Category: Security

Source: US FBI

Memphis, TN – A federal judge has sentenced Nakita Cannady, 49, to 14 months in federal prison to be followed by two years of supervised release for healthcare fraud and making false statements in connection with loan applications for the Covid-19 Relief Program.  The final sentencing hearing was concluded on April 4, 2025, with the entry of an order by Senior United States District Judge John T. Fowlkes, Jr. directing the defendant to pay more than $500,000.00 dollars in restitution to the victims.  Joseph C. Murphy, Jr., Interim United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentence today.

According to the original federal indictment in the healthcare fraud case, Cannady owned and operated What About Us In-Home Healthcare, a home healthcare services business that purported to provide custodial healthcare services 24-hours a day, 7 days a week to mostly elderly patients. From May 29, 2017 through December 23, 2019, Cannady fraudulently billed Cigna Insurance for 24 hours a day of home healthcare when she knew the patients had only received 8 or 12 hours a day of home healthcare. Cannady was ordered to make restitution to Cigna Insurance in the amount of $193,508.10.

According to the second federal indictment, from June 17, 2020 through April 15, 2021, Cannady submitted six fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications for four purported businesses she controlled, specifically: What About Us Childcare, What About Us Foundation, What About Us Adult Daycare, and What About Us In-Home Healthcare. Cannady’s loan applications contained false information concerning the dates of operation, gross revenues, costs of goods sold, number of employees, and amount of payroll related to the businesses. Cannady was ordered to make restitution to the Small Business Administration in the amount of $346,882.13.   

“Those who exploit health care programs for personal gain will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” said Special Agent in Charge Joseph E. Carrico of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Nashville Field Office. “Health care fraud is a priority for the FBI, and we will continue to work with our partners to investigate those who prioritize greed over the well-being of others.”

Interim United States Attorney Joseph C. Murphy, Jr. and Assistant United States Attorney Raney Irwin prosecuted this case on behalf of the United States. Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Cotten and former Assistant United States Attorneys Courtney Lewis and Murrell Foster also assisted in the prosecution of this case.  The FBI Nashville Field Office – Memphis Resident Agency and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation investigated this case.

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For more information, please contact the media relations team at USATNW.Media@usdoj.gov. Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Facebook or on X at @WDTNNews for office news and updates.

Source: US FBI

CHICAGO – A suburban Chicago police officer has been indicted for allegedly fraudulently obtaining Covid-relief loans and concealing the proceeds in his bankruptcy case.

An indictment returned Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago charges WILLIAM FREDERICK REED, 41, of Hazel Crest, Ill., with making false statements in U.S. Small Business Administration loan applications, bankruptcy fraud, and tax offenses.  Arraignment in federal court has not yet been scheduled.

According to the indictment, Reed worked as a police officer in Dolton, Ill., and Robbins, Ill., and was also self-employed as a security guard.  In 2020 and 2021, Reed applied for and obtained loans pursuant to the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”), which was created by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) to provide financial relief for small businesses during the Covid pandemic.  A PPP loan allowed the interest and principal to be forgiven if businesses spent a certain amount of the proceeds on essential expenses, such as payroll.  The charges allege that Reed falsely represented in his applications that he was qualified to receive the loans based on inflated and falsified average monthly payrolls for his “off duty security” job. In all, Reed fraudulently obtained three loans, the indictment alleges.

In 2022, Reed filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago.  The indictment alleges that during the bankruptcy case, Reed made false statements and provided false documents to conceal his receipt of the PPP loans and submitted a fraudulent 2021 individual income tax return to cause the U.S. Trustee, the Chapter 7 Trustee, and his creditors not to inquire further into his financial affairs.

The tax charges accuse Reed of underreporting income and falsifying withholdings in his 2021 individual tax return and failing to file any individual returns in 2022 and 2023.

The indictment was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Chicago Field Office, Sheldon Shoemaker, Deputy Inspector General of the SBA’s Office of Inspector General, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Ruth M. Mendonça, Inspector-in-Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.  Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Trustee Program.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason A. Julien and Hayley L. Altabef, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian P. Netols.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 

Anyone with information about attempted fraud involving Covid-19 can report it to the Department of Justice by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud at (866) 720-5721 or by filing an online complaint here.

Source: US FBI

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Fermin Castro-Tovar, 26, a Mexican national, living in the United States illegally, was sentenced to 96 months’ imprisonment and three years’ supervised release, after he attempted to traffic over 38,000 grams of methamphetamine in the District of Utah and distributed approximately one pound of meth to undercover agents.

