FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending June 13, 2008

1. FBI Headquarters: Response to the OIG Review of the FBI’s Security Check Procedures for Immigration Applications and Petitions

FBI Assistant Director John Miller issued a statement responding to the Office of the Inspector General’s report entitled, The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Security Check Procedures for Immigration Applications and Petitions.

2. FBI Headquarters: FBI Releases Preliminary Annual Crime Statistics for 2007

According to the FBI’s Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report, the nation experienced a 1.4 percent decrease in the number of violent crimes and a 2.1 percent decline in the number of property crimes for 2007 compared with data from 2006. The report is based on information that the FBI gathered from 12,032 law enforcement agencies that submitted six to 12 comparable months of data to the FBI for both 2006 and 2007.

3. Washington Field: Former Army Colonel Pleads Guilty in Bribery Scheme

Retired Army colonel Levonda J. Selph pled guilty to bribery and conspiracy related to her role in a scheme to influence the award of a U.S. Department of Defense contract at Camp Victory, Iraq. According to the charges, Selph served as chair of a selection board over the annual $12 million contract to build and operate Department of Defense warehouses in Iraq. Selph accepted fraudulent bids from a co-conspirator contracting firm and assisted that firm in winning the contract award. In return for her actions, Selph accepted a vacation to Thailand and $4,000 in cash.

4. Houston: Eight Sentenced for Participating in Houston FEMA Fraud Ring

Eight Houston residents have been sentenced for participating in a FEMA fraud conspiracy involving more than seventy applications for Katrina and Rita benefits on behalf of residents in area apartment complexes who were not victims of the hurricanes. Their sentences range from home confinement to 33 months in prison.

5. San Diego: Leader of Mexican Kidnapping Organization Arrested

Jose Manuel Garibay Felix, one of the leaders of a Mexican kidnapping and drug trafficking organization known as “Los Garibay ,” was arrested at the Department of Motor Vehicles Office in Riverside, California. Felix was arrested by FBI agents with the assistance of Investigators from the State of California Department of Motor Vehicles Investigations Division pursuant to an arrest warrant based on a provisional arrest request from Mexico.

6. Miami: Four Charged in $110 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme

Three Miami-area brothers who allegedly financed 11 corrupt HIV infusion clinics and a physician’s assistant who worked at those clinics were charged in a $110 million HIV infusion fraud scheme. The indictment alleges that Carlos and Luis Benitez conspired to submit false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for HIV infusion services allegedly provided clinics that they owned and controlled. Medicare beneficiaries were paid kickbacks to induce them to claim they received legitimate services.

7. Cleveland: Man Sentenced for Scheme to Defraud Cisco Systems, Inc. of Nearly $2 Million

Kent S. Andrews was sentenced to 33 months in prison for executing a scheme and artifice to defraud Cisco Systems, Inc., of computer networking equipment valued at $1,982,926. Andrews, a certified Cisco engineer, submitted fraudulent claims under Cisco’s Advance Replacement program and then sold the fraudulently obtained equipment to unsuspecting buyers, including individuals who placed bids on eBay.

8. Baltimore: Eight Indicted in $35 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme

A federal grand jury indicted eight individuals with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering in connection with a $35 million mortgage fraud scheme that promised to help homeowners facing foreclosure keep their homes and repair their damaged credit, but left them homeless and with no equity.

9. New York: Florida Man Indicted for Forging Correspondence from the Securities and Exchange Commission

Jorge Enrique Yepes was indicted on wire fraud and forgery charges for perpetrating a scheme to become the Chief Financial Officer of an international company by forging correspondence purportedly written by an attorney at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The forged documents provided false information about the SEC’s interest in interviewing Yepes in connection with an investigation for his conduct while employed at another company. Yepes, who claimed to be the Vice President of Finance for the Americas for a Fortune 500 company, also forged an e-mail from the CFO of his purported current employer. In fact, he was fired by the company for inappropriate conduct in 2006.

10. Newark: Alleged Mastermind of $75 Million Mortgage Fraud and Investment Scheme Arrested

Wayne Puff, the former president and founder of NJ Affordable Homes, Corp., a purported New Jersey real estate investment company, was arrested and charged with masterminding a scheme to defraud investors and mortgage lenders of approximately $75 million.