DOD REPORTS ON AIRSTRIKES AGAINST ISIL

FROM:   U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Airstrikes Continue Against ISIL in Syria, Iraq
From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, May 22, 2015 – U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of the latest strikes, which took place between 8 a.m. yesterday and 8 a.m. today, local time, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Airstrikes in Syria

Attack and fighter aircraft conducted five airstrikes in Syria:

-- Near Hasakah, two airstrikes destroyed an ISIL vehicle and an ISIL vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two airstrikes struck two ISIL wellheads.

-- Near Kobani, one airstrike destroyed an ISIL fighting positon.

Airstrikes in Iraq

Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted conducted 15 airstrikes in Iraq, approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense:

-- Near Asad, two airstrikes destroyed five ISIL buildings.

-- Near Haditha, one airstrike struck an ISIL staging area.

-- Near Mosul, four airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying two ISIL tunnel systems, an ISIL motorcycle, an ISIL vehicle and an ISIL cache.

-- Near Ramadi, five airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying five ISIL armored vehicles, two ISIL tanks, two ISIL vehicles, an ISIL armored personnel carrier, three ISIL IEDs, five abandoned tanks, two abandoned armored personnel carriers and two abandoned armored vehicles.

-- Near Sinjar, three airstrikes struck three ISIL tactical units, destroying four ISIL buildings, two ISIL heavy machine guns and an ISIL mortar system.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, the region and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations.

Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the United States, Bahrain, Canada, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS AT U.S. CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE ARCTIC COUNCIL RECEPTION

FROM:  THE STATE DEPARTMENT
05/21/2015 09:10 PM EDT
Remarks at the U.S. Chairmanship of the Arctic Council Reception
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Benjamin Franklin Room
Washington, DC
May 21, 2015

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much. Well, Admiral Papp, thank you for a way over the top introduction, which I’ll take any day of the year. (Laughter.) We don’t get enough of those in public life.

I want you all to know I began sailing when I was about five years old, which was way before Jack Kennedy became President of the United States, so – (laughter) – it was no model there. It was my dad, actually, who dragged me out and let sail, crossed the ocean several times, actually, as a sailor.

I knew somehow Admiral Papp was going to get some icebreakers into that introduction, too. (Laughter.) But we need him, and I’m honored that so many coasties are here. Thank you all very much. And Navy, if you’re in there, we appreciate it very, very – whoops. What happened? Well, it’s not a sign of the times, I want you to know. (Laughter.) It rolled way out there. That’s all right. Don’t worry about it. Seriously, don’t worry about it. I have the job without that, so – (laughter).

I am really thrilled to see so many of you here. I mean that. We did not know who would respond to this sort of call to gather only a short time after the passing of the gavel in Iqaluit, and we’re deeply grateful to our friends from Canada for their great stewardship and for helping our team so much – Admiral Papp and company – to be able to do that in a seamless way and with a great deal of cooperation with respect to the agenda ahead. I know Lynne Yelich, minister at the House of Commons, is here tonight. Lynne, I don’t know where you are. Where’s your hand? But you’re representing Chair Leona Aglukkaq, and we’re very grateful to you. And thank you to Canada for all you did, and we appreciate your being here today. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

And I had a chance before we came out here to present a couple of certificates of appreciation to Susan Harper and to Vincent Rigby, who’s the chair of the Arctic officials, and we’re very grateful for their stewardship. They were really the ones who worked so closely and helped to pass that baton, and I say thank you to them.

I also want to say I talked to Foreign Minister Lavrov earlier this morning. We did talk a little about the Arctic. And he couldn’t be here because Prime Minister Abadi is in Moscow, but he is 100 percent looking forward to working with us and committed – Moscow – you all saw that they indicated they’re going to sign the treaty. And we are looking forward to that continued participation.

But I’ll tell you there is no greater test of the collegiality of this council – or, frankly, of a personal gesture of friendship and support for this effort – than the three foreign ministers who have traveled to be here all this distance, one of whom came all the way from Tel Aviv in Israel, where he was on a visit. I’m talking about the distinguished foreign minister from Norway, Borge Brende. Thank you so much for your being here and making that effort. (Applause.) The foreign minister of Iceland, Gunnar Sveinsson – they’re right here. Thank you so much for being part – raise your hand so everybody can see you. (Applause.) There you are. And my friend from Finland, who announced to me because of the change of government this will be his sort of last journey here for the moment as a foreign minister, but Erkki Tuomioja – where are you? Erkki. There he is. Thank you very, very much. (Applause.) Thanks for being here.

And we’re privileged to have our ambassador from Canada who does such a great job here, Gary Doer. Thank you, Gary, for being here. And the American ambassador to Canada, Bruce Heyman – Bruce, thank you for being here very, very much. Appreciate it. (Applause.)

I want to begin by saying that I love a man who can’t say no to serving when he’s asked to. And when I called him literally the night before he was about to retire, I didn’t know whether I was on a fool’s mission, in the sense that he already had his life planned out and he was locked in and clear where he was going to go. But what a terrific phone call that turned out to be, and what a stroke for all of us that the admiral is prepared to continue almost doing what he was doing in many ways, only with a closer, more narrowed focus, but on a focus of passion and a focus of his own heart. He is 100 percent into this, my friends. And after years – you don’t become commandant of the Coast Guard without years of extraordinary service, and now he is putting in overtime, so to speak. We’re deeply appreciative to Admiral Papp. Thank you for being our special representative to the Arctic. Appreciate it. (Applause.)

And I want to join the admiral in welcoming all of you who are here – friends from the diplomatic community, the Executive Branch, Capitol Hill. I want to introduce two senators. The senator from Maine, Angus King, is here somewhere, over there. (Applause.) Angus, thank you for being here. (Applause.) And from Alaska, the senator from Alaska, Lisa Murkowski, is here. (Applause.) And I am deeply appreciative to both of them. They have started the Arctic caucus in the United States Senate. They took the time to travel with me when we went to Iqaluit and took on the chairmanship. It helped us – I think it helped them – to get a sense of the energy and enthusiasm that exists for this enterprise. And we will need the United States Senate and the Congress, and we’re deeply appreciative for your leadership.

I also thank the folks from the private sector, from the scientific, from the academic worlds, worlds of academia who are here, especially those of you, literally, who have traveled thousands of miles to be with us this evening. And we’re very grateful you could make it.

