Former Norfolk City Employee Convicted of Fraud www.privateofficer.com

 

NORFOLK, VA May 10 2013 —Patrick R. Lambert, 56, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, pleaded guilty today to fraud in connection with a local government receiving federal funds.
Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Royce E. Curtin, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation Norfolk Office, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by Chief United States District Judge Rebecca B. Smith.
Lambert faces a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment when he is sentenced on August 16, 2013.
In a statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, Patrick R. Lambert was a facilities maintenance supervisor with the city of Norfolk and was acquainted with Andrew T. Zoby, Jr., who had a plumbing contract with the city of Norfolk. Lambert owned a home and several rental properties in the cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach and at various times from approximately 2006 through 2011, would request that Zoby’s plumbing business perform certain work on the properties. Zoby’s employees performed the requested work which had a total value of $17,547.57. Lambert did not pay Zoby or his company for the work that was performed on these properties. In order to obtain reimbursement for these services, Zoby, with the knowledge of Lambert, would submit fraudulent invoices for alleged plumbing services to the city of Norfolk. Lambert was aware of and acquiesced in the payment of these fraudulent invoices. As a result of this scheme, Lambert received free plumbing services in the approximate amount of $17,547.57, and Zoby was reimbursed this amount from the city of Norfolk funds. Zoby has previously pled guilty and will be sentenced on July 10, 2013, in United States District Court in Norfolk.
This case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation, Norfolk Office. Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. Seidel, Jr. is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.

Former CEO of Newport News Investment Firm Convicted of Fraud www.privateofficer.com

 

NEWPORT NEWS, VA—May 7 2013 Jeffrey A. Martinovich, 46, of Norfolk, Virginia, was convicted today by a federal jury for his involvement in fraud related to the mismanagement of a Newport News-based hedge fund. Specifically, he was convicted of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, four counts of wire fraud, five counts of mail fraud, and seven counts of unlawful monetary transactions.
Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Tom Kelly, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation’s Washington, D.C., Field Office; and Royce E. Curtin, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement today after the verdict was accepted by United States District Judge Robert G. Doumar. Martinovich faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each conviction when he is sentenced on August 7, 2013.
“As a hedge fund manager, Martinovich promised investors that he would act in their best interest in managing their hard earned money,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “Instead, Martinovich acted solely in his own self-interest and engaged in financial sleight of hand to fraudulently maximize his management fees. His conviction should send a strong message that fraudsters who violate the trust of the investing public will be brought to justice.”
Martinovich was indicted on October 10, 2012, on 26 charges of mail fraud, wire fraud, unlawful monetary transactions, and bankruptcy fraud. According to court records and evidence at trial, Martinovich was the CEO of MICG Investment LLC, an investment firm based in Newport News, Virginia. In 2007, Martinovich started three hedge funds through MICG and began seeking investments. Acting on behalf of MICG, Martinovich purchased approximately two million shares of a privately traded solar energy company for the MICG Venture Strategies LLC hedge fund. At the end of each calendar year, in order to calculate the management and incentive fees he had earned as hedge fund manager, Martinovich needed to obtain an estimate of the value of the solar company shares held by Venture Strategies. Because the solar company was not publicly traded, MICG was required to seek an independent, external, valuation of the company’s worth when calculating the management and incentive fees to be paid.
In 2008, under the guise of seeking an independent valuation, Martinovich and others fraudulently inflated the value of the solar company to falsely indicate an increase in the overall value of the hedge fund. Martinovich then used this fraudulent, unsupported, and inflated value of the solar company to convince new investors to invest in Venture Strategies, as well as to pay himself greater fees. The solar company eventually declared bankruptcy, resulting in serious financial problems for many Venture Strategies investors who had collectively invested over $1.5 million.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and the Virginia State Corporation Commission. Assistant United States Attorneys Brian J. Samuels and V. Kathleen Dougherty prosecuted this case on behalf of the United States.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.

