Latest news with #Galeotti
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DOJ's $225M Seizure Puts Human Cost of Crypto Scams in Focus, Former Acting U.S. Attorney Says
The U.S. Department of Justice is sending a message with its recent effort to seize $225 million in crypto tied to pig butchering scams: these funds were stolen from victims. At least, that's the takeaway from Phil Selden, a member at Cole Schotz PC and former acting US Attorney for the District of Maryland. The DOJ moved to seize these funds last month through a forfeiture motion, although it has yet to publicly identify any individuals accused of stealing the funds. But that's the point, Selden said. "This is a tone-setting case," said Selden, who's now a member at law firm Cole Schotz PC. "We have victims on American streets, and the Department made clear they didn't want to wait for an arrest to actually ensure that the crypto was actually seized." This tone, Selden said, sets the direction for the Department of Justice under Matthew Galeotti, the new head of its criminal division. Selden describes Galeotti as an experienced, methodical prosecutor used to taking down New York's toughest organized crime rings. Galeotti, Selden said, understands how criminal networks move money, how they exploit weak regulatory frameworks, and most importantly, how they hurt everyday people 'This isn't just a tech story or a finance story," he continued. "It's a story about families losing their savings, and small towns losing their banks.' That small town bank was Heartland Tri-State Bank, a Kansas-based agricultural lender that became illiquid and collapsed in 2023 after its CEO, Shan Hanes, embezzled nearly $50 million and moved the funds to crypto wallets at the direction of pig butchering scammers. Hanes was also the largest victim in the DOJ's complaint. 'In Hong Kong or Shanghai or New York or San Francisco, there's a financial institution on every corner. In Kansas, there's not,' Selden said. "If you don't have a good bank, it's hard to build or maintain a business, it's hard to get capital for that tractor or that crop cycle.' Selden anticipates that criminal charges are on the horizon, but he thinks the DOJ didn't want to wait for an arrest to ensure the crypto was seized and could be returned to its owners. Extradition of overseas suspects is one possible path, he explained, though it's a slow and complicated process that relies on mutual legal assistance treaties. Another strategy could involve luring suspects into U.S. jurisdictions where arrests are easier to carry out, such as Guam or other American territories. Even without arrests, extraditions, and high-profile trials, Selden believes the case has already done its job. It sends a message to victims that their losses are being taken seriously. 'Crypto crime isn't abstract; it isn't offshore,' Selden said. 'It's impacting real people, real communities, and the Department of Justice wants Americans to know it has their backs.'
India.com
10-06-2025
- Politics
- India.com
Putin Strikes Back – But Has Ukraine Already Broken The Kremlin's Spine?
New Delhi: Three years of war. Endless airstrikes. Then came June 1. Dozens of drones, hidden in trucks, deep inside Russia. Then, all at once, they moved. Airbases targeted. Bombers hit. At least 12 wiped out. Ukraine called it Operation 'Spiderweb'. A win for Kyiv. A message to Moscow. The game had changed. Then came the warning. Putin told US President Donald Trump, 'We will have to respond.' On June 5 night, missiles and drones rained down on Kyiv. It was brutal. It was loud. But not new. After three years of war, Ukraine had seen this before. Olha, 67, stayed up all night. Kyiv resident. No stranger to explosions. She told CNN, 'If this is retaliation, we will see more like it. Monthly. Maybe more.' But many now wonder – is this all Putin can do? Experts say he is boxed in. The bigger response means admitting the strike hurt. That Ukraine outmaneuvered him. That is not how the Kremlin plays. Even in public meetings, Putin's ministers talked about bridge collapses. Not a word on 'Spiderweb'. Foreign Minister Lavrov mentioned 'criminal provocations'. Nothing else. No spotlight on Ukraine's drone operation. No sign of bombers lost. Just silence. Russia watchers call it a strategy. 'Putin wants this to disappear. A major response would expose the damage. That is not the image the Kremlin wants,' CNN quotes Kateryna Stepanenko from the Institute for the Study of War as saying. But what if Putin wanted to retaliate? He is already firing more drones than ever. On May 31, Russia launched 472 drones. A record. Then 479 on June 1. Another record. 'How would we even know if Putin escalated? They are already hitting malls and apartments. What is left?' ' asked William Alberque from the Stimson Center. Some pro-war bloggers had ideas. Nuclear threats. New missiles. One suggested the Oreshnik – rarely used. But experts doubt it would work. According to Mark Galeotti, a Russia analyst, 'It is not a precision weapon. It will not reach deep bunkers. If Putin uses it, it has to count.' Galeotti thinks Ukraine's spy agency, the SBU, could be a target. But it will not be easy. 'He is burned through most of his escalation tools. That limits what he can do next,' Galeotti said. Still, the strikes may not be over. Russia's Ministry of Defense said it hit an airfield in Rivne on Sunday. Ukraine's air force confirmed the attack and called it 'one of the biggest ever'. Air defenses held up. But not enough. 'You cannot shoot down everything,' said air force rep Yuriy Ihnat. So what now? On the headlines, Ukraine's winning. On the ground, it is tougher. Russia's pushing north. Near Sumy. Just 12 miles from the city. Now claiming moves into central Ukraine, too. 'Putin may accept pain at home. All for a slow, steady push forward,' Galeotti told CNN. Is 'Spiderweb' a one-off? Or the first of many? It took 18 months to plan. What else is cooking? Alberque asks the same thing – 'How many other drone ops are halfway there?' Two days after the bombing raid, Ukraine tried again, targeting the Kerch bridge. It was not destroyed. But the message was clear. Ukraine can hit back. And that may force Putin's hand. 'If these strikes keep humiliating the Kremlin. Putin will feel pressure to hit harder, not just more often, but differently,' said Alberque. Strongman politics. That's Putin's brand. 'He needs to look like a wartime leader. Not someone getting outplayed by drones,' Alberque told the channel.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US Justice Department resumes scaled-back enforcement against foreign bribery