For those of you who haven’t been here before, this is sort of the great hall of our State Department, where we are privileged to entertain foreign dignitaries or have events like this. The room was named for Benjamin Franklin, and you can see him up there on the wall above the fireplace. He had something to say about just about everything except the Arctic. (Laughter.) But there is a connection. And that is, during his storied career – and it was a remarkable career and he is really known as sort of the first diplomat, if you will, the founder of the diplomatic service – he crossed the Atlantic many times back when it was not an easy task, my friends. And if you read the history of John Adams and his young son leaving Massachusetts to sail over to become ambassador, and literally escaping a British frigate and pumping down in the hold to keep the ship afloat because it sprung a leak, this was hairy business – these guys, the way they did this.

And he loved to fill up the hours at sea by conducting experiments with water temperature. And he used the most sophisticated equipment of the era, which was a thermometer put in a bucket. And he would lower the bucket into the waves, and with help from a Nantucket sea captain who happened to be his cousin – Franklin, actually, was raised partly by an aunt on Nantucket – he became the first person to publish, as a result of his findings, a chart of what he called “a river in the ocean,” which, of course, we know as the Gulf Stream. So it’s a powerful current that affects all of our climate, including the conditions in the Arctic itself. So without knowing it – he didn’t talk about it, but he did something about it. (Laughter.)

And there is, of course, a second connection between Franklin and this reception. And that is that he liked to have a really good time, folks. (Laughter.) And he didn’t spare the booze, and while he was in Paris he led a life that clearly meant that had he lived today and been nominated, he would never have been confirmed for office. (Laughter.) Anyway, it just goes to show how the times change. (Laughter.)

So I’m not going to give a long speech. I just want to say a few words about this wonderful opportunity to take over this chairmanship, which I totally respect, is a consensus-driven structure and will stay that way, obviously, and which is really a moment of stewardship. It’s a shared responsibility. It’s a rotating chair. We get to be chair; we bring some ideas to the table, but none of them work if we don’t have the same collegiate spirit that brought these three great foreign ministers here to Washington tonight. That’s the spirit with which we approach this.

And the council is a unique body. It was established to find practical solutions to some very daunting and rapidly growing challenges, and the United States is really thrilled to take its turn in the chair with a goal of passing the baton on with all of us heading in the same direction and with a great sense of responsibility.

Our priorities include Arctic Ocean safety, security, and stewardship. It includes improved economic conditions for the living conditions of folks in the Arctic communities, and that is a critical concern – indigenous population and what development or changes in the environment might do to those folks. They’re 4 million strong living there for centuries, and believe me, they are an essential part of everything that is critical to the region.

So I begin by being very clear that every nation that cares about the future of the Arctic has to be a leader in taking and urging others to move forward with bold initiatives and immediate, ambitious steps to curb the impact of greenhouse gases.

A few minutes ago we were talking in the back room with my fellow foreign ministers about the importance of our responsibility on climate change and the difficulty of getting people in public life to link in reality to the daunting impacts that the potential catastrophe that comes with that change could bring to people. It’s hard to fathom and it’s hard to grab on, and for a lot of people it’s easier to shove it off and either pretend it’s not happening or let it – somebody else is going to take care of it.

It’s not going to work that way. And if we don’t do this, the current trends of record temperatures – almost every year is a record set ahead of the last year, and that’s true for the last 10 or 11 years. It’s not an anomaly. And we also know that the thawing permafrost, which is releasing methane, which is 20 times more damaging than carbon dioxide, has its own negative impacts, not to mention the impact on living conditions for the people who live there and rely on the frozen tundra and so forth.

Moreover, you have huge acidification that comes, and we’re seeing the increase of that acidification. And scientists are telling us there’s an impact on krill, which is critical to whales and critical to ocean life. And so the cycle itself can be broken here, once again, conceivably by the impact of human beings and the absence of wise stewardship and, in fact, sustainable development practices.

Extreme weather events, which we’re seeing more and more of – we spent about 110 billion or so last year in the United States of America for one year’s damages. I mean, you think, if you start accruing that on an annualized basis, folks, the kind of input we’re talking about in order to put out technology that could reduce those impacts or limit them altogether is miniscule compared to those damages and to what will happen as property disappears, as insurance rates go up, as whole nations like islands in the Maldives or the Seychelles or other places, in fact, are threatened by sea level rise. There’s no mystery to what any of this means.

And so we also see the loss of sea ice, meaning coastal disruptions and storm surges, and in lower latitudes the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, which has real impact because it’s currently above water, on ground. And as that water enters the ocean – or the whole ice sheet or parts of it might start to break off – you are going to see some serious impacts. So nobody can afford to be passive on this issue, and that’s what brings us to the table in this effort for these two years. The responsibility the Arctic Council has to the people who live in the region – as beautiful as it is, it is not just a picturesque landscape. It’s a home. It’s a lifestyle. It has a history. And those folks deserve as much respect for that as anybody else in any other habitat on the earth.

Over the next years, we’re going to focus on the well-being of the indigenous communities, and we’re going to take into account that the melting of the ice is now opening up the possibilities of a great deal more commercial traffic, a great deal more tourism – eco-tourism or otherwise – and a great deal more shipping, fishing, and commercial operations, particularly possibility of extraction of minerals from the ocean and the possibility of conflict as people engage in staking claims for that. So there’s a lot at stake, which is why President Obama did undertake to articulate this in the context of the Coast Guard graduation yesterday. So we have to implement the framework that we have developed to reduce emissions of black carbon and methane in the Arctic, and at the same time we have to foster economic development that will raise living standards and help make renewable energy sources the choice for everybody.

So everybody in this room is connected to the Arctic somehow. That’s what brought you here today. And I think there’s an extraordinary degree of unity of purpose in our beginnings here and in our being here. We want a region where people can live with hope and optimism for the future, where strong measures are being taken to mitigate environmental harm, where natural resources are managed effectively and sustainably, and where the challenges of economic development and social cohesion are being addressed in a creative, sensitive, responsible way. Above all, we want a region where every stakeholder has a voice and a role in making the idea of one Arctic a reality. And I want to thank each of you for the contributions that you are making to this effort and that you will make over the course of these years.

It’s my pleasure now to introduce to you somebody who has probably gained the title as the guest who came the furthest even. Forgive me. It’s only the second visit that Byron Nicholai has made to the Lower 48, as it’s called, and it’s his first to the East Coast. And the reason it’s his first is he only just turned 17 years old, folks. (Laughter.) Byron’s home is the village of Toksook Bay in Alaska, where he was a star basketball player. He was the leader of the high school drum group. And as we will soon see and hear, he also sings. And when he posted a song on Facebook, his world suddenly got a lot bigger. (Laughter.) After graduation, Byron hopes to do more traveling to teach students about his culture and hopefully to inspire them to learn more about their ancestral traditions. Tonight he is here to help us celebrate the next chapter in the work of the Arctic Council. And unity is our watchword, so please put your hands together and welcome Byron. (Applause.)

(Mr. Nicholai performs three songs.)

SECRETARY KERRY: That was wonderful. What a strong, resonant, extraordinary voice. And most importantly, thank you for really not just giving a person and a face to the Arctic, but also a voice and especially a spirit. And I think everybody here is deeply appreciative for you coming and singing. Thank you so much. Thank you. (Applause.) Have a good time, everybody.

Oh, I’ve just been handed a note. I wasn’t aware of this; I apologize. But the Swedish Minister for Research and Higher Education Hellmark Knutsson is here. Where is she? There. Thank you so much. (Applause.) Thank you very, very much. Thank you.

Folks, now you get to the Ben Franklin part of the party. Have fun.

U.S.-GREECE DISCUSS DEFENSE ISSUES

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

Right:  Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Christine E. Wormuth welcomes Greece's Minister of Defense Panos Kammenos to the Pentagon May 20, 2015. During their meeting, Wormuth and Kammenos discussed security and defense issues of mutual concern, including trans-Mediterranean migration, terrorism, the Balkans, Libya, the Middle East, and Russia's aggressive actions in Ukraine. DoD photo. 

Leaders Discuss U.S.-Greece Security, Defense Issues

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2015 – Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Christine E. Wormuth met yesterday with Greece's Minister of Defense Panos Kammenos at the Pentagon to discuss security and defense issues of mutual concern, according to a DoD news release.

Those issues included trans-Mediterranean migration, terrorism, Russia's aggressive actions in Ukraine, the Balkans, Libya, and the Middle East, the release said. Wormuth thanked Greece for hosting U.S. forces at Souda Bay, Crete, and for its participation in operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo, according to the release.

Greece's Support in Opposing ISIL

Wormuth also noted the important support Greece is providing the coalition in opposing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the release added. She and Kammenos agreed that the security situation along NATO's southern flank is a growing concern and called for NATO to develop a southern strategy.

She also conveyed that Secretary of Defense Ash Carter is looking forward to working with Kammenos at the NATO Ministerial next month, the release said.

DOD SAYS PATHWAY CLEARED TO BEIJI OIL REFINERY IN IRAQ

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Iraqi Forces Clear Pathway to Beiji Oil Refinery
From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, May 22, 2015 – Iraqi security forces and federal police, enabled by the coalition, have successfully cleared and established a ground route into the Beiji oil refinery, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

The Beiji oil refinery has been an ongoing target for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists, and the area around the refinery has been contested for several months, officials said.

Reinforcement and resupply of the Iraqi forces within the refinery is ongoing, officials said. Ground forces, supported by coalition airstrikes, reconnaissance, and advise and assist elements, maneuvered to clear through the area, establishing route security and reclaiming key terrain.

‘Steady, Measured Progress’ Made Against ISIL

“In the past 72 hours, we have seen the [Iraqi security forces] make steady, measured progress in regaining some of the areas leading to the Beiji oil refinery despite the significant [ISIL] resistance in the form of [improvised explosive devices], suicide vehicle borne IEDs, as well as heavy weapon and rocket fire attacks,” said Marine Corps Brig. Gen Thomas Weidley, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve chief of staff.

Weidley added, “In spite of the isolated nature of where the [Iraqi security forces] have been operating and the constant threat from [ISIL], creating a safe route to the refinery will allow supplies and reinforcements to arrive. This will assist security forces in clearing and securing contested areas in and around the refinery.”

Since the liberation of Tikrit, ISIL has increased its attempts to force the withdrawal of the Iraqi security forces at the refinery and surrounding areas, officials said.

WHITE HOUSE VIDEO: The President Delivers the United States Coast Guard Academy Commencemen...

UPS SETTLES ALLEGATIONS OF IMPROPERLY DEPRIVING FEDERAL CUSTOMERS OF GUARANTEED SERVICE REFUNDS

FROM:  FDIC, U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 19, 2015
UPS Agrees to Pay $25 Million to Settle Civil False Claims Act Violations

Settlement resolves allegations that UPS supplied federal customers with inaccurate delivery times and “exception codes” to deprive the customers of the ability to request “Guaranteed Service Refunds” for late overnight deliveries

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) has agreed to pay $25 million to resolve allegations that it submitted false claims to the federal government in connection with its delivery of Next Day Air overnight packages, the Justice Department announced today. UPS is a package delivery company based in Atlanta.

UPS provides delivery services to hundreds of federal agencies through contracts with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and U.S. Transportation Command, which provides support to Department of Defense agencies. Under these contracts, UPS guaranteed delivery of packages by certain specified times the following day. The settlement announced today resolves allegations that from 2004 to 2014, UPS engaged in practices that concealed its failure to comply with its delivery guarantees, thereby depriving federal customers of the ability to request refunds for the late delivery of packages. In particular, the government alleged that UPS knowingly recorded inaccurate delivery times on packages to make it appear that the packages were delivered on time, applied inapplicable “exception codes” to excuse late delivery (such as “security delay,” “customer not in,” or “business closed”), and provided inaccurate “on-time” performance data under the federal contracts.

“This conduct affected numerous federal agencies,” said Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “We place high importance on the integrity of companies that provide services to the government. Combating all manner of fraud on the government is a high priority here in the Eastern District of Virginia.”

“Protecting the federal procurement process from false claims is central to the mission of the Department of Justice,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We will continue to ensure that when federal monies are used to purchase commercial services the government receives the prices and services to which it is entitled.”

“The United States should get what it pays for, nothing less,” said Acting Inspector General Robert C. Erickson of the GSA.

The civil settlement resolves a lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act, which permits private parties to file suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and obtain a portion of the government’s recovery. The civil lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia by Robert K. Fulk, a former employee of UPS, who will receive $3.75 million.

This resolution in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, the GSA Office of Inspector General (OIG), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation OIG, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the Department of Treasury OIG, and with assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs OIG.

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Benjamin C. Mizer, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Civil Division; Robert C. Erickson, Jr., Acting Inspector General, General Services Administration (GSA); and Fred W. Gibson, Acting Inspector General of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Robert E. Craig, Special Agent in Charge, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, made the announcement after the case was unsealed by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The matter was investigated by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Peter S. Hyun and Kevin Mikolashek of the Eastern District of Virginia.

The lawsuit is captioned United States ex rel. Fulk v. United Parcel Service, Inc., et al., No. 1:11cv890 (E.D. Va.). The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:11cv890.

