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Justice Department Launches Investigation into Rhode Island for Race-Based Employment Preferences in Violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act

Source: United States Department of Justice

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has opened an investigation into the State of Rhode Island (“Rhode Island”) concerning potential race-based discrimination in state employment practices.

The state of Rhode Island mandates state agencies set hiring targets that are effectively race-based employment quotas.[1] These statutorily mandated goals pressure state agencies to engage in discriminatory, and potentially unlawful, hiring practices. The Civil Rights Division’s Employment Litigation Section opened the investigation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, national origin, and other protected characteristics.

“The state of Rhode Island’s official hiring policy embraces racial discrimination, something the Supreme Court has long held to be unlawful,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Discrimination in the name of ‘diversity’ is not only fundamentally unjust, but it also violates federal law. The Civil Rights Division will investigate Rhode Island’s discriminatory policy and take appropriate action if warranted.”

You can view the notice letter here

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Security News: Justice Department Launches Investigation into Rhode Island for Race-Based Employment Preferences in Violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act

Source: United States Department of Justice

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has opened an investigation into the State of Rhode Island (“Rhode Island”) concerning potential race-based discrimination in state employment practices.

The state of Rhode Island mandates state agencies set hiring targets that are effectively race-based employment quotas.[1] These statutorily mandated goals pressure state agencies to engage in discriminatory, and potentially unlawful, hiring practices. The Civil Rights Division’s Employment Litigation Section opened the investigation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, national origin, and other protected characteristics.

“The state of Rhode Island’s official hiring policy embraces racial discrimination, something the Supreme Court has long held to be unlawful,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Discrimination in the name of ‘diversity’ is not only fundamentally unjust, but it also violates federal law. The Civil Rights Division will investigate Rhode Island’s discriminatory policy and take appropriate action if warranted.”

You can view the notice letter here

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Federal Jury Convicts Pakistani Weapons Smuggler of Transporting Iranian Advanced Conventional Weapons Destined for the Houthis in Yemen

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A federal jury convicted a Pakistani national today on charges related to smuggling Iranian-made advanced conventional weaponry destined for the Houthis in Yemen and threatening multiple witnesses.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, on the night of Jan. 11, 2024, U.S. Central Command Navy forces operating from the USS LEWIS B. PULLER, including Navy SEALs and members of the U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Security Response Team East, boarded an unflagged dhow, a small vessel, in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Somalia. The U.S. boarding team encountered 14 individual mariners on the vessel, including the captain, Muhammad Pahlawan, 49.

During a search of the dhow, the U.S. boarding team located and seized Iranian-made advanced conventional weaponry, including ballistic missile components, anti-ship cruise missile components, and a warhead. The type of weaponry found aboard the dhow is consistent with the weaponry used by the Houthi rebel forces during the time of the charged conspiracy against merchant ships and U.S. military ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden after the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel.  During the interdiction, Pahlawan lied to the boarding team, instructed other crewmembers to lie, and eventually threatened the lives of his crewmembers and their families.

Pahlawan’s January 2024 trip was part of a larger operation. From in or around August 2023 through in or around January 2024, Pahlawan worked with two Iranian brothers, Shahab Mir’kazei (Shahab), and Yunus Mir’kazei (Yunus), affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to smuggle materials from Iran to the Houthi rebel forces in Yemen. Pahlawan completed multiple smuggling voyages, coordinated and funded by Shahab and Yunus, by traveling with cargo from Iran to the coast of Somalia and transporting that cargo to another vessel for a nighttime ship-to-ship transfer. Pahlawan worked with Shahab and Yunus to prepare the dhow for these smuggling voyages, received specific coordinates from them for the ship-to-ship transfers, and received multiple payments from them for his role in the smuggling operation.

Pahlawan was convicted of: conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists, providing material support and resources to Iran’s weapons of mass destruction program, providing material support to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s weapons of mass destruction program, conspiring to and indeed transporting explosive devices to the Houthis knowing those explosives would be used to cause harm, and threatening his crew. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 22 and most statutes of conviction include a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine sentences after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

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

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Troy A. Edwards Jr. and Gavin R. Tisdale for the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Joseph N. Kaster of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case. Former Eastern District of Virginia prosecutor Danya Atiyeh and former National Security Division Trial Attorney Lesley Woods supported the case.

The following government agencies provided invaluable support to the case: the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Department of Defense, the Diplomatic Security Service, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of State.

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The Justice Department, Texas Reach Agreement to End In-State Tuition for Illegal Aliens

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Agreement comes hours after Justice Department filed complaint challenging two decades-old laws

WASHINGTON – U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released the following statements after a federal judge formally enjoined Texas from providing in-state tuition for illegal aliens.

