NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE (BNO NEWS) – A Nashville, Tennessee tax return preparer was charged with 16 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false income tax returns, prosecutors said on Monday.

Elmer Virula was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Hawaiian Gardens, California and was released pending his arraignment in Nashville.

For the tax years of 2003 through 2006, Virula allegedly prepared fraudulent tax income returns to be filed by others in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).The returns contained numerous false deductions and tax credits including fraudulently claimed fuel tax, education, and telephone tax credits.

If convicted, Virula faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a fine of $250,000 on each of the 16 counts.

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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE (BNO NEWS) – Five individuals, four males and one female, were arrested on Thursday for their role in a marijuana distribution ring, prosecutors said.

The defendants are Ivan Gomez, 30, of Chicago, Illinois; Kenneth Ogg, 31, and Mark Gaskins, 35, of White Bluff, Tennessee; Jamie French, 31, and Brenda Maldonado, 30, of Burns, Tennessee. The five defendants were charged with allegedly conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute and to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana.

On April 12, police officers of Dickson County seized 1,528 pounds of marijuana from a tractor trailer. In addition to the seizure of marijuana, officers also seized a total of five firearms, including three handguns.

Each defendant faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and a fine of up to $2 million.

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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE (BNO NEWS) – A Franklin, Tennessee financial advisor pleaded guilty to four charges of wire fraud, U.S. District Attorney Edward Yarbrough announced on Tuesday.

Barron A. Mathis, 29, was the Vice President and portfolio manager for J.C. Reed & Company, a failed financial services company based in Franklin. Mathis was involved in a scheme to defraud investors who deposited funds in excess of $11 million between January 2006 and October 2008.

Mathis solicited and obtained money from clients, friends and acquaintances by falsely promising to invest and manage their money in investments with fixed annual returns or in established marketable securities.

The defendant also encouraged the investors to purchase J.C. Reed stock, claiming that it was a safe investment due to J.C. Reed being profitable and money producer. However, Mathis knew that his company wasn’t profitable and that no market existed for its stock.

“Mathis encouraged people to invest by falsely promising security, growth and inflated returns on their money, but instead the investors lost their savings as part of an elaborate fraud scheme,” District Attorney Yarbrough said.

Between June 2007 and October 2008, Mathis, without the knowledge or authorization of the J.C. Reed clients, he used his authority as “portfolio manager” to purchase stock of J.C. Reed using the investors’ funds.

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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE (BNO NEWS) – A Tennessee man was sentenced to 183 months (over 15 years) in prison for vandalizing and burning down the Islamic Center of Columbia, Tennessee, U.S. District Attorney Edward Yarbrough announced on Thursday.

Eric Ian Baker, 34, pleaded guilty to destruction of religious property and using fire to commit a felony. Baker had previously admitted that he and two other men assembled Molotov cocktail explosive devices, ignited and used them to destroy the mosque on February 9, 2008.

Besides burning down the Islamic Center, Baker painted swastikas and the phrase “White Power” during the course of the arson. He justified the arson by saying that they acted because of the religious character of the mosque.

Michael Corey Golden, one of Baker’s co-defendants, was sentenced to 171 months in prison for his participation in the arson. The other defendant, Jonathan Edward Stone hasn’t been sentenced yet.

“This type of crime strikes at the heart of our civil rights and religious freedoms in America. I am very pleased that through local, state and federal cooperation, all defendants responsible for this vile attack have been brought to justice,” District Attorney Yarbrough said.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — A North Carolina-based soldier from Tennessee was killed in a bomb blast in southern Afghanistan on Monday, the U.S. Department of Defense said on Wednesday.

Sgt. 1st Class Carlos M. Santos-Silva, 32, of Clarksville, Tennessee, died of injuries sustained when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device (IED) in Kandahar province. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

A total of 124 coalition service members have been killed in Afghanistan so far this year, according to a BNO News count based on official data. Santos-Silva was the 77th U.S. service member to have been killed in Afghanistan so far this year.

On Wednesday, three more coalition soldiers were killed in southern Afghanistan. Two died of injuries sustained in an IED attack, while a third died as a result of a small-arms attack. Their nationalities were not immediately released, but at least some of them are believed to be Americans.

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MEMPHIS (BNO NEWS) — A Memphis, Tennessee mom who went missing from a local hotel in late January has been found dead under her bed, police said on Wednesday.

Sony Millbrook was first reported missing on January 27 after she failed to pick-up her children from school. Family members told officers that they checked the Budget Lodge hotel where she was staying and said she was not there.

Millbrook had been staying at room 222 and was last seen by a staff member at 7 a.m. local time on January 27. The employee told officers that the room had been locked out due to the lack of payment but said all of her personal belongings were still inside the apartment. “Officers contacted the Budget Lodge to verify this information via telephone,” a police statement read.

The case was initially assigned to the Missing Persons Bureau for follow-up investigation but, due to the nature of the incident, the case was reassigned to Homicide on February 3.

A day later, on February 4, a homicide investigator went to the Budget Lodge and spoke to two clerks and a security guard. He learned that Millbrook did not make a payment after January 26 and that her belongings were boxed up and that the room was released for rental. He also learned that, on January 27 and January 28, the family had been there and removed items from the room.

Homicide investigators then located Millbrook’s boyfriend, LaKeith Moody, and interrogated him during the course of the investigation and later charged him with a gun violation. He is currently in Mason being held on a federal gun charge, and remains a person of interest in the case.