JOINT CHIEFS CHAIR SAYS IRAQI FORCES 'DROVE OUT OF RAMADI'

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Dempsey: Iraqi Forces Not Driven From Ramadi, They Drove Out of Ramadi
By Jim Garamone
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

BRUSSELS, May 20, 2015 – Iraqi security forces weren’t “driven from” Ramadi, they “drove out of Ramadi,” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey told reporters traveling with him that he has said from the start that the mission against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant would take years to accomplish.

“At the start I said three years,” he said. “That still might be the case, we may be able to achieve our objectives in three years. But I said then, and I reiterate now, that there may be tactical exchanges -- some of which go the way of Iraqi security forces and others which go the way of ISIL. But the coalition has all the strategic advantages over time.”

Time will tell, the general said, and time is also a factor because the key to victory is not just military success on the battlefield, but the ability of the Iraqi government to draw the various groups in the country back together.

After-action Review

U.S. commanders in Iraq are working with their Iraqi counterparts to work out exactly what happened, Dempsey said. Reports indicate that Iraqi security forces drove out of Ramadi -- an important provincial capital -- during a sandstorm May 16.

“This group of [Iraqi security forces] had been forward-deployed in al Anbar [province] -- arguably the most dangerous part of Iraq,” he said. “They believed they were less well-supported. The tribes had begun to come together, but had not … allied themselves with the [security forces].”

The sandstorm precluded U.S. air support against ISIL and the Iraqi commander on the ground made “what appears to be a unilateral decision to move to what he perceived to be a more defensible position,” the general said.

Success Demands Commitment

Success against ISIL requires the commitment of the Iraqi government, the Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi people, he said.

There must be political reconciliation among the various actors, a plan for the reconstruction of those areas that have been affected by ISIL attacks and the promise of “governance that gives the people the belief that they will be cared for in the future,” Dempsey explained.

From the start of the campaign against ISIL, the United States has been clear that support is conditional on Iraq’s government accomplishing these goals, the general said. “They have to happen, and if they don’t happen, then this campaign won’t succeed,” he said. “That’s been clear from the start.”

The anti-ISIL coalition is working to coalesce the Sunni tribes in
Anbar against ISIL. The coalition will give the tribes some training and equipment, “but all that necessarily needs to flow through the government of Iraq,” the chairman said. “The coalition will only support those groups that subordinate themselves to the government.”

DEFENDANTS IN "RACHEL ROBOCALLS" CASE FOUND BY COURT TO BE LIABLE FOR $1.7 MILLION

FROM:  U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Court Finds Defendants in FTC’s Treasure Your Success “Rachel Robocalls” Case Liable for $1.7 Million

Universal Processing Services (UPS) of Wisconsin, LLC, a payment processor, and telemarketer Hal E. Smith and his company HES Merchant Services Company, Inc. (HES), defendants in the Federal Trade Commission’s case against a deceptive robocall credit card interest rate reduction scheme, were jointly ordered to pay $1,734,972 to the Commission by a Florida district court. The money will be used to provide refunds to defrauded consumers.

 “The defendants blasted thousands of people with illegal robocalls and lied about helping relieve their credit card debt,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Now they’re out of the robocall business. The court’s decision also shows that it’s bad business for payment processors to help scammers take people’s money.”

The final orders announced today against UPS, which did business as Newtek Merchant Solutions, Smith, and HES follow the court's November 2014 order granting the FTC’s motion for summary judgment against these three defendants who took part in the Treasure Your Success (TYS) scheme. The rest of the defendants had previously agreed to final orders settling the agency’s charges against them.

The court held Smith and HES liable for 11 violations of the FTC Act and the Commission’s Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), based on their participation in a deceptive telemarketing scheme purporting to be a credit card interest rate reduction service that used robocalls to solicit consumers. The defendants failed to disclose the identity of the person(s) responsible for placing the robocalls and unlawfully calling numbers that had been registered on the FTC’s Do Not Call Registry.

In February 2015, the court entered a permanent injunction against Smith and HES that includes 20-year bans on robocalls, telemarketing, and marketing debt relief products or services. It also permanently prohibits Smith and HES from making misrepresentations in the sale or marketing of any product or service, including financial products or services, and imposes the $1.7 million judgment.

The court also found UPS liable for “assisting and facilitating” the TSR violations of the other defendants by providing the interface with the banks to handle credit card payments while knowing (or avoiding knowing) of the underlying TSR violations. Among other things, the court found that UPS had ignored numerous red flags that, if properly investigated, would have led UPS to decline TYS as a client. The court imposed the same $1.7 judgment million against UPS.

After the summary judgment ruling, UPS agreed to a settlement permanently barring the company from processing payments for clients whom it knows or should have known: 1) fall into certain categories that have received close industry attention, such as debt relief services; 2) make misrepresentations to consumers; 3) charge consumers without their authorization; and 4) otherwise violate the FTC Act or the TSR. It also requires UPS to put screening and monitoring provisions in place for use when accepting future clients.

The Commission vote approving the proposed stipulated final order against UPS was 5-0. The proposed stipulated final order was entered by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division, and has now been signed by the judge.

The following defendants previously agreed to stipulated final orders settling the FTC’s charges against them:

On September 23, 2013, a permanent injunction against defendants Willy Plancher; Valbona Toska, WV Universal Management, LLC; Global Financial Assist, LLC; and Leading Production, LLC banning them from robocalling, telemarketing, and marketing debt relief products or services;
On October 6, 2014, a permanent injunction against Ramon Sanchez-Ortega barring him from robocalling and telemarketing;
On November 19, 2014, a permanent injunction and $25,000 financial judgment against Derek Depuydt, UPS’s former president prohibiting him from acting as a payment processor, independent sales organization, or a sales agent for high-risk clients; and
Also on November 19, 2014, a permanent injunction against Jonathon E. Warren; Business First Solutions, Inc.; and Voiceonyx Corp. barring them from robocalling, telemarketing, and marketing debt relief products or services.
NOTE: Stipulated final orders have the force of law when approved and signed by the district court judge.

U.S. CONDEMNS MORTAR ATTACKS ON UN MISSION IN SOUTH SUDAN

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Samantha Power
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations
New York, NY
May 20, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms the May 20 mortar attacks on the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) compound in Melut, South Sudan, that resulted in the death of four people, including one child, and severely injured eight others. We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the victims and reiterate our call for those responsible for attacks on civilians and UN facilities to be held accountable.

Today’s attacks are only the latest in a series of brutally violent acts against civilians, including the raping and murder of children, resulting from increased fighting between the Government of South Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition, and their respective affiliated militias and other armed groups, in Unity and Upper Nile States over the last two weeks. As this most recent incident underscores, the renewed fighting in South Sudan puts at risk UNMISS bases and protection of civilian sites; and it does so at a time when across the country more than 3 million people are lacking sufficient food and more than 2 million are internally displaced.

The international community is footing the bill for President Salva Kiir’s and opposition leader Riek Machar’s shameful disregard for the devastating humanitarian crisis facing the people of South Sudan. Political and military leaders on all sides of this conflict must put aside their self-serving ambitions, bring an end to the fighting, implement the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement to which both have already agreed, and engage in negotiations for a comprehensive and inclusive peace agreement to establish a transitional government and bring about a reform process that addresses the root causes of this conflict.

South Sudan’s political leaders continue to refuse to prioritize the well-being of their own people, necessitating an increase in international pressure on the South Sudanese parties so that they accept and implement a credible peace agreement. In this vein, we will continue our work with the UN Security Council’s South Sudan Sanctions Committee to gather and review evidence that might be useful for sanctions listings that target political spoilers and those who violate and abuse human rights and violate international humanitarian law.

We regret that South Sudan’s political leaders repeatedly fail to heed international humanitarian law’s prohibition on intentionally targeting civilians. Additionally, all parties should regard UNMISS sites as inviolable and the work of UNMISS personnel should be respected, supported and protected as they endeavor to protect the more than 120,000 internally displaced people sheltering at UNMISS bases and the many others outside these bases who are displaced by the ongoing fighting.

NASA's VACUUM CHAMBER 5

FROM:  NASA 

When you need to test hardware designed to operate in the vast reaches of space, you start in a vacuum chamber.  NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland has many of them, but Vacuum Chamber 5 (VF-5) is special.  Supporting the testing of electric propulsion and power systems, VF-5 has the highest pumping speed of any electric propulsion test facility in the world, which is important in maintaining a continuous space-like environment.

The cryogenic panels at the top and back of the chamber house a helium-cooled panel that reaches near absolute zero temperatures (about -440 degrees Fahrenheit). The extreme cold of this panel freezes any air left in the chamber and quickly freezes the thruster exhaust, allowing the chamber to maintain a high vacuum environment. The outer chevrons are cooled with liquid nitrogen to shield the cryogenic panels from the room temperature surfaces of the tank.

Most electric propulsion devices, such as Hall Thrusters, use xenon as a propellant, which is very expensive. By capturing the used xenon as ice during testing, researchers are able to recover the propellant to reuse, saving NASA and test customers considerable costs.

The oil diffusion pumps along the bottom of the tank capped by circular covers use a low vapor pressure silicon oil to concentrate small amounts of gas to the point where it can be mechanically pumped from the chamber.

VF-5 will continue to provide a testing environment for Glenn’s advanced Solar Electric Propulsion technology needed for future astronaut expeditions into deep space, including to Mars.

Image Credit: NASA

WHITE HOUSE VIDEO: The President signs the Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu National Blue Alert...

U.S. CENTCOM TELLS REPORTERS THINGS WILL 'CONTINUE TO EBB AND FLOW'

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Centcom Officials ‘Confident’ Iraqi Security Forces Will Recover Ramadi
By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, May 20, 2015 – The loss of Ramadi is a setback, but U.S. Central Command officials are confident Iraqi security forces will take back the city in the near term, a Centcom spokesman said today.

During a conference call with Pentagon reporters, Air Force Col. Patrick Ryder provided an update on current operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the combatant command’s areas of responsibility.

“From our perspective,” he said, “what happened at Ramadi was a setback -- certainly concerning, but the fact is it’s a tough fight. As we’ve said before, there’s going to be good days and bad days, and things will continue to ebb and flow.”

“We are confident that the Iraqis, with coalition support, will recover Ramadi,” Ryder said. “We will continue to work closely with the government of Iraq and Iraqi security force leadership as they plan their next move to take back the city.”

Success in Other Areas

Ryder pointed out Iraqi security forces have had success fighting in other areas of the country and said Ramadi is “one piece of a larger fight.”

Looking at the overall situation in Iraq, he said, security forces have achieved some “good effects” in simultaneous operations in Karmah, Tikrit and Baghdadi and while providing security in support of the Kadhimiya pilgrimage.

“In the north, the Peshmerga continue to conduct effective combat operations,” Ryder said. “Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria have done very well, and really represent a hostile force in ISIL’s backyard that has caused them some significant problems there.”

The colonel emphasized he was not minimizing the significance of the setback in Ramadi, nor suggesting it was not important.

“Every square inch of Iraq is important, and liberating every square inch of territory occupied by ISIL is important,” Ryder said. “But again, I’d ask you to look at the bigger picture here. Understand that combat is not always linear, and there will be setbacks, and there will be victories."

With a 60-nation coalition backing the Iraqis as they lead this fight, Ryder said there is confidence that they will retain the momentum against ISIL, and ultimately, defeat them.

U.S.-trained Iraqi Forces

Ryder noted 7,000 U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces have graduated and returned to the field -- primarily in the north and the south of Iraq, where they have conducted “effective” operations.

“They have performed as you would expect an army infantry maneuver unit to perform -- exercising good command and control in the field,” he said.

Of note, Ryder said none of those forces were at Ramadi, but “we have seen that the forces that have graduated have done well.”

“We are continuing to work with Iraq to help their forces develop and regenerate their combat capability,” he said, “and so in the days ahead, it will be important for the [Iraqi security forces] to continue to keep pressure on ISIL.”

Through training, the advise-and-assist mission, building partner capacity sites and coalition air power efforts, Ryder said, “we’re confident that we have the right strategy at this time to degrade and defeat ISIL.”

WHITE HOUSE REPORT ON NATIONAL SECURITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE
May 20, 2015
White House Report: The National Security Implications of a Changing Climate

The full report can be found HERE.

Today, President Obama will travel to New London, Connecticut to deliver the commencement address at the United States Coast Guard Academy. During his speech, the President will speak to the importance of acting on climate change and the risks to national security this global threat poses. The White House also released a new report on the national security implications of climate change and how the Federal government is rising to the challenge.

As the President has made very clear, no challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change, as we are already seeing these threats in communities across the country. We know that climate change is contributing to extreme weather, wildfires, and drought, and that rising temperatures can lead to more smog and more allergens in the air we breathe, meaning more kids are exposed to the triggers that can cause asthma attacks.