“The Justice Department commends Texas leadership and AG Ken Paxton for swiftly working with us to halt a program that was treating Americans like second-class citizens in their own country,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Other states should take note that we will continue filing affirmative litigation to remedy unconstitutional state laws that discriminate against American citizens.”

“I’m proud to stand with Attorney General Bondi and the Trump Administration to stop an unconstitutional and un-American law that gave in-state tuition to illegal aliens,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. “This law was an insult to our nation’s citizens and has now been rightly stopped from being enforced. I will continue to fight for the American people and work swiftly to defeat any policy that puts illegal aliens ahead of our own citizens.”

The motion came just hours after the Department filed a complaint in the Northern District of Texas seeking to enjoin enforcement of Texas laws that required colleges and universities to provide in-state tuition rates for all aliens who maintain Texas residency, regardless of their legal status. Federal law prohibits institutions of higher education from providing benefits to aliens that are not offered to U.S. citizens. The Texas laws were in direct conflict of federal law and the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

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Louisiana Man Pleads Guilty to $3.8 Million Durable Medical Equipment Fraud Scheme

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A Louisiana man pleaded guilty today in connection with a five-year scheme to submit millions of dollars in fraudulent claims to Medicare for expensive and medically unnecessary medical equipment.

According to court documents, Michael L. Riggins, 62, of West Monroe, Louisiana, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud for his role in a durable medical equipment (DME) scheme. Riggins was the owner of Bluewater Healthcare (Bluewater), a DME supply company in West Monroe. From 2018 to 2023, Riggins paid for doctors’ orders for medically unnecessary DME and tricked doctors into signing DME orders and certificates of medical necessity in order to bill for it. Despite receiving hundreds of complaints regarding the fraudulent orders, Riggins submitted over $3.8 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare for supplying the DME and was reimbursed over $1.8 million.

Riggins is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 2 and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook for the Western District of Louisiana; and Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Christian J. Schrank of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement.

HHS-OIG is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Samantha Usher and Kelly Z. Walters of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin McCoy for the Western District of Louisiana are prosecuting the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,800 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $30 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit. 

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Department Files Civil Forfeiture Complaint Against Over $7.74M Laundered on Behalf of the North Korean Government

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Forfeiture Action is the Latest Disruption of an Indicted North Korean Official’s Efforts to Generate Revenue for North Korea and its Weapons Program Through Illegal IT Worker Schemes and Cryptocurrency Theft

The Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture complaint today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that North Korean information technology (IT) workers obtained illegal employment and amassed millions in cryptocurrency for the benefit of the North Korean government, all as a means of evading U.S. sanctions placed on North Korea. The funds were initially restrained in connection with an April 2023 indictment against Sim Hyon Sop (Sim), a North Korean Foreign Trade Bank (FTB) representative who was allegedly conspiring with the IT workers. While the North Koreans were attempting to launder those ill-gotten gains, the U.S. government was able to freeze and seize over $7.74 million tied to the scheme.

“This forfeiture action highlights, once again, the North Korean government’s exploitation of the cryptocurrency ecosystem to fund its illicit priorities,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Department will use every legal tool at its disposal to safeguard the cryptocurrency ecosystem and deny North Korea its ill-gotten gains in violation of U.S. sanctions.”

“For years, North Korea has exploited global remote IT contracting and cryptocurrency ecosystems to evade U.S. sanctions and bankroll its weapons programs,” said Sue J. Bai, Head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Today’s multimillion-dollar forfeiture action reflects the Department’s strategic focus on disrupting these illicit revenue schemes. We will continue to use every legal tool available to cut off the financial lifelines that sustain the DPRK and its destabilizing agenda.”

“Crime may pay in other countries but that’s not how it works here,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia. “Any adversary who thinks they can benefit, financially, from executing a criminal scheme – whether directly or through the use of surrogates – had better rethink this ‘get rich quick’ strategy. It doesn’t work for the average citizen, and it certainly does not have a more positive outcome for foreign entities. Sanctions are in place against North Korea for a reason, and we will diligently investigate and prosecute anyone who tries to evade them. We will halt your progress, strike back, and take hold of any proceeds you obtained illegally.”

“The FBI’s investigation has revealed a massive campaign by North Korean IT workers to defraud U.S. businesses by obtaining employment using the stolen identities of American citizens, all so the North Korean government can evade U.S. sanctions and generate revenue for its authoritarian regime,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI Counterintelligence Division. “Today’s action shows the FBI will do everything in our power to protect Americans from being victimized by the North Korean government, and we ask all U.S. companies that employ remote workers to remain vigilant to this new and sophisticated threat.” 

