Cleveland Man Indicted Related to Mortgage and Student Aid Fraud

An eight-count indictment was filed against Paul R. Tomko, a former paid cooperator for a federal law enforcement agency, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

Tomko, age 39, of Cleveland, Ohio, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of wire fraud in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme, one count of student aid fraud and four counts of making false statements to the Probation Department for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

Tomko pleaded guilty in 2009 to charges related to a mortgage fraud scheme and was sentenced to three years’ probation in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, in Case No.1:09CR29, according to the indictment.

The indictment charges that thereafter, Tomko made false statements to the Probation Department during the course of the preparation of his Pre-Sentence Report (PSR), a report containing personal, financial, and other information designed to assist the court in sentencing. He also made false statements to the Probation Department after he was sentenced.

In 2007, Tomko had signed a paid cooperation agreement with a federal law enforcement agency wherein Tomko was to take full responsibility and make full disclosure of his own mortgage fraud-related violations and assist that agency in other mortgage fraud investigations. The indictment charges that Tomko was paid approximately $19,500 in 2007 and $7,500 in 2008 by that agency under their agreement. Tomko concealed this income from the Probation Department and also falsely stated that the law enforcement agency had approved Tomko operating a mortgage business (The Mortgage House) from his residence.

In the conspiracy and wire fraud charges, it is alleged that Tomko, through his company, OKMOT (“Tomko” backwards) Real Estate Company, recruited his housekeeper to apply for fraudulent mortgage loans for four properties between 2006 through 2007. Tomko falsely inflated the income and assets of his housekeeper in order for her to qualify for these loans, according to the indictment.

Once the loans closed, Tomko fraudulently received approximately $100,000 of the proceeds by filing mechanics liens for work not performed and directing funds to himself and/or companies he owned and controlled, as well as to others not charged in this conspiracy.

The indictment further alleges that Tomko concealed income he received as a cooperator from a federal law enforcement agency, in order to fraudulently obtain student aid and grants from the United States Department of Education.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian H. Stickan, following investigation by agents of the FBI, Cleveland Office and The Office of the Inspector General for the United States Department of Education.

American Samoa Department of Education Official Sentenced to 35 Months in Prison for Witness Tampering and Obstruction of Justice

WASHINGTON – Paul Solofa, the former chief financial officer for the Department of Education for the government of the U.S. Territory of American Samoa was sentenced today to 35 months in prison following his conviction earlier this year for his efforts to obstruct a federal grand jury and law enforcement investigation into a bribery scheme, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

 The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton in the District of Columbia.  After a four-day trial in January 2012, a federal jury in the District of Columbia found Solofa, 50, guilty of one count of witness tampering and one count of obstruction of justice.

 According to evidence presented at trial, in approximately early 2008, federal authorities began conducting an investigation into allegations of cash bribes and kickbacks paid by vendors to officials of the American Samoa Government in connection with the government’s purchase of school bus parts and services.

 According to the trial evidence, Solofa met on April 3, 2009, with a school bus parts vendor who told Solofa that the FBI was interested in interviewing the vendor regarding the bus parts investigation.  Solofa, in a recorded meeting, allegedly told the vendor that, “They cannot do anything with cash.  Nothing.  They cannot do anything with cash.  They cannot track down you on cash.  Because even if you say you gave me cash I'll tell them ‘no.’  They cannot take your word on cash.  Because that’s hearsay.  So you know, but the best thing for you to do is ‘nope, I never give them any cash, I never’ – because that will open up the whole operation . . . You get what I am saying.  All you do is just tell them ‘no, yes, no, yes,’ period.”

 In addition, according to the evidence presented at trial, Solofa met on April 14, 2009, with the same bus parts vendor, who told Solofa that a grand jury subpoena requiring production of specific documents and records, some of which related to Solofa and to the bus parts kickback scheme, would be issued shortly.  After discussing how to respond, Solofa told the vendor that, as for documents he did not want to produce, “[t]he only way to do it with those copies is burn it.  That way, they won’t see it, and you won’t worry that they might see it, you know. . . .  Just burn it, and nobody has a copy.”

