Details Written by Imperial Valley News
San Francisco, California - A California man was arrested Thursday on criminal charges related to his alleged scheming to submit fraudulent loan applications seeking millions of dollars in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) COVID-19 relief funds.
According to an indictment returned last week by a federal grand jury in San Francisco, and unsealed today, Lebnitz Tran, 40, of San Jose, submitted at least 27 PPP loan applications and at least seven EIDL loan applications on behalf of multiple persons and business entities, using false and fictitious information and documents, including falsified employee information, fictitious or grossly exaggerated payroll figures, and fake tax documents. The indictment alleges that Tran sought in excess of $8 million in PPP and EIDL funds, obtained over $3.6 million in illicit loan proceeds, and ultimately netted approximately $2 million from the
Published: 10 July 2021 10 July 2021
Dallas, Texas - A federal jury convicted Dallas area owners and operators of two durable medical equipment companies Thursday of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
According to the evidence presented at trial, Leah Hagen, 49, and Michael Hagen, 54, of Arlington, Texas, were owners and operators of two durable medical equipment (DME) companies: Metro DME Supply LLC (Metro) and Ortho Pain Solutions LLC (Ortho Pain), both operated out of the same location in Arlington. The defendants paid a fixed rate per DME item in exchange for prescriptions and paperwork completed by telemedicine doctors that were used to submit false claims to Medicare. The defendants paid illegal bribes and kickbacks and wired money to their co-conspirator’s call center in the Philippines that provided signed doctor’s orders for orthotic braces. The ev
Man Convicted of Conspiracy to Import and Distribute Fentanyl Published: 10 July 2021 10 July 2021
Portland, Oregon - A federal jury convicted a Rhode Island man Friday for conspiring to import and distribute fentanyl and fentanyl analogues, continuing criminal enterprise, money laundering conspiracy, and multiple obstruction offenses.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Steven Barros Pinto, 40, of Pawtucket, conspired to import kilogram-quantities of fentanyl from China and use the fentanyl to manufacture counterfeit Percocet pills. Pinto personally distributed tens of thousands of the fentanyl-laced pills. Pinto acquired the fentanyl with the assistance of co-conspirators Daniel Vivas Ceron, of Colombia, who pleaded guilty in July 2019, and Anthony Gomes, of Rhode Island, who pleaded guilty in April 2018. Pinto also engaged in a series of obstructive acts intended to silence witnesses and tamper with evidence.
Final Defendant Pleads Guilty in Drug Conspiracy Involving Aryan Circle Published: 09 July 2021 09 July 2021
Houston, Texas - A Louisiana man pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring with members of the Aryan Circle (AC) and others to sell methamphetamine. He is the fourth and final defendant charged in the conspiracy to enter a guilty plea.
According to court documents, Shane Louque, 46, of Gonzales, purchased substantial quantities of methamphetamine – at least two kilograms – from an AC member based in the Houston area over a number of occasions in 2016. Louque then personally distributed the methamphetamine to other buyers in Louisiana. While Louque himself is not known to be an AC member, the drug conspiracy was uncovered as part of Operation Noble Virtue, an investigation into the AC that has targeted AC leadership. Previously entering guilty pleas as part of this conspiracy were Jeremy Klintman, 38, of Texas; Eulalio Torres-Cadenas, 43, of Mexico; and Breanna Beckley,
Gonzales man pleads guilty in Houston area drug conspiracy
Staff Report
A Gonzales man pleaded guilty July 6 to conspiring with members of the Aryan Circle (AC) and others to sell methamphetamine.
According to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice, 46-year-old Shane Louque was the fourth and final defendant charged in the conspiracy to enter a guilty plea.
As revealed in court documents, Louque purchased substantial quantities of methamphetamine, at least two kilograms, from an AC member based in the Houston area over a number of occasions in 2016.
Louque then personally distributed the methamphetamine to other buyers in Louisiana.