By Eduardo Bacci, The Investigative Journal. All matters below are drawn from Justice Department press releases published between October 13 and October 19, 2026. Charges described are allegations unless a conviction or settlement is stated; every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
The Justice Department’s most recent announcements span election-integrity prosecutions in California, a multi-year health care fraud sentencing, a counterintelligence-linked case involving a leading artificial intelligence company, a terrorism sentencing, and two civil settlements. Below are the seven matters TIJ considers most notable this cycle, followed by the cases we believe warrant deeper reporting.
1. “Operation Protect the Vote”: 28 lawful permanent residents charged in California
On October 19, the Justice Department announced that all four U.S. Attorney’s Offices in California had filed charges against 28 foreign nationals in a coordinated effort called “Operation Protect the Vote.” According to the DOJ press release, all 28 are lawful permanent residents rather than U.S. citizens, and federal agents arrested 11 of them. The release says 13 were charged in the Central District, six in the Eastern District, five in the Northern District, and four in the Southern District.
The charges vary by district. Prosecutors allege the defendants swore on voter registration applications that they were U.S. citizens, and in many cases voted. The release says several later denied ever claiming citizenship or voting on naturalization paperwork. Charges listed include false statements in a naturalization application, fraudulent voter registration, false claim of citizenship to vote, and voting by an alien in a federal election. The release identifies the naturalization false-statement and fraudulent registration counts as felonies carrying up to five years in prison, and the voting-by-an-alien count as a misdemeanor.
The release also places the case inside a broader dispute. It states the federal government gave California a list of individuals on October 13 so their mail-in ballots could be set aside pending citizenship checks, that the state declined, and that the United States sued to obtain a court order. DOJ cites more than 20,000 likely noncitizen registrants on that list. Those figures are the department’s characterization, and the state’s position is not described in the release. The charging documents are complaints and, in one case, an information; none of the allegations has been tested in court. The practical question to watch is whether the cases proceed on the paperwork contradictions the department describes, and how the parallel litigation over the ballot list resolves.
2. Sixteen more charged with illegal voting across three districts
Three days earlier, on October 16, DOJ announced charges against 16 people in the Eastern District of North Carolina (10), the Northern District of New York (5) and the District of Idaho (1). The release says most defendants are lawful permanent residents from countries including Germany, Jamaica, Haiti, Panama, Canada, the United Kingdom and Bosnia, and that one defendant, a Salvadoran national, is described as being in the country illegally and is accused of registering and voting in the 2024 general election.
Notably, the release alleges that several North Carolina defendants voted across many election cycles, with some alleged voting histories reaching back to 1998 and 2008. Long timelines of that kind will be a factor in any defense arguments about intent, which is a central element in noncitizen-voting prosecutions. As with the California matter, the department states that charging documents contain only accusations.
3. HealthSplash CEO sentenced to 19 years in $1 billion Medicare scheme
In the week’s largest fraud outcome, Brett Blackman, 43, of Johnson County, Kansas, was sentenced to 19 years in prison, according to a DOJ release dated October 15. Blackman, CEO and owner of HealthSplash, was convicted in April 2026 after a 23-day jury trial of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks, and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
The release says HealthSplash acquired Power Mobility Doctor Rx (DMERx) in September 2017, and that the internet-based platform generated doctors’ orders for durable medical equipment. Evidence at trial, per DOJ, showed that purported telemedicine doctors signed orders with little or no meaningful interaction with patients, that telemedicine companies received kickbacks, and that orders were altered to avoid Medicare audits. DOJ states the scheme billed Medicare and other federal programs more than $1 billion, with more than $450 million paid, and that Medicare was billed for orthotic braces for more than 346,000 beneficiaries. Restitution and forfeiture remain to be determined. A co-defendant, Gary Cox, was sentenced in December 2025 to 15 years. The investigation involved HHS-OIG, the FBI, VA-OIG and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. The size of the improper payments underscores why telemedicine-driven durable medical equipment billing remains a recurring enforcement priority.
4. Saudi national, OpenAI engineer charged over hidden recording devices
A complaint unsealed in the Northern District of California charges Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a Saudi national who the Justice Department says had worked as an OpenAI engineer since July 2025, with using or attempting to use a device to intercept oral communications. He was arrested October 9 and made an initial appearance October 13. The charge carries a maximum of five years in prison.
