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

ST PAUL, Minn. – Two medical services company executives have pleaded guilty to orchestrating an accounts receivable factoring fraud scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

According to court documents, Khemwattie Singh, 53, was the chief executive officer of Global Medical Services, a Minnesota-based healthcare solutions company. Neeraj Chepuri, 55, was the chief medical officer of Global Medical Services. Between June and October 2018, Singh, Chepuri, and others entered into factoring contracts with MD Capital Solutions, a Florida-based investment company, to purchase the accounts receivable of Global Medical Services and Minnesota International Medicine for more than $2.6 million. Factoring is a form of short-term financing in which a business sells its accounts receivable to a third-party at a discount.

According to court documents and their admissions in court, Singh and Chepuri defrauded MD Capital Solutions by failing to pay over the receivables as they were collected and falsely represented to MD Capital Solutions that no funds had been received. Instead, Singh and Chepuri pocketed the money, wiring more than $5 million overseas.

In addition, Singh was responsible for complying with all federal tax laws pertaining to Global Medical Services as the Chief Executive Officer, including the requirement that the business would withhold federal income taxes and Social Security and Medicare (“FICA”) taxes from employees’ pay and report and pay over the withheld amounts to the Internal Revenue Service. Beginning in approximately 2018, Singh willfully failed to file quarterly payroll tax returns or pay over the withheld amounts and the employer’s contribution to FICA. 

Singh and Chepuri each pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on December 29, 2023, in U.S. District Court before Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz. Singh also pleaded guilty to one count of willful failure to account for and pay over payroll taxes for withholding federal taxes from employee payroll and not reporting or paying the withholdings to the IRS.  The plea agreements include restitution to the U.S. Small Business Administration for a fraudulent Paycheck Protection Loan obtained by the defendants for the company they operated.  Sentencing hearings are scheduled for May 7, 2024 (Singh) and May 9, 2024 (Chepuri).

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, the Minnesota Commerce Fraud Bureau, and the IRS.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert M. Lewis and Chelsea A. Walcker are prosecuting the case.

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

MINNEAPOLIS – A St. Paul man and a Mounds View woman have been indicted for carjacking and firearm violations, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

According to court documents, on October 6, 2023, Isis Martinaz Brent, 19, and Carvon Antonio Saine, 18, used violence and intimidation to steal a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu in South Minneapolis. During the carjacking, Brent and Saine used a semiautomatic firearm with the intent to cause bodily harm.

The indictment charges Brent and Saine each with one count of carjacking and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. The defendants made their initial appearances today in U.S. District Court before Magistrate Judge Dulce J. Foster.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI and the Minneapolis Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David B. Green is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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

CONCORD – A North Carolina woman was indicted in connection with charges arising out of her embezzlement of funds from her previous employer, Farwell Funeral Service in Nashua, U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces.

LaSaundra Simmons, 51, previously of Nashua, was indicted on 10 counts of wire fraud on December 6, 2023.  Simmons was arrested in North Carolina on December 11, 2023, and was ordered released on conditions on January 3, 2023.

According to the charging documents, Simmons worked as the bookkeeper for Farwell Funeral Service, Inc. for several years.  Starting in 2015, and continuing until it was discovered in January 2023, Simmons employed a scheme to embezzle funds from the company.  On more than 100 occasions, she either made unauthorized wire transfers of funds from the funeral home’s bank account to her own account, or drafted unauthorized checks which she deposited by electronic wire transfer into her own account.  She would often describe these checks as “commissions” or “consulting fees.”  She embezzled more than $500,000 over the course of the scheme.

Each charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, and up to 3 years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Nashua Police Department led the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles L. Rombeau is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

 

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

BOSTON – An East Longmeadow man was sentenced today in federal court in Springfield for marijuana trafficking.

John Americo Pereira, 38, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to six months in prison and three years of supervised release. In June 2023, Pereira pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana. 

In January 2018, an investigation began into Pereira, and others, for trafficking marijuana. During a search of Pereira’s home in February 2019, approximately $688,000 in drug proceeds and more than 269 pounds (122 kilograms) of marijuana packaged in one-pound bags were found. Also found at Pereia’s residence were several smaller or partially filled packages and containers of marijuana, marijuana cigarettes and a large amount of marijuana edibles, including 876 chocolate bars. 

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Office; John E. Mawn, Jr., Interim Colonel of the Massachusetts State Police; and Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil L. Desroches of the Springfield Branch Office and the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section of the Department of Justice prosecuted the case.  
 

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

NORFOLK, Va. – A Portsmouth man was sentenced yesterday to 15 years in prison for armed carjacking.

According to court documents, on July 11, 2022, Raequan Rucker, 23, along with a co-conspirator, simultaneously approached two women late at night and stole their vehicles at gunpoint. At the time of the carjacking, one victim had her 9-month-old baby in the backseat. After Rucker entered one vehicle and his co-conspirator entered the other, they drove off and met at a location in Portsmouth where Rucker’s co-conspirator dumped his vehicle and entered Rucker’s. The two men then traveled to Virginia Beach, where they were subsequently located by Virginia Beach Police in a retention pond.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Brian Dugan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office; and Paul Neudigate, Chief of Virginia Beach Police made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Heck prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:22-cr-124.

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

FORT WAYNE –Kevieun D. Lewis, 35 years old, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge Holly A. Brady after pleading guilty to possessing with intent to deliver fentanyl and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Lewis was sentenced to 180 months in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release.

According to documents in the case, on March 29, 2023, a search warrant was executed at Lewis’s residence after controlled buys of fentanyl were conducted.  During the search, officers found numerous baggies containing fentanyl, cocaine, MDMA, and marijuana.  Officers also located digital scales, a firearm, ammunition, and a substantial amount of U.S. currency.  Lewis has six prior adult felony convictions.    

This case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from Fort Wayne Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration Laboratory, and the Allen County Prosecutor’s Office.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stacey R. Speith.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

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

           WASHINGTON – A Maryland man pleaded guilty today to a felony charge of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

           Scott Miller, 37, of Millersville, Maryland, pleaded guilty in the District of Columbia to a felony charge of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon in front of U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan. Miller is scheduled to be sentenced on April 19, 2024. 

           According to court documents, on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, Miller, a member of the Maryland Chapter of the Proud Boys, left his home in Maryland, purchased a new truck, and drove to Washington, D.C., to participate in the events at the Capitol that day. Miller arrived by approximately 4:15 p.m. and made his way to the Lower West Terrace “Tunnel”, the site of some of the most violent assaults on law enforcement officers that occurred on January 6th. Miller wore orange ski goggles, a black hooded sweatshirt under a tan coat, a tan backpack, a black and red neck gaiter, dark-colored pants, and black motorcycle gloves.

           At the Tunnel entrance, Miller joined the crowd of rioters who were attacking members of the Metropolitan Police Department (“MPD”) and the United States Capitol Police (“USCP”), who were defending the Tunnel and were lawfully engaged in the lawful performance of their official duties. Court documents say that at approximately 4:27 p.m., Miller struck an MPD officer with a long wooden pole multiple times. After that assault, Miller threw at least five objects at the police in the Tunnel, including a metal pipe or pole, a bottle, a short wooden stick, a large black speaker, and an article of clothing.

           At approximately 4:33 p.m., Miller then struck multiple police officers who were defending the tunnel several times by swinging and jabbing a long blue and white pole at their heads. Shortly thereafter, Miller grabbed ahold of a USCP riot shield held by two officers. Miller pulled the shield out of their hands and, after a brief struggle, ripped the shield away from the officers. Miller then carried the shield back into the crowd behind him and handed it to another rioter.

           Miller was arrested on Dec. 16, 2022, in Maryland by the FBI.

           This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.

           The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Miller as #132 on its seeking information photos. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

           In the 36 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,265 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 440 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

           Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.