By Chris Prentice NEW YORK (Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department will restart enforcement of the decades-old law outlawing foreign bribery, with a scaled-down approach aimed at reducing burdens on U.S. companies, according to a memo and remarks by a top official. The new approach, detailed in a memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, will focus the DOJ's scrutiny on alleged misconduct that hurts U.S. firms' ability to compete with foreign rivals, involves key infrastructure and is tied to operations of a cartel or transnational criminal organization. "The through line in these guidelines is that they require the vindication of U.S. interests," Matthew Galeotti, head of the Justice Department's criminal division, said at an anti-corruption event in New York on Tuesday. The number of prosecutors in the DOJ's unit tasked with enforcing that law has dwindled in recent months after Republican President Donald Trump ordered a review of U.S. enforcement of the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which outlaws companies that operate in the U.S. from bribing foreign officials. The law has become a cornerstone of federal efforts to combat corruption. Blanche's memo indicated the DOJ will pursue scaled-down FCPA enforcement, with all new investigations requiring approval from top officials. Under Blanche, the DOJ has reviewed pending FCPA matters and chosen to close certain cases, Galeotti said, noting that fighting white-collar and corporate crime is a "critical" part of the criminal division's work. The DOJ is changing other policies in its pursuit against white-collar crime, including by promising it will decline to prosecute companies that report, cooperate and fix issues, Galeotti said. He said the DOJ has nearly finished its review of criminal division corporate monitorships, the practice of installing firms to oversee a company's compliance after they have agreed to resolve allegations of misconduct. The Department has chosen to keep some monitorships in place, while ending others, he said. "Monitors are meant to be a temporary bridge," he said.
Forbes
19-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
New DOJ Whistleblower Policy Bad News For Employers Of Immigrants And H-1B Visa Holders
A seal for the Department of Justice is seen on a podium on March 21, 2024. Under a new policy, the ... More Justice Department will prioritize whistleblower tips about employers accused of violating federal immigration law. (Photo by) Under a new policy, the Justice Department will prioritize whistleblower tips about employers accused of violating federal immigration law. The policy would allow the DOJ to expand efforts to prosecute employers of immigrants and H-1B visa holders. A Department of Justice memo issued in February 2025 directed federal prosecutors to prioritize immigration-related cases. The new whistleblower policy confirms that the Trump administration's top issue remains immigration enforcement. Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the criminal division at the Department of Justice, announced an expansion of the DOJ's whistleblower program to include immigration and other areas. 'We have made changes to our corporate whistleblower program to reflect our focus on the worst actors and most egregious crimes,' Galeotti told attendees at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association's Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Crimes Conference on May 12, 2025. 'To do this, I asked MLARS [Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section] and Fraud to review the corporate whistleblower awards pilot program and recommend additional areas of focus reflecting the Administration's priorities.' 'Today, we have added the following priority areas for tips: procurement and federal program fraud; trade, tariff, and customs fraud; violations of federal immigration law; and violations involving sanctions, material support of foreign terrorist organizations, or those that facilitate cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations, including money laundering, narcotics, and Controlled Substances Act violations,' said Galeotti. (Emphasis added.) He noted, 'As with every other area in our program, these tips must result in forfeiture to be eligible for an award.' On February 5, 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo informing Justice Department employees that 'immigration enforcement' tops the DOJ's list of prosecution priorities. 'The Department of Justice shall use all available criminal statutes to combat the flood of illegal immigration that took place over the last four years, and to continue to support the Department of Homeland Security's immigration and removal initiatives,' according to the memo. She singled out prosecutions for violating the Alien Registration Act and 'bringing in and harboring aliens,' a provision that authorities have not used extensively against employers. The memo noted that failing to pursue immigration-related cases could have consequences for DOJ attorneys. 