USDOJ

A Georgia real estate investor pleaded guilty today for his role in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Fulton and DeKalb counties, Georgia.

The Justice Department announced today that an additional 1,461 service members and their co-borrowers are eligible to receive over $186 million for home foreclosures under the department’s settlements with five of the nation’s largest mortgage servicers.  Those settlements implement the protections of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).  Together with other foreclosure-related compensation announced by the department in February, a total of 2,413 service members and their co-borrowers are eligible to receive over $311 million. 

The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that Wyeth Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of the Pfizer Corporation, will perform nearly $194 million worth of cleanup work at the American Cyanamid Superfund Site in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey. The cleanup work that the company has agreed to perform includes work to address six disposal areas at the site, where chemicals were manufactured for nearly 100 years. In addition, the company will pay $1 million for EPA’s past costs of overseeing cleanup work at the site.

Two Tennessee men were each sentenced to 28 years in prison for killing during a home invasion robbery, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney David Rivera of the Middle District of Tennessee.

Volunteers came together in schools and communities across the globe on Saturday, September 26 for the Green Apple Day of Service, an initiative of the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Students, teachers, parents, elected officials, organizations and companies participated in 4,682 projects across all 50 states and in 31 countries throughout the world to enhance the environments of their local schools

Under an agreement announced today by the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency, the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (VIWAPA) will come into compliance with the federal Clean Air Act at its Krum Bay facility on St. Thomas and Cruz Bay facility on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. The settlement resolves numerous violations of the Clean Air Act, including VIWAPA’s failure to properly operate pollution control equipment to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter that can cause serious respiratory illness.

Thank you, Roy [Austin], for that kind introduction – and for the extraordinary work  that you and so many of your colleagues at the White House do to lift up our communities, to inspire our young people and to mobilize change agents like those we’re here to honor today.  It’s a pleasure – and an immense privilege – to join so many passionate advocates, dedicated public servants and devoted law enforcement officers as we recognize 14 truly remarkable civic leaders: our Champions of Change.

Under a settlement with the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) has agreed to make major upgrades, improve inspections and cleaning of existing facilities within the Puerto Nuevo system and continue improvements to its systems island-wide.

Informa Exhibitions and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) are pleased to announce a new, strategic partnership for 2015. NAHB has signed on to become one of three Greenbuild Top Tier Partners for 2015, in addition to AIA and BOMA

The Justice Department announced today that Walter Investment Management Corp. (WIMC) has agreed to pay $29.63 million to resolve allegations that WIMC, through its subsidiaries, Reverse Mortgage Solution Inc. (RMS), REO Management Solutions LLC and RMS Asset Management Solutions LLC, violated the False Claims Act in connection with their participation in the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM) program, which insures “reverse” mortgage loans.

An indictment was unsealed today charging three people in an investment scheme, involving a Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania-based company, that defrauded more than 300 investors from around the country. Troy Wragg, 34, a former resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Amanda Knorr, 32, of Hellertown, Pennsylvania, and Wayde McKelvy, 52, of Colorado, are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud and seven counts of wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Special Agent in Charge William F. Sweeney Jr of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division.

Thank you, everyone, thank you Secretary [Julian] Castro, I am so glad to be here. Although I hear yesterday was really the day that you all had literally living history in your room celebrating here with you. You know, this is a conference in day about strengthening communities. I want to take just a few minutes to talk about some of the recent tragic events in some of our communities involving police shootings which affect us all. I strongly condemn these recent and brutal police shootings in Texas and Illinois.

The Department of Justice filed a statement of interest today arguing that making it a crime for people who are homeless to sleep in public places, when there is insufficient shelter space in a city, unconstitutionally punishes them for being homeless. The statement of interest was filed in federal district court in Idaho in Bell v. City of Boise et al., a case brought by homeless plaintiffs who were convicted under Boise ordinances that criminalize sleeping or camping in public

A former realtor/developer and two out-of-state recruiters pleaded guilty yesterday to wire and bank fraud charges in connection with a multi-year, multi-property mortgage fraud scheme in Boston.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas, Special Agent in Charge Perrye K. Turner of the FBI’s Houston Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Lucy R. Cruz of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) Houston Field Office, the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) and Special Agent in Charge Mike Fields of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Dallas Field Office made the announcement.

The United States has filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against Quicken Loans Inc. under the False Claims Act for improperly originating and underwriting mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the Justice Department announced today. Quicken is a mortgage lender headquartered in Detroit.

The United States filed a complaint to bar a San Francisco enrolled agent and tax return preparer from implementing, facilitating and promoting allegedly abusive tax shelters and tax avoidance schemes, the Justice Department announced today

A former executive of the Chelsea Housing Authority (CHA) and a former public housing inspector were convicted on Wednesday, April 1, 2015, for their roles in rigging the inspection process of federally funded housing units.

on March 26, 2015, the Department of Justice approved a Prospective Purchaser Agreement (PPA) with Reichhold, LLC for the purchase of a chemical manufacturing business on 8.8 acres in Azusa, California. The property is part of the San Gabriel Valley Area 2 Superfund Site, Baldwin Park, California, Operable Unit and is located in an environmental justice community, where approximately 79 percent of the population is Latino, 35 percent of the population lives below two times the federal poverty level and 25 percent of the population over the age of 25 has less than a high school education level

Gilbane Building Company will pay the United States $1.1 million to resolve allegations that W.G. Mills Incorporated – a company with which Gilbane merged in November 2010 – violated the False Claims Act by creating a front company, Veterans Constructors Incorporated (VCI), in order to be awarded a Coast Guard contract that was designated for Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs), the Justice Department announced today.