According to the complaint, the North Korean government uses illegally obtained cryptocurrency as a means of generating revenue for its priorities. This illegally obtained cryptocurrency is allegedly generated, in part, through remote work done by North Korean IT workers deployed around the globe, including in the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation (Russia). Those IT workers have generated revenue for North Korea via their jobs at, among other places, blockchain development companies. To obtain employment, these North Korean IT workers allegedly bypassed security and due diligence checks using fraudulent (or fraudulently obtained) identification documents and other obfuscation strategies. These tactics hid the North Koreans’ true location and identities, causing unwitting employers to hire them and pay them a salary, often in stablecoins, such as USDC and USDT.

To send their illegally obtained cryptocurrency back to North Korea, the IT workers allegedly transferred the cryptocurrency using money laundering techniques. These techniques included: (1) setting up accounts with fictitious identities; (2) moving funds in a series of small amounts; (3) moving funds to other blockchains or converting funds to other forms of virtual currency (i.e., “chain hopping” and “token swapping,” respectively); (4) purchasing non-fungible tokens as a store of value and means of hiding illicit funds; (5) using U.S.-based online accounts to legitimize activity; and (6) commingling their fraud proceeds to hide the origin of the funds. After laundering these funds, the North Korean IT workers allegedly sent them back to the North Korean government, at times via Sim and Kim Sang Man (Kim). Kim is a North Korean national who is the chief executive officer of “Chinyong,” also known as “Jinyong IT Cooperation Company.” Chinyong is subordinate to North Korea’s Ministry of Defense (formerly known as the Ministry of the Peoples’ Armed Forces), which the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added to its list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) on June 1, 2017.

Chinyong employs delegations of North Korean IT workers that operate in, among other countries, Russia and Laos. Kim allegedly acts as an intermediary between the North Korean IT workers and North Korea’s FTB by sending funds from the North Korean IT workers to Sim.

On April 24, 2023, OFAC added Sim to its SDN list. On May 23, 2023, OFAC added Chinyong and Kim to its SDN list.

Today’s forfeiture action follows the Department’s announcement of two federal indictments charging Sim for allegedly conspiring (1) with North Korean IT workers to generate revenue through illegal employment at companies in the United States and abroad; and (2) with over-the-counter cryptocurrency traders to use stolen funds to buy goods for North Korea. The forfeiture action also follows on successful actions to disrupt North Korean revenue generation taken by the Department in May 2024, August 2024, December 2024, and January 2025. Those actions, which are part of the Department-wide DPRK RevGen: Domestic Enabler Initiative launched in March 2024 by the National Security Division and the FBI’s Cyber and Counterintelligence Divisions, targeted U.S. persons facilitating remote IT work and their North Korean co-conspirators.

The FBI Chicago Field Office and FBI’s Virtual Assets Unit are investigating the cases associated with this complaint.

Senior Counsel Jessica Peck of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, Trial Attorney Gregory J. Nicosia Jr. of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section, Trial Attorney Emma Ellenrieder of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Tortorice and Rick Blaylock for the District of Columbia are handling the prosecutions and forfeiture action. Significant assistance was provided by former FBI Supervisory Special Agent Chris Wong.

The FBI, in conjunction with the State and Treasury Departments, issued a May 2022 advisory to alert the international community, private sector, and public about the North Korea IT worker threat. Updated guidance was issued in October 2023 by the United States and the Republic of Korea (South Korea), and in May 2024 by the FBI, which include indicators consistent with the North Korea IT worker fraud and the use of U.S.-based laptop farms. In January 2025, the FBI issued additional guidance regarding extortion and theft of sensitive company data by North Korean IT workers, along with recommended mitigations.

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Justice Department Announces Action Against Wisconsin Elections Commission for Lacking Complaint Procedure Required by Federal Law

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Today, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division sent a letter to the Wisconsin Elections Commission regarding its failure to provide a complaint process or hearing for Wisconsin voters, in violation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

The letter states that the Wisconsin Elections Commission failed to meet HAVA’s requirement of a state-based administrative complaint procedure. Compliance with all federal elections laws is mandatory, and the receipt of federal funds under HAVA is conditioned on compliance with the Act.

Election integrity and compliance with federal elections laws are essential to protect our constitutional republic. Wisconsin’s refusal to give complainants any recourse to report violations they may have observed or experienced while voting is a significant violation of federal law, and a betrayal of the confidence of the American people.

“Courts across the land, including our highest court, have repeatedly defended measures to ensure election integrity,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, “We have made it our highest priority to identify jurisdictions that fail to follow our elections laws and vigorously enforce the law by all means available.”