Two Former Special Agents with Department of Commerce-Office of Inspector General Plead Guilty to Submitting False Claims www.privateofficer.com

 

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Press Release

GREENBELT, MD May 5 2013 —Two former special agents with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General, Rachel Ondrik, age 35, of Frederick, Maryland, and Kirk Yamatani, age 38, of Ashburn, Virginia, pleaded guilty today to submitting false claims for relocation expenses. Ondrik and Yamatani resigned their positions with the Department of Commerce on March 29, 2013, as required by their plea agreements.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Todd Zinser, Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC).
“Today’s announcement is the result of significant efforts by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI, and my office to hold law enforcement agents accountable for years of criminal misconduct,” said Inspector General Todd Zinser of the U.S. Department of Commerce. “In addition to the fraud perpetrated on the U.S. taxpayers, these now former employees also retaliated by carrying out a destructive campaign of disparagement and false allegations against the Office of Inspector General (OIG).” Mr. Zinser added, “I commend the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI for their diligent efforts and perseverance in conducting this investigation.”
According to their plea agreements, in 2009, Ondrik and Yamatani transferred from the DOC OIG’s Atlanta, Georgia office to Washington, D.C. Ondrik and Yamatani were authorized relocation benefits, including a househunting trip, en route travel, and temporary quarters living expenses. E-mails between Ondrik and Yamatani show that both agents were aware of the rules governing their relocations and reimbursements for related expenses, yet both attempted to secure payment from the DOC in amounts significantly exceeding what was authorized and submitted claims for relocation related trips they did not take.
For example, Ondrik and Yamatani claimed $4,058.75 and $3,589, respectively, for househunting trips, when in fact, they did not make a househunting trip during the time claimed. Ondrik and Yamatini each also falsely claimed more than $1,500 for travel to their new duty station and falsely claimed reimbursement for temporary quarters living expenses in an amount that was approximately three times what they were authorized. In all, Ondrik and Yamatani each submitted at least three false vouchers seeking reimbursement for $39,563.25 and $36,305.57, respectively. When Ondrik and Yamatani’s claims for reimbursement were denied as being over what the travel regulations allowed, Ondrik and Yamatani persisted in their claims. On several occasions between 2009 and 2011, Ondrik and Yamatani reaffirmed the earlier false statements in their vouchers and made false statements regarding the circumstances of their claims for reimbursement.
Between June 2009 and February 2011, Ondrik and Yamatani also committed time and attendance fraud against DOC-OIG, claiming to have worked hours that they did not actually work. The loss to the government attributable to each defendant’s conduct was approximately $14,000.
The defendants and the government have agreed that if the court accepts the plea agreement, Ondrik and Yamatani will each be sentenced to a term of probation and ordered to pay a fine of $28,000. In addition, each defendant will be required to pay $14,000 in restitution to the government. U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles B. Day has scheduled sentencing for June 19, 2013, at 2:30 p.m.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the FBI and DOC-OIG for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam K. Ake and Robert K. Hur, who are prosecuting the case.

Virginia Settlement Attorney Pleads Guilty in Conspiracy to Fraudulently Obtain More Than $100 Million in SBA loans www.privateofficer.com

BALTIMORE MD April 7 2013 —Seung E. Oh, a/k/a Sandy Oh, age 44, of Great Falls, Virginia, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain business loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration, with resulting losses of over $100 million.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Small Business Administration Inspector General Peggy E. Gustafson; Postal Inspector in Charge Gary R. Barksdale of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service-Washington Division; and Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to her plea agreement, Oh is an attorney with offices in Annandale, Virginia, and the owner operator of Washington Settlement Group (WSG), a title company located in Annandale. In about 1998, Oh met Joon Park and his brother, Loren Park, who owned and operated Jade Capital, a loan brokerage company. Oh knew that Jade Capital specialized in securing loans for individuals interested in purchasing and refinancing small businesses in the Mid-Atlantic area, some of which were settled through Oh’s law firm and WSG. Oh knew that the Parks encouraged prospective borrowers using the services of Jade Capital to apply for business loans through the SBA’s Section 7(a) program, which guaranteed 75 to 90 percent of qualified loans made by banks and other commercial lending institutions. Under this program, the principals of the small business seeking the loan were required to invest a certain amount of their own money, called an equity injection, before they qualified for a loan. The banks and other lending institutions making the loan bore the risk of payment default only up to the percentage of the loan not guaranteed by the SBA.

