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Source: United States Department of Justice

Today the Justice Department announced another False Claims Act resolution secured under the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, which was launched by the Department in May 2025. Deloitte LLP, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Deloitte & Touche LLP, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP, and Deloitte Transactions and Business Analytics LLP, (collectively, Deloitte) have agreed to pay the United States $21.5 million to resolve allegations that Deloitte violated the False Claims Act by failing to comply with anti-discrimination requirements in its federal contracts and discriminating against employees and applicants on the basis of their race or sex.

Most federal contracts contain a provision that requires contractors to provide equal opportunity to employees and applicants for employment. As a condition to being a federal contractor, the company must certify that it will not discriminate against an employee or applicant for employment because of race or sex and must further certify that it will take steps to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated during employment, “without regard to” race or sex. The settlement resolves allegations that from 2017 to the present, Deloitte falsely certified compliance with these conditions, while engaging in discriminatory race and sex-based employment practices.

“Government contractors cannot reward or penalize employees based on race or sex — and labeling the practice DEI does not make it lawful,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche. “The Justice Department will aggressively pursue government contractors that have used taxpayer dollars to fund unlawful discrimination.”

“Merit drives opportunity and promotion. Not someone’s sex or race,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. “Today’s settlement is yet another example of this Department’s commitment to eliminating woke, unconstitutional practices from American workplaces.”

“Federal contractors are bound by clear legal obligations: they must certify that they will make employment decisions without regard to race or sex, and they must honor that commitment — not circumvent it through demographic targets or programs that allocate opportunities based on protected characteristics,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “When a contractor misrepresents its compliance with federal anti discrimination law to secure federal funds, it violates the conditions for receiving those funds and risks liability under the False Claims Act. Today’s resolution makes unmistakably clear that the Department will aggressively enforce these requirements, and companies who take taxpayer funds while engaging in illegal discrimination will be held accountable.”

“As this settlement shows, the government is committed to ensuring that those who receive the benefits of federal contracts or funding must play by the rules,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould for the Northern District of Texas. “The False Claims Act is a powerful tool for enforcing those obligations, and my office will not hesitate to use it to investigate and uncover any violations and to hold the responsible parties accountable.”

The United States alleged that Deloitte took race or sex into account when making hiring, promotion, and staffing decisions to achieve progress toward non-public race and sex-based workforce composition goals. Business units within Deloitte received monthly summaries tracking the demographic goals within the unit, where representation or advancement toward the goal was highlighted in green, yellow, or red depending on whether the goal was exceeded, met or slightly missed, or significantly below the goal. In addition, the United States alleged that Deloitte’s Partners, Principals and Managing Directors (PPMDs) were evaluated, in part, based on their contributions to helping Deloitte achieve its workforce composition goals, while, for a two-year period, approximately 150 of Deloitte’s most senior PPMDs compensation could be impacted if their business units did not meet demographic goals set by Deloitte.

The United States alleged that these goals were also intended to impact Deloitte’s promotion decisions, as business units were assigned goals for racial and sex make up of their yearly PPMD classes. For example, where the class of PPMD candidates initially met Deloitte’s demographic goals, Deloitte identified candidates by race and sex in a spreadsheet when circulating the list of PPMD candidates, and suggested the individuals involved in selecting the PPMD candidates promote specific employees to “equitably maintain the current mix.”

The United States further alleged that Deloitte set goals pertaining to the demographics of employees staffed to federal contracts, and sought to make statistically equal the percentage of Deloitte identified Under Represented Minorities (URMs) and non-URMs who were understaffed or “on the bench.” Deloitte identified employees that were available to be staffed on projects by race and sex and provided names of those employees to staffing managers and suggested that the managers consider staffing those employees whose utilization would help Deloitte achieve its goal of achieving parity between the percentage of URMs and non-URMs who were understaffed or “on the bench.”

Finally, the United States alleged that Deloitte offered certain training, mentoring, leadership development programs, educational opportunities or resources, and/or similar opportunities only to certain employees, with eligibility limited on the basis of race or sex. For example, Deloitte ran the Springboard and Compass programs, where eligibility to participate was limited on the basis of race and sex. These programs were designed to boost the career prospects of these individuals over others through sponsorship and networking.

This civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by the American Alliance for Equal Rights. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. The qui tam case is captioned United States ex rel. American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Deloitte LLP, et al. (No. 4:25-cv-00458). Under the resolution, the Relator will receive $4,300,000.

This year the Administration launched the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and the National Fraud Enforcement Division to enhance the Administration’s war on fraud, waste and abuse in federal programs. When unscrupulous actors exploit these programs for their own financial gain they defraud the government, harm the people these programs are designed to aid and protect, and undermine American businesses that play by the rules. The Civil Division’s FCA enforcement plays a critical role in combatting such fraudulent schemes, recovering billions of dollars for American taxpayers, and holding wrongdoers accountable. FCA matters will continue to be on the forefront of the battle against fraud, and the Civil Division’s FCA work will support and advance the mission of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and the National Fraud Enforcement Division.