On Monday, homicide investigators were called to room 222 of Budget Lodge where the body of a female had been located under the bed after a report of bad odor was reported in the room. The body was identified as Sony Millbrook and, according to police, it is apparent that she was the victim of a homicide. The cause of death was not immediately released.

The bed in which the victim was located is a metal box frame in which sets directly on the floor and the box springs and mattress sets inside the metal frame.

Room 222 had been rented approximately five times and cleaned by hotel staff numerous times since Millbrook went missing on January 27.

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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE (BNO NEWS) – A construction company violated the False Claims Act while under contract with the U.S. Army in Tennessee, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Circle C Construction, LLC (Circle C) infringed the Davis-Bacon Act requirements to pay electricians agreed-upon wages in constructing buildings at the Fort Campbell Army base, and was ordered to pay the United States $1,661,423.13 as treble damages.

Circle C contracted with the Army to construct buildings at Fort Campbell, agreeing to pay its electrical workers a base hourly rate of $19.19 plus fringe benefits of $3.94 per hour, but Circle C only paid electricians between $12 and $16 per hour.

In addition, Circle C submitted payroll certifications for its employees and for other subcontractors, except for its electrical subcontractor, Phase Tech, and falsely certified that they were paying the prevailing wages to employees that were required by the contract.

Once the lawsuit was filed, Circle C submitted payroll certifications to the Army for Phase Tech, but did not verify them as they contained inaccuracies.

“The United States Attorney’s Office will vigorously pursue allegations that government contractors have not dealt fairly with the United States and its agencies,” said U.S. Attorney Ed Yarbrough. “Moreover, businesses that contract with the government to pay prevailing wages to employees and contractors on government projects will be held to the letter of their agreement in order to protect local wage standards for the benefit of local workers.”

The case against Phase Tech was settled in June 2009, in which Phase Tech agreed to pay $15,000.00 in damages.

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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE (BNO NEWS) – A Former chief financial officer (CFO) in Tennessee was charged with money laundering, prosecutors said Friday.

Ruey Ann Gordon, 58, of Brentwood, Tennessee, a former CFO of the Technology Division of Goldleaf Financial Solutions, Inc., stole more than $166,000 from Goldleaf from January 2006 to November 2007.

Goldleaf is a financial-processing company that, among other things, offered an Internet-based product that allows clients to use the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network, which is an electronic network used by some banks and businesses to process large volumes of credit and debit transactions faster and cheaper than traditional methods.

As CFO, Gordon had the authority to create and approve ACH transactions to pay dealers that provided services to Goldleaf, but she misused that authority, creating several fraudulent ACH transactions for her own benefit. Gordon directed multiple credits to her own personal bank account, concealing them within the system and creating false entries in Goldleaf’s accounting system.

“High-ranking corporate officials hold positions of trust not only in their companies but also in the eyes of the public,” said U.S. Attorney Edward M. Yarbrough. “That trust is broken when such officials abuse their power and commit crimes. A complex corporate embezzlement, just like any other theft, is a serious crime, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to prosecute those who commit them.”

If convicted, Gordon faces up to 10 years in prison.

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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (BNO NEWS) – Over $15 million was paid by 14 different entities to the U.S. government to resolve civil allegations of fraudulently overbilling the Navy and other federal agencies, the Department of Justice said Friday.

Trelleborg AB, a Swedish manufacturer of marine fenders and marine hose, and 13 other corporations and individuals, have paid the government a total of $15,448,728 to resolve the issue that accused them of bid-rigging and price-fixing on sales of materials used on piers and other marine construction projects.

The lawsuit alleged that Trelleborg AB and four of its subsidiaries conspired to submit rigged bids, fix prices, and allocate market shares on marine fenders and plastic pilings purchased by the Navy and other federal departments and agencies from approximately June 2000 until August 2005.

Frank March, of Sevierville, Tennessee, and two Virginia corporations he formerly held a controlling interest in – SHI, Inc. and SII, Inc. – also allegedly participated in the conspiracy.

As a result, Trelleborg AB, and March paid $14 million and $1 million, respectively.

From approximately 1999 and May 2007, Bridgestone Corporation and Bridgestone Industrial Products America, Inc., the Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., Dunlop Oil & Marine, Ltd. and related companies Continental AG and Phoenix AG participated in the scheme as well.

Subsequently, Bridgestone has paid $178,108, Yokohama has paid $173,410, and Dunlop has paid $97,210.

Douglas Farrow filed his lawsuit on the behalf of the United States, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, commencing a parallel criminal investigation of the marine products industry, which has resulted in criminal convictions of nearly two dozen corporations and individuals. Mr. Farrow will receive between 15 percent and 25 percent of the recovery for it being a qui tam, or whistleblower, lawsuit.

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CORDOVA, TENNESSEE (BNO NEWS) — A U.S. service member who died in southern Afghanistan on Saturday was identified as a sailor from Tennessee on Sunday, officials said.

The Marine Forces Reserve said 25-year-old Petty Officer 2nd Class Xin Qi of Cordova, Tennessee died from injuries sustained in combat action in Afghanistan. It did not provide details on how Qi died.

The NATO-led ISAF alliance earlier said two American service members died of wounds sustained in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in southern Afghanistan on Saturday. Qi is believed to be one of the two.

Qi was a Hospital Corpsman assigned to the Fourth Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Marine Expeditionary Brigade – Afghanistan. His personal awards and decorations include the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.

Qi, who joined the Navy on June 8, 2006, was on his first deployment to Afghanistan. He was the 21st American service member to have died in Afghanistan this year.

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