California Man Pleads Guilty to Filing False Liens Against Federal Employees

-
WASHINGTON – Thanh Viet Jeremy Cao of Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., pleaded guilty today in Las Vegas before Judge Kent J. Dawson to six counts of filing false liens against employees and officers of the federal government, the Justice Department, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) announced.
 
According to the plea agreement, Cao was a named defendant in a civil fraud action brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) related to an investment scheme; he was also identified as the owner of an asset seized by the U.S. Secret Service related to this fraud.   Cao was additionally under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California and the U.S. Secret Service for criminal offenses arising from the investment scheme, and also was under investigation by the IRS-Criminal Investigation Division for tax returns he prepared for himself and others that claimed large refunds based upon fictitious tax withholdings.  
 
In response to these proceedings and investigations, Cao filed 22 false liens in the public records of the state of Nevada and Clark County, Nev., against SEC attorneys, U.S. District Court Judges, U.S. District Court Magistrate Judges, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, U.S. Secret Service special agents and special agents of the IRS.   Each lien alleged that the lien victims were “debtors” of Cao for hundreds of millions of dollars.   According to the plea agreement, Cao admitted that all 22 liens were false and agreed that the liens should be expunged from the public record.
 
Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 21, 2011 in Las Vegas.
 
This case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and TIGTA, and prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Christopher Strauss and Joseph Rillotta of the Department of Justice’s Tax Division.         
 
More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division and its enforcement efforts can be found at www.usdoj.gov/tax.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DISTRICT ATTORNEY VANCE ANNOUNCES INDICTMENT OF SIX SUBCONTRACTING COMPANIES AND THEIR OWNERS IN MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR FRAUD

-
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictments of six subcontracting companies and their owners for colluding with LEHR CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION (LEHR) in a multimillion dollar scheme that defrauded numerous construction clients over the past decade. See, related story.

The announcement comes one day after DA Vance announced LEHR and four executives were indicted on crimes including Enterprise Corruption, the New York State Racketeering law. GODSELL CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION and its owner ARTHUR GODSELL are charged with Grand Larceny in the Second Degree. JT ROSELLE LIGHTING, INC. and its owner JAMES ROSELLE, LIBERTY CONTRACTING CORPORATION and its owners GEORGE FOTIADIS and KEVIN FOTIADIS, PJ MECHANICAL and its owner JAMES PAPPAS, SUPERIOR ACOUSTICS, INC. and its owner KENNETH MCGUIGAN, and SWEENEY & HARKIN CARPENTRY and its owner MICHAEL HAYES are charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree.[1]

"The defendants in this case cheated clients…
Read more

Disability Doctor Peter J. Ajemian Sentenced In Manhattan Federal Court To Eight Years In Prison For His Role In LIRR Fraud Scheme

-
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that PETER J. AJEMIAN, a Board-certified orthopedist, was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to eight years in prison for his role in the alleged massive fraud scheme in which Long Island Railroad (“LIRR”) workers claimed to be disabled upon early retirement so that they could receive disability benefits to which they were not entitled. Between the late 1990s and 2008, AJEMIAN recommended that at least 734 retiring LIRR employees receive disability benefits, and was responsible for treating nearly half of all LIRR employees who retired and received disability benefits in one four-year period. AJEMIAN pled guilty in January 2013 to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and health care fraud, and one count of health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero, who also imposed today’s sentence.
Read more