The sentence, imposed by Senior U.S District Court Judge Ted Stewart comes after Castro-Tovar pleaded guilty on January 14, 2025, to possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

According to court documents and statements made at Castro-Tovar’s change of plea and sentencing hearings, in May 2024, Castro-Tovar sold methamphetamine during a controlled purchase to agents with the Wasatch Metro Drug Task Force. On May 30, 2024, law enforcement seized 24,020 grams of methamphetamine at a storage unit associated to him. At Castro Tovar’s residence, agents seized approximately 3,401 grams of methamphetamine. At an apartment associated to Tovar, agents seized three additional bags of methamphetamine weighing approximately 4,388 grams, 4,139 grams and 2,890 grams. In total, Castro-Tovar possessed and intended to distribute 38,838 grams of methamphetamine. See prior release: Foreign National Accused of Attempting to Traffic Over 38 Kilos of Methamphetamine in Utah.

“Stopping deadly drugs from being distributed throughout our communities is a priority,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Felice John Viti of the District of Utah. “We will continue to work with our state, local and federal partners to dismantle organizations that bring drugs into our country and threaten community safety.”

“The amount of methamphetamine in this case potentially amounts to hundreds of thousands of doses,” said Special Agent in Charge Mehtab Syed of the Salt Lake City FBI. “Illicit drugs have devastated too many lives in Utah. Public safety is at the forefront of everything we do, and the FBI’s Wasatch Metro Drug Task Force will use every resource available to cut the supply at the highest levels.”

The case was investigated by the Wasatch Metro Drug Task Force, consisting of the FBI and the Davis Metro Narcotic Strike Force.

Assistant United States Attorney Seth Nielson of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah prosecuted the case.

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 gun violence and other violent crime, 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.  For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.

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.
 

Source: US FBI

ATLANTA—The FBI released its Internet Crime Report 2024. It shows Internet-related complaints and crimes continued to increase significantly in Georgia and across the country.

In 2024, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 859,532 complaints with related losses topping $16.6 billion. That is a 33% increase in losses from 2023.

Georgia ranked 11th in complaints filed by state in 2024 (13th in 2023) with reported potential losses at $420 million. That is a 40% increase year to year.

Nationally, the top three cybercrimes, by the number of complaints reported in 2024, were: phishing/spoofing, extortion, and personal data breaches. In terms of losses, cryptocurrency-related losses by far exceed any other category.

“While the top threats facing Georgia and the nation from cyber criminals and fraudsters continue to evolve, their main goal remains stealing your hard-earned money,” said FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown. “The cornerstone of the FBI’s mission remains to protect American citizens. The men and women of FBI Atlanta will not stop working to prevent losses and minimize the harm to Georgia residents.”

Criminals continue to target the elderly (Age 60+) at a high rate. In Georgia, complaints by seniors increased 71% year over year (2114 to 3622). Reported losses in Georgia by seniors increased 89% ($92 million in 2023 to $174 million in 2024). Georgia’s rank in reported losses by state rose from 10th to 7th.

Reports of cryptocurrency-related crimes jumped in Georgia by 122% (1590 in 2023 to 3533 in 2024). Estimated losses to cryptocurrency-related crimes in the state increased by 66 % ($118,750,468 in 2023 to $197,647,537 in 2024).

The 2024 IC3 annual report can be found at IC3.gov.

In the fight against increasingly savvy criminals, the FBI also relies on you. Without the information you report to us through IC3, we simply cannot piece together the puzzle of this ever-shifting threat landscape. If ever you suspect you’re a victim of cyber-enabled crime, do not hesitate to let us know. We want to be there for you, and what you report will help us help others.

Source: US FBI

A five-count superseding indictment has been unsealed today charging a Venezuelan national and alleged high-ranking member of the designated foreign terrorist organization Tren de Aragua (TdA).  

Jose Enrique Martinez Flores also known as “Chuqui,” 24, is charged in the Southern District of Texas (SDTX) with conspiring to provide and providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization as well as conspiracy and distribution of cocaine in Colombia intended for distribution in the United States.

“TdA is not a street gang – it is a highly structured terrorist organization that put down roots in our country during the prior administration,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Today’s charges represent an inflection point in how this Department of Justice will prosecute and ultimately dismantle this evil organization, which has destroyed American families and poisoned our communities.”

“For the past few years, foreign gangs like TdA have more or less been able to enter our country with impunity, coming here to distribute deadly drugs and terrorize American citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei for the SDTX. “That ends now. This Department of Justice is committed to uprooting this terrorist gang, dismantling its criminal operations, and either imprisoning its members or removing them from the country. SDTX is proud to lead this fight.”

“TdA is a direct threat to our national security, to our communities, and to Americans,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Together with our law enforcement partners, the FBI continues in our pursuit to eliminate this violent terrorist organization from our streets, and today’s announcement makes it clear that these criminals, especially the leaders of these cartels, have no place in our country.”