Over the course of Oh’s relationship with Joon and Loren Park, and to foster more business with their company, Oh agreed to use her settlement company and law firm to facilitate loan closings for deals that would otherwise fail to meet the lending parameters of the banks making the loans, including banks authorized to lend under SBA’s Section 7(a) program. Oh helped the Parks misrepresent to the banks and to the SBA the true amount of money involved in the transactions and/or the true names of the parties taking part in the transactions.

To accomplish this, Oh sometimes agreed to “netting” a transaction, whereby the Parks would negotiate a sale price with the seller that was less than the price listed on the sales contract submitted to the bank, and/or they would increase the loan by the amount needed for the down payment. In so doing, they reduced the amount of money that the buyer actually had to inject into the deal and concealed that the buyer did not have sufficient equity to qualify for the loan. To conceal these arrangements, Oh completed the settlement sheets as if the buyer had made the required cash injection and the seller had received the full contract price.

Another way that Oh helped to facilitate the loan closing for Jade Capital was when she “fronted” the buyer’s cash injection. Oh temporarily loaned part of the buyer’s up-front payment by taking other people’s money out of the escrow accounts of either her law firm or her title company. Joon and Loren Park then paid back the fronted money after the settlement, usually from their share of the proceeds from that deal or a later one. As with the “netting” scheme, the settlement sheets and all other related documents for the “fronted” deal would falsely reflect that the buyer injected his own money into the transaction in accordance with the agreed upon financing terms established by the lending institution.

Oh faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison for the bank fraud conspiracy and a maximum of 20 years in prison for money laundering. As part of her plea agreement, Oh will be required to pay a money judgment of $11,832,000 and forfeit all the property involved in the offense. U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. has scheduled sentencing for July 9, 2013 at 1:00 p.m.

Joon Park, a/k/a “Joon Pak,” and “Joon Paik,” age 43, of Falls Church, Virginia, pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 28, 2013, at 1:00 p.m. Nick Park, a/k/a Nochol Park, age 46, of McLean, Virginia, was sentenced to 33 months in prison; and Joo Hyuk “John” Lee, age 39, of Richmond, Virginia; and Sang Hyun Kim, age 35, of Fairfax, Virginia, were each sentenced to three years in prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Kim’s wife, In Jung Ham, age 30, also of Fairfax, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for her role in the scheme. Judge Quarles ordered Lee to pay restitution of $1,900,325 and ordered Ham to pay restitution of $216,472.92. Lee, Kim, and Ham were also ordered to forfeit the proceeds of the scheme and pay money judgments of $18,764,900, $13,432,000, and $15,725,000, respectively.

This law enforcement action is part of President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch and, with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the SBA Office of Inspector General, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and FBI for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein praised Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leo J. Wise and Martin J. Clarke, who are prosecuting the case.

Former Jewelry Store Owner and Loan Officer Charged in $20 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme www.privateofficer.com

U.S. Attorney’s Office
FBI
Press Release

ALEXANDRIA, VA April 7 2013—A federal grand jury has charged Robert Mikail, 40, and Ging-Hwang “Felicia” Tsoa, 58, both of Ashburn, Virginia, with conspiracy and bank fraud charges related to their alleged roles in a $20 million mortgage fraud scheme involving more than 35 homes.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement.