'Any declinations of immigration-related offenses shall be disclosed as Urgent Reports . . . On a quarterly basis, each U.S. Attorney's Office shall report statistics to the Executive Office for United States Attorneys.' U.S. attorneys have received the message. On April 11, 2025, a press release in Texas was headlined: 'U.S. Attorney's Office Adds 295 New Immigration Cases in One Week.' According to the release, 'Acting United States Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas announced today, that federal prosecutors in the district filed 295 immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from April 4 through April 10.' The press release states: 'These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration . . .' The priorities of other law enforcement personnel also have changed. 'FBI field offices around the country have been ordered to assign significantly more agents to immigration enforcement, a dramatic shift in federal law enforcement priorities that will likely siphon resources away from counterterrorism, counterintelligence and fraud investigations,' reports NBC News. Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Kash Patel (L) and U.S. Attorney General Pam ... More Bondi speak during a press conference to announce the results of Operation Restore Justice on May 07, 2025. (Photo by) U.S. employers may not appreciate the potential impact of the Justice Department's new focus. 'Employers do not appear to grasp the depth and breadth of options DOJ and DHS may have to bring enforcement actions,' said Chris Thomas, a partner with Holland & Hart. 'Though these agencies have shown restraint in the types of criminal cases they have brought in the past, employers should not make the mistake of assuming prior enforcement activity will serve as any indication of what may be coming.' Thomas notes that being raided and hit with criminal charges can debilitate business operations and result in long-term reputational damage. Criminal exposure can include prison terms of up to 10 years per count, fines of up to $500,000 per count and forfeiture of assets. The Department of Justice's Criminal Division operated a Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program that compensated individuals who provided 'original and truthful information about corporate misconduct that results in a successful forfeiture.' Until the recent expansion, the whistleblower information needed to relate to '(1) certain crimes involving financial institutions, from traditional banks to cryptocurrency businesses; (2) foreign corruption involving misconduct by companies; (3) domestic corruption involving misconduct by companies; or (4) health care fraud schemes involving private insurance plans.' DOJ can apply the new whistleblower policy against employers of H-1B visa holders and other highly skilled foreign-born professionals. 'It can be and will be used against H-1B employers, along with potentially companies employing L-1, O-1 and TN visa holders,' said Thomas. 'If anybody blew the whistle for an employer knowingly offering false information, charges could be brought. We have even seen DOJ prosecute employers that provide misleading invitation letters for business visitors, such B-1 or ESTA [Electronic System for Travel Authorization], claiming that they are coming for meetings, when they are coming to engage in work.' In recent weeks, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has issued Requests for Evidence for H-1B and employment-based immigrant petitions, claiming to have 'adverse information' on individuals. Those actions appear focused on specific employees rather than companies. For the past four months, the Trump administration has laid the groundwork to pursue new criminal priorities likely to affect employers of immigrants and temporary visa holders. 'As the rhetoric translates into significant raids and criminal charges, employers will be forced to take compliance much more seriously,' said Chris Thomas. 'At that point, however, it may be too late.'
Epoch Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
DOJ Incentivizes Corporate Reporting, Whistleblowing for Sanctions, Tariffs, Immigration Violations
Matthew Galeotti, head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, announced a new white-collar crimes enforcement plan at a May 12 financial conference, spotlighting the Trump administration's focus on disrupting transnational networks that evade U.S. sanctions, tariffs, and immigration law. It also expanded its whistleblower program to cover these priority areas. The DOJ will be pulling back on monitoring American corporations, while incentivizing companies to self-report and cooperate with investigations against bad actors. 'Self-disclosure is key to receiving the most generous benefits the Criminal Division can offer. Why? Because coming forward and coming clean lets the Department devote its resources to investigating and prosecuting individual wrongdoers and the most egregious criminal schemes,' Galeotti The DOJ had amended its disclosure policy to incentivize reporting in 2023, highlighting a general policy of deferred or non-prosecution agreements for cooperating companies. The Galeotti said the DOJ is prioritizing tips and whistleblower reports for fraud in government programs like Medicare or procurement; violations of sanctions, especially in ways that support terrorist organizations; and trade violations such as tariff and customs fraud. Related Stories 5/13/2025 5/8/2025 White collar crimes have been tied to the material support of foreign hostile nations and terrorist organizations, Galeotti said, especially in money laundering. In a 'Illicit financial and logistical networks undermine our national security by facilitating sanctions evasion by hostile nation-states and terror regimes,' Galeotti said in his May 12 speech. In Treasury Department sanctions targeting Iranian regime-backed terrorist groups and the Chinese military, for example, the networks often span the globe. On May 13, the Treasury Department A March 20 A February
