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November 1, 2022 ¡ª A federal judge sentenced Herdade Lokua and Jospin Mujangi, of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to prison for their roles in trafficking wildlife products from DRC to Seattle. Lokua was sentenced to 20 months in prison and Mujangi was sentenced to 14 months in prison. Both men had pleaded guilty to conspiracy and Lacey Act charges on July 13.

November 2, 2022 ¡ª Robert A. DiNoto, of Huntington, New York, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in connection with a fraudulent billing scheme involving a manufacturing company with facilities in Harford County, Maryland.

May 2, 2023 ¡ª A Louisiana man was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for money laundering in connection with a fraudulent scheme to obtain more than $1.1 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program loans.

May 22, 2023 ¡ª A father and son were sentenced today in federal court in Boston for orchestrating an elaborate "ten-percenting" scheme involving dozens of convenience stores across Massachusetts. The defendants unlawfully claimed more than 14,000 winning lottery tickets, laundered over $20 million in proceeds, and then lied on their tax returns. The result was more than $6 million in federal tax loss. As a direct result of this case, the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission is in the process of revoking or suspending the licenses of more than 40 of its lottery agents.

March 3, 2023 ¡ª U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby sentenced Robert A. DiNoto, of Huntington, New York, late yesterday to one year of incarceration to be served as six months in federal prison and six months of home detention, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in connection with a fraudulent billing scheme involving a manufacturing company with facilities in Harford County, Maryland. Judge Griggsby also ordered DiNoto to pay restitution and to forfeit a total of $514,352.

January 6, 2023 ¡ª The wife of the former long-time commissioner of an East King County drainage district was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to three years in prison and three years of supervised release for multiple federal felonies connected to a scheme to steal tax dollars intended for flood control, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Joann Thomas was convicted of 15 federal felonies in May 2022: conspiracy; four counts each of wire fraud and mail fraud, two counts of aggravated identity theft and four counts of money laundering. Because the attorney for Allan Thomas claimed he was unable to adequately represent his client due to illness, the sentencing for Allan Thomas on ten federal felonies was postponed until February 3, 2023.

May 13, 2022 ¡ª Carl Delano Torjagbo, aka Karl Lucius Delano, has been arrested on federal bank fraud and money laundering charges arising from a scheme to defraud a bank by obtaining a $9.5 million Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP") loan in the name of a fictitious company and then allegedly using the loan proceeds to upgrade his personal lifestyle. The PPP is a federal loan program intended to help small businesses survive the COVID-19 pandemic by providing them with funds to cover certain payroll costs, including benefits, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities.

May 20, 2025 ¡ª Companies operating two Pittsburgh-area nursing homes have been sentenced in federal court to pay a total of more than $15 million in restitution for their convictions of making false statements in connection with the payment of health care benefits and for the purpose of obstructing and impeding the investigation and proper administration of a matter within the jurisdiction of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.

IR-2022-156, August 29, 2022 ¡ª September is National Preparedness Month. With the height of hurricane season fast approaching and the ongoing threat of wildfires in many places, the Internal Revenue Service urges everyone to develop an emergency preparedness plan, or if they already have one, update it for 2022.

IR-2024-192, July 22, 2024 ¡ª The Internal Revenue Service today encouraged taxpayers who requested an extension of time to file their taxes to consider using IRS Free File and other resources on IRS.gov to help them file over the summer rather than waiting for the October deadline. There¡¯s no need to wait if taxpayers are ready to file.