December 2025 Criminal Investigation press releases

Dec. 31, 2025

• Apopka woman indicted for conspiracy to commit wire fraud by defrauding elderly victim by phone and email

Dec. 30, 2025

• Two Hilo-area men arrested for years-long operation to transport and distribute illegal fireworks on Big Island

Dec. 22, 2025

• IRS-CI reveals top 10 cases of 2025
• IRS seeks public comment on Voluntary Disclosure Practice proposal
• Oahu woman pleads guilty to filing false tax returns and wire fraud
• Pensacola woman sentenced to federal prison for preparing false tax returns and identity theft
• Former Newark city council member sentenced to 18 months for bribery, kickback, and tax fraud scheme; co-conspirator sentenced to 25 months
• Two Absecon men admit to conspiring to defraud the IRS
• Seven farmers and a tobacco warehouse manager sentenced for crop insurance fraud scheme
• Boston man pleads guilty to loan and check fraud

Dec. 19, 2025

• Vancouver, Washington, tax preparer sentenced to 18-months in prison
• Second of pair of men operating massive stolen goods trafficking scheme pleads guilty
• Federal jury in Chicago convicts man of laundering money for Mexico-based drug trafficking organization
• Kansas businessman & employee indicted for PPP fraud
• Dominican national pleads guilty to money laundering and identity theft charges
• Fall River man convicted of drug distribution resulting in death of a minor and the sale of drugs and machineguns on Telegram app
• Jacksonville man sentenced to more than 14 years in prison for role in drive-by shooting on I-95
• Former Eastside real estate broker convicted of real estate investment fraud scheme that stole more than $2 million from Washington victims
• Ohio resident sentenced to 15 years in prison for drug trafficking and unlawfully possessing a firearm
• East Lyme business owner sentenced for tax offense
• Married owners of downtown L.A. precious metals businesses plead guilty to hiding from IRS millions of dollars in cash transactions
• Former New York doctor sentenced for receiving kickbacks
• Former state senator pleads guilty to obstruction of justice
• Lakeland tax preparer sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison

Dec. 18, 2025

• Oregon woman sentenced to federal prison for bank fraud and tax evasion
• Leader and co-defendant in multi-million-dollar money laundering conspiracy plead guilty
• Romanian nationals unlawfully residing in the United States indicted for conspiring to steal SNAP benefits
• Six additional defendants charged, one defendant pleads guilty in ongoing fraud schemes
• Tech company executive sentenced to prison for multimillion-dollar embezzlement scheme and tax evasion
• Greenwich investment advisor pleads guilty to tax evasion
• H Block gang member pleads guilty to drug conspiracy
• Two pharmacists sentenced to years in prison for illegal distribution of oxycodone
• Chief executive officer of tax preparation firm charged with federal tax offenses
• Antiques and art dealer charged with money laundering and theft offenses
• Customs broker sentenced to over 4 years in federal prison for defrauding clients out of millions of dollars and cheating on taxes
• Father and son tax preparers indicted on 24 counts in defrauding the IRS
• Co-founder of Paycheck Protection Program lender service provider sentenced for $65m COVID-19 relief fraud scheme

Dec. 17, 2025

• Franklin CPA sentenced to nine years in prison for stealing clients’ funds and tax fraud
• Members of a local drug trafficking organization sentenced in federal court
• Former Lafayette assistant district attorney sentenced to seven years in federal prison for bribery scheme
• Illinois man sentenced to 360 months in prison
• Roofing contractor sentenced to 15 months in prison for tax evasion scheme
• Texas woman sentenced for quarter million-dollar COVID fraud
• Three Honduran nationals sentenced to prison for their roles in a bank fraud conspiracy
• Digital health company and medical practice indicted in $100m Adderall distribution scheme

Dec. 16, 2025

• Woman sentenced to 7 years in federal prison for trafficking cocaine
• Irish national pleads guilty to multi-state home repair fraud scheme
• Brooklyn church pastor pleads guilty to tax evasion
• Life sentence for Highs RICO defendant who murdered innocent bystander
• Sledge, Mississippi man sentenced to 37 months imprisonment for COVID-19 fraud scheme
• Springfield business owner indicted for COVID fraud and money laundering
• Colorado man sentenced to 12.5 years in prison for promoting an abusive tax shelter and operating a multi-million-dollar investment fraud scheme
• Coordinated federal-local law enforcement efforts lead surge in arrests, drug seizures, and federal drug trafficking charges in San Francisco
• Union City “ghost preparer” sentenced to prison for fraudulently seeking over $4 million in COVID-19 employment tax credits
• Minnesota man sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for drug trafficking conspiracy

Dec. 15, 2025

• American Distillation pleads guilty after releasing pollution into the Cape Fear River
• Washington Township man sentenced to 49 months’ imprisonment for tax fraud scheme and theft from elderly victim
• Old Saybrook man convicted in 2018 of tax fraud offenses sentenced to additional prison time for violating supervised release
• Woodbridge man sentenced to 32 months in federal prison for $2.3 million pandemic relief program scheme
• Former commander and adjutant of nonprofit veteran’s organization indicted for wire fraud and tax fraud

