Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A federal jury in the Northern District of Illinois convicted an Illinois woman yesterday of unemployment insurance fraud for submitting false claims to a COVID-19 assistance program. From May 2020 and continuing through December 2022, Hmaidan and her co-conspirators submitted nearly 700 fraudulent unemployment insurance claims that caused over $11 million in fraudulent unemployment benefits to be dispersed.

“Hiam Hmaidan stole more than $10 million from American taxpayers during the COVID-19 pandemic through an unemployment insurance fraud scheme that submitted nearly 700 fraudulent claims,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. “The Fraud Division will continue to find and prosecute fraudsters who exploited a national crisis to steal from Federal benefit programs.”

“Hiam Hmaidan nefariously used the identities of her tax clients and others without their knowledge or consent to steal over $10 million in unemployment insurance benefits meant to support struggling Americans,” said Inspector General Anthony P. D’Esposito of the U.S. Department of Labor. “Her conviction sends a clear message: my office, alongside Vice President Vance’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, will relentlessly pursue those who commit fraud and hold them accountable. Protecting the integrity of these critical programs isn’t optional — it’s our highest priority. Fraud is a tax you never voted for, and we’re coming after the people collecting it.”

“This guilty verdict is justice for the American people,” said Special Agent in Charge Adam Jobes of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Chicago Field Office. “Hiam Hmaidan took advantage of a program people relied on to get through a very difficult time. She and her co-conspirators stole millions from taxpayers at a time when families were struggling to keep a roof over their heads and food on their tables. Working closely with our fellow law enforcement partners, IRS-CI followed the money to expose the full scope of this scheme and helped bring it to an end. This verdict sends a clear message that if you try to cash in on a national crisis, you will be brought to justice and held accountable for your crimes.”

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Hiam Hmaidan, 54, of Orland Park, Illinois, operated an unemployment insurance fraud scheme in which she agreed with others to defraud the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program, which Congress established in 2020 as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).

Hmaidan, together with her co-conspirators, submitted claims containing false information regarding the claimants’ employment status and the impact of the pandemic on their ability to earn a living. Hmaidan abused her position as a tax preparer by submitting many of the fraudulent claims using her clients’ names and personal information. Based on those fraudulent claims, unemployment insurance benefits were loaded onto debit cards and mailed directly to Hmaidan or to addresses accessible to Hmaidan and her co-conspirators. Once Hmaidan and her co-conspirators obtained the debit cards, they used the fraudulent proceeds on the cards to withdraw approximately $2.8 million in cash from ATMs near where they lived.

The jury convicted Hmaidan of one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and five counts of mail fraud. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 2. Hmaidan faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on all counts. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and IRS-CI investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Shy Jackson and Meredith B. Healy of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the Fraud Division. The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Saul Castillo-Crespo, 28, an illegal alien from Mexico and a previously convicted sex offender, was sentenced today to 30 months in federal prison for illegally re-entering the United States after deportation, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department today announced that Rental Marketing Solutions, LLC (RMS), a property management company based in St. Petersburg, Florida, will pay $60,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by obtaining an unlawful eviction judgment against an active duty Navy sailor. This is the largest amount the Department has ever obtained for a single servicemember in a case involving the filing of a false military service affidavit.

“It is unacceptable and illegal for a landlord or property management company to file a false affidavit stating that an active duty servicemember is not in military service,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This SCRA violation had significant consequences, as potential landlords refused to rent to a sailor once they learned of the eviction on his record. He became homeless and his wife was forced to move back in with her parents in another state. The Justice Department will continue to fight to protect the rights of military families.”

“Protecting the civil rights of our servicemembers is a top priority for the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” said U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida. “We will continue to aggressively enforce the SCRA to protect the servicemembers who fight to protect us here at home. These servicemembers, along with their families, sacrifice to serve our country and deserve to be treated with dignity. No servicemember should ever be denied housing or have their record tarnished based on a false affidavit.”

The Department alleges that RMS named the sailor as a defendant in an eviction action for a property he had not lived in for several years, filed a false affidavit stating he was not on active duty, and obtained an eviction judgment against him in a Florida county court while he was assigned to the USS Nimitz at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. Because the eviction judgment showed up on his background reports, a dozen or more landlords refused to rent to him and his wife. For four months, he had to live separately from his wife and rotate among temporary accommodations, including sleeping on the berthed Naval ship, which had no heat.

The SCRA requires a plaintiff in a case where a defendant does not make an appearance to file an affidavit stating whether the defendant is in military service, with necessary supporting facts. This allows the court to appoint an attorney to represent the servicemember and to postpone the proceedings if a defense cannot be presented without the servicemember’s presence. Because RMS filed a false affidavit stating that the sailor was not in military service, he did not receive the benefit of those protections.

Under the settlement, RMS will pay $60,000 in compensation to the sailor and for ten years of credit monitoring for him. RMS will also be required to pay a $6,000 civil penalty and maintain SCRA policies and procedures to avoid committing future violations.

