The Justice Department’s enforcement machinery produced a dense two-day run of announcements this week, spanning transnational cybercrime, health care and customs fraud, an abusive tax shelter, and the killing of a federal officer in Louisiana. This edition of DOJ Watch reviews seven notable enforcement actions unsealed or announced on July 14 and July 15, 2026, drawing on the Department’s own press releases and the court filings they reference. Where cases remain pending, the charges described below are allegations only, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Three Russian nationals and two hosting firms indicted in $62M cybercrime case
An indictment unsealed July 14 in the Northern District of Ohio charges three Russian nationals — Alexander Alexandrovich Volosovik, 43; Kirill Andreevich Zatolokin, 34; and Yulia Vladimirovna Pankova, 29, all of St. Petersburg — along with two related companies, Medialand LLC and ML.Cloud LLC, in connection with what the Department describes as “bulletproof hosting” services that powered cyberattacks on U.S. victims. According to the DOJ announcement, the indictment — returned in December 2024 — charges the defendants with conspiracy to commit and aid and abet computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Prosecutors allege that Medialand and ML.Cloud knowingly leased servers and internet infrastructure to cybercriminals, marketing features designed to help clients infect victims with malware and ransomware and then evade law enforcement. Court documents cited by the Department state that 42 victims across 21 states were targeted by criminal groups using the companies’ services, including banks, schools, hospitals, government entities, and media companies, with losses exceeding $62 million. “From their overseas haven, these defendants ran the criminal infrastructure that powered attacks on critical institutions across our nation,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Criminal Division said in the release.
The unsealing was paired with a State Department Rewards for Justice offer of up to $10 million for information on the defendants and their networks, and follows Treasury sanctions announced in November 2025 that were joined by the United Kingdom and, in part, Australia. The Department characterized the case as part of Operation Riptide, an FBI campaign targeting cybercrime infrastructure. An indictment is an allegation only; the defendants, believed to be abroad, are presumed innocent.
Labcorp to pay $14.5M over allegedly unnecessary Medicare drug tests
Laboratory Corporation of America (Labcorp) agreed to pay $14.5 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by billing Medicare Part B for medically unnecessary urine drug testing, the Department announced July 15. The government alleged the tests were conducted under a Labcorp panel marketed as “ToxAssure Comprehensive,” which combined presumptive and definitive testing methods.
According to the settlement, from January 1, 2018, through November 22, 2023, Labcorp routinely billed Medicare using both an all-inclusive presumptive code (CPT 80307) and the highest-tier definitive code (HCPCS G0483) for the same patient, on the same date, using the same urine sample. The Department stated that for several substances, Labcorp performed definitive tests “direct-to-definitive” — without first running a presumptive test that might have shown the further testing to be unnecessary. Notably, the filings indicate Labcorp admitted and accepted responsibility for those facts, represented that it has ceased the billing practice at issue, and received cooperation credit under Justice Department guidelines.
“The government expects that any testing it pays for is medically necessary and not wasteful,” Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Civil Division said in the release. U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley for the District of Massachusetts framed the resolution as part of a continuing health care fraud enforcement effort. The Department noted that the claims resolved are allegations only and that there has been no determination of liability.
Redi-Bag USA and its CEO settle customs-evasion claims for $7.3M
New York Packaging II LLC, doing business as Redi-Bag USA, and its chief executive, Jeffrey Rabiea, agreed to pay a total of $7.3 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations that they evaded antidumping duties on plastic retail bags, the Department announced July 15. The government alleged the company misrepresented the country of origin of polyethylene retail carrier bags on customs entry forms, declaring them as products of Hong Kong when they were manufactured in China and transshipped through Hong Kong.
Chinese-origin bags of this type were subject to antidumping duties of up to 77.57 percent under a Commerce Department order, according to the release. Prosecutors alleged the company and Rabiea concealed the bags’ true origin — including by directing employees to cover up “Made in China” markings and canceling orders slated for customs inspection. The matter arose from a whistleblower suit filed under the False Claims Act’s qui tam provisions by John Maierhoffer, a former contracted sales representative, who will receive roughly $1.33 million of the recovery.
The Department tied the settlement to its cross-agency Trade Fraud Task Force, launched in 2025 with the Department of Homeland Security. As with all civil settlements, the Department stated the claims are allegations only and that there has been no determination of liability. Redi-Bag’s resolution was reached with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Texas man indicted over abusive trust shelter — and retaliatory liens against officials
An indictment unsealed July 13 in the Eastern District of Texas charges Roger Napoleon Grant of Plano, Texas, with tax crimes tied to the promotion and sale of an abusive trust tax shelter, and — unusually — with filing false retaliatory liens against federal officials, according to the DOJ announcement. The indictment alleges Grant marketed a multi-tiered structure of sham trusts and a purported charitable foundation, telling clients that income assigned to the trusts would be tax-free, and charging between $12,500 and $50,000 per client.