 The head of the School Bus Division for the American Samoa Department of Education, Gustav Nauer, 47, was also convicted for his role in the bribery scheme.  On June 4, 2012, Nauer was sentenced to 25 months in prison.

 This case was prosecuted by Principal Deputy Chief Raymond N. Hulser and Trial Attorney Tim Kelly of the Public Integrity Section in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.  The case was investigated by the FBI; the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Education; and the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Former Assistant Superintendent of Polk County School Board Sentenced for Bribery Conspiracy

TAMPA—U.S. Attorney Robert E. O’Neill announces that U.S. District Judge Richard A. Lazzara today sentenced Robert L. Williams (68, Winter Haven) to two years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit bribery. He pled guilty to the conspiracy charge in March 2011.

According to court documents, from December 2004 through at least January 2009, the School Board of Polk County administered the activities of the school district, including the construction of schools, through a school superintendent and a number of assistant superintendents. Williams was the assistant superintendent of facilities and operations. He was an influential official in the procedure for awarding school construction contracts, and he was in a position to influence and to make recommendations in that process.

According to the plea agreement, Williams exercised his authority as an agent of the Polk County School Board to benefit alleged conspirators. During the conspiracy, alleged conspirators provided Williams with numerous things of value, including vacation trips, fishing and sporting excursions, airline travel, and construction and remodeling work at Williams’ residence.

This case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Department of Education-Office of Inspector General. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert Monk and Antitrust Trial Attorney Bill Dillon.

An Inclusive Education for All Students

The following post appears courtesy of the Civil Rights Division

Last week, a federal court in Mississippi issued an order requiring the public school district in Cleveland, Miss., to end the racial segregation of students in its schools, and to eliminate racial disparities in the composition of faculty at schools across the District.

In May 2011, the Department of Justice asked the Court to find that the District had violated its desegregation obligations, noting that while the District had been governed by desegregation orders for more than 42 years, predominantly black schools located to the east of the railroad tracks that run through the District had never been desegregated.  The United States further asserted that the ratio of black and white faculty at numerous District schools reinforced the reputation of those schools in the community as “white” or “black” schools.

The court agreed with the Department of Justice that Eastside High School – one of only two high schools in the District – was formerly a segregated black school by law, and “has never been anything other than a racially identifiable African American school” since.  The court similarly determined that there was “no data” to indicate that D.M. Smith Middle School, one of the District’s two middle schools and also located on the east side of the railroad tracks, “was ever meaningfully desegregated.”  The court observed in its decision that these two predominantly black schools are only 1.2 miles away from a high school and middle school with a substantial population of white students located to the west of the railroad tracks.

With respect to the racial composition of faculty and staff, the court noted that school districts are prohibited from assigning to any individual school a ratio of black to white faculty and administrators that is so imbalanced as to support a perception that the school is a “black” or “white” school.  In this case, the court found that the ratio of black and white faculty at every school in the District deviated from the district-wide faculty ratio. 

Accordingly, the court ordered the district to submit a proposed plan to desegregate Eastside High School and D.M. Smith Middle School, and to integrate the faculty at each of its schools, by May 15, 2012.  The United States will then have 30 days to review the plan and confer with the District to resolve any objections to the plan.  If no resolution is reached, the United States can file written objections to the District’s plan within 20 days.  

The violations identified by the court in this case are not unique to the Cleveland, Miss.,schools.  The Civil Rights Division continues to enforce desegregation orders in 200 school districts, many of which raise issues similar to those found in this case.  For example, the Division entered into a consent decree with the Valdosta, Georgia schools last month addressing that school district’s failure to desegregate the faculty at one of its schools.  In January, the federal district court for the Southern District of Mississippi approved another consent order between the United States and the Wayne County school district addressing concerns about classroom segregation and impermissible transfers by white students from majority-black to majority-white schools.

