News Releases and Statements

Special agents with U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on Friday returned 1,500 dollars to to a 69-year-old Wabash, Ind., woman who was the victim of telemarketing con artists operating from Canada.

The final passenger aboard a Mexico-bound bus pleaded guilty on Friday to failing to declare the 3 million dollars in U.S. currency that was discovered in on-board air mattresses. On Sept. 26, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and ICE HSI agents stopped a southbound commercial passenger bus at the Hidalgo Port of Entry, Texas...

Two key figures in a large-scale narcotics smuggling and money laundering scheme have been sentenced to federal prison, following a long-term investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Special agents with U. S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on Monday returned 14,600 dollars to an elderly victim of telemarketing con artists operating from Canada. The money was returned Feb. 28 to an 89-year-old Chicago woman following a multi-agency investigation under a joint U.S.-Canada initiative called Project COLT.

Following a joint investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI, Moussa Ali Hamdan, a former resident of Brooklyn, N.Y., has been charged with conspiring to provide material support to Hizballah. The 38-year-old is a dual citizen of the United States and Lebanon.

A 61-year-old certified public accountant from Miami Lakes, Fla. was sentenced to federal prison following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Miami, U.S. Secret Service, and the City of Miami Police Department.

"A citizen of China, who last resided in Queens, N.Y., pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of access-device fraud stemming from a credit card ""bust out"" scheme. The scheme defrauded financial institutions of more than 200,000K in a case investigated by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with the cooperation of federal, state and..."

Opas Sinprasong, 52, a Thai national, was ordered to pay a $4,000 fine, and $754,975 in restitution ($509,618 to his Thai employees and $245,357 to the IRS), as well as the forfeiture of $766,000 and two residential properties in Boulder.

Special agents with U. S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) returned 58,300K to an elderly victim of telemarketing con artists operating from Canada under a joint U.S.-Canada initiative called Project COLT.

Nine South Florida residents were arrested on federal criminal charges in a $12 million bank fraud scheme, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Secret Service, and the City of Miami Police Department.

Mohamad Youssef Hammoud, 37, was resentenced Thursday to 30 years in prison on charges related to his activities of providing material support to the foreign terrorist organization, Hezbollah, from about 1995 to July 2000 in Charlotte.

Ismael B. Rodriguez, 45, the owner of Cazadores Mexican Restaurants in Pensacola, was sentenced Tuesday to 5 years in federal prison for mail fraud and conspiracy, following a joint investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Florida Department of Financial Services - Fraud Division.

A Kansas man was convicted by a federal trial jury Jan. 24 on charges related to passing more than 100,000K worth of counterfeit casino chips at the Argosy Riverside Casino in a case investigated jointly by the Missouri State Highway Patrol Gaming Division working with U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

A Tennessee resident received more than 8,400 dollars from special agents with ICE's HSI on Wednesday, following a joint investigation against fraudulent telemarketers.

Richard Pope is accused of taking part in a 130M dollar international fraud and money laundering scheme

Richard Garcia, a former loan officer at Wachovia Bank, was sentenced to three years in prison, followed by 30 months of home confinement for his participation in a 12 million dollar bank fraud conspiracy, following an investigation led by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations.