperation in analyzing of cross-border financial institution recovery and resolution issues, and planning for potential recovery and resolution scenarios, including appropriate simulations, contingency planning and other work designed to improve preparations to manage troubled institutions with operations in the United States and the PBOC. The agreement was signed by FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg and Governor Zhou Xiaochuan of the PBOC and updates an existing MOU that was signed on August 2nd, 2007.
FDIC Chairman Gruenberg said, "There is a long history of close collaboration and cooperation between the PBOC and the FDIC, and I am honored to have the opportunity to build on this strong foundation through this MOU. China and the U.S. have a shared interest in maintaining and expanding our interaction on economic and financial issues, particularly in the areas of deposit insurance and cross-border resolution issues. Among U.S. financial regulators, the FDIC is uniquely positioned to engage and offer our experience with deposit insurance and resolution issues internationally. I welcome this expanded agreement with the PBOC and would like to thank our Chinese hosts, particularly Governor Zhou and the officials at the PBOC, for accommodating the delegation from the FDIC."
TWO SENTENCED FOR ROLES IN $74 MILLION HOME HEALTH MEDICARE FRAUD
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Administrator and Employee of Two Miami Home Health Companies Sentenced for Role in $74 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme
The administrator and employee of two Miami health care companies was sentenced today to serve 60 months in prison for her participation in a $74 million home health Medicare fraud scheme.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Steinbach of the FBI’s Miami Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dennis of the HHS Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Office of Investigations Miami Office made the announcement.
Myriam Acevedo, 63, of Miami, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke in the Southern District of Florida. In May 2013, Acevedo pleaded guilty, without a plea agreement, to one count of conspiracy to pay health care kickbacks and two counts of payment of health care kickbacks.
According to court documents, Acevedo was an administrator of LTC Professional Consultants Inc. (LTC) and an employee of Professional Home Care Solutions Inc. (Professional), Miami home health care agencies that purported to provide home health and therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries. Acevedo and her co-conspirators agreed to and actually did operate LTC and Professional for the purpose of billing the Medicare program for, among other things, expensive physical therapy and home health care services that were not medically necessary and/or were not provided.
Acevedo’s primary role in the scheme was to pay kickbacks and bribes to patient recruiters of LTC and Professional. As part of this role, Acevedo and others would distribute cash to patient recruiters in exchange for providing patients to LTC and Professional, as well as prescriptions, plans of care (POCs) and certifications for medically unnecessary therapy and home health services for Medicare beneficiaries. Acevedo and her co-conspirators would use these prescriptions, POCs and medical certifications to fraudulently bill the Medicare program for home health care services, which Acevedo knew was in violation of federal criminal laws.
From approximately September 2007 through June 2012, LTC and Professional submitted approximately $41 million in claims for home health services that were not medically necessary and/or not provided. Medicare actually paid approximately $27 million for these fraudulent claims. Acevedo was part of an overall scheme that fraudulently billed Medicare more than $74 million.
This case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Joseph S. Beemsterboer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Since their inception in March 2007, Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in nine locations have charged more than 1,500 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $5 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Administrator and Employee of Two Miami Home Health Companies Sentenced for Role in $74 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme
The administrator and employee of two Miami health care companies was sentenced today to serve 60 months in prison for her participation in a $74 million home health Medicare fraud scheme.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Steinbach of the FBI’s Miami Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dennis of the HHS Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Office of Investigations Miami Office made the announcement.
Myriam Acevedo, 63, of Miami, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke in the Southern District of Florida. In May 2013, Acevedo pleaded guilty, without a plea agreement, to one count of conspiracy to pay health care kickbacks and two counts of payment of health care kickbacks.
According to court documents, Acevedo was an administrator of LTC Professional Consultants Inc. (LTC) and an employee of Professional Home Care Solutions Inc. (Professional), Miami home health care agencies that purported to provide home health and therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries. Acevedo and her co-conspirators agreed to and actually did operate LTC and Professional for the purpose of billing the Medicare program for, among other things, expensive physical therapy and home health care services that were not medically necessary and/or were not provided.
Acevedo’s primary role in the scheme was to pay kickbacks and bribes to patient recruiters of LTC and Professional. As part of this role, Acevedo and others would distribute cash to patient recruiters in exchange for providing patients to LTC and Professional, as well as prescriptions, plans of care (POCs) and certifications for medically unnecessary therapy and home health services for Medicare beneficiaries. Acevedo and her co-conspirators would use these prescriptions, POCs and medical certifications to fraudulently bill the Medicare program for home health care services, which Acevedo knew was in violation of federal criminal laws.
From approximately September 2007 through June 2012, LTC and Professional submitted approximately $41 million in claims for home health services that were not medically necessary and/or not provided. Medicare actually paid approximately $27 million for these fraudulent claims. Acevedo was part of an overall scheme that fraudulently billed Medicare more than $74 million.
This case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Joseph S. Beemsterboer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Since their inception in March 2007, Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in nine locations have charged more than 1,500 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $5 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
Friday, October 25, 2013
CDC SAYS 1 IN 6 BETWEEN THE AGES OF 2 AND 19 ARE OBESE
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
One in 6 obese
From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds some signs that the weight gains of America’s young people are tapering off. The researchers saw this in data from 2008 to 2011 on almost 12 million low-income youngsters in 40 states.
But it doesn’t mean the weights are all healthy. The CDC says 1 in 6 people between the ages of 2 and 19 is obese. And researcher Ashleigh May says the excess weight produces a health burden:
“During childhood, things like high cholesterol, high blood sugar, asthma, and even mental health problems can occur. And children who are overweight or obese are more likely to become overweight or obese adults.’’
The study is in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Learn more at healthfinder.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.
Last revised: October 24, 2013
One in 6 obese
From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds some signs that the weight gains of America’s young people are tapering off. The researchers saw this in data from 2008 to 2011 on almost 12 million low-income youngsters in 40 states.
But it doesn’t mean the weights are all healthy. The CDC says 1 in 6 people between the ages of 2 and 19 is obese. And researcher Ashleigh May says the excess weight produces a health burden:
“During childhood, things like high cholesterol, high blood sugar, asthma, and even mental health problems can occur. And children who are overweight or obese are more likely to become overweight or obese adults.’’
The study is in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Learn more at healthfinder.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.
Last revised: October 24, 2013
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