In all of these cases, and in the many others like them, the Division has taken seriously its obligation to ensure that the last remnants of school segregation are eliminated “root and branch” from all of our public schools.  Enforcement of the court orders mandating the desegregation of school districts formerly segregated by law is a top priority of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

We will not waver in our commitment to ensure that each and every school district eliminates the vestiges of separate black and white schools.  We look forward to working collaboratively with the Cleveland School District and members of the community to implement the court’s order in a manner that fosters the continued growth and success of all students in the district.

Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available at Justice.gov/crt/.

Departments of Justice and Education Resolve Harassment Allegations in Anoka-Hennepin School District in Minnesota

WASHINGTON – The Departments of Justice and Education, together with six private student plaintiffs and the Anoka-Hennepin School District, filed a proposed consent decree today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, resolving complaints of sex-based harassment of middle and high school students in the school district.  Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 each prohibits sex-based harassment, including harassment based on nonconformity with gender stereotypes and sexual harassment.

In November 2010, the Department of Justice received a complaint alleging that students in the school district were being harassed by other students because they didn’t dress or act in ways that conform to gender stereotypes.  The Departments of Justice and Education conducted an extensive investigation into sex-based harassment in the district’s middle and high schools.   Many students reported that the unsafe and unwelcoming school climate inhibited their ability to learn.    The parties worked collaboratively to draft a consent decree addressing and resolving the allegations in the complaints.     

If approved by the court, the consent decree will ensure that the school district:

•Retains an expert consultant in the area of sex-based harassment to review the district’s policies and procedures concerning harassment;

•Develops and implements a comprehensive plan for preventing and addressing student-on-student sex-based harassment at the middle and high schools;

•Enhances and improves its training of faculty, staff and students on sex-based harassment;

•Hires or appoints a Title IX coordinator to ensure proper implementation of the district’s sex-based harassment policies and procedures and district compliance with Title IX;

•Retains an expert consultant in the area of mental health to address the needs of students who are victims of harassment;

•Provides for other opportunities for student involvement and input into the district’s ongoing anti-harassment efforts;

•Improves its system for maintaining records of investigations and responding to allegations of harassment;

•Conducts ongoing monitoring and evaluations of its anti-harassment efforts; and

•Submits annual compliance reports to the departments.    

The consent decree will remain in place for five years.

“Harassment by or against students in schools is unacceptable, and not a ‘rite of passage’ to be endured by anyone.   Parents are entitled to know that their children will be safe in school every day,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.  “We commend the Anoka-Hennepin School District for its willingness to tackle sex-based harassment and for working collaboratively with the federal government to address concerns across the district.  We hope the district will become a model for schools nationwide by providing a safe and nurturing learning environment for all students free from bullying and harassment.”

B. Todd Jones, U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, said, “Nearly 40,000 students in the Anoka-Hennepin School District will benefit from this consent decree.   Schools must be safe places for all students. Bullying of any kind cannot be tolerated. To that end, the Anoka-Hennepin School District took great strides today.”

As Russlynn Ali, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the Department of Education recognized, “If students aren’t safe, then students aren’t learning.   Bullying, sexual harassment and gender stereotyping of any student, including LGBT students, have no place in our nation’s schools.   We must work to stop those abusive behaviors when they take place, repair their harmful effects and prevent them from happening in the future.   The Department of Education is committed to working with Anoka-Hennepin School District to ensure that the environment in District schools is safe and welcoming for all students and that the measures now being taken by the District are effective in preventing and addressing any future harassment.”

The enforcement of Title IV and Title IX are top priorities of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Offices.   Additional information about the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt.  Additional information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota is available on its website at www.justice.gov/usao/mn .  

The enforcement of Title IX is a also top priority of the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.   Additional information about the Office for Civil Rights is available on its website at www2.ed.gov/ocr.