Corporate Crime Case Database
Consistent with the Department’s ongoing commitment to transparency in corporate crime cases, the DOJ launched a new case database. While it is still in the process of being populated, it will eventually contain the significant, relevant cases from each component and U.S. Attorney’s Office, resolved since the beginning of 2023.
United States v. AMVAC Chemical Corporation, et al.
On May 24, 2024, AMVAC Chemical Corporation (AMVAC) pleaded guilty to a RCRA transportation violation (42 U.S.C. § 6928(d)(5)). Sentencing is scheduled for October 25, 2024.
AMVAC is a pesticide manufacturer that produced a pesticide called “Thimet” in Alabama and exported it to Canada, Australia, and other countries. Thimet is an organophosphate insecticide used to control crop pests by absorption into the crop plants themselves. In 2013, authorities determined that AMVAC was importing tens of thousands of used containers of Thimet through Savannah, Georgia; Port Huron, Michigan; Boston, Massachusetts; and Los Angeles, California. Some of the containers were nearly empty, while others were partially full. The containers were designed to attach directly to farming equipment and then returned to AMVAC after they were emptied.
The containers were not labeled as containing hazardous waste but as containing product (pesticide) for reformulation. However, AMVAC was not authorized by the EPA to reformulate the Thimet. The active ingredient in Thimet is “phorate,” a RCRA acute hazardous waste. AMVAC is a large quantity generator of hazardous waste, with specific, known responsibilities under RCRA. AMVAC subsequently told EPA that the pesticide in the containers was being imported for disposal. AMVAC failed to use hazardous manifests to transport the containers of waste Thimet to its Alabama facility. The plea agreement settles the case with AMVAC through a felony plea to knowingly transporting unmanifested hazardous waste.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.
United States v. TPC Group LLC
On May 21, 2024, TPC Group LLC, pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Air Act. This case is part of a global resolution negotiated in coordination with EES, arising out of explosions that caused injuries, evacuations, and significant air pollution. The company has agreed to pay more than $30 million in criminal fines and civil penalties and spend approximately $80 million to improve its risk management program and improve safety issues at TPC Group’s Port Neches and Houston facilities.
On November 27, 2019, two explosions at TPC Group’s Port Neches facility prompted evacuations of thousands of residents from the City of Port Neches and surrounding areas, released more than 11 million pounds of extremely hazardous substances, and caused more than $130 million in offsite property damage and other impacts to human health and the environment. Four employees and one contractor suffered injuries including concussions, burns, perforated eardrums, tinnitus and cracked teeth.
TPC Group’s facility produced Butadiene, a hazardous chemical used in the production of tires, latexes, and plastics. Butadiene can form a “popcorn polymer,” which can grow at an accelerating rate and cause catastrophic events, including explosions and fires. The company was aware that this polymer was forming in some of its production lines, and knew the risks it posed, but failed to take necessary measures to prevent the explosion. An initial explosion occurred at the facility’s South Unit, followed by a secondary explosion, and a series of fires erupted at the facility blowing contaminants into the air.
As a result of the explosions, authorities ordered mandatory evacuations for residents within a four-mile radius of the facility. Voluntary orders to shelter in place were issued for residents in the surrounding area and local schools were closed for multiple days to allow buildings to be cleaned, repaired, and inspected.
Under parallel settlements seeking to resolve the criminal and civil cases, the company has agreed to pay $18 million in criminal fines. The plea agreement also includes a one-year term of probation and publishing of a public apology. The $12.1 million in civil penalty payments will be made through bankruptcy proceedings. TPC Group will also spend approximately $80 million to improve its risk management program and improve safety issues at both facilities. TPC Group has agreed to plead guilty to knowingly failing to implement its own written operating procedures, including monthly flushing of production lines, that would have prevented the explosion. Clean Air Act regulations require planning to prevent accidental releases of hazardous chemicals and makes implementation of those plans mandatory.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division EPA investigated this matter and received extensive cooperation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
United States v. Prive Overseas Marine LLC, et al.,
On May 21, 2024, Prive Overseas Marine, LLC, and Prive Shipping Denizcilik Ticaret A.S., pleaded guilty to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, obstructing justice, and conspiracy (33 U.S.C. § 1908(a); 18 U.S.C. §§1505, 371). Sentencing is scheduled for September 26, 2024.
The two corporations were owned by the same parent company and were involved in the ownership and management of the M/T PS Dream. Prive Shipping was a Turkish company that served as the registered operator of the vessel, until transferring its role to Prive Overseas Marine, a United Arab Emirates successor corporation. The companies through their agents and employees conspired to dump oil residue waste overboard, failed to accurately maintain the ship’s oil record books, and obstructed the U.S. Coast Guard’s investigation.
The U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service and the U.S Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigations Division conducted the investigation.
United States v. Gzuniga Ltd., et al.
United States v. Gzuniga Ltd., et al., No. 1:22-CR-20170 (S.D. Fla.), ECS Senior Trial Attorney RJ Powers, AUSA Tom Watts-FitzGerald, and ECS Paralegal Jillian Grubb.
On April 22, 2024, a court sentenced Luxury handbag company Gzuniga Ltd., its founder Nancy Teresa Gonzalez de Barberi, and Gonzalez’s two associates Mauricio Giraldo and John Camilo Aguilar Jaramillo for illegally importing merchandise from Colombia into the United States that was manufactured from protected wildlife. Gzuniga was ordered to forfeit approximately 30 handbags and complete a three-year term of probation, to include implementing a compliance plan. The company is also banned from any activities involving commercial trade in wildlife while under supervision. Gonzalez will serve 18 months’ incarceration, followed by three years’ supervised release. Giraldo and Jaramillo were sentenced to time served and a year of supervised release. U.S. authorities extradited Gonzalez, Giraldo and Jaramillo from Columbia to face the conspiracy and smuggling charges (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 545).
Between February 2016 and April 2019, the defendants illegally imported designer handbags made from caiman and python skin, both protected species. They solicited friends, relatives, and employees of Gonzalez’s manufacturing company in Colombia, called C.I. Diseño Y Moda, to act as couriers and transport the designer handbags in their luggage or clothing while traveling on passenger airlines. Once the designer handbags were smuggled into the United States, they were transported or shipped to the Gzuniga showroom in Manhattan, New York, where employees placed them on display for high-end retailers to view and purchase as stock for their stores. The average retail price for these “Nancy Gonzalez” brand handbags exceeded $2,000.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.
United States v. Trafigura Beheer B.V.
Related Enforcement Actions
This case was filed on December 13, 2023 in the Southern District of Florida.
This case was resolved on March 28, 2024.
Related Document(s):
United States v. Abraham Cigarroa Cervantes
United States v. Didion Milling, Inc., et al.
On March 19, 2024, a court sentenced Didion Milling, Inc., (DMI) Supervisor Nicholas Booker to serve three years’ probation. Brooker pleaded guilty to one count of falsifying cleaning records and one count of falsifying environmental records (18 U.S.C. 1001(a)(3)). Booker is the final defendant to be sentenced in this case involving a catastrophic explosion that killed and wounded several DMI employees.
DMI owned and operated a corn mill in Cambria, Wisconsin. Corn dust is combustible and can fuel explosions if exposed to an ignition source and mixed with a sufficient concentration of air. Regulators required the company to operate “baghouses,” equipment designed to prevent particulate matter, such as corn dust, from being released into the environment from the corn mill. From at least 2015 to May 2017, DMI employees, including shift workers and shift superintendents, made false entries in the mill’s “baghouse logs,” disguising data meant to monitor and document whether the mill’s baghouse equipment was working properly to filter particulates from the air. DMI environmental manager provided baghouse logs for 2015, 2016, and 2017 to environmental inspectors, knowing that they contained false entries.
The company was also required under Occupational Safety and Health Act safety standards to develop and implement a housekeeping program to reduce the accumulation of fugitive grain dust within its corn mill. DMI maintained a “master sanitation schedule” logbook listing each of the required dust cleanings and the specific dates by which the cleanings were supposed to be completed. The sanitation logbook contained spaces for employees to record that the dust cleanings had been performed and that documentations procedures had been followed.
On May 19, 2017, employees falsely initialed, signed, and dated entries in the sanitation logbook for the week of May 1 through May 7, 2017, giving the appearance that the required dust cleanings were performed when they had not been. The company provided the sanitation logbook containing the false May 2017 dust cleaning entries to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) during its investigation of the explosion.
A court sentenced DMI on January 25, 2024, to pay a $1,000,000 fine, complete a five-year term of probation, and pay $10,250,00 in restitution. The company pleaded guilty to falsifying OSHA and EPA records (18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(3)).
The following employees were sentenced between February 15 – 16, 2024: Former Environmental Manager Joseph Winch was sentenced to two years’ incarceration, followed by two years of supervised release. Winch also will pay a $10,000 fine. Former Shift Superintendent Joel Niemeyer was sentenced to pay a $1,000 fine and complete a one-year term of probation. Supervisor Michael Bright was sentenced to complete a one-year term of probation. Vice President Shawn Mesner was ordered to serve 24 months’ incarceration, followed by one year of supervised release, and pay a $5,000 fine. Food Safety Superintendent Derrick Clark will also serve 24 months’ incarceration, followed by one year of supervised release. Shift Supervisor Anthony Hess was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and complete a one-year term of probation.
A jury convicted Mesner and Clark in October 2023 for their role in a catastrophic explosion in May 2017 at the DMI corn milling facility in Cambria, Wisconsin, that killed five employees and wounded others. Specifically, Mesner was convicted of a fraud conspiracy and conspiracy to commit federal offenses (18 U.S.C §§ 1349, 371). Clark was convicted of conspiracy to commit federal offenses, document falsification in contemplation of a federal investigation, false entries in a record within the U.S. EPA jurisdiction, and obstruction of an agency proceeding (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1519, 1001 (a)(3), 1505). Niemeyer and Winch pleaded guilty to conspiring to falsifying documents in matters under the jurisdiction of OSHA and EPA (18 U.S.C. § 371). Hess pleaded guilty to obstructing an OSHA proceeding by making false statements to OSHA and the Department of Labor (18 U.S.C. § 1505). Bright and Booker pleaded guilty to making false statements (18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(3)).
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources conducted the investigation.
United States v. Aghorn Operating, Inc., et al.
On March 6, 2024, a grand jury returned a superseding indictment adding a new conspiracy charge against oilfield companies and a company executive. Aghorn Operating, Inc. (Aghorn), Trent Day, and Kodiak Roