Man Sentenced in $39M Bank Fraud Scheme That Defrauded Seven Financial Institutions A California man was sentenced today to 78 months in prison and three years of supervised release for perpetrating an elaborate bank fraud scheme that took in approximately $39 million from multiple financial institutions over the course of nearly 10 years. He was also ordered to pay over $19.4 million in restitution and $21.8 million in forfeiture. 🔗: justice.gov/opa/pr/man-sente…

Defendant Who Was Extradited from Guatemala Pleads GUILTY for Involvement in 2022 Mass Casualty Alien Smuggling Event “This case highlights that immigration offenses and alien smuggling have far-reaching impacts. Here, 53 people lost their lives. Targeting those involved in these dangerous crimes and aggressively prosecuting them remains one of the highest priorities of the Department. The Criminal Division and our partners will continue to ensure border security, the orderly administration of our immigration laws, and the protection provided by those laws.” -@AAGDuva The photos depict the size of the trailer and claw marks inside of it. Read more: justice.gov/opa/pr/defendant…

Two High Ranking Members of the United Cartels Charged with Drug Trafficking, Providing Material Support to a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and Firearms Offenses As Part of Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) Initiative “Juan Jose Farias Mendoza and Israel Vega Farias are charged with trafficking immense amounts of methamphetamine into the United States and supporting a foreign terrorist organization,” said @AAGDuva. “The two defendants indicted yesterday are close relatives of the United Cartels’ top leader Juan Jose Farias Alvarez, who was charged by the Criminal Division in 2024. This indictment demonstrates the systematic and focused effort of the Criminal Division to dismantle Mexican cartels by targeting their command-and-control elements, including those within cartel leaders’ closest circles.” 🔗: justice.gov/opa/pr/two-high-…

Florida Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Travelling Internationally to Sexually Exploit Minors “The defendant’s vile acts not only caused serious harm through his sexual abuse of multiple minors, but he also inflicted added layers to that harm by memorializing the abuse and distributing it to other offenders,” said @AAGDuva. “No child predator will find safe haven in the United States. The Department is committed to holding U.S. citizens accountable for harming children whether committed in the United States or internationally.” 🔗: justice.gov/opa/pr/florida-m…

Alleged Member of Criminal Cyber Hacking Group “Scattered Spider” Arrested in Finland and Extradited to the United States justice.gov/opa/pr/alleged-m…

Mexican National SENTENCED TO PRISON Yesterday for Drugging and Smuggling Unaccompanied Alien Children into the United States “Needing to sedate children with THC under the guise of giving them candy, shows just how heinous crimes like this are,” said @AAGDuva. “Smuggling unaccompanied children into the country, pretending to be their parents, and then lying to U.S. immigration officials shows the lengths to which criminals like this will go to smuggle children across our borders. The Criminal Division and our law enforcement partners will put an end to this conduct. Protecting children and keeping our borders safe go hand-in-hand.” Read more: justice.gov/opa/pr/mexican-n…

An alleged member of the criminal cyber hacking group Scattered Spider has been arrested in Finland and extradited to the United States to face federal criminal conspiracy charges in the Northern District of Illinois. “The criminal complaint charges Peter Stokes with membership in Scattered Spider, a hacking group that has been involved in over 100 network intrusions, resulting in more than $100 million in ransom payments and millions more in damages to the victims,” said @AAGDuva. “The charges unsealed today are the result of years of work by the Criminal Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, and the FBI. We will continue to partner to ensure that cybercriminals cannot evade the reach of the United States.” Read more: justice.gov/opa/pr/alleged-m…

EagleBank Agrees to Pay MORE THAN $9.7 MILLION to Resolve Bank Secrecy Act Investigation "For more than a decade, EagleBank knowingly allowed favored clients to operate a check kiting scheme, even as compliance personnel repeatedly tried to stop it,” said @AAGDuva. “Financial institutions are the first line of defense against financial crimes and must be gatekeepers, not gateways, for criminal activity." 🔗: justice.gov/opa/pr/eaglebank…

Chinese National Pleads GUILTY (in Homeland Security Task Force Investigation) to: • Narcotics Trafficking • Money Laundering • Material Support to Terrorism Read more: justice.gov/opa/pr/chinese-n…

“The depravity and complete devaluing of human life of these defendants, who were responsible for killing nine victims and shooting others, is beyond comprehension,” said @AAGDuva. “Gangs like MS-13 terrorize communities with violence and killing. The Criminal Division will pursue these violent transnational criminal organizations in this exact way – charge these depraved gang members in bunches and try them for their brazen crimes in a way that highlights exactly what they do, which is systemically kill. These defendants will now face a sentencing hearing where, rightly, their liberty for the rest of their lives is at stake.”

A Mexican man extradited from Mexico pleaded GUILTY today for conspiring to smuggle thousands of aliens from multiple countries into the U.S. for financial gain. #JointTaskForceAlpha Read more: justice.gov/opa/pr/member-va…

United States Seizes Hundreds of Internet Domains Used to Illegally Stream World Cup Matches “We have seized hundreds of domains, used to illegally stream World Cup matches for profit, to disrupt the international networks that profit from the global popularity of the World Cup,” said @AAGDuva. “This operation illustrates the Department’s respect for intellectual property rights and the responsibility of the United States as a host nation to protect the FIFA World Cup from criminals. The Criminal Division will continue to disrupt and, where appropriate, seek to prosecute these sites and the subjects responsible for this criminal activity.” 🔗: justice.gov/opa/pr/united-st…

Extradited Canadian American Man Pleads GUILTY for Role in Deadly Alien Smuggling Conspiracy “This case is a tragic example of what happens when alien smugglers act for their own greed with callous disregard for human life and for the orderly administration of our nation’s immigration laws,” said @AAGDuva. “Through investigations and prosecutions, we will continue to eliminate alien smuggling networks that flout our laws and evade lawful entry at our borders.” 🔗: justice.gov/opa/pr/extradite…

A federal jury in the Central District of California convicted a Los Angeles man today of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion. “Elias Shabazz preyed on a vulnerable victim using physical and sexual violence and cruel psychological coercion to compel commercial sex acts for his own profit,” said @AAGDuva. “There is no place for this type of conduct in civilized society. We deeply respect the victim’s courage to face her trafficker in court. The Criminal Division will continue to bring these cases and try them.” Read more: justice.gov/opa/pr/los-angel…

A federal judge sentenced Marterrio Armstrong, 21, of Memphis, Tennessee, and Jacam’Ron McIntosh, 21, of Oxford, Mississippi, to eight and one-half years and 13 years in prison, respectively, for a carjacking at gunpoint. Read more: justice.gov/opa/pr/two-men-s…

Two Illegal Aliens Sentenced in International ATM “Jackpotting” Conspiracy with Ties to Tren de Aragua “Carlos Javier Padron and Oddry Arnoldo Cabrera Torrealba helped deploy sophisticated malware as part of a transnational criminal network that hacked ATMs across the United States and stole millions of dollars through a technique known as ATM jackpotting – which caused bank ATMs to dispense the cash inside of them,” said @AAGDuva. “Crimes like this undermine the security of our financial institutions and fuel the operations of violent transnational criminal organizations such as Tren de Aragua (TdA). This sweeping investigation with the District of Nebraska and our law enforcement partners has disrupted this network at all levels. We will protect our financial institutions from technology enabled fraud.” Read more: justice.gov/opa/pr/two-illeg…

Larry Wilson, also known as “L,” 36, of Memphis, Tennessee, was SENTENCED today to 87 months in prison following his conviction for RICO conspiracy. This case is part of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime Initiative in Memphis conducted in partnership with @WDTNnews and local, state, and federal law enforcement. The joint effort addresses violent crime by employing, where appropriate, federal laws to prosecute gang members and their associates in Memphis. Read more: justice.gov/opa/pr/memphis-m…

A federal grand jury in the Central District of California returned an indictment yesterday charging Andrew Dominguez, 37, of Los Angeles, California, with producing and distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Dominguez also faces charges for committing these offenses while registered as a sex offender. #ProjectSafeChildhood 🔗: justice.gov/opa/pr/californi…

A California man pleaded guilty yesterday to engaging in more than 3,000 instances of manipulative trading and spoofing during a years-long scheme to manipulate the securities markets. According to court documents, Mingran Wang, 52, of Fremont, orchestrated a scheme to defraud market participants using spoofing from 2021 through 2024. Spoofing is the manipulative trading tactic of placing a non-bona fide order, with the intent to cancel the order before it is executed, to give the false appearance of genuine supply or demand to other investors and move the price in the spoofer’s favor. Read more: justice.gov/opa/pr/northern-…

Samuel Flores de Dios, 36, an illegal alien from Mexico, was sentenced today to 30 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for production of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) after he placed a camera in his bedroom and recorded himself sexually abusing a victim who was under 13-years old. Read more: justice.gov/opa/pr/illegal-a…