Archive

March 22, 2019

A man in Colorado plead guilty to his role in a $7.2 million tax credit fraud scheme that ran from 2010 to 2013. To take advantage of a federal program that encourages the production and use of renewable fuels, Matthew Taylor and co-conspirators created a fake fuel production company, Shintan Inc., and filed false claims for tax credits with the IRS, even though their company produced no qualifying fuels. Altogether, their scheme netted them a total of $7.2 million, with $4.5 million going to Taylor. DOJ

February 8, 2019

In connection with alleged fraud on a multi-billion dollar Department of Energy contract, the United States has filed a False Claims Act complaint against Mission Support Alliance LLC (MSA), Lockheed Martin Services Inc. (LMSI), Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMC) and Jorge Francisco Armijo, currently VP of LMC but formerly president of MSA. The complaint alleges that defendant LMSI violated the FCA by submitting false statements about its profits to order to inflate its billing rate. The complaint also alleged that, in violation of the Anti-Kickback Act, defendant LMC paid Armijo and other MSA executives more than $1 million in order to win a $232 million subcontract to clean up the Hanford nuclear waste site in Washington State. DOJ; USAO EDWA

January 30, 2019

Sunoco Pipeline L.P. will pay the United States $5 million and pay Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) $436,274 to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Water Act and state environmental laws by Sunoco and Mid-Valley Pipeline Company stemming from three crude oil spills in 2013, 2014, and 2015, in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. Additionally, Sunoco agreed to take actions to prevent future spills by identifying and remediating the types of problems that caused the prior spills. This includes performing pipeline inspections and repairing pipeline defects that could lead to future spills. Sunoco is also required to take steps to prevent and detect corrosion in pipeline segments that Sunoco is no longer using. Mid-Valley, the owner of the pipeline that spilled oil in Louisiana, is responsible, along with Sunoco, for payment of the civil penalties and state costs relating to the Louisiana spill. DOJ

January 28, 2019

A producer of fish oil and fishmeal products, Omega Protein Corp., has agreed to pay $1 million to resolve allegations that when the company applied for a $10 million federal loan, it falsely certified that it was complying with federal environmental laws when, in fact, it was knowingly violating the Clean Water Act by discharging oil into U.S. waters. In 2013, the company pleaded guilty to criminal violations of the CWA.   The civil settlement arises from a False Claim Act case filed by a former employee of Omega, Keland O. Harrison, who will receive $200,000 of the settlement proceeds.  DOJ

January 28, 2019

P.H. Glatfelter Company will pay $20.5 million to reimburse the Environmental Protection Agency for past costs and natural resource damages and future government costs of overseeing one of the nation’s largest cleanup projects at Wisconsin’s Lower Fox River and Green Bay Site. Glatfelter also agreed to take on responsibility for long-term monitoring and maintenance activities required by the EPA. The cleanup work will reduce the risks to humans and wildlife posed by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in bottom sediment of the Fox River and Green Bay. Paper companies like Glatfelter and Georgia-Pacific contaminated the sediment when they made and recycled a particular type of PCB-containing “carbonless” copy paper. DOJ

January 10, 2019

Fiat Chrysler has agreed to pay over $500 million in fines and mitigation costs to settle civil claims by the U.S. and numerous states that it violated environmental and consumer protection laws by installing software and equipment in 100,000 diesel automobiles in order to circumvent emissions testing requirements.  The "defeat devices" caused Jeep Grand Cherokees and Ram 1500s to be within legal limits during emissions testing, but to exceed limits during ordinary operation.  The company will also implement a recall program to repair the non-compliant vehicles. For the states, California will receive $78.4 million, and the remaining 49 states, D.C, Puerto Rico, and Guam, will receive payments totaling $72.5 million.  DOJ; CA; IL

November 27, 2018

Greek shipping companies Avin International LTD and Nicos I.V. Special Maritime Enterprises will pay a $4 million criminal fine for their actions in discharging oil in the ports of Houston and Port Arthur in violation of the Clean Water Act.  The discharges were not recorded in oil record books as required under MARPOL and the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.  DOJ

November 16, 2018

Hyundai Construction Equipment Americas Inc. has pleaded guilty for conspiring to defraud the United States and violate the Clean Air Act in connection with its importation of construction equipment from Korea with engines that failed to meet U.S. emissions standards.  Hyundai will pay a $1.95 million criminal fine.  In reports to the EPA, Hyundai intentionally understated the number of noncompliant engines it imported.  DOJ

November 2, 2018

German shipping company MST Mineralien Schiffahrt Spedition und Transport GmbH was sentenced following its guilty plea related to deliberate pollution from one of its ships, the M/V Marguerita.  The company will pay a $3.2 million criminal fine for violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and using falsified log books to conceal discharges of oily bilge waste in Portland, Maine. DOJ

October 24, 2018

Chevron entered in to a settlement agreement with the U.S. to resolve claims that it had violated Clean Air Act provisions aimed at preventing the release of hazardous chemicals from its facilities.  The settlement is valued at over $160 million, and includes: a $3 million civil penalty; Chevron's commitment to undertake approximately $150 million in safety improvements at its petroleum refineries; and, $10 million in funding for communities surrounding its refineries.  DOJ