Category: Security

Source: US FBI

I joined the FBI in 1995 as a certified public accountant (CPA). I have served my entire career in the New Orleans Field Office. I have investigated public corruption for the last 25 years. I have been a team leader for the Evidence Response Team for more than 20 years, the election crimes coordinator for the division for the past seven years, and I am a certified fraud examiner.  

What drew you to the FBI?

I was a little girl from a small town in North Dakota who spent her allowance on walkie-talkies and convinced friends to surveil the neighborhood boys. It was fun but ironic because surveillance was never one of my strongest FBI skills. My brothers and sisters teased me that I was too small for the job; it was a pipe dream.

Fast-forward 20 years, I was a CPA working in a public accounting firm, and my husband was an attorney in our hometown. A friend sent me a job notice from a Minneapolis newspaper advertising the special agent position and encouraged me to apply. Around the same time, the local FBI agent met my husband and encouraged him to apply. I convinced my husband we should apply, so I could say I gave it a try and we could go about our lives. The job was everything I ever imagined it to be. I am grateful my friend gave me the push I needed.

Source: US FBI

I was a nurse before I came to the FBI, and I applied to the FBI right after 9/11, like so many. About a year after starting the application process, I was doing pushups at Quantico and thinking, “I can’t believe I’m here.” It has been the most rewarding and incredible adventure. I have worked in the New Orleans Field Office, the Phoenix Field Office, FBI Headquarters, and the Mobile Field Office. In Mobile, I have worked crimes against children and am now the Evidence Response Team (ERT) senior team leader and embedded on a violent crime squad.

Describe your most memorable case or investigative success.

I’ve been on ERT since 2007, so I’ve been on a lot of searches and a wide variety of scenes. I think the Gabrielle Giffords mass shooting scene in Tucson in 2011 was probably the most memorable. It happened at a grocery store close to our home, where we would occasionally shop, and there were several victims at the scene upon arrival. It made it really personal. We do what we do for the victims, and we do it together as a team. While rough at times, I wouldn’t trade a day of it. 

Source: US FBI

Defendant Exported Millions of Dollars of Electronics Used by Russia in Missiles and Drones

Source: US FBI

I have been a special agent with the FBI since 1998. After completing new agent training, I was assigned to the Newark Division, where I worked international drug investigations, public corruption, and terrorism matters. I was part of the team that processed evidence linked to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and I assisted in body recovery efforts and conducted victim impact interviews for family members of those who perished on Flight 93. Since 2003, I have been assigned to the Memphis Division of the FBI, where I currently supervise civil rights investigations.

Describe your most memorable case or investigative success.

My most memorable case was an international trafficking investigation involving a 12-year-old girl from Oaxaca, Mexico. The victim was tricked by a trusted female from her village with the promise of working in a Mexican restaurant in the United States. However, upon arriving in Tennessee, the victim was raped by the pimp and promptly placed on a human trafficking circuit. On the first stop of the circuit, she was forced to have sex with 60 men the first day and hundreds more in the months to follow. The case resulted in the indictment of 15 subjects, and the main trafficker received a 50-year sentence in prison. In 2010, I received the Attorney General’s Award for the investigation.

Source: US FBI

Share the thing you’re most proud of from your FBI career. 

 The decision to work crimes against children was the best career move I could have made, but of course, I made it without knowing how powerful it would be. 

All of my investigations have left a mark on my career, but it is the work from the last several years that have made the biggest impact. I have seen huge changes in the technology used to distribute child sexual abuse material in the years I have worked these cases, but the one constant is that there is always a real child behind those images.

Having the honor and privilege of meeting victims face to face, hearing their stories, holding their hands, crying with them as they must relive their abuse, and sitting with them as their abuser is sentenced is incredibly powerful. These young victims have helped shape and mold my career in a way no other violation can.

Unless you work this, you may not fully understand the impact. But for those of us who do, we get it, and we share a bond that is unlike any other in the Bureau and law enforcement in general. We know what another investigator is going through, and we are there in a heartbeat for each other. I am proud of the 50, 60, and even 100-year jail sentences our team has been able to get for the abusers in these cases. But I am most proud of the difference our cases have made for those we helped and the team that has been with me every step of the way.

