Criminal Proceedings

April 20, 2022

Waste management company Stericycle Inc. agreed to pay a total of $84 million and enter into a deferred prosecution agreement admitting to the payment of millions of dollars in bribes to government officials in Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina in order to obtain and retain business and to secure improper advantages in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  The company’s foreign subsidiaries maintained false records to conceal the bribes, which were typically paid in cash and recorded on spreadsheets using code words and euphemisms, including describing the payments made in Argentina as “alfajores.”  Stericycle’s total payment consists of a $28 million payment to resolve an investigation by the SEC, a $52.5 million criminal penalty, and $9.3 million to resolve investigations by the Controladoria-Geral da União (CGU) and the Advocacia-Geral de União (Attorney General’s Office) in Brazil, part of which will be credited to reduce the criminal penalty.  DOJ; SEC

April 12, 2022

Aaron Aqueron of Florida has been sentenced to 4 years in prison and ordered to pay $5.9 million in restitution to the IRS for promoting a nationwide scheme that caused more than $7.6 million in fraudulent tax refund claims to be filed.  The scheme involved convincing more than 200 participants in at least 19 states that they were entitled to tax refunds due to debt, then using the participants’ financial information to prepare tax returns with false information.  Two other co-conspirators, Iran Backstrom and Mehef Bey, were sentenced to more than 8 years and 11 years in prison respectively.  USAO MDFL

March 30, 2022

Multiple sales representatives of Delaware-based pharmacy, Heritage Therapeutics, LLC have been ordered to forfeit and/or pay fines totaling over $8.7 million after they were found to have paid kickbacks to physicians in exchange for prescribing expensive compounded medications to TRICARE beneficiaries.  Additionally, Heritage and various executives have entered into a settlement agreement to resolve claims under the Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act.  USAO EDPA

February 18, 2022

Muhammad Ateeq, of Rawalpindi, Pakistan, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $50 million in restitution for forfeiture for submitting fraudulent claims to Medicare for home health services. Ateeq acquired and managed home health agencies in the United States, using false identities. He then used these home health agencies to submit fraudulent Medicare claims totaling over $40 million for services not rendered. The ill-gotten gains were laundered through U.S. bank accounts designated by overseas customers of overseas money transmitting businesses. Cash payments were then transmitted to accounts in Pakistan which Ateeq controlled. Fraud proceeds were also used to purchase luxury items which were delivered to Ateeq’s Dubai associates. DOJ

February 14, 2022

Zachary Joseph Horwitz, 35, of Los Angeles, CA will spend 20 years in federal prison and was ordered to pay over $230 million in restitution. Horwitz raised $650 million from over 250 investors in his Ponzi scheme—investors who were lied to about future licensing and distribution agreements with online platforms such as Netflix and HBO. Horwitz operated his Ponzi scheme via 1inMM Capital, duping five major groups of private investors through hundreds of 6- and 12-month promissory notes, which he defaulted on. Horwitz initiated the scheme in 2014, and it remained active until his arrest by the FBI in April 2021. USAO CDCA

February 10, 2022

Bradley Jason Kantor, 49, will spend 10 years in federal prison after being found guilty of paying kickbacks for referrals to his immunotherapy and antigen business, Mobile Diagnostic Imaging, Inc. (MDI). MDI received more than $12 million from the scheme in which MDI submitted approximately $42 million in false claims to United Healthcare, for which services were never rendered. USAO SDFL

January 31, 2022

Signal Peak Energy LLC (“Signal”) was fined $1 million and sentenced to three years of probation for violating environmental and worker safety regulations at Signal Peak Mine near Roundup, MN. According to the government, Signal habitually violated mandatory health and safety standards in the Mine Safety and Health Act during the mine’s operation. These violations included both environmental safety and worker safety standards. The violations occurred with the full knowledge, direction and participation of the mine’s most senior management during that period, including the president and CEO, the vice president of surface operations, the vice president of underground operations and the safety manager. USAO MN