Press Releases

The Justice Department unsealed criminal charges today against Evgenii Ptitsyn, 42, a Russian national, for allegedly administering the sale, distribution, and operation of Phobos ransomware. Ptitsyn made his initial appearance in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on Nov. 4 after being extradited from South Korea. Phobos ransomware, through its affiliates, victimized more than 1,000 public and private entities in the United States and around the world, and extorted ransom payments worth more than $16 million dollars. 

Lisa L. Lambert has been appointed by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland as the U.S. Trustee for the Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas (Region 6). Lambert replaces Kevin M. Epstein, who filled the Region 6 role in an interim capacity and who continues to serve as the U.S. Trustee for the Southern and Western Districts of Texas (Region 7).

A two-count indictment was unsealed today charging a U.S. Postal Service Postmaster with a federal civil rights violation for sexually assaulting a victim while acting under color of law and assaulting the victim, a federal employee, during the course of her official duties.

An indictment was unsealed today charging the former CEO of 500.com (now BIT Mining Ltd.), Zhengming Pan, a Chinese national, with violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). BIT Mining Ltd. has agreed to resolve investigations by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into related FCPA violations arising from the company’s participation in a corrupt scheme to pay bribes to Japanese government officials.

After a two-week trial, a federal jury in Las Vegas yesterday convicted a Cuban citizen and U.S. permanent resident for helping operate an illegal streaming service with one of the largest quantities of infringing works. The defendant, who was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, is the eighth and final defendant to be convicted in the case.

An Ohio man was sentenced today to three years in prison for his operation of the darknet cryptocurrency “mixer” Helix, which processed transactions involving over $300 million worth of cryptocurrency from 2014 to 2017.

A Michigan home health care company owner was sentenced yesterday to three years and five months in prison for his role in a health care fraud conspiracy that resulted in almost $7.9 million in false and fraudulent claims for home health care services paid by Medicare Part A.

A New York man pleaded guilty to employment tax crimes for not collecting and paying over employment taxes from the wages of his company’s employees.

The Justice Department announced today that it secured a settlement agreement with Key Fortune Inc., doing business as Express Employment Professionals (Express), a staffing company in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The agreement resolves the department’s determination that Express discriminated against a worker because of her immigration status by refusing to continue to honor her valid document that showed her permission to work in the United States. The agreement also resolves the department’s determination that Express refused to place her on an assignment until she presented a specific

Pharmaceutical company QOL Medical LLC (QOL) and its co-owner and CEO, Frederick E. Cooper, have agreed to pay $47 million to resolve allegations that they caused the submission of false claims to federal health care programs, in violation of the False Claims Act and similar state statutes, by offering kickbacks in the form of free Carbon-13 breath testing services to induce claims for QOL’s drug Sucraid.

The Justice Department released the following statement from Attorney General Merrick B. Garland today following the passing of Theodore Olson:

A Florida man pleaded guilty in federal court in Miami to not paying employment taxes and not filing his individual income tax returns.