The filing alleges that although Grant reported about $80,521 in total income between 2017 and 2022, he received millions of dollars into an account held in the name of a purported business trust that he controlled and used for personal expenses. After learning of the criminal investigation in April 2025, the indictment alleges, Grant retaliated by filing false liens against government officials, including the Attorney General of the United States, the Acting IRS Commissioner, and an Acting U.S. Attorney. He is charged with five counts of tax evasion, 10 counts of aiding and assisting the filing of false returns, and 10 counts of filing false retaliatory liens.
The case was announced by the Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and is being investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation. An indictment is merely an allegation, and Grant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Las Vegas tax preparer sentenced in $7M COVID-credit scheme
Adonia Stiles of Las Vegas was sentenced July 15 to 18 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States through false COVID-19 employment tax credits, the Department announced. Prosecutors had recommended 40 months. According to court documents, Stiles — a real estate agent, tax preparer, and clothing store owner — worked with co-conspirator Candies Goode-McCoy to file false returns claiming the employee retention credit and the sick and family leave credit, pandemic-era programs meant to support struggling businesses.
The Department stated that Goode-McCoy filed more than 150 false employment tax returns on behalf of Stiles and 18 people Stiles referred, claiming roughly $15 million in fraudulent credits and causing the government to pay out more than $7 million. Stiles received at least $135,000 in referral fees that she did not report as income, according to the filings. U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey ordered two years of supervised release and more than $7 million in restitution. Goode-McCoy was separately sentenced to 54 months in April 2026.
Louisiana man charged in killing of Deputy U.S. Marshal
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana charged Clarence A. Frazier Jr., 48, of Alexandria, by criminal complaint with the murder of Deputy U.S. Marshal Drew Hanson, the Department announced July 14. According to court documents summarized in the release, marshals and Rapides Parish sheriff’s deputies were attempting to arrest Frazier on July 13 after he failed to appear for trial on a state sexual-battery charge when, prosecutors allege, he barricaded himself and fired on officers, fatally wounding Hanson before a standoff ended in his capture.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, U.S. Marshals Service Director Gadyaces Serralta, and FBI Director Kash Patel issued statements mourning the deputy marshal, who the Department said was a husband and father killed in the line of duty. If convicted, Frazier faces a maximum sentence of life in prison or death. U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Keller emphasized that “a criminal complaint is only an allegation”; Frazier is presumed innocent, and the investigation, led by the FBI, remains ongoing.
New Jersey pharmacy owner and technician sentenced in $620K fraud
Kirtan S. Patel, 34, of Allentown, New Jersey, who owned a Jersey City pharmacy, was sentenced July 14 to 30 months in prison, and pharmacy technician Christopher Lugo, 36, of Jersey City, was sentenced to 24 months, for their roles in a health care fraud scheme, the Department announced. According to court documents, Patel submitted falsified records during a 2020 insurance audit, including documents that falsely represented that providers had authorized certain prescriptions and that customers had picked them up.
The Department stated that Patel, in text messages, described billing his own insurance for “free money” and boasted of keeping doctors “as corrupt as possible” with cash and outings. Patel was ordered to pay more than $620,000 in restitution and an equal amount in forfeiture; Lugo, who submitted a fraudulent claim to his own insurer, was ordered to pay more than $565,000. Both pleaded guilty in April 2025. The case was prosecuted through the Criminal Division’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force.
Cases warranting deeper TIJ investigation
Several threads in this week’s docket merit closer scrutiny. First, the volume of actions routed through the newly created National Fraud Enforcement Division — announced April 7, 2026, and referenced in at least four of this week’s releases — suggests a reorganization of the Department’s fraud portfolio whose scope and staffing are worth mapping. Second, the Redi-Bag settlement arrives alongside a Department statement that its Trade Fraud Task Force has “surpassed $1 billion in recoveries and charged losses in less than one year,” a figure TIJ intends to verify against underlying case filings. Third, the Grant indictment’s allegation of retaliatory liens filed against senior officials — including the Attorney General — points to a broader pattern of “sovereign citizen”-style obstruction that has recurred in federal tax dockets and deserves systematic review.
Editor’s note on sourcing and right of reply: This digest is based solely on Department of Justice press releases and the court filings they cite, each linked above. For pending matters, the government’s allegations have not been proven, and defendants are entitled to a presumption of innocence; TIJ has not independently obtained comment from the named defendants or their counsel and will update this record if responses are provided. Settlement figures reflect resolutions in which the settling parties, except where an admission is expressly noted, did not concede liability.