Corporate Crime Case Database
Consistent with the Department’s ongoing commitment to transparency in corporate crime cases, the DOJ launched a new case database. While it is still in the process of being populated, it will eventually contain the significant, relevant cases from each component and U.S. Attorney’s Office, resolved since the beginning of 2023.
U.S. v. Eduardo Ruben Lopez
On September 6, 2023, a federal grand jury in Las Vegas returned a superseding indictment charging Eduardo Lopez, a health care staffing executive, with conspiring to fix the wages of Las Vegas nurses — and then fraudulently concealing that conspiracy and the government’s investigation so that he could sell his company for over $10 million. Count one of the superseding indictment charges Lopez and other unnamed co-conspirators with agreeing to suppress and eliminate competition for the services of nurses between March 2016 and May 2019. Counts two through six of the superseding indictment charge Lopez with wire fraud. According to the superseding indictment, in December 2021, Lopez sold his health care staffing company for over $10 million and falsely represented to the buyer of his company that federal law enforcement was not investigating him or his company. But, according to court documents, Lopez knew that was false. FBI special agents had questioned Lopez, served Lopez with a grand jury subpoena addressed to his company and seized his cell phone pursuant to a search warrant.
Corsa Coal Corporation
Pursuant to the Criminal Division’s Voluntary Self-Disclosure and Corporate Enforcement Policy, on March 8, 2023, the Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania declined to prosecute Corsa Coal Corporation for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) because the company voluntarily self-disclosed the misconduct, cooperated with the government’s investigation, and timely and appropriately remediated.
As part of the agreement the company agreed to disgorge its profits earned from the illicit scheme, as modified by its ability to pay.
From approximately late 2016 until early 2020, certain of Corsa’s employees and agents engaged in a scheme to bribe Egyptian government officials in order to obtain and retain lucrative contracts to supply coal to Al Nasr Company for Coke and Chemicals, an Egyptian state-owned and -controlled coke company.
United States v. Peter Stoll
This case was filed on March 6, 2023, in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and was resolved on January 26, 2024.
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United States v. Terren S. Peizer
Terren Peizer, the CEO and Chairman of Ontrak Inc., a publicly traded health care company, was charged with securities fraud for an insider trading scheme that sought to exploit the shield provided by 10b5-1 trading plans. By entering into 10b5-1 trading plans while in possession of material non-public information, Peizer is alleged to have avoided more than $12.5 million in losses.
United States v. Greg E. Lindberg
Greg Lindberg, the owner or controller of multiple insurance companies, was charged with conspiracy, fraud, and false statements in connection with a $2 billion scheme to defraud mutiple insurance companies and their policyholders, and to deceive the North Carolina Department of Insurance, by misrepresenting the financial condition of Lindberg's companies and his use of company funds.
United States v. Alvaro Ledo Nass
The defendant, a former official of Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), received bribes in connection with various foreign currency exchange schemes. The defendant was convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering with specified unlawful activities of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and certain offenses relating to bribery of a public official contrary to Venezuelan law.
United States v. Glenn Oztemel, Gary Oztemel, and Eduardo Innecco
Two oil and gas traders and a Brazil-based intermediary were charged with conspiracy, multiple counts of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and money laundering in connection with an alleged scheme to pay bribes to Brazilian officials to win contracts with Brazil’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras.
United States v. George Walther-Meade and Juan Ruiz Gonzalez
The defendants allegedly conspired to unlawfully enrich themselves by falsely representing Ruiz as a third-party subcontractor assisting business operations in Mexico for an American defense, aviation, information technology, and biomedical research company (Company 1). Walther-Meade was allegedly an employee and executive of Company 1 and, together with Ruiz, caused false invoices to be submitted for work that was never performed in order to induce Company 1 to make payments to Ruiz. Walther-Meade and Ruiz then allegedly used those funds fraudulent obtained from Company 1 for their own personal use and benefit.
United States v. Kevin Breslin, et al.
This case was filed on February 1, 2023, in the Western District of Wisconsin.
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U.S. v. Timour Abramov, et al.
On February 13, Marina Yaniuk and Dzmitry Yaniuk pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, defrauding the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (“MTA”) and manipulating bids that were let by the MTA’s Asset Recovery Unit in connection with excess vehicles sold on the MTA’s online public auction website. The conspiracy began as early as November 2019 and continued until at least February 2021.
United States v. Kerry Inc.
This case was filed on December 28, 2022, in the Central District of Illinois and was resolved on March 23, 2023
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Related Case:
United States v. Ravi Chermala (1:22-cr-10032)
This case was filed on August 24, 2022, and was resolved on June 13, 2023.
U.S. v. Dwayne A. Johnson
On February 15, Dwayne Johnson, a former salesman for two digital interactive whiteboard companies pleaded guilty to orchestrating a bid rigging conspiracy involving the sales of certain brands of digital interactive whiteboards that were made to the New York City Department of Education for use in New York City public schools.