Dec. 12, 2025

• IRS-CI issues Fiscal Year 2025 Annual Report showcasing banner investigative results
• Southbridge man pleads guilty to role in cocaine conspiracy and possession of a machinegun
• Dominican national sentenced for dealing fentanyl
• Illinois woman pleads guilty to COVID-19 fraud
• Miami man indicted on federal wire-fraud conspiracy charges
• Four family members convicted of multimillion-dollar tax refund fraud scheme
• Florida man convicted of leading $300 million money laundering operation for transnational criminal organizations
• Former New York doctor sentenced for receiving kickbacks
• New York developer charged with defrauding pandemic relief loan programs of more than $8 million
• Springfield man pleads guilty to mail fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering

Dec. 11, 2025

• Architect of massive $420 million bank fraud scheme sentenced to 3 years in prison
• Boston man indicted for attempted sex trafficking of a minor and other sex trafficking crimes
• Executive director of Black Lives Matter OKC charged with wire fraud and money laundering
• Brockton woman charged with theft of government funds in connection with stolen $931,000 tax refund check
• Hollywood director and writer convicted of $11 million fraud on subscription streaming service
• CEO of telecommunications construction company charged with commercial bribery, fraud, and witness tampering offenses
• One way ticket to prison: Suitcases stuffed with 45 pounds of meth lead to 10-year federal sentence

Dec. 10, 2025

• Thirteen defendants from across the U.S. indicted in cocaine trafficking ring
• New York man pleads guilty to mortgage fraud and maintaining an illegal marijuana grow house
• Ringleader of fentanyl trafficking conspiracy sentenced to prison
• Historic Homeland Security Task Force New York targets foreign terrorists, cartel members, and criminal organizations with ties to Big Apple
• Eight individuals charged with cocaine and fentanyl trafficking
• D.C. campaign finance consultant sentenced to prison in $1.5 million fraud of COVID-era loan program
• Clark County employee indicted for stealing money from the estates of deceased county residents
• Mexican national sentenced to life imprisonment in the hostage taking and murdering U.S. citizen in Tijuana
• Federal jury convicts former suburban Chicago police chief of bribery and obstruction of justice
• South Dakota and Arizona men collectively sentenced to decades in federal prison for conspiracies to distribute fentanyl pills and to launder drug proceeds
• Virtual asset trading platform pleads guilty to violating the travel act and other federal criminal charges
• Canton man sentenced to more than 3 years in federal prison for wire fraud and money laundering
• Founder and chief executive officer of investment company charged in multi-million dollar fraud schemes

Dec. 9, 2025

• Springfield business owner pleads guilty to unlawfully possessing firearms and filing false tax return
• Former Compton politician pleads guilty to bribing corrupt Baldwin Park official for marijuana permits and to cheating on taxes
• Southern California man pleads guilty to fentanyl and methamphetamine distribution conspiracy
• Montgomery County man sentenced to federal prison for defrauding elderly victims of hundreds of thousands of dollars
• Executive Director of in-home care business sentenced to prison for failing to pay quarterly employment taxes

Dec. 8, 2025

• Fresno man sentenced to 7.5 years in prison for $30-plus million fraud scheme
• Wife of Sinaloa cartel kingpin sentenced to 14 years in prison
• Two Mexican nationals indicted in real estate fraud and money laundering scheme
• Guilty plea and superseding indictment announced in social engineering scheme that stole $263 million in cryptocurrency

Dec. 5, 2025

• Florida man sentenced to 2 years in prison for tax evasion and bankruptcy fraud
• Father and son leaders of transnational criminal organization sentenced to prison for violations of kingpin statute and money laundering
• Florida, Virginia residents indicted in $26 million wire fraud and money laundering scheme
• Former senior DEA official indicted for conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization
• 15 alleged members of drug trafficking organization indicted

Dec. 4, 2025

• U.S. Attorney's Office hosts annual meeting of the Western District's Health Care Fraud Working Group
• Five members of Hobbs based drug trafficking organization arrested on federal drug trafficking charges
• Former president of failed Oklahoma bank indicted for bank fraud
• California lobbyist and former chief of staff to an elected official plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud
• Ringleaders of national COVID-19 fraud scheme sentenced to 204 months in federal prison

Dec. 3, 2025

• Kansas City man pleads guilty to COVID fraud
• Kansas City woman pleads guilty to preparing and filing false income tax returns
• Trucking company operator sentenced to prison for tax evasion
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Dec. 2, 2025

• Dallas business owner sentenced to more than eight years in prison for failing to pay over withheld employment taxes
• Joaquin Guzman Lopez—Son of “El Chapo” and a head of Sinaloa cartel—pleads guilty to federal drug charges in Chicago
• Defendants sentenced to prison for pandemic loan fraud scheme

Dec. 1, 2025

• Minneapolis non-profit director charged with fraud
• Former executive from Marlborough charged with conspiracy to defraud the IRS and obstruction of justice
• Broome County man sentenced to 19 years for drug trafficking, firearm offenses, and money laundering
• Wakefield woman convicted of money laundering conspiracy