McQuaid – Financial Treason & Crime

Department of Justice, 27 May 2021

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd. (BJB or the Bank), a Swiss bank with international operations, has admitted today in federal court in Brooklyn that it conspired to launder over $36 million in bribes through the United States to soccer officials with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and other soccer federations, in furtherance of a scheme in which sports marketing companies bribed soccer officials in exchange for broadcasting rights to soccer matches. The proceeding was held before U.S. District Judge Pamela K. Chen.

The Bank made these admissions and entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the department in connection with a criminal information filed today in the Eastern District of New York charging the Bank with conspiring to commit money laundering. As part of this agreement, the Bank has agreed to pay more than $79 million in penalties (including a fine of $43,320,000 and forfeiture of $36,368,400) to resolve the investigation into its involvement in a money laundering conspiracy that fueled this international soccer bribery scheme. Continue reading “Article: Bank Julius Baer Agrees to Pay More than $79 Million for Laundering Money in FIFA Scandal”

05/27/202105/29/2021

Article: Final Defendant Sentenced in $80 Million Health Care Fraud Conspiracy

Article - Media, Publications

Continue reading “Article: Final Defendant Sentenced in $80 Million Health Care Fraud Conspiracy”

04/02/202104/03/2021

Article: Israeli pleads guilty to money laundering on dark web, faces 20-year sentence

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Israeli pleads guilty to money laundering on dark web, faces 20-year sentence

Neta Bar, 02 April 2021

Tal Prihar, a 37-year old Israeli living in Brazil, pleaded guilty Wednesday to operating illegal transactions on the darknet, including purchasing firearms, heroin, and other contraband.

According to court documents, Phihar and his partner, another Israeli named Michael Phan, earned $8.4 million through running DeepDotWeb, a website that provided users with direct links to illegal darknet marketplaces. In return, Phihar and Phan received payments from the marketplaces in the form of bitcoin virtual currency.

To conceal the payments, Phihar transferred them from his bitcoin wallet to other accounts he owned in the names of shell companies. Continue reading “Article: Israeli pleads guilty to money laundering on dark web, faces 20-year sentence”

03/31/202104/01/2021

Article: WA rancher Easterday pleads guilty to stealing $244M in ‘ghost cattle’ scam

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WA rancher Easterday pleads guilty to stealing $244M in ‘ghost cattle’ scam

KRISTIN M. KRAEMER, 31 March 2021

The president of one of the largest agricultural operations in Washington state has admitted concocting a scheme to defraud Tyson Foods and another company out of more than $244 million.

Cody A. Easterday, 49, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in a case that federal prosecutors are calling a “ghost-cattle scam.”

Easterday, who’s also chief executive officer of Easterday Ranches Inc., charged the two companies under various agreements for the costs of buying and feeding 200,000 cattle, when those cattle did not actually exist, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release. Continue reading “Article: WA rancher Easterday pleads guilty to stealing $244M in ‘ghost cattle’ scam”

03/25/202103/27/2021

Article: Texas man pleads guilty to $24.8 million PPP loan scheme involving luxury cars

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Texas man pleads guilty to $24.8 million PPP loan scheme involving luxury cars

Alison Medley, 25 March 2021

Federal investigators didn’t mince words when a Texas man admitted to using COVID-19 relief funds for lavish expenditures, including a Bentley Convertible, Porsche Macan and Corvette Stingray.

Coppell native Dinesh Sah, 55, pleaded guilty to orchestrating a $24.8 million PPP scam that used small business loans to purchase opulent homes and expensive cars, according to the Department of Justice.

“As the nation was crippled by a global pandemic, Sah fraudulently obtained over $17 million in PPP funds intended to help legitimate small businesses and spent that money on luxury cars and multiple homes,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division stated in response to the case.

In order to get control of millions in PPP loans, Sah submitted 15 fraudulent applications filed under different names of businesses he owned or controlled, according to the Justice Department. Through eight separate lenders, Sah managed to obtain $24.8 million in PPP loans by misrepresenting the number of employees on his payroll and amount of expenses therein. Investigators eventually discovered the incongruities on Sah’s applications, the Justice Department stated. Continue reading “Article: Texas man pleads guilty to $24.8 million PPP loan scheme involving luxury cars”