The Department’s enforcement of the SCRA is conducted by the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section in partnership with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices throughout the country. Since 2011, the Department has obtained $489 million in monetary relief for 152,000 servicemembers through its enforcement of the SCRA. For more information about the Department’s SCRA enforcement efforts, please visit www.servicemembers.gov.

Servicemembers and their dependents who believe that their rights under the SCRA may have been violated should contact the nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program Office. Office locations can be found at legalassistance.law.af.mil.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, a complaint was unsealed charging Sam Sprei, also known as “Yechiel Sprei,” “Shimon Sprei,” and “Eli Shapiro,” and Edward Harold King, a former Kings County Supreme Court Justice, with wire fraud conspiracy.  Both defendants were arrested this morning and are scheduled to make their initial appearance this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Clay H. Kaminsky.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Pensacola, Florida – Treivorn McLeod, 25, of Mary Esther, Florida, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit of money laundering. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Two Unknown Vice Lords — a violent Memphis street gang — were each sentenced to 50 years in prison after a federal jury convicted them on Feb. 13 for a gang-related murder.

“Substantial sentences like these send the loud and clear message that organized gang violence and retaliatory murder will be vigorously pursued, charged, and prosecuted by the Department of Justice,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “These defendants carried out a calculated, execution-style murder. They intended to incite fear and silence in fellow gang members and in the Memphis community. The court’s 50-year sentences means they now will be known as long-term residents of the Bureau of Prisons, and the good people of Memphis will no longer be dealing with their vice. The Criminal Division remains committed to protecting communities from violent criminal organizations and pursuing justice for victims and their families.”

“These significant federal sentences have dismantled the leadership of the UVL street gang here in Memphis,” said U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant for the Western District of Tennessee. “From now on, E-Money, Dre, and V-Slash will not be ‘known’ by their gang nickname, but only by their Bureau of Prisons inmate numbers.”

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Edward Allen, also known as E-Money, 42, of Los Angeles, and Deandre Rodgers, also known as Dre, 29, of Memphis,  were high-ranking members of the Unknown Vice Lords also known as The Ghost Mob — a criminal enterprise that controlled territory throughout the entire city of Memphis, as well as Arkansas and Mississippi. Members of the Unknown Vice Lords committed murders, burglaries, assaults, human trafficking, and drug trafficking on behalf of the enterprise. When the gang’s so-called Supreme Elite Chief, the gang leader for the entire state of Tennessee, was murdered, the gang sought retaliation against anyone thought to be involved.

As proven at trial, on Jan. 10, 2019, the Supreme Elite Chief and his girlfriend were murdered in broad daylight, in a residential neighborhood. While the gang initially thought that a rival gang was responsible, they eventually came to believe it was one of their own who killed their leader and decided to retaliate.

On Jan. 14, 2019, Allen and Rodgers obtained guns from fellow gang member Vincent Grant, also known as V-Slash, 41, of Memphis. Early the next morning around 1 a.m., Allen, Rodgers, Grant, and another gang member drove the victim to the back of a rundown apartment complex where Allen and Rodgers used the firearms Grant supplied to murder the victim. Grant was also prosecuted and found guilty in a separate trial.

The jury convicted Allen and Rodgers of causing death by use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, that being murder in aid of racketeering.

A separate jury also convicted Grant of causing death by use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, that being murder in aid of racketeering. The court sentenced him to 24 years in prison.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated the case. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, FBI, Memphis Police Department, and U.S. Secret Service assisted in the investigation.

Trial Attorneys Lisa M. Thelwell and Sarah J. Rasalam of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section are prosecuting the case with substantial assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee.

This case is part of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime Initiative to prosecute violent crimes in Memphis, Tennessee. The Criminal Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee have partnered, along with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, to confront violent crimes committed by gang members and associates through the enforcement of federal laws and use of federal resources to prosecute the violent offenders and prevent further violence.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Bobby Tyrell Davis, 41, of Simpsonville, originally from Detroit, Michigan, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for conspiring to distribute fentanyl, heroin, and marijuana, distribution of fentanyl and marijuana, laundering drug proceeds, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Defendant facilitated illegal immigration of aliens from Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, often committing armed robberies of the smuggled aliens

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

HONOLULU – United States Attorney Ken Sorenson announced that on May 11, 2026, United States District Judge Jill A. Otake sentenced Kaiaulani C. Kaiawe, 47, of Kapaa, Hawaii to 40 months in prison for defrauding the Kauai Coronavirus Rental and Utility Assistance (CRUA) program.  

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

ST. GEORGE, Utah – A federal grand jury in St. George returned an indictment today charging a Utah podiatrist and two nurses who worked for him with fraud after they allegedly submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare for skin substitute services, many of which were medically unnecessary, and resulted in Medicare paying $29 million dollars in claims.