Source: US FBI

Share the thing you’re most proud of from your FBI career.

When I joined the FBI as a special agent, I believed this was the pinnacle of any career and assumed I would remain an agent until I retired. I had no aspirations to go into management. Had it not been for colleagues, friends, and managers encouraging me to seek out career advancements, I don’t know if I would have done so on my own. They provided me with the information and inspiration I needed to be willing to raise my hand and take the next steps.

I am hoping I can be a role model, not only for other female agents coming into the FBI, but to young women who may one day want to join the FBI. I want them to see in me a reflection of themselves and realize, as a woman and ethnic minority, the FBI will benefit from your experience and provide a great opportunity to shine.

Describe your most memorable case or investigative success.

My most memorable case was my first health care fraud investigation. It involved a group of individuals involved in a prescription drug ring where they used stolen prescription pads from various doctor offices to forge approximately 175 prescriptions. These forged prescriptions were used to obtain controlled substances, including Percocet and Oxycodone. The subjects used stolen identification documents and information on the forged prescriptions to have them filled in over 50 pharmacies. As a result of our efforts, five search warrants were executed and seven individuals were prosecuted.

We even received help from the sister of one of the main subjects. She was willing to provide information in the hopes of getting help for her sister’s drug addiction. Although her assistance strained their relationship, she was grateful for the work we did on the case. It led to her sister getting the help she needed and entering a drug rehabilitation program.

Source: US FBI

I have been with the FBI for 12 years. I have worked counterintelligence, counterterrorism, violent crime, and drug cases. I have also served as the weapons of mass destruction assistant coordinator, primary fitness coordinator, and bank robbery investigation coordinator.

Prior to the FBI, I served for 11 years in the Army Reserves with one deployment to Afghanistan. I previously worked in database marketing and sales in the private sector for 12 years and am the mother of three boys, an author, and an artist.

What drew you to the FBI?

I was drawn to the FBI after a year long deployment to Afghanistan. After losing two soldiers on that tour, I really felt that I wanted to work in national security and continue to support the fight against terrorism. After researching several federal agencies, I believed the FBI would give me that chance, and it did.

I worked on the Joint Terrorism Task Force in the Little Rock Field Office for several years. That gave me the opportunity to work with intelligence community partners and other countries. No other federal agency would have offered what the FBI can do in that realm.

Describe your most memorable case or investigative success.

I have been privileged to work several interesting and successful investigations in the FBI.

Source: US FBI

Daniel M. Gitner, Attorney for the United States, Acting under Authority Conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 515, announced today that YVETTE WANG, a/k/a “Yanping,” was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with her managerial role in a sprawling and complex scheme WANG and her co-conspirator, Miles Guo, orchestrated in order to fraudulently solicit investments from thousands of Miles Guo’s online followers in various entities and programs.  As part of that scheme, WANG and Guo made false representations to induce victims to invest money in various entities WANG and/or her co-conspirators controlled, including GTV Media Group, Inc. (“GTV”), the Himalaya Farm Alliance, G Club Operations, LLC (“G|CLUBS”), and the Himalaya Exchange.  And then WANG and her co-conspirators spent their victims’ money on themselves, purchasing luxurious items such as million-dollar sports cars and a New Jersey mansion.

Attorney for the United States Daniel M. Gitner said: “Yvette Wang worked with Miles Guo to defraud thousands of victims out of more than $1 billion.  Today’s sentence is a reminder that there will be serious consequences for this conduct, and that this Office will tirelessly in its work to detect, prosecute, and punish fraud.”

According to the charging documents, public court filings, statements made in court, and evidence admitted at Miles Guo’s trial:

From at least in or about 2018 through at least in or about March 2023, WANG and others conspired to defraud thousands of victims of more than approximately $1.4 billion.  Miles Guo was the leader of this complex conspiracy.  WANG was Guo’s “Chief of Staff.” In that capacity, WANG played a managerial role in a variety of entities that the Government has alleged were part of the “G Enterprise” – a series of interrelated entities and companies that were used by WANG and her co-conspirators to carry out this billion-dollar fraud scheme.  Through her work in the G Enterprise, and as WANG well knew, WANG directed the expenditure of fraud proceeds on luxury items for herself, Miles Guo’s family, and others.