The letter issued today also notifies the U.S. Election Assistance Commission of Wisconsin’s unlawful actions and calls for the withholding of federal funds to Wisconsin for violating HAVA.

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New Jersey Man Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A New Jersey man pleaded guilty today to tax evasion.

The following is according to court documents and statements made in court: for tax years 2015 and 2016, Matthew Tucci, of West Long Branch, filed tax returns that stated he owed more than $2 million in taxes for both years. Despite admitting that he owed those taxes, Tucci did not fully pay them when they were due. Instead, Tucci purchased real estate and engaged in a series of transactions designed to conceal his interest in those properties.

In 2017, the IRS sent notices to Tucci that he owed taxes, interest, and penalties for 2015 and 2016. After receiving these notices, Tucci transferred multiple properties to an entity owned by another individual, but he continued to exert control over at least two of them. Of the two properties Tucci continued to control, he sold one and refinanced the other. Tucci used the proceeds from these transactions to pay his personal expenses rather than his tax debts. In 2019, Tucci submitted documents to the IRS that falsely claimed that he had no connection to the entity that owned the 12 properties.

Tucci is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 9. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison as well as a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba for the District of New Jersey made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation and the FBI are investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Catriona Coppler of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Belgiovine for the District of New Jersey are prosecuting the case.

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Washington State Man Arrested on Federal Charges Alleging He Provided Material Support to Palm Springs Fertility Clinic Bomber

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A Washington state man was arrested on a federal criminal complaint alleging he provided material support to the Palm Springs fertility clinic bomber by shipping and paying for significant quantities of ammonium nitrate – an explosive precursor – prior to the suicidal terror attack last month.

Daniel Jongyon Park, 32, of Kent, was arrested last night shortly after his flight from Poland arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Park is charged with providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists and made his initial court appearance today in the Eastern District of New York.

“This defendant is charged with facilitating the horrific attack on a fertility center in California. Bringing chaos and violence to a facility that exists to help women and mothers is a particularly cruel, disgusting crime that strikes at the very heart of our shared humanity,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “We are grateful to our partners in Poland who helped get this man back to America and we will prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law.”

“Park allegedly sent large amounts of explosive precursors to the man who drove a car bomb to a fertility clinic in Palm Springs, an attack that potentially could have killed innocent people,”  said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The FBI and our partners work together to find and hold accountable those who engage in domestic terrorism and other illegal activity. I also want to express my thanks to authorities in Poland for their vital assistance in this case.”

“This defendant is charged with shipping large quantities of explosive precursors to the man whose suicide bombing last month destroyed a fertility clinic in Palm Springs,” said U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “Domestic terrorism is evil and unacceptable. Those who aid terrorists can expect to feel the cold wrath of justice.”

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, Guy Edward Bartkus, 25, of Twentynine Palms, California, drove a car containing a bomb to a fertility clinic in Palm Springs on May 17. Bartkus detonated the bomb, killing himself, injuring numerous victims, destroying the fertility clinic’s building, and damaging surrounding buildings and areas. Bartkus’s attack was motivated by his pro-mortalism, anti-natalism, and anti-pro-life ideology, which is the belief that individuals should not be born without their consent and that non-existence is best.

Park – who shares Bartkus’s extremist views – shipped large quantities of explosive precursor materials to Bartkus, including approximately 180 pounds of ammonium nitrate. Days before the Palm Springs bombing, Park paid for an additional 90 pounds (40.8 kilograms) of ammonium nitrate that was shipped to Bartkus.

Park sent the first shipments of approximately 180 pounds (81.7 kilograms) of ammonium nitrate to Bartkus shortly before traveling to Bartkus’s residence, where he stayed with Bartkus from Jan. 25 to Feb. 8. Three days before Park arrived at Bartkus’s house, records from an AI chat application show that Bartkus researched how to make powerful explosions using ammonium nitrate and fuel.

During his stay at Bartkus’s residence, Park and Bartkus spent time in Bartkus’s room as well as in a detached garage “running experiments,” according to the affidavit. This was the same garage where law enforcement, during a search after the May 17 bombing, located significant amounts of chemicals commonly used in the construction of homemade bombs.

Four days after Bartkus conducted the suicide bombing, Park flew to Europe. On May 30, Park was detained in Poland and later was ordered deported to the United States. 

If convicted, Park would face a statutory maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI’s Inland Empire Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating this matter. Considerable assistance was provided by the Palm Springs Police Department, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department; the FBI’s legal attaché in Warsaw, Polish authorities, and FBI field offices in Seattle, New York, San Diego, Las Vegas, and Portland.  

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah E. Gerdes and Anna P. Boylan for the Central District of California, and Trial Attorney Patrick J. Cashman of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.

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