But as the President will stress, climate change does not respect national borders and no one country can tackle climate change on its own. Climate change poses immediate risks to our national security, contributing to increased natural disasters and resulting in humanitarian crises, and potentially increasing refugee flows and exacerbating conflicts over basic resources like food and water. It also aggravates issues at home and abroad including poverty, political instability and social tensions – conditions that can fuel instability and enable terrorist activity and other forms of violence.

The Department of Defense (DOD) is assessing the vulnerability of the military’s more than 7,000 bases, installations and other facilities to climate change, and studying the implications of increased demand for our National Guard in the aftermath of extreme weather events. Two years ago, DOD and DHS released Arctic Strategies, which addresses the potential security implications of increased human activity in the Arctic, a consequence of rapidly melting sea ice.
 
But we also need to decrease the harmful carbon pollution that causes climate change. That is why, this summer, the EPA will put in place commonsense standards to reduce carbon pollution from power plants, the largest source in the United States. Today, the U.S. harnesses three times as much electricity from the wind and twenty times as much from the sun as we did since President Obama took office. We are working with  industry  and  have taken action to phase down HFCs and address methane emissions in the oil and gas sector. By the middle of the next decade, our cars will go twice as far on a gallon of gas, and we have made unprecedented investments to cut energy waste in our homes and buildings. And as the single largest user of energy in the United States, DOD is making progress to deploy 3 gigawatts of renewable energy on military installations by 2025.

DOJ ANNOUNCES ADMINISTRATOR, BILLER CONVICTED IN $4.5 MILLION MEDICARE FRAUD

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Monday, May 18, 2015
Administrator and Biller of Illinois Physician Group Convicted in $4.5 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme

A federal jury in Chicago on May 15, 2015, convicted the administrator and biller of a Schaumburg, Illinois, in-home visiting physician group for their participation in a $4.5 million health care fraud scheme that included billing Medicare for services rendered to patients who were dead and services rendered by medical professionals who worked over 24 hours in a day.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Fardon of the Northern District of Illinois, Special Agent in Charge Robert J. Holley of the FBI’s Chicago Division and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Chicago Regional Office made the announcement.

According to evidence presented at trial, Rick E. Brown, 58, of Rockford, Illinois, the President of Home Care America Inc., controlled the daily operations of a physician practice, Medicall Physicians Group Ltd.  Mary C. Talaga, 54, of Elmwood Park, Illinois, was the company’s biller who submitted Medicall’s Medicare claims and was employed by Home Care America.  Brown and Talaga falsely billed Medicare for services that were never provided to patients.  The services fraudulently billed included services rendered to patients who were actually dead, as well as services purportedly provided by medical professionals after they had ended their employment and by medical professionals who worked over 24 hours per day.  Evidence showed that Brown forged physician signatures on medical documents, and Talaga directed physicians to create false documentation after she had billed for services that had not been documented or provided.

Brown and Talaga were each found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, six counts of health care fraud and three counts of false statements relating to a health care matter.  They were charged in a superseding indictment returned on March 25, 2015.  Medicall submitted approximately $12 million in claims to Medicare, approximately $4.5 million of which were shown to be fraudulent at trial.

The sentencing hearing for Brown is scheduled for Aug. 10, 2015, and the sentencing hearing for Talaga is scheduled for Aug. 7, 2015.

The investigation was conducted jointly by the FBI and HHS-OIG and 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 of the Northern District of Illinois.  The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Brooke Harper and Senior Trial Attorney Jon Juenger of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 2,100 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $6.5 billion.  In addition, the HHS’s 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.

SCIENTISTS CITE POSSIBLE POWER SHORTAGES DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE

FROM:  NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Drought, heat likely to affect U.S. West's power grid
Scientists recommend looking at power plants' capacities in view of expected changes

Electricity generation and distribution infrastructure in the U.S. West should be “climate-proofed” to decrease the risk of future power shortages, according to new research results.

Expected increases in extreme heat and drought will bring changes in precipitation, air and water temperatures, air density and humidity, write scientists Matthew Bartos and Mikhail Chester of Arizona State University in a paper published in the current issue of the journal Nature Climate Change.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Water, Sustainability and Climate (WSC) Program.

"Society depends on agriculture, energy and water availability to prosper," said Tom Torgersen, NSF WSC program director. "Security in these areas requires an understanding of the complex links between humans and nature."

Changing conditions could limit energy production

The authors say that changing conditions could significantly constrain the energy generation capacity of power plants--unless steps are taken to upgrade systems and technologies to withstand the effects of a generally hotter and drier climate.

The scientists report that power stations are particularly vulnerable to the climate conditions predicted to occur within the next half-century.

“In their development plans, power providers are not taking into account climate change effects,” Bartos said. “They are likely overestimating their ability to meet future electricity needs.”

U.S. West will see higher demand in years to come

The U.S. West in particular is expected to see greater energy demand due to population growth and higher temperatures.

Bartos and Chester say that power plants should strengthen their transmission capacities and conservation strategies if they are to remain capable of reliably supplying power as conditions change.

Scientists recommend that power providers consider climate constraints

Power providers also should invest in more resilient renewable energy sources and consider local climate constraints when selecting sites for new generation facilities, the researchers said.

“Diverse arrays of energy-generation technologies are used by the U.S. West’s power grid," said Chester.

The scientists looked at five power-generating technologies: hydroelectric facilities; steam, wind and combustion turbines; as well as photovoltaics.

“We’re finding that some power generation technologies may be more climate-resilient than others," Chester said.

"Renewable energy sources are generally less susceptible to climate change effects. More use of renewable sources may contribute to a better climate-proofed power infrastructure."

-NSF-
Media Contacts
Cheryl Dybas, NSF
Joe Kullman, ASU,

ASSISTANT AG BAER'S REMARKS ON FOREIGN EXCHANGE SPOT MARKET MANIPULATION BY BIG BANKS

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL BILL BAER DELIVERS REMARKS AT A PRESS CONFERENCE ON FOREIGN EXCHANGE SPOT MARKET MANIPULATION

Remarks as prepared for delivery

WASHINGTON, D.C.

I want to thank the Attorney General – on behalf of the women and men of the Criminal and Antitrust Divisions and the FBI – for her leadership and support in prosecuting these cases.  And I applaud the great teamwork from the Bureau and the Criminal and Antitrust Divisions that led to the results we are announcing today, and the ongoing cooperation in financial services cases from our colleagues at the Commodities Futures Trading Commission.

