Crime

Defendants’ Separate Campaigns Both Targeted Software and Hardware for Operational Technology Systems The Department of Justice has unsealed two indictments charging four defendants –all Russian nationals who worked for the Russian government– with attempting, supporting and conducting computer intrusions that together, in two separate conspiracies, targeted the global energy sector between 2012 and 2018. In total, these hacking campaigns targeted...

CEO of Dozens of Companies and Entities Charged in Scheme to Traffic an Estimated $1 Billion in Fraudulent and Counterfeit Cisco Networking Equipment A federal grand jury in the District of New Jersey returned an indictment last week charging a resident of Florida with running a massive operation over many years to traffic in fraudulent and counterfeit Cisco networking equipment...

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has released its annual report. The 2021 Internet Crime Report (pdf) includes information from 847,376 complaints of suspected internet crime—a 7% increase from 2020—and reported losses exceeding $6.9 billion. State-specific statistics have also been released and can be found within the 2021 Internet Crime Report and in the accompanying 2021 State Reports. The top three cyber crimes reported by...

A federal jury convicted a New York man this week in an over $600 million health care fraud, wire fraud, and identity theft scheme. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Mathew James, 54, of East Northport, operated a medical billing company that billed for procedures that were either more serious or entirely different than those James’ doctor-clients...

A Special Report: The Harrowing Impunity of White-Collar Crime (Part IV) The attempted sales are also allegedly linked to conman Marc Lubaszka’s private jet company, Fly Private X, and convicted fraudster Arael Doolittle AN IMPORTANT NOTE: On June 22, 2021, Hadari Oshri –Marc Lubaszka’s business partner– filed a frivolous civil harassment restraining order (CHRO) against me to stop the publication of...

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) announced today the disbursement of over $115 million to 38,889 victims in connection with fraud schemes processed by MoneyGram International Inc. (MoneyGram). The victims, many of whom are elderly, will recover the full amount of their losses. “This distribution of $115.8 million to nearly 40,000 victims – each of whom is being fully compensated...

(HOUSTON) – A 56-year-old Houston resident has been ordered to federal prison for scheming to fraudulently sell 50 million non-existent N95 facemasks to the Australian government, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery. Arael Doolittle pleaded guilty July 27, 2021. Today, U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes ordered him to serve a 54-month sentence. At the hearing, the court heard additional evidence...

A Special Report: The Harrowing Impunity of White-Collar Crime (Part III) AN IMPORTANT NOTE: On June 22, 2021, Hadari Oshri –Marc Lubaszka’s business partner– filed a frivolous civil harassment restraining order (CHRO) against me to stop the publication of my investigative series “A Special Report: The Harrowing Impunity of White-Collar crime,” and any subsequent installments or future media coverage. On...

IRS seized $3.5B in crypto-related fraud money this year as illicit activity multiplies he Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations Unit (IRS-CI) seized $3.5 billion from cryptocurrency-related fraud cases over the fiscal year of 2021, according to an annual report published by the agency, underscoring how the booming sector has also sparked a rise in the illicit use of crypto. According to...

Fraudulently Claimed Nearly $3 Million in Refunds Two Florida tax preparers were sentenced to prison yesterday for conspiring to defraud the United States and preparing false tax returns. Nikency Alexis, the owner and operator of Unity Tax & Financial Services (Unity Tax), a Broward County tax preparation business, was sentenced to 45 months  in prison, and Thony Guillaume, who worked as...