WANG and her co-conspirators’ fraud relied on several interrelated operations:  the Rule of Law Charities, GTV Private Placement, the Farm Loan Program, G|CLUBS, the Himalaya Exchange, and A10.

Between on or about April 20, 2020, and on or about June 2, 2020, approximately $452 million worth of purported GTV common stock was sold to more than 5,500 investors.  Investors participated in the GTV Private Placement based, in part, on the belief that their money would be invested into GTV to develop and grow that business. In early June 2020, as WANG and her co-conspirators agreed, WANG transferred $100 million of funds raised from the GTV Private Placement into a high-risk hedge fund for the benefit of GTV’s parent company and its ultimate beneficial owner, Guo’s son.

On or about July 22, 2020, in a video distributed via social media, WANG’s co-conspirator promoted the Farm Loan Program, which was a purported opportunity to obtain stock in GTV in exchange for a loan.  However, no stock was ever provided, and WANG and her co-conspirators misappropriated funds that were raised through the Farm Loan Program. For example, approximately $2.3 million was used to cover maintenance expenses associated with an approximately 145-foot luxury yacht worth approximately $37 million.

From at least in or about October 2020 through at least in or about March 2023, WANG and her co-conspirators fraudulently obtained more than approximately $250 million in victim funds through G|CLUBS.  G|CLUBS claimed on its website to be “an exclusive, high-end membership program offering a full spectrum of services” and “a gateway to carefully curated world-class products, services and experiences.”  WANG was the de facto CEO of G|CLUBS, and as she well knew, G|CLUBS did not provide anything other than superficial services to its members.  Moreover, on the basis of Guo’s statements in online videos, victims sent money to G|CLUBS expecting to receive stock in GTV, G|Fashion, or other entities.  But, as WANG well knew, victims never received stock and instead G|CLUBS funds were used—often at WANG’s direction—to purchase, among other things, a 50,000 square foot New Jersey mansion; various furniture and decorative items including, among other items, Chinese and Persian rugs worth approximately $978,000, a $62,000 television, and a $53,000 fireplace log cradle holder; a $900,000 Lamborghini, and a custom-built Bugatti sports car for approximately $4.4 million.

On or about November 1, 2021, WANG’s co-conspirators introduced purported cryptocurrencies called the Himalaya coin and the Himalaya dollar through a fraudulent cryptocurrency exchange called the Himalaya Exchange.  These purported cryptocurrencies were fraudulent and designed so that the conspiracy could collect additional money from victims.  On or about September 20, 2022, and September 21, 2022, U.S. authorities served judicially-authorized seizure warrants on several domestic banks and subsequently seized approximately $335 million of proceeds from bank accounts held in the names of Himalaya Exchange entities and other entities associated with WANG and her co-conspirators.        

Wang was arrested on March 15, 2023, at which time FBI agents located $130,000 of cash in a safe in her apartment.

In connection with the sentencing, Judge Torres said that Wang was an “integral part of the conspiracy and knew what she was doing was illegal.”

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In addition to the prison term, WANG, 45, of New York, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release concurrently on each count. WANG also agreed to pay forfeiture in the amount of $1.4 billion. 

Guo was convicted at trial on July 16, 2024. Guo’s sentencing date is pending.

Mr. Gitner praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The case is being handled by the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit of the Office’s Criminal Division.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Micah F. Fergenson, Ryan B. Finkel, Justin Horton, and Juliana N. Murray are in charge of the prosecution.

Source: US FBI

Edward Y. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Merrick B. Garland, the Attorney General of the United States; James E. Dennehy, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”); and Jessica S. Tisch, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced the unsealing today of a Complaint charging LUIGI NICHOLAS MANGIONE in connection with the December 4, 2024, murder of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan. MANGIONE was taken into federal custody today and will be presented this afternoon in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker.  

Acting U.S. Attorney Edward Y. Kim said: “Brian Thompson was gunned down in cold blood as he walked down a street in midtown Manhattan.  Thompson was allegedly killed just because he held the position of chief executive officer of a health insurance company.  As alleged, Luigi Mangione traveled to New York to stalk and shoot Thompson in broad daylight in front of a Manhattan hotel, all in a grossly misguided attempt to broadcast Mangione’s views across the country.  But this wasn’t a debate, it was murder, and Mangione now faces federal charges.  This Office and its law enforcement partners remain steadfast in our commitment to fight violence in whatever form it takes.”

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said: “Today, the Justice Department has brought federal murder charges against Luigi Mangione.  As alleged, Mangione planned his attack for months and stalked his victim for days before murdering him — methodically planning when, where, and how to carry out his crime.  I am grateful to our state and local law enforcement partners for their tireless efforts to locate and apprehend the defendant and to ensure that he answers for his alleged crime.”

FBI Assistant Director James E. Dennehy said: “Luigi Mangione allegedly conducted the carefully premeditated and targeted execution of Brian Thompson to incite national debates.  This alleged plot demonstrates a cavalier attitude towards humanity – deeming murder an appropriate recourse to satiate personal grievances.  Through continued close partnership with the NYPD, the FBI maintains our steadfast commitment to fervently pursue any individual who promotes a personal agenda through violence.”

NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said: “NYPD detectives worked relentlessly to identify and widely distribute images of the suspect who allegedly carried out this premeditated, preplanned, targeted murder, and they are committed to assisting prosecutors in seeing this important case through to its rightful conclusion.  This senseless incident highlights the critical role of the public in the NYPD’s public safety mission, and I thank everyone who saw something, said something, and did something.  It is because of the public’s actions that we now have an alleged killer in custody back in New York City.”

As alleged in the Complaint:

Over the course of the last several months, MANGIONE meticulously planned the execution of Brian Thompson in an effort to initiate a public discussion about the healthcare industry. MANGIONE targeted the victim, tracked his whereabouts, and traveled from out of state to New York City, where the victim was scheduled to attend the company’s investor conference. After arriving in the City on November 24, 2024, more than one week before the murder, MANGIONE performed reconnaissance in the area around the victim’s hotel and the conference venue where the victim was scheduled to speak. Using a false identification, MANGIONE checked into an Upper West Side hostel.

In the early morning hours of December 4, 2024, MANGIONE traveled by bicycle from the Upper West Side to the area around West 54^th Street and Sixth Avenue. At approximately 6:45 a.m., MANGIONE strategically placed himself in between two cars on West 54^th Street, and as the victim passed by, MANGIONE walked up behind the victim and fired several gunshots from a 9mm pistol causing the victim’s death. The pistol was equipped with what appeared to be a firearm sound suppressor or silencer. After the murder, MANGIONE fled on his bicycle northbound through Central Park and ultimately back to the Upper West Side.

On December 9, 2024, MANGIONE was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania while he sat in a fast-food restaurant after being recognized by one of the restaurant’s workers. Members of the Altoona Police Department confronted MANGIONE, who provided the same false identification that he used when checking-in to the Upper West Side hostel. MANGIONE was also found in possession of, among other things, a 9mm pistol and a sound suppressor consistent with the weapon used to kill the victim.

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MANGIONE, 26, of Towson, Maryland, is charged with one count of using a firearm to commit murder, which carries a maximum potential sentence of death or life in prison; one count of interstate stalking resulting in death, which carries a maximum potential sentence of life in prison;  one count of stalking through use of interstate facilities resulting in death, which carries a maximum potential sentence of life in prison; and one count of discharging a firearm that was equipped with a silencer in furtherance of a crime of violence, which carries a maximum potential sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years.

The maximum and minimum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge. 

Mr. Kim praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force and the NYPD.

Mr. Kim also thanked the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which has brought a separate prosecution against MANGIONE, which is currently expected to proceed to trial before the federal case.

The case is being handled by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dominic A. Gentile, Jun Xiang, and Alexandra Messiter are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Source: US FBI

Edward Y. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that SUNG KOOK (BILL) HWANG, the founder and head of a private investment firm known as Archegos, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein to 18 years in prison concurrently on each count charged for leading a criminal enterprise that manipulated the prices of multiple stocks and defrauded at least nine investment banks. In July 2024, HWANG was convicted following a nine-week jury trial of racketeering conspiracy, securities fraud, market manipulation, and wire fraud.