Today’s guilty pleas to criminal charges represent major developments in our investigation into collusion affecting foreign exchange markets, particularly the spot market for trading U.S. dollars and euros.  The antitrust guilty pleas announced today involving four major international financial institutions – Citicorp, JPMorgan Chase, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays – are without precedent.  In light of the seriousness of the crimes and the unjustified benefit to the bottom lines of these banks, we demanded parent-level guilty pleas, secured record fines of more than $2.5 billion and insisted upon three years of court-supervised probation.

The dollar–euro spot market is as big as it gets.  Every day about $500 billion worth of dollars and euros are traded in this market.  Trading on the dollar-euro spot market is five times larger than all U.S. stock exchanges combined.

Simply put, exchange rates are prices to buy and sell currency.  They should be set competitively the same way prices are set in any type of market.  Instead, the members of the aptly-named “Cartel” chatroom conspired to gain unlawful profit by manipulating these rates.  The banks pleading guilty today are not ordinary market participants.  They are “market makers,” representing 25 percent or more of dollar–euro exchange rate transactions each year.  As such, they were uniquely positioned to manipulate the market.

And that is what they did.  First, they agreed to rig the 1:15 p.m. and 4 p.m. “fixes.”  These fixes are designed to be snapshots of the euro–dollar exchange rates at a given point in time, reported by unbiased third parties.  The snapshot rates become the price paid for billions of dollars of currency bought or sold on any given day.  “The Cartel” conspirators used chat room communications in the minutes and seconds leading up to the snapshot moment to move the fix price in the direction that would be most profitable to them, thereby cheating customers who relied on those fixes to fairly reflect market prices.

Second, members of “The Cartel” also hatched plans in the chatroom to protect the conspiring banks at other times during the day by agreeing to hold off buying or selling dollars and euros.  By not trading at these times, or “standing down,” members of “The Cartel” minimized price movements and helped each other close out of their open positions profitably – at the expense of customers and counterparties who expected, and were entitled to receive, a competitive dollar–euro exchange rate.

It is imperative that these banks accept full responsibility for these bad acts and carry through on their commitments to change the culture that allowed this behavior to go on for years without detection.  That is why we have insisted on parent-level guilty pleas, record-level criminal penalties, ongoing cooperation with our investigations and a probation period of three years, during which time each bank’s efforts to implement effective compliance programs will be monitored.

Again, my thanks to the hard working team that produced the results we are announcing this morning.  Let me now introduce the head of the Criminal Division – Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell.

DOD REPORTS AIRSTRIKES CONTINUE AGAINST ISIL

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Inherent Resolve Airstrikes Continue in Syria, Iraq
From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, May 20, 2015 – U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of the latest strikes, which took place between 8 a.m. yesterday and 8 a.m. today, local time, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Airstrikes in Syria

Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted nine airstrikes in Syria:

-- Near Hasakah, seven airstrikes struck two large and two small ISIL tactical units, destroying two ISIL vehicles, two ISIL fighting positions, three ISIL armored vehicles and an ISIL anti-aircraft artillery system.

-- Near Kobani, two airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units, destroying four ISIL fighting positions and two ISIL vehicles.

Airstrikes in Iraq

Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 16 airstrikes in Iraq, approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense:

-- Near Asad, six airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units, destroying four ISIL structures, an ISIL vehicle-borne improvised explosive device and an ISIL mortar system.

-- Near Huwayjah, an airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL building and an ISIL heavy machine gun.

-- Near Beiji, four airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units, destroying three ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL structure and an ISIL VBIED.

-- Near Fallujah, an airstrike struck a large ISIL tactical unit, destroying three ISIL buildings.

-- Near Mosul, two airstrikes struck an ISIL weapons manufacturing facility and an ISIL checkpoint.

-- Near Sinjar, two airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units, destroying three ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL buildings, an ISIL heavy machine gun and an ISIL vehicle.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, the region, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the United States, Bahrain, Canada, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

WHITE HOUSE VIDEO: 5/19/15: White House Press Briefing

5 BIG BANKS PLEAD GUILTY TO FELONY CHARGES RELATED TO FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

Citicorp, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Barclays PLC, The Royal Bank of Scotland plc Agree to Plead Guilty In Connection With The Foreign Exchange Market and Agree to Pay More Than $2.5 Billion In Criminal Fines

UBS AG Agrees to Plead Guilty to Manipulating LIBOR; Admits its Conduct in Foreign Exchange Market Breached Its Non-Prosecution Agreement Resolving the LIBOR Investigation and Agrees to Pay $203 Million

WASHINGTON — Five major banks – Citicorp, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Barclays PLC, The Royal Bank of Scotland plc and UBS AG – have agreed to plead guilty to felony charges.   Citicorp, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Barclays PLC, The Royal Bank of Scotland plc have agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to manipulate the price of U.S. dollars and euros exchanged in the foreign currency exchange (FX) spot market and the banks have agreed to pay criminal fines totaling more than $2.5 billion.  A fifth bank, UBS AG, has agreed to plead guilty to manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and other benchmark interest rates and pay a $203 million criminal penalty, after breaching its December 2012 non-prosecution agreement resolving the LIBOR investigation.

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Assistant Director in Charge Andrew G. McCabe of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and Director Aitan Goelman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division made the announcement.

"Today’s historic resolutions are the latest in our ongoing efforts to investigate and prosecute financial crimes, and they serve as a stark reminder that this Department of Justice intends to vigorously prosecute all those who tilt the economic system in their favor; who subvert our marketplaces; and who enrich themselves at the expense of American consumers," said Attorney General Lynch.  "The penalty these banks will now pay is fitting considering the long-running and egregious nature of their anticompetitive conduct.  It is commensurate with the pervasive harm done.  And it should deter competitors in the future from chasing profits without regard to fairness, to the law, or to the public welfare."

“The charged conspiracy fixed the U.S. dollar – euro exchange rate, affecting currencies that are at the heart of international commerce and undermining the integrity and the competitiveness of foreign currency exchange markets which account for hundreds of billions of dollars worth of transactions every day,” said Assistant Attorney General Baer.  “The seriousness of the crime warrants the parent-level guilty pleas by Citicorp, Barclays, JPMorgan and RBS.”

“The five parent-level guilty pleas that the department is announcing today communicate loud and clear that we will hold financial institutions accountable for criminal misconduct,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell.  “And we will enforce the agreements that we enter into with corporations.  If appropriate and proportional to the misconduct and the company’s track record, we will tear up an NPA or a DPA and prosecute the offending company.”