The complaint alleges an audio recording device concealed behind a television in an executive conference room at an OpenAI building in San Francisco, found by company personnel around September 30, and a second device found in an unattended bag on October 5. Prosecutors say CCTV placed Alfozan near the room on multiple dates and that a chatbot account linked to his spouse submitted prompts about building and concealing recording devices. The prosecution includes support from the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, and the release ties the case to a national policy on U.S. leadership in advanced AI. The charge is a recording offense; the release does not allege espionage on behalf of a foreign government, and readers should not infer one. Motive and any recipient of the recordings are open questions the public record does not yet answer.
5. ISIS-inspired inmate receives 50 additional years for prison attack
Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, 28, of Ontario, Canada, was sentenced to 50 years in prison, consecutive to the 40-year term he is already serving, DOJ announced October 19. The release says that on December 7, 2020, while held at U.S. Penitentiary Allenwood, he attacked two corrections officers with a weapon fashioned from a steel desk, blinding one officer in the right eye. Investigators allegedly found a note reading “This is a terrorist attack for the Islamic State.”
He pleaded guilty in November 2025 to assault, assault with intent to commit murder, contraband and material support charges. His earlier sentence stems from a 2016 plot targeting New York City, which an undercover FBI agent infiltrated. The case was prosecuted by the Middle District of Pennsylvania with the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. It is a reminder of the risk to correctional staff from radicalized inmates, and of the long tail on terrorism cases.
6. Somerset Lifesciences to pay $4 million over mislabeled generic eyedrop
In a civil resolution announced October 16, Somerset Lifesciences agreed to pay $4 million. DOJ alleges that after the brand-name eyedrop Pataday became over-the-counter in February 2020, Somerset continued to label and sell its generic olopatadine 0.1% as prescription-only, causing Medicare Part D to pay claims for a drug it no longer covered. The release describes the resolved claims as common law claims and states there has been no determination of liability. The case shows how labeling status can create program-payment exposure for generic manufacturers long after a brand switches classification.
7. Village Capital to pay over $500,000 for violating servicemembers’ rights
VA-loan servicer Village Capital & Investment LLC reached a settlement announced October 19 under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Per DOJ, at least 41 servicemembers’ mortgages were affected. The settlement provides at least $425,000 to affected servicemembers and a $79,380 civil penalty, which the release calls the maximum for a first violation, plus revised policies and training. DOJ alleges the company failed to reduce interest rates to 6% as the statute requires, told some borrowers their rates were already below 6% when they were not, and retaliated against some who requested relief. The release does not state an admission of wrongdoing.
Also noted: export-control smuggling indictment
Though announced October 1, a case worth tracking is the indictment of Greg Lui, 38, owner of Earthmade Computer Inc. in City of Industry, California. DOJ alleges he bought high-end servers containing U.S.-made GPUs, shipped them to Malaysia and Singapore, and reshipped them to China without Commerce Department licenses, and that Earthmade received more than $176 million from two Malaysia-based shipping companies in 2024. An indictment is merely an allegation.
Cases that warrant deeper TIJ investigation
The California ballot-list litigation. The DOJ release describes a list of more than 20,000 likely noncitizen registrants and a lawsuit over ballot handling. The underlying court filings, and the accuracy rate of the list, deserve independent review before conclusions are drawn.
The AI-sector counterintelligence thread. The Alfozan complaint is a narrow recording charge, but National Security Division involvement signals federal attention to insider risk at AI laboratories. TIJ will watch the docket for any superseding charges or detention rulings.
AI chip diversion networks. The Lui indictment, with $176 million in alleged payments, raises questions about transshipment hubs and about how many other firms moved controlled hardware through Southeast Asia.
Telemedicine-driven DME billing. With HealthSplash restitution still pending, TIJ will track the final figure and whether additional defendants or telemedicine partners are charged.
Right of reply: TIJ welcomes responses from any person or entity named. Contact the newsroom to submit a statement; relevant responses will be added. This digest summarizes public DOJ releases; links to each primary source appear in the sections above.
Sources: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs press releases (justice.gov/opa), October 1–19, 2026, linked inline.