“This joint Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)-FBI operation — alongside partners in the United States and Colombia — is further evidence that we must continue to focus our efforts on members of TdA who continue to pump poison into our communities,” said DEA Acting Administrator Derek Maltz. “This is another example of DEA’s tenacity to hunt these networks down, wherever they operate, and crush their evil grip on American lives.”

Colombian authorities arrested Flores in Colombia March 31 pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant the United States had requested. He remains in custody in Colombia pending further proceedings. 

A federal grand jury in Houston returned the superseding indictment April 8. 

According to the allegations, Flores is charged with one count of conspiring to provide material support to TdA in the form of personnel (including himself) and services and one count of providing material support to TdA. The indictment also alleges one count of international drug distribution conspiracy based on his involvement in the distribution of five kilograms of cocaine or more, and two substantive counts of international drug distribution.

The Department of State designated TdA as a foreign terrorist organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist Feb. 20. 

According to information presented to the court, Flores is a high-ranking TdA leader in Bogota, Colombia, and is part of the inner circle of senior TdA leadership.

Flores also allegedly caused the delivery of approximately five kilograms or more of cocaine for international distribution, proceeds that were used to further TdA’s criminal goals. 

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine. 

The FBI Houston Field Office and DEA conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Houston Police Department, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Colombian National Police and the Colombian Attorney General’s Office (Fiscalía General de la Nación). The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section’s Office of Judicial Attaché in Bogotá, Colombia, provided significant assistance. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Casey N. MacDonald and Anibal J. Alaniz of the SDTX are prosecuting the case along with Deputy Director David C. Smith from the Department of Justice’s Joint Task Force Vulcan (JTFV). 

JTFV was created in 2019 to eradicate MS-13 and now expanded to target TdA and is comprised of U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country. Those include SDTX; Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; Northern District of Ohio; Districts of New Jersey, Utah, Massachusetts, Nevada and Alaska; Eastern District of Texas; Southern District of Florida; Eastern District of Virginia; Southern District of California; and the District of Columbia, as well as the Department of Justice’s National Security Division and the Criminal Division. Additionally, the FBI; DEA; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Forearms and Explosives; U.S. Marshals Service; and the Federal Bureau of Prisons have been essential law enforcement partners with JTFV.

This case is also a part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.

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

 

Source: US FBI

Dale Britt Bendler, 68, of Miami, Florida, pleaded guilty today to, while being a public official at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), acting as a foreign agent required to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act and removing classified material, classified up to the SECRET//NOFORN level, from authorized locations without authority and with the intent to retain such material at an unauthorized location.

As described in the plea agreement, starting in 2014, Bendler began working as a full-time contractor at the CIA with a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) security clearance. Before he was a CIA contractor, Bendler spent over 30 years working for the CIA as an intelligence officer and retired as a member of the Senior Intelligence Service in 2014. Beginning in July 2017 and continuing through at least July 2020, while a full-time CIA contractor and TS/SCI clearance holder, Bendler worked with a U.S. lobbying firm and engaged in unauthorized and hidden lobbying and public relations activities on behalf of foreign national clients. As described in the plea agreement, Bendler’s undisclosed lobbying activities included an attempt to use his position and access at the CIA to influence a foreign government’s embezzlement investigation of one of Bendler’s foreign national clients and a separate attempt to use his position and access at the CIA to influence the U.S. government’s decision as to whether to grant a U.S. visa to another of Bendler’s clients, who was alleged to be associated with terrorism financing. In exchange for his unauthorized outside activities, Bendler was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars.

During the course of Bendler’s unauthorized lobbying and public relations activities, Bendler also abused his access to CIA resources and personnel by, among other things, searching classified CIA systems for any information related to his private lobbying clients, improperly storing and disclosing non-public, sensitive, and classified U.S. government information to people not authorized to receive such information, and lying to the CIA and the FBI about his status as a foreign agent and his unauthorized lobbying and public relations activities. The CIA terminated Bendler’s contract and access in September 2020.

In addition to pleading guilty, Bendler consented to the forfeiture of $85,000. Bendler faces a maximum penalty of seven years in prison – two years for acting as a foreign agent while being a public official and five years for mishandling classified material. Bendler is scheduled to be sentenced on July 16.

Sue Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Erik S. Siebert for the Eastern District of Virginia, Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division and Assistant Director in Charge Steven J. Jensen of the FBI Washington Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI’s Washington Field Office investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Adam P. Barry and Senior Trial Attorney Heather M. Schmidt of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon D. Kromberg of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case. Chief Jennifer Kennedy Gellie of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section provided substantial assistance in this investigation in her prior role as a trial attorney. 

Source: US FBI

Some families have done their own investigations to flush out clues after feeling rebuffed in their initial encounters with police. A few at the Salt River event gave leads to investigators, hoping they might help them assemble the puzzle.

“This is an opportunity to make it right and to do better,” said Savalas, who was a local victim advocate in the Pima County Attorney’s Office in Tucson, Arizona, before joining the FBI.

Communities tend to be close-knit, said Alane Breland, chief prosecutor of the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community. But open-house attendees seemed eager to meet with representatives of agencies that might be able to help. She worked closely with Savalas to organize the event, and she reiterated the importance of the FBI and other agencies meeting with tribal members where they are.

“If you want people to feel comfortable sharing deeply personal information, the least you can do is come to them,” Breland said. “And this shows the FBI is willing to do that. NamUs is willing to do that. The U.S. Attorney’s Office. I think that says a lot. It really builds a bridge.”

“They feel like their cases are important—that someone will come to them and provide that service,” she continued. “So, I think that sends a positive message.”

Regina Thompson, assistant director of the FBI Victim Services Division, said understanding the needs of the various communities it serves is essential to the mission. 

“This includes our Indigenous communities, which is especially important as they currently face high rates of human trafficking, murder, and violence,” Thompson said. “We commit ourselves every day to understanding, protecting, and servicing this community.” 

Future events in Arizona will be on the Gila River Indian Community, the Navajo Nation, the Tohono O’odham Nation, and Pascua Yaqui’s native lands.

Monica Martinez arrived at the March 1 event with her younger siblings. She’s the oldest of four kids—and a single mother of five. She talked about how she and Hector had to step up after their parents died. She said Hector had his troubles, but he was always the first to lend a hand or stand up to bullies if anyone needed it.

“He took care of my mom. He took care of my kids. He always made sure that everything was done,” Martinez said. “He made mistakes, like we all do. But when he could, he was always there for everybody.”

Martinez said her heart jumped when Savalas called from the FBI. She thought there was news of her brother. But the invitation to talk to investigators about his case was the next best thing, she said. She marked it on her calendar weeks in advance and told her siblings to do the same.

“When I heard about the FBI and the community, it felt somebody really cared who was going to really be helpful,” she said. “Today made me feel like something was going to happen, that maybe I’ll get some results. Maybe I’ll get some closure to find out if my brother’s still alive. Today made me feel like there was some resolve. Like something was actually going to get done.”

Source: US FBI

On October 12, 2017, Ignatova was charged in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and a federal warrant was issued for her arrest. Investigators believe Ignatova may have been tipped off that she was under investigation by U.S. and international authorities. She traveled from Sofia, Bulgaria, to Athens, Greece, on October 25, 2017, and has not been seen since.

On February 6, 2018, a superseding indictment was issued charging Ignatova with one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and securities fraud.

Shimko hopes that the publicity of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list will bring more awareness to the case. “There are so many victims all over the world who were financially devastated by this,” Shimko said. “We want to bring her to justice.”

Source: US FBI

As part of our ongoing efforts to address violent crime nationally, the FBI and our partners conducted several law enforcement actions around the country recently, taking suspected violent criminals off the streets.

Twenty two subjects, including many Lindo Park Crips gang members, were charged in a 70-count indictment for their alleged involvement in the sale of numerous Glock conversion devices, 17 firearms, transferring or possessing a machine gun, as well as trafficking narcotics, such as fentanyl, cocaine, and MDMA. The extensive investigation also included the execution of several search warrants leading to the seizure of another 62 firearms, ammunition, and additional narcotics. The FBI’s Violent Street Gang Task Force and the Arizona Department of Public Safety conducted investigations, along with FBI SWAT teams from Phoenix, Los Angeles, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, and the Phoenix Police Department who assisted during the operations. Other partner agencies included the ATF, DEA, HSI, and the USMS.

​Three Sonoma County Hells Angels were convicted in the Northern California of racketeering conspiracy and related crimes, including murder, assault, robbery, extortion, drug trafficking, witness intimidation, and illegal firearms possession. The Hells Angels are a transnational violent outlaw motorcycle gang with numerous chapters across the country who work cooperatively with other Hells Angels chapters to engage in extensive criminal activity.

​Sixteen subjects in Kansas and Missouri were indicted on federal conspiracy to distribute cocaine, meth, and fentanyl. The subjects allegedly conspired to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine, and one subject was also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, a Springfield .40-caliber handgun.

Five members of the Gangster Disciples were indicted in Georgia for allegedly murdering three people. Additionally, an operation in the South Lake Tahoe area recovered “ghost” pistols and assault rifles (firearms that are hard for law enforcement to track due to lack of serial numbers) and a multi-agency investigation in Waco, Texas, disrupted a meth distribution ring.

Learn more about the FBI’s work in investigating violent crime at fbi.gov/violentcrime. Report tips to tips.fbi.gov; you can remain anonymous.

Source: US FBI