Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

FRESNO, Calif. — Bobbi Jo Heiss, 37, of Fresno, was sentenced today to seven years in prison for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, between August 2020 and September 2021, Heiss engaged in a scheme to steal debit cards, checks, identity documents, and banking information in order to make fraudulent purchases, cash checks, and open unauthorized lines of credit. The scheme caused at least $250,000 in actual and attempted loss during a year-long period. For example, as part of the scheme, on April 30, 2021, Heiss presented a check for $57,767 to a car dealership in Fresno with the name and driver’s license number of an identity theft victim in order to purchase a 2017 truck.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office – Elder Abuse Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry Z. Carbajal III prosecuted the case.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

AUSTIN, Texas – A Georgetown woman was sentenced in a federal court in Austin to 41 months in prison for embezzlement by a credit union employee.

According to court documents, Tracy Mikulencak, 44, embezzled approximately $144,000 from her teller drawer and the vault while working at A+ Federal Credit Union. A+ auditors also revealed that Mikulencak had made unauthorized withdrawals from customer accounts, including a deceased account holder. In total, Mikulencak embezzled $325,708 from the credit union. In addition to her imprisonment, Mikulencak was also ordered to pay $302,668 in restitution.

“The excellent investigative work by our partners at the FBI and the Georgetown Police Department unraveled a scheme by a trusted credit union employee to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from the credit union and its members,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas. “These crimes strike at the heart of our banking system. Those entrusted with customer funds must be held to the highest standards of honesty and integrity. The judge’s sentence in this case affirms the commitment of the U.S. Attorney’s office to swift and certain punishment.”

“Tracy Mikulencak used her position to steal from the elderly and from grieving family members of a deceased customer. This sentence is reflective of the FBI’s commitment to stopping criminals who take advantage of vulnerable members of society,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Doug Olson for the FBI San Antonio Division. “We want to thank the Georgetown Police Department for their continued partnership in keeping our communities safe.”

The FBI and Georgetown PD investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Guess prosecuted the case.

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Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that STEVEN JONES was sentenced to 200 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Karas for his distribution of heroin and fentanyl that resulted in the death of Jamie Elliott, a 26-year-old woman from Cochecton, New York.  Today’s sentencing followed JONES’s guilty plea on November 29, 2021.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Steven Jones sold the fentanyl-laced heroin that killed Jamie Elliott, a 26-year-old mother.  Even after Jones’s drugs killed Jamie Elliott, he continued to peddle dangerous opioids.  This senseless tragedy could have been avoided, and we will continue to seek lengthy prison terms for those who poison others and add to the death toll of the opioid epidemic.”

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in related court proceedings: 

On June 1, 2018, the defendant sold fentanyl-laced heroin stamped “Dorney Park,” to Elliott, the mother of one of the defendant’s children.  Ms. Elliott was found dead inside her bedroom the following morning.  An autopsy conducted following Ms. Elliott’s death revealed that she had died from a lethal dose of fentanyl.  New York State Police (“NYSP”) investigators recovered additional bags of “Dorney Park” fentanyl-laced heroin in Ms. Elliott’s clothing. 

Facebook Messenger messages reflected that Ms. Elliott had purchased narcotics from JONES the evening before her death.  The day Ms. Elliott’s death was discovered, the defendant deactivated his Facebook account.  But the defendant did not stop selling dangerous drugs.  Shortly before his September 2, 2018, arrest the defendant obtained 500 more glassine envelopes of heroin for sale. 

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In addition to the prison term, JONES, 37, of Monticello, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force and the NYSP in connection with this investigation.

This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Coffman is in charge of the prosecution.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the guilty pleas of ANTHONY VIGGIANO and his co-conspirator, STEPHEN FORLANO, Jr., in connection with their participation in a scheme to commit insider trading securities fraud based on information that VIGGIANO misappropriated from two leading global financial firms while VIGGIANO was employed at the firms.  VIGGIANO and FORLANO were arrested in May 2023 and pled guilty to securities fraud based on insider trading before U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni.  CHRISTOPHER SALAMONE previously pled guilty for his role in the scheme. 

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Anthony Viggiano was placed in trusted positions by not one, but two leading global financial institutions.  Viggiano broke that trust repeatedly, illegally tipping Stephen Forlano, Jr., with material, confidential information.  Viggiano and Forlano knew their conduct was wrong but sought to cheat the system anyway.  Protecting the sanctity and integrity of the financial markets continues to be a cornerstone initiative for this Office, and we will continue to bring anyone attempting to illicitly disclose non-public information to justice.”

According to the allegations contained in the Indictment, other public court documents, and statements made during court proceedings:

ANTHONY VIGGIANO was employed at two different, leading global financial institutions located in New York, New York, specifically an investment management firm (“Firm-1”) and an investment bank (“Firm-2,” and together with Firm-1, the “Firms”).  VIGGIANO worked as an analyst in Firm-1’s New York, New York, office between in or about April 2021 and in or about October 2021 and then worked at Firm-2 in New York, New York, as an associate in the asset management department.  While working at the Firms, VIGGIANO received confidential internal communications that contained detailed information about non-public potential strategic partnerships involving Firm-1 and acquisitions involving Firm-2. 

VIGGIANO attended college with FORLANO and was a childhood friend of SALAMONE.  In violation of the duties that he owed to each of the Firms, VIGGIANO tipped FORLANO and SALAMONE with material, non-public information (“MNPI”) relating to the names of potential counterparties for Firm-1’s strategic partnerships and, later, information that VIGGIANO learned during his employment at Firm-2 about companies that were potential acquisition targets.  After VIGGIANO started working at Firm-2, he continued tipping STEPHEN FORLANO, Jr., with MNPI that VIGGIANO obtained through his employer.  In total, VIGGIANO tipped FORLANO and/or SALAMONE with inside information in advance of at least eight different transactions involving publicly traded companies.