“These resolutions make clear that the U.S. Government will not tolerate criminal behavior in any sector of the financial markets,” said Assistant Director in Charge McCabe.  “This investigation represents another step in the FBI’s ongoing efforts to find and stop those responsible for complex financial schemes for their own personal benefit.  I commend the special agents, forensic accountants, and analysts, as well as the prosecutors for the significant time and resources they committed to investigating this case.”

According to plea agreements to be filed in the District of Connecticut, between December 2007 and January 2013, euro-dollar traders at Citicorp, JPMorgan, Barclays and RBS – self-described members of “The Cartel” – used an exclusive electronic chat room and coded language to manipulate benchmark exchange rates.  Those rates are set through, among other ways, two major daily “fixes,” the 1:15 p.m. European Central Bank fix and the 4:00 p.m. World Markets/Reuters fix.  Third parties collect trading data at these times to calculate and publish a daily “fix rate,” which in turn is used to price orders for many large customers.  “The Cartel” traders coordinated their trading of U.S. dollars and euros to manipulate the benchmark rates set at the 1:15 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. fixes in an effort to increase their profits.

As detailed in the plea agreements, these traders also used their exclusive electronic chats to manipulate the euro-dollar exchange rate in other ways.  Members of “The Cartel” manipulated the euro-dollar exchange rate by agreeing to withhold bids or offers for euros or dollars to avoid moving the exchange rate in a direction adverse to open positions held by co-conspirators.  By agreeing not to buy or sell at certain times, the traders protected each other’s trading positions by withholding supply of or demand for currency and suppressing competition in the FX market.

Citicorp, Barclays, JPMorgan and RBS each have agreed to plead guilty to a one-count felony charge of conspiring to fix prices and rig bids for U.S. dollars and euros exchanged in the FX spot market in the United States and elsewhere.  Each bank has agreed to pay a criminal fine proportional to its involvement in the conspiracy:

Citicorp, which was involved from as early as December 2007 until at least January 2013,  has agreed to pay a fine of $925 million;
Barclays, which was involved from as early as December 2007 until July 2011, and then from December 2011 until August 2012, has agreed to pay a fine of $650 million;
JPMorgan, which was involved from at least as early as July 2010 until January 2013, has agreed to pay a fine of $550 million; and
RBS, which was involved from at least as early as December 2007 until at least April 2010, has agreed to pay a fine of $395 million.
Barclays has further agreed that its FX trading and sales practices and its FX collusive conduct constitute federal crimes that violated a principal term of its June 2012 non-prosecution agreement resolving the department’s investigation of the manipulation of LIBOR and other benchmark interests rates.  Barclays has agreed to pay an additional $60 million criminal penalty based on its violation of the non-prosecution agreement.

In addition, according to court documents to be filed, the Justice Department has determined that UBS’s deceptive currency trading and sales practices in conducting certain FX market transactions, as well as its collusive conduct in certain FX markets, violated its December 2012 non-prosecution agreement resolving the LIBOR investigation.  The department has declared UBS in breach of the agreement, and UBS has agreed to plead guilty to a one-count felony charge of wire fraud in connection with a scheme to manipulate LIBOR and other benchmark interest rates.  UBS has also agreed to pay a criminal penalty of $203 million.

According to the factual statement of breach attached to UBS’s plea agreement, UBS engaged in deceptive FX trading and sales practices after it signed the LIBOR non-prosecution agreement, including undisclosed markups added to certain FX transactions of customers.  UBS traders and sales staff misrepresented to customers on certain transactions that markups were not being added, when in fact they were.  On other occasions, UBS traders and sales staff used hand signals to conceal those markups from customers.  On still other occasions, certain UBS traders also tracked and executed limit orders at a level different from the customer’s specified level in order to add undisclosed markups.  In addition, according to court documents, a UBS FX trader conspired with other banks acting as dealers in the FX spot market by agreeing to restrain competition in the purchase and sale of dollars and euros.  UBS participated in this collusive conduct from October 2011 to at least January 2013.

In declaring UBS in breach of its non-prosecution agreement, the Justice Department considered UBS’s conduct described above in light of UBS’s obligation under the non-prosecution agreement to commit no further crimes.  The department also considered UBS’s three recent prior criminal resolutions and multiple civil and regulatory resolutions.  Further, the department also considered that UBS’s post-LIBOR compliance and remediation efforts failed to detect the illegal conduct until an article was published pointing to potential misconduct in the FX markets.

Citicorp, Barclays, JPMorgan, RBS and UBS have each agreed to a three-year period of corporate probation, which, if approved by the court, will be overseen by the court and require regular reporting to authorities as well as cessation of all criminal activity.  All five banks will continue cooperating with the government’s ongoing criminal investigations, and no plea agreement prevents the department from prosecuting culpable individuals for related misconduct.  Citicorp, Barclays, JPMorgan and RBS have agreed to send disclosure notices to all of their customers and counter-parties that may have been affected by the sales and trading practices described in the plea agreements.

Today, in connection with its FX investigation, the Federal Reserve also announced that it was imposing on the five banks fines of over $1.6 billion; and Barclays settled related claims with the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for an additional combined penalty of approximately $1.3 billion.  In conjunction with previously announced settlements with regulatory agencies in the United States and abroad, including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), today’s resolutions bring the total fines and penalties paid by these five banks for their conduct in the FX spot market to nearly $9 billion.

This investigation is being conducted by the FBI’s Washington Field Office.  This prosecution is being handled by the Antitrust Division’s New York Office and other criminal enforcement sections and the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.  The Justice Department appreciates the substantial assistance provided by the CFTC, OCC, FINMA, FCA, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Reserve Bank, the U.K. Serious Fraud Office and the New York State Department of Financial Services.  The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Connecticut have also provided assistance in this matter.

U.S. CONGRATULATES PEOPLE OF CAMEROON ON THEIR NATIONAL DAY

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Cameroon National Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
May 20, 2015

On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the people of Cameroon as you celebrate your national day on May 20.

Since independence, Cameroonians have sought to build a stable, prosperous, and democratic society. The people of the United States welcome your nation’s efforts to achieve this goal.

U.S. investment in Cameroon continues to rise, create jobs, improve infrastructure, and contribute to economic diversification. As you prepare to celebrate 43 years of unity, we will continue to increase investment and reduce barriers to trade.

We are also working together to bolster regional stability. The people of Cameroon are on the front lines in the courageous fight against Boko Haram. We are both helping to stabilize the Central African Republic. The United States provides equipment and training to your troops deployed there as peacekeepers. And we continue to protect endangered species, reduce the impact of climate change, curb wildlife trafficking, and improve maritime security.

On this special occasion, I wish peace and prosperity for all Cameroonians in the year ahead.