If convicted, Mikail and Tsoa each face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison on each count of the indictment.

According to the seven-count indictment returned on April 4, 2013, Mikail owned a retail jewelry store in Ashburn, Virginia, known as Opus Jewelry, and Tsoa worked as a loan officer at First Empire Mortgage in Fairfax, Virginia, and Lifetime Financial Services in Herndon, Virginia.

From 2005 to 2007, Mikail allegedly recruited individuals, known as “straw buyers,” to serve as nominal purchasers in real estate transactions as part of a scheme to profit from fraudulently obtained mortgage loans and the purchase of residential real estate in northern Virginia. In order to get the straw buyers’ loan applications approved and the transactions closed, Mikail, working with Tsoa and other loan officers, allegedly falsified the straw buyers’ loan applications. In particular, all the fraudulent loan applications falsely designated Mikail’s Opus Jewelry as the borrowers’ employer, which Mikail would then falsely verify to the lenders as part of the loan approval process.

In total, Mikail allegedly engineered the purchase of approximately 36 homes in Ashburn, Virginia, and obtained from lenders approximately $19,866,150 in loan proceeds on the basis of fraudulent loan applications. While Mikail and Tsoa profited when these homes were purchased, all the loans ultimately defaulted, resulting in significant losses to the lenders.

Alleged co-conspirator Bing-Sing “Cindy” Wang, the owner of Lifetime Financial Services, pleaded guilty to related charges on November 20, 2012, and was sentenced to 24 months in prison on February 26, 2013.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Assistant United States Attorney Paul J. Nathanson is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

Criminal indictments are only charges and not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.

Ashburn Man Sentenced to 84 Months for Ponzi Scheme Involving Purchase of Beacon Hill Golf Course www.privateofficer.com

U.S. Attorney’s Office
Press Release

ALEXANDRIA, VA March 16 2013—Brett A. Amendola, 38, of Ashburn, Virginia, was sentenced to 84 months in prison today for carrying out a $5 million Ponzi scheme involving his purported purchase of a golf course in Loudoun County, Virginia. The scheme resulted in losses of at least $2.8 million to more than a dozen victims who had invested with Amendola.

Amendola was immediately taken into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service at sentencing, where he will remain until transferred to the Bureau of Prisons to serve his prison sentence.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Michael L. Chapman, Loudoun County Sheriff, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee.

Amendola pleaded guilty on April 4, 2012, to wire fraud. According to court records, during 2010 and 2011, Amendola persuaded various investors to provide him with short-term funding that would be held in escrow to fulfill a requirement by his lender to purchase the Beacon Hill Golf Course in Loudoun County. He promised that the money would be returned to the investors—with interest—in a matter of days. In reality, Amendola diverted the investors’ money to his own use, including funding his and family members’ trading accounts, making payments to investors in this and other schemes, and paying for personal expenses, including gambling.

To carry out his fraud, Amendola posed as the attorney representing the escrow account both over the phone and through various e-mail messages, leading investors to believe that they were wiring funds to financial accounts controlled by the escrow attorney, when in reality the financial accounts were controlled by Amendola and quickly looted for his personal use. In sentencing Amendola, the court found that the fraud was sophisticated and that Amendola abused a position of trust when he impersonated the lawyer.

In a related case, Jerry J. Mckerac, 61, of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, was charged yesterday in an indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identify theft for his involvement in the scheme, which the indictment alleges included similarly impersonating the escrow attorney as well as Amendola’s father while dealing with the victims.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys James P. Gillis and G. Zachary Terwilliger are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.

Retired NJ police officer-wife found dead in VA. www.privateofficer.com

Lynchburg VA Feb 21 2013 — Retired borough police Lt. John Philbrook and his wife, Virginia, were murdered at their home in Lynchburg, Va., Campbell County authorities have said.
Police have said the bodies of both Philbrook, 73, and his wife, 71, were found Friday after neighbors had requested a welfare check on the two after newspapers and mail had collected on their property.
Officials from the Campbell County Sheriff’s department said neighbors reported they last saw Philbrook outside his home on Feb. 12.
Once there, police discovered both victims had been shot.
Their grandson, 27-year-old Robert Lee Philbrook, has been charged with second-degree murder and related firearms charges by police. He is being held at the Blue Ridge Regional Jail.
“We’re all shocked. He was one of the great guys,” said Spring Lake Police Chief Edward Kerr.
“The members, present and retired, of the Spring Lake Police Department would like to express our deepest sympathy to the Philbrook family,” Kerr said. “This news has saddened those who used to work with John along with the newer members of the department who know him from the stories passed down through the years.”
Born on July 28, 1939, in Vinalhaven, Maine, Philbrook was hired as a patrolman in Spring Lake in 1967. He received a medal of valor from the borough in 1980 for rescuing two boys who had fallen through the ice in Spring Lake and for disarming a suspect who produced a semi-automatic handgun in police headquarters and aimed it at several officers.
He was promoted to lieutenant in 1987.
Kerr said Philbrook had moved to the Lynchburg, Va., home shorty after retiring from the Spring Lake force in 1991.
Kerr and three members of the borough’s police department will attend the funeral services in Lynchburg on Friday.

Source-APP.com

Former Parking Lot Attendant Sentenced to 27 Months for Stealing Nearly $900,000 in Fees from Udvar-Hazy Center www.privateofficer.com

ALEXANDRIA, VA Feb 9 2013—Freweyni Mebrahtu, 46, of Sterling, Virginia, was sentenced today to 27 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for stealing nearly $900,000 in visitor parking fees when she was employed by Parking Management Inc. (PMI), the company contracted to manage parking services at the Smithsonian Institution’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Scott S. Dahl, Inspector General for the Smithsonian Institution; and Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge T.S. Ellis, III.

Mebrahtu pled guilty on November 1, 2012, to theft of public money. At sentencing, she was ordered to pay $895,680 in restitution and to forfeit an equal amount in the form of a money judgment in favor of the United States.

Mebrahtu was a full-time employee of PMI, which managed the 2,000-vehicle parking lot at the Udvar-Hazy Center. Over the course of three years, Mebrahtu stole cash entrance fees paid by tens of thousands of museum visitors, taking upwards of $4,000 in a single day by failing to hand out parking ticket stubs to paying customers and by unplugging an electronic vehicle counter that had been installed to measure vehicle traffic. At the end of each shift, Mebrahtu would submit a daily work summary to PMI that repeatedly under-reported the true number of vehicles that had entered the parking lot through her lane. These falsified PMI reports were provided to the Smithsonian. The total loss due to her theft is calculated at $895,680. Based on the $15 entrance fee, it is estimated that Mebrahtu stole from 59,712 visitor vehicles over the course of her crime.

Instead of reporting the thefts, Mebrahtu shared advice with co-workers about how to steal money from the museum. A co-worker, Meseret Terefe, 37, of Silver Spring, Maryland, was sentenced on January 18, 2013, to 20 months in prison.

The investigation was initiated by the Smithsonian Office of the Inspector General and jointly investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Assistant United States Attorney Jasmine Yoon and Special Assistant United States Attorney James McDonald are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.