FORLANO and SALAMONE each used MNPI provided by VIGGIANO to purchase shares in companies and to trade call options, including short-dated, out-of-the-money call options.  VIGGIANO and SALAMONE agreed to split the profits from their illegal trading, which yielded total illegal profits of over approximately $300,000.  FORLANO further provided this MNPI to friends and family through, among other means, a video game console’s audio chat function in order to evade detection by law enforcement.  FORLANO himself illegally profited at least approximately $100,000 from the scheme. 

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VIGGIANO, 26, of Baldwin, New York, and FORLANO, 27, of Tampa, Florida, each pled guilty to one count of securities fraud under Title 15, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The maximum potential penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI.  He also expressed appreciation for the SEC, which separately initiated civil proceedings against the defendants.

This prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Peter J. Davis and Jared Lenow are in charge of the prosecution.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC To Enter into a Non-Prosecution Agreement and to Pay $153 Million in Financial Penalties

Pawan Passi, Former Head of Morgan Stanley’s U.S. Equity Syndicate Desk, Admits Misconduct and Agrees to Enter into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James Smith, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today that Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (“MORGAN STANLEY”) entered into a non-prosecution agreement (the “NPA”) with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and agreed to pay more than $153 million to the United States for making false statements in connection with the sale of certain “block trades” (the “Relevant Blocks”) from 2018 through August 2021.  The NPA requires MORGAN STANLEY to forfeit $72,515,141 to the United States, representing its profits from the Relevant Blocks; to pay $64,016,082 in restitution, representing the harm it caused to the sellers of the Relevant Blocks; and to pay a $16,900,000 fine.  The NPA requires MORGAN STANLEY to continue to cooperate with and provide information to the United States for at least three years from the date of the agreement.  In the event that MORGAN STANLEY violates the NPA, the U.S. Attorney’s Office may prosecute MORGAN STANLEY.

Today’s corporate action reflects a careful weighing of factors relevant to the appropriate corporate resolution.  The NPA recognizes that while the serious conduct to which MORGAN STANLEY has admitted was uncovered by the Government and was not voluntarily self-disclosed, (i) MORGAN STANLEY has provided extraordinary cooperation with this Office’s investigation; (ii) the investigation has not uncovered evidence of corporate management’s complicity in or knowledge of the wrongdoing; (iii) MORGAN STANLEY’s controls, while ultimately unsuccessful in uncovering the misconduct, were designed in part to detect misconduct in the block trades business and were applied in good faith; (iv) in 2022, MORGAN STANLEY implemented a series of remedial measures to create clearer policies governing its ability to communicate with the buy-side in advance of block trades and trained its employees on those policies; (v) MORGAN STANLEY has no prior criminal history of any kind, including no prior NPA or DPA; and (vi) MORGAN STANLEY has accepted full responsibility for its conduct and agreed to resolve with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

U.S. Attorney Williams also announced that PAWAN PASSI, the MORGAN STANLEY employee that supervised block trades during the relevant time, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (the “DPA”) with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, pending court approval.  In the DPA, PASSI admitted that, from 2018 through August 2021, he promised sellers of certain equity blocks that MORGAN STANLEY would keep information concerning their potential sales confidential, knowing that he would disclose that information to buy-side investors and that those investors would use the information to trade in advance of the block sales.  The DPA provides that criminal prosecution of PASSI will be deferred during a period in which PASSI must demonstrate good behavior and fulfill the terms of the DPA, in which case PASSI will not be further prosecuted criminally.  The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres, and a court appearance has been scheduled before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky today at 11:00 a.m.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Morgan Stanley, through the supervisor of its block trades business, Pawan Passi, deceived block sellers by promising confidentiality knowing that they would turn around and share that information with others to use to trade.  As the Statement of Facts makes clear, the Government’s investigation uncovered the misconduct at Morgan Stanley.  This fact serves as a reminder that we are watching.  And we will continue to use all the tools at our disposal to root out fraud in our financial markets.  Today’s actions show too that while we continue to act aggressively to enforce our nation’s laws, we evaluate each case and each prosecution on its facts and circumstances and will, where appropriate, consider alternatives to criminal prosecution, including declination, an NPA or DPA, whether for a corporation or an individual.  Here, with respect to Morgan Stanley, while many factors weighed in Morgan Stanley’s favor, including extraordinary cooperation and remediation, the misconduct was not uncovered and voluntarily disclosed.  Morgan Stanley now must comply with the terms of the NPA for the next three years and have a criminal resolution with the U.S. Attorney’s Office on its permanent record.”

Assistant Director in Charge James Smith said: “The integrity of our financial markets requires a level playing field, and when individuals and institutions intentionally tip the scales there must be consequences.  Morgan Stanley and Mr. Passi, as admitted in the agreements, utilized confidential information regarding block trades to benefit themselves.  The FBI, in order to maintain the public’s trust in our economic system, will hold any individual or financial entity engaging in complex financial crimes accountable in the criminal justice system.”

As part of the NPA, MORGAN STANLEY agreed to a statement of facts describing the deceptive conduct and the remedial measures that it took in response to learning of that conduct. 

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Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of the FBI.  Mr. Williams further thanked the SEC, which today announced resolutions with MORGAN STANLEY and PASSI.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Margaret Graham, Justin Rodriguez, and Samuel P. Rothschild are in charge of the prosecution.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News