The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.

The claims resolved by the United States in the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

Source: United States Department of Justice

Today the Justice Department announced another False Claims Act resolution secured under the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, which was launched by the Department in May 2025. Deloitte LLP, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Deloitte & Touche LLP, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP, and Deloitte Transactions and Business Analytics LLP, (collectively, Deloitte) have agreed to pay the United States $21.5 million to resolve allegations that Deloitte violated the False Claims Act by failing to comply with anti-discrimination requirements in its federal contracts and discriminating against employees and applicants on the basis of their race or sex.

Most federal contracts contain a provision that requires contractors to provide equal opportunity to employees and applicants for employment. As a condition to being a federal contractor, the company must certify that it will not discriminate against an employee or applicant for employment because of race or sex and must further certify that it will take steps to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated during employment, “without regard to” race or sex. The settlement resolves allegations that from 2017 to the present, Deloitte falsely certified compliance with these conditions, while engaging in discriminatory race and sex-based employment practices.

“Government contractors cannot reward or penalize employees based on race or sex — and labeling the practice DEI does not make it lawful,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche. “The Justice Department will aggressively pursue government contractors that have used taxpayer dollars to fund unlawful discrimination.”

“Merit drives opportunity and promotion. Not someone’s sex or race,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. “Today’s settlement is yet another example of this Department’s commitment to eliminating woke, unconstitutional practices from American workplaces.”

“Federal contractors are bound by clear legal obligations: they must certify that they will make employment decisions without regard to race or sex, and they must honor that commitment — not circumvent it through demographic targets or programs that allocate opportunities based on protected characteristics,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “When a contractor misrepresents its compliance with federal anti discrimination law to secure federal funds, it violates the conditions for receiving those funds and risks liability under the False Claims Act. Today’s resolution makes unmistakably clear that the Department will aggressively enforce these requirements, and companies who take taxpayer funds while engaging in illegal discrimination will be held accountable.”

“As this settlement shows, the government is committed to ensuring that those who receive the benefits of federal contracts or funding must play by the rules,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould for the Northern District of Texas. “The False Claims Act is a powerful tool for enforcing those obligations, and my office will not hesitate to use it to investigate and uncover any violations and to hold the responsible parties accountable.”

The United States alleged that Deloitte took race or sex into account when making hiring, promotion, and staffing decisions to achieve progress toward non-public race and sex-based workforce composition goals. Business units within Deloitte received monthly summaries tracking the demographic goals within the unit, where representation or advancement toward the goal was highlighted in green, yellow, or red depending on whether the goal was exceeded, met or slightly missed, or significantly below the goal. In addition, the United States alleged that Deloitte’s Partners, Principals and Managing Directors (PPMDs) were evaluated, in part, based on their contributions to helping Deloitte achieve its workforce composition goals, while, for a two-year period, approximately 150 of Deloitte’s most senior PPMDs compensation could be impacted if their business units did not meet demographic goals set by Deloitte.

The United States alleged that these goals were also intended to impact Deloitte’s promotion decisions, as business units were assigned goals for racial and sex make up of their yearly PPMD classes. For example, where the class of PPMD candidates initially met Deloitte’s demographic goals, Deloitte identified candidates by race and sex in a spreadsheet when circulating the list of PPMD candidates, and suggested the individuals involved in selecting the PPMD candidates promote specific employees to “equitably maintain the current mix.”

The United States further alleged that Deloitte set goals pertaining to the demographics of employees staffed to federal contracts, and sought to make statistically equal the percentage of Deloitte identified Under Represented Minorities (URMs) and non-URMs who were understaffed or “on the bench.” Deloitte identified employees that were available to be staffed on projects by race and sex and provided names of those employees to staffing managers and suggested that the managers consider staffing those employees whose utilization would help Deloitte achieve its goal of achieving parity between the percentage of URMs and non-URMs who were understaffed or “on the bench.”

Finally, the United States alleged that Deloitte offered certain training, mentoring, leadership development programs, educational opportunities or resources, and/or similar opportunities only to certain employees, with eligibility limited on the basis of race or sex. For example, Deloitte ran the Springboard and Compass programs, where eligibility to participate was limited on the basis of race and sex. These programs were designed to boost the career prospects of these individuals over others through sponsorship and networking.

This civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by the American Alliance for Equal Rights. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. The qui tam case is captioned United States ex rel. American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Deloitte LLP, et al. (No. 4:25-cv-00458). Under the resolution, the Relator will receive $4,300,000.

This year the Administration launched the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and the National Fraud Enforcement Division to enhance the Administration’s war on fraud, waste and abuse in federal programs. When unscrupulous actors exploit these programs for their own financial gain they defraud the government, harm the people these programs are designed to aid and protect, and undermine American businesses that play by the rules. The Civil Division’s FCA enforcement plays a critical role in combatting such fraudulent schemes, recovering billions of dollars for American taxpayers, and holding wrongdoers accountable. FCA matters will continue to be on the forefront of the battle against fraud, and the Civil Division’s FCA work will support and advance the mission of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and the National Fraud Enforcement Division.

The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.

The claims resolved by the United States in the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

Source: United States Department of Justice

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – On August 21, 2026, GERALD FRANKLIN (“FRANKLIN”), 35, from New Orleans, was charged in a two-count indictment for being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(8), announced U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle.

Source: United States Department of Justice

ALTON SMALL, also known as “Poodah,” “Tiemare,” and “Tie,” 31, of West Haven, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport to narcotics distribution and firearm possession offenses.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

NEW ORLEANS, LA – U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle announced on August 12, 2026, that KEN DOOLEY (“DOOLEY”), age 34, a resident of New Orleans, pleaded guilty to a three-count superseding indictment charging him with carjacking and Federal Gun Control Act violations. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Three people were sentenced to a combined 11 years in prison for violating federal firearms laws, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey. Charlie Bret Parker, 45, of Cumberland, Maryland, will serve 78 months in prison after stealing firearms from a pawn shop in Ridgeley, West Virginia.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A federal grand jury in the District of Minnesota returned an indictment on Aug. 20, charging Christopher A. Bravo Marin (Bravo), 46, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, a Mexican national, with conspiring to launder at least $750,000 in drug proceeds on behalf of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), one of the most prolific and dangerous drug cartels in Mexico. Bravo was arrested yesterday by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents. He appeared before a U.S. magistrate judge in Minneapolis today.

“The indictment alleges that this defendant abused his position at a financial institution to help the CJNG cartel launder money from its drug sales back to Mexico,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Cartels rely on financial facilitators to ensure that cartel leadership in Mexico receive the profits from the heinous crimes they perpetrate here in the United States. The Criminal Division is relentless in its mission to take the profit out of crime, including by prosecuting those who help funnel drug proceeds back to cartel management.”

“This defendant strengthened a criminal infrastructure by helping transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug proceeds to cartel leaders,” said U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen for the District of Minnesota. “My office remains committed to taking down drug trafficking organizations that threaten the public safety of the people of Minnesota.”

“These types of cases are exactly why Homeland Security Task Forces are so important in stopping transnational criminal activity,” said Special Agent in Charge Travis Pickard of HSI St. Paul. “They bring a whole-of-government approach to combating serious criminals who commit serious crimes and endanger people in our communities every day. Through coordinated law enforcement partnerships, we are better positioned to disrupt these networks and protect the public.”

According to the indictment, from at least February 2023 to at least February 2026, Bravo, an employee of a Minnesota-based money transmitting business, conspired with members of a CJNG drug distribution cell in Minnesota to launder drug proceeds and transfer them to cartel leaders in Mexico through the money transmitter where he worked. Bravo used his position at the money transmitter and his understanding of his employer’s compliance policies and procedures to evade their anti-money laundering controls and conceal the illicit source of the funds he laundered. Cartel members paid Bravo approximately $40-50 for each transfer that he laundered. 

To transfer the funds, Bravo allegedly structured the amount of money to be sent to Mexico across multiple transfers, ensuring that each transfer was always right below $1,000 — the money transmitter’s threshold for collecting and verifying a customer’s identification document. Bravo created fake names of Hispanic origin to serve as the senders and sent the money to straw beneficiaries in Mexico whose names he received from cartel members. 

After processing the transfers, Bravo forged the signature of the senders on each payment confirmation receipt to make the transfer appear legitimate and texted screenshots of the receipts to his co-conspirators so that the funds could be redeemed in Mexico. 

Bravo is charged with one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

Trial Attorney Javier Urbina of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Kline for the District of Minnesota are prosecuting the case.

HSI St. Paul and the Dakota County Drug Task Force investigated this case.

MNF’s mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.

MNF’s Bank Integrity Unit investigates and prosecutes banks and other financial institutions, including their officers, managers and employees whose actions threaten the integrity of the individual institution or the wider financial system.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of U.S. law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.

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

Source: United States Department of Justice

A man whose identity remains unknown was sentenced to five years in federal prison for stealing the identity of a deceased child for 25 years to obtain significant government benefits, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced today. After a three-day trial in May 2026, a federal jury sitting in Pocatello found the man guilty of wire fraud, theft of government funds, aggravated identity theft, and related charges.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

TUCSON, Ariz. – On Aug. 19, 2026, Sonny Reyes Lozano, 38, of Tucson, Arizona, was sentenced by United States District Judge Rosemary Marquez to 60 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Lozano previously pleaded guilty to Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

BROOKLYN, NY – Earlier today, in federal court in  Brooklyn, Maxim Larin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act and attempting to violate the Arms Export Control Act in connection with his shipment of weapons parts and accessories to Kazakhstan.  The proceeding was held before United States District Judge Nina R. Morrison.  When sentenced, the defendant faces a  maximum sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment.  As part of his plea, the defendant agreed to forfeit $250,000  and dozens of weapons parts and accessories seized from his residence.  Larin was arrested in Florida in August 2025.