UVA-Wise Student Facing Federal Charges for Reporting Armed Man on Campus www.privateofficer.com

U.S. Attorney’s Office January 28, 2013 Western District of Virginia (540) 857-2250

PRESS RELEASE

ABINDGON, VA—Jan 29 2013 The University of Virginia at Wise student who called authorities last week and allegedly lied about seeing an armed man on campus has been arrested and charged in a federal criminal complaint.
Bryant Alexander Hairston, 20, of Martinsville, Virginia, was charged today in a criminal complaint with one count of knowingly making false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements and representations.
According to the criminal complaint, filed in U.S. District Court today, Hairston called 911 on January 23, 2013, and reported seeing a man on campus with a gun and wearing a face mask. He went on to describe the outfit the man was wearing, his location on the campus, and that he was holding a pistol. As a result of Hariston’s statement, the UVA-Wise campus was placed on lockdown status. The complaint also states that Hairston later admitted to lying about the information given to 911.
The investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Virginia State Police, the Wise Police Department, the Wise County Sheriff’s Office, the Pound Police Department, the Coeburn Police Department, and the UVA-Wise Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer will prosecute the case for the United States.
A criminal complaint is only a charge and not evidence of guilt. The defendant is entitled to a fair trial with the burden on the government to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Piedmont Airlines pilot arrested with loaded gun at Buffalo International Airport www.priavteofficer.com

BUFFALO, New York May 20 2012  (Reuters) – An airline pilot was arrested Friday morning at Buffalo Niagara International Airport after security screeners discovered a loaded revolver in his baggage.

Brett Dieter, 52, of Barbersville, Virginia, arrived at the upstate New York airport Friday to pilot a flight to New York City’s LaGuardia International Airport for Piedmont Airlines, a passenger airline that subcontracts under U.S. Airways.

While at a security checkpoint, a scan of Dieter’s bag revealed a .357 magnum revolver loaded with five rounds. It was not immediately clear if the pistol was in his carry-on luggage.

Federal prosecutors in Buffalo allege he began traveling with the weapon when he reported for work on May 16 on a flight from Charlottesville, Virginia, to LaGuardia, but skipped a security screening of his baggage.

“The defendant did not submit this bag to X-ray screening at the Charlottesville airport,” the federal indictment states.

Deiter, and the gun, traveled on “several other flights” over a two-day period, prosecutors allege.

He is charged with unlawfully possessing a concealed firearm, a charge punishable by 10 years in jail and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. Attorney William Hochul, whose office in Buffalo is handling the case, said Dieter shouldn’t have been allowed to carry the gun, although sometimes, exceptions are made for law enforcement officials.

“In this day and age, we simply can’t afford to have anyone ignore these important regulations,” he said in a statement issued following the arrest.

Dieter is due in court next week to answer the charge.

U.S. airline pilots who receive special training may carry guns in the cockpit but are not allowed to have them elsewhere in the plane or in airport terminals. The program began some 10 years ago following the September 11, 2001 aircraft hijacking attacks.

Two Va. letter carriers are taking action against hostile working environment relating to nudist community www.privateofficer.com

IVOR, Va. May 13 2012   – Two letter carriers are taking action against what they call a hostile working environment. They say they are forced to deliver packages to unclothed customers.

It`s a culture clash between those who enjoy being naked and workers who don`t want to see their nakedness.

Letter carriers are a devoted bunch. They live by the pledge “neither rain, snow, nor gloom of night would deter it`s couriers from their appointed rounds.”

Darden Gillette says he is willing to deal with nature’s weather, but not unclothed customers who greet him up-close and butt naked.

The ‘in your face’ nudity happens at White Tail Resort—a family nudist community in Ivor, Virginia.

“Everybody thinks funky things are going on inside, this is a family resort, says Cathy Roettjer, a 10 year White Tail resident.

Roettjer has enjoyed the nudist community for the last ten years.

“Why people think it’s a bad thing because people take their clothes off it’s crazy,” says Roettjer.

Letter carriers Darden Gillette and Yoder Starr think it’s crazy talk to expect them to encounter nudity while on the job. The federal workers are fed up and went to a law office to file a complaint to make it stop.

“We are alleging this has created a hostile working environment for them—working conditions no one should be subjected to,” says Attorney Neil Bonney who represents the workers.

“I’ve been married 38 years this year and until I went into that park, I had never seen another man nude except for my husband,” says Star.

The letter carriers say it is unbearable to see nude people frolicking in the park on their appointed rounds.

While they respect the nudists and their right to be naked, they say it’s against their own personal convictions and the exposure to it is affecting their health and well-being.

Formal documents have been filed on behalf of letter carriers with the EEOC, Susan Lyle is the post mistress named in the complaint. We traveled to the main post office in the little town of Ivor to ask her about it.

She directed us to the district communications director for the United States Postal Service and while they declined to comment specifically about the complaint, they issued a statement regarding the policy:

It reads in part: “We safeguard the health and safety of our employees. We would not ask them to do anything that would harm them or jeopardize their health.”

“I told the postmaster I could have lived my entire life and not seen what I saw that day, and it didn’t seem to faze her. She laughed and she thought it was funny,” says Star.

The owner of the nudist community declined to be interviewed, but other residents don’t appreciate being the subject of the complaint.

Some of the nudists say their lifestyle is being put on trial when they are nude and proud and just minding their own business on private property.

“But there is an old saying Dad used to say “your rights stop at the end of my nose,’” says Gillette.

In an effort to get some distance, the letter carriers have been permitted to stop going inside of the community to deliver mail and now they deliver to the row of boxes outside of the gate.

They are not going in, but now complain they drive up the long road to the gate and find the nudists are coming out.

“We’re still encountering nudity,” says Star.

“It’s very distracting to have that playing in your head all day,” says Gillette.

Attorney Neil Bonney says they’re in the middle of the formal process of this complaint, but hopes the post office will take action now to resolve it.

But the owner of White Tail Park says that`s not the whole story. He says there are other factors in this case, and he firmly denies that any of his residents go nude outside of the community gates.

He feels his resort has been thrown under the bus in this complaint, and he plans to bare it all and tell his side.

Source: WTKR

95 Year old NC man charged in death of woman at local Wal-Mart www.privateofficer.com

 

SMITHFIELD, N.C.Oct 12 2011 — Police said Tuesday they’re charging a 95-year-old man involved in a crash outside a Walmart store that left a woman dead and two others hurt with misdemeanor death by vehicle.

It happened just before noon Saturday, October 1 near the entrance of the store on Brightleaf Blvd.

Benjamin Moye, of Newport News, Virginia, allegedly told investigators he mistakenly hit the accelerator instead of the brake.

Moye’s Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck tore through the crowd at the store entrance.

Lois Shannon, 73, Debra Holmes, 53, and Jeanna Holley, 35, all of Smithfield, were taken to Johnston County Memorial Hospital.

Shannon later died. Holmes and Holley were released from the hospital two days after the crash.

Police said Moye was issued a criminal summons and released Tuesday. He is to appear in Smithfield District Court on November 8.

Source:WTVD

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contracting officials charged with taking $20 million bribes, kickbbacks

 

Washington DC Oct 6 2011 Two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contracting officials were charged with taking $20 million of bribes and kickbacks and plotting to steer $780 million of government business to a favored company.

An indictment unsealed today in Washington alleges the government employees, Kerry F. Khan, 53, of Alexandria, Virginia, and Michael A. Alexander, 55, of Woodbridge, Virginia, funneled more than $45 million to the company through a contract they were in charge of. Also charged was Harold Babb, the director of contracts for Eyak Technology LLC in Dulles, Virginia. Kerry Khan’s son, Lee, a consultant, is the fourth defendant.

The four pleaded not guilty in federal court in Washington and are being held without bond until a detention hearing on Oct. 6. Prosecutors said in court they were all a flight risk and that the Khans had threatened a potential witness.

The scheme was “one of the most brazen federal procurement scandals in our nation’s history,” U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen said at a news conference in Washington. “This scheme is staggering in scope. I think it surprised all of us.”

In addition to the arrests, the government seized 29 bank accounts, three luxury cars and is seeking forfeiture of 16 properties financed at least in part through the alleged scheme, Machen said in a statement. Federal agents executed search warrants at an Army Corps’s office in Washington this morning, prosecutors said.