Acting U.S. Attorney Edward Y. Kim said: “Bill Hwang weaponized his personal hedge fund, Archegos, to pursue financial fraud on a national scale.  For months on end, Hwang and his coconspirators used an array of lies and manipulative trading strategies to rig the stock market in Hwang’s favor.  Hwang’s crimes brought him to the brink of staggering wealth before his fraud collapsed and left investors, banks, and even Hwang’s own employees with billions of dollars in losses.  Today’s sentence sends a clear message that criminal manipulation schemes will be met with serious prison sentences.”

As reflected in the Indictment, court filings, and the evidence presented at trial:

Beginning in 2020, HWANG—along with his co-conspirators, including codefendant Patrick Halligan (Archegos’s Chief Financial Officer)—used the Archegos enterprise to pursue two interrelated criminal schemes, one involving manipulative trading in the marketplace and the other involving false and misleading statements to Archegos’s trading counterparties.  Although HWANG held himself out as an investor focused on company fundamentals with a three- to five-year investment horizon, which had been Archegos’s investment approach for years, by the fall of 2020, HWANG spent his time—and nearly all Archegos’s capital—on constant trading in the same core stocks.  HWANG began deploying strategies aimed to manipulate, control, and artificially affect the market for securities in Archegos’s portfolio.  Those techniques included purchasing or selling securities at particular times of day including marking the price of securities up at the close of trading to trigger payouts to Archegos and trading at times and in a manner to give the false impression of additional interest in the securities, transacting in certain securities in large amounts or high volume, and timing or coordinating certain transactions to maximize impact on the market.

HWANG’s manipulative trading was sustained and furthered by lies and misrepresentations made to Archegos’s counterparties.  As HWANG’s trading led to large position sizes, Archegos’s counterparties started to impose limits on Archegos’s trading.  To enable HWANG to continue to trade the same names at larger sizes, HWANG, Halligan, and others conspired to make repeated, materially false and misleading statements to Archegos’s counterparties about Archegos’s portfolio of securities.  These false and misleading statements were designed to fraudulently induce the counterparties into trading with and extending credit to Archegos, enabling and facilitating the market manipulation scheme, and to hide the true risk of doing business with Archegos.

By March 2021, HWANG’s manipulative trading scheme—which relied in part on continually increasing the size of Archegos’s positions in a handful of equities—had profoundly reshaped Archegos’s portfolio and risk profile. Now Archegos had concentrated its investments in a number of publicly traded stocks with markets that HWANG found he could distort, including of large companies, such as ViacomCBS and Discovery.  Archegos’s portfolio became highly vulnerable to external events that might deflate the artificial prices HWANG had created.  In late March 2021, the markets exposed HWANG’s price manipulation.  On March 22, 2021, ViacomCBS announced a seasoned equity offering.  Following that announcement, on March 23, 2021, HWANG directed nearly a billion dollars in additional purchases of stock in ViacomCBS and other companies whose stock HWANG had manipulated in a final effort to control the prices of those stocks and prevent them from declining and harming the value of his portfolio. On March 24, 2021, using what cash and trading capacity remained, HWANG made one final attempt to reverse market forces, but he failed.  When the markets closed, Archegos faced substantial margin calls that it could not meet, causing billions of dollars in losses to the counterparties that had financed HWANG’s trading.

Ultimately, the market manipulation and fraud schemes, and the billions of dollars in losses that they caused, victimized a wide swath of market participants, including counterparties that engaged in loans and securities trading with Archegos based on lies and deceit, ordinary investors who purchased and sold the relevant securities at artificial prices, and securities issuers who made business decisions based on the artificial prices of their stocks.  The schemes also caused millions of dollars of losses to innocent Archegos employees who had been required to allocate to Archegos a substantial amount of their pay as deferred compensation.

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In addition to the prison term, HWANG, 60, of Tenafly, New Jersey, was sentenced to three years of supervised release concurrently on each count and ordered to pay more than nine billion dollars in restitution.

Halligan, who was convicted at trial alongside HWANG of racketeering conspiracy, securities fraud, and wire fraud, is scheduled to be sentenced on January 27, 2025.

Mr. Kim praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Podolsky, Alexandra Rothman, Samuel P. Rothschild, and Andrew Thomas are in charge of the prosecution.