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The very heart of FBI operations lies in their investigations—which serve, as their mission states, “to protect and defend the United States against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats and to enforce the criminal laws of the United States.” They currently have jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal law, and you can find the major ones HERE, grouped within their three national security priorities and their five criminal priorities. Also visit their Intelligence program site, which underpins and informs all our investigative programs.
Here are the top ten stories, week ending February 15, 2013
New Orleans: Transocean Pleads Guilty, Sentenced to Pay $400 Million in Criminal Penalties
In total, the amount of fines and other criminal penalties imposed on Transocean are the second-largest environmental crime recovery in U.S. history, following the historic $4 billion criminal sentence imposed on BP Exploration and Production Inc. in connection with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. Full Story
Houston: Former Executives of Stanford Financial Group Entities Sentenced to 20 Years for Roles in Fraud Scheme
Gilbert T. Lopez, Jr., the former chief accounting officer of Stanford Financial Group Company, and Mark J. Kuhrt, the former global controller of Stanford Financial Group Global Management, were each sentenced to 20 years in prison for their roles in helping Robert Allen Stanford perpetrate a fraud scheme involving Stanford International Bank. Full Story
Atlanta: Current and Former Law Enforcement Officers Among 15 Arrested for Protecting Drug Dealers
Seven Metro Atlanta Police officers, two former DeKalb County jail officers, a contract officer with Federal Protective Services, and five others have been charged with accepting thousands of dollars in cash payments to provide protection during drug deals in a federal undercover operation. Full Story
Chicago: Latin Kings’ Second-in-Command Sentenced to 40 Years for RICO Conspiracy and Related Gang Crimes
Vicente Garcia, Jr., the second highest-ranking leader nationwide of the Latin Kings street gang, was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison after being convicted at trial in 2011 of racketeering conspiracy and related charges involving narcotics trafficking and violence that plagued numerous neighborhoods on Chicago’s north, south, and west sides. Full Story
Los Angeles: Fourteen Arrested for Market Manipulation Schemes
Federal authorities have arrested 14 people named in two federal indictments that allege long-term schemes to manipulate stock prices that led to more than 20,000 investors losing over $30 million when artificially inflated stock prices collapsed. Full Story
San Diego: Nine Charged with Conspiracy and Bribery Involving DMV Offices
A manager who supervises the Licensing Registration Examiners at the California Department of Motor Vehicles in El Cajon, California, was charged in a criminal complaint for his involvement in a bribery conspiracy that resulted in the production of fraudulent driver licenses for applicants who had failed or not taken the required driver license tests. Full Story
New York: Three Plead Guilty to Participating in $57.3 Million Fraud on Organization That Makes Reparations to Victims of Nazi Persecution
Genrikh Kolontyrskiy, Moysey Kucher, and Dora Kucher pled guilty to conspiring to defraud programs administered by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany Inc., established to aid the survivors of Nazi persecution, of more than $57 million. Full Story
Tampa: Man Sentenced to Life for Aggravated Sexual Abuse of Minors
Paul C. Lorenz, III was sentenced to life in federal prison for aggravated sex abuse of minors, production of child pornography, and possession of child pornography. He babysat several children while employed as a maintenance technician at a church in Pasadena, Maryland, and sexually abused a young girl under his care over the course of approximately six years. Full Story
Miami: Palm Beach County Health Department Employee Arrested for Stealing Patient Information
Salita St. Simon was arrested on a charge of identity theft for obtaining patient identification information, including patient names and Social Security numbers, from the Palm Beach County Health Department’s computer system and providing that information to her accomplices, who used the data to file fraudulent tax returns. Full Story
Washington Field: Former Doctor Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Distribute Oxycodone
Larren Wade Venice, Florida, a former doctor who had a medical practice in Alexandria, Virginia, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute oxycodone. Full Story