Five-Year Contract

The four were involved in a scheme that reaped $20 million through a five-year contract with the Army Corps under the TIGER program, the indictment alleged. Government agencies, including Homeland Security, NASA and the Coast Guard, use the TIGER contract to acquire information-technology services and physical and infrastructure security.

Eyak Technology is a unit of Anchorage, Alaska-based Eyak Corp., which has received more than $1.9 billion in government contracts since the fiscal year that began October 2001, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Government.

Eyak qualifies for preferential treatment through a program that reserves some contracts for small companies owned by disadvantaged minorities.

Hostile Takeover

Melissa Zelinger, a spokeswoman for Eyak, said the company “is cooperating with the investigation.” The company attempted a hostile takeover of GTSI Corp., based in Herndon, Virginia, in September 2010. The deal was terminated last October.

The alleged scheme was made possible by Kerry Khan’s position as a program director in the Army Corps’s directorate of operations, which administers the TIGER contract, prosecutors said. He had authority to place orders through TIGER that don’t require competitive bidding.

EyakTek was the prime contractor, subcontracting many orders from the Army Corps.

Khan, Alexander and Babb allegedly directed orders to a Virginia-based company identified in the indictment as “Company A.” The company’s chief technology officer, an unindicted co- conspirator, submitted fraudulently inflated invoices then paid the $20 million in kickbacks to the three, the indictment alleges.

At the same time, the defendants conspired to steer as much as $780 million in contracts for CORES, a planned replacement for TIGER, to “Company A,” prosecutors said.

Money Laundering

All four defendants were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and wire fraud, as well as one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Kerry Khan and Alexander also were accused of one count of receipt of a bribe by a public official, and Babb was indicted on one count of unlawful kickbacks. If convicted, Kerry Khan and Alexander face as many as 40 years in prison. Babb faces as long as 35 years, and Lee Khan faces a sentence of up to 25 years, according to the statement.

The arrests mark the third time since July that Army Corps employees were linked to allegation of contracting fraud.

Last month, a former Army Corps employee based in Iraq pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from Iraqi contractors. In July, three former employees of the agency and two other men were indicted in Newark, New Jersey in an alleged kickback scheme involving more than $50 million in contracts in Iraq.

Press officers for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment about the involvement of its employees or the search of its headquarters.

The case is U.S. v. Khan, 1:11-cr-00276, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).

–With assistance from Kathleen Miller, Nishad Majmudar and Michael Riley in Washington. Editors: Fred Strasser, Jon Morgan

Source:bloomberg.net

Woman arrested for theft-assault on security www.privateofficer.com

 

Chester County PA July 21 2011 A Virginia woman accused of stealing six bracelets from a store at the Exton Square mall ended up with a different kind of wrist adornment: handcuffs.

West Whiteland Township Police Detective Scott Pezick said Jennifer Jarman, 37, of Charlottesville, Virginia, faces a multitude of charges, including aggravated assault, after an incident yesterday afternoon at the Deer Skin Leather store.

He said a store employee quickly realized that six bracelets valued at $289 were missing after Jarman had visited the store. The employee alerted mall security, who confronted Jarman after she had entered her Dodge Charger in the mall’s parking lot. Pezick said Jarman handed over two bracelets but then proceeded to back out of the parking space, striking the security officer, as she fled. He sustained minor injuries, Pezick said.

A description of Jarman’s vehicle was broadcast on police radio, and a Westtown East Goshen officer initiated a traffic stop after spotting the vehicle on Route 202 in Thornbury Township. The mall security officer was brought to the scene and he positively identified Jarman as the actor, Pezick said.

The charges against Jarman include robbery, aggravated assault, retail theft, and disorderly conduct. She was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Larry Smith and remanded to Chester County Prison after failing to post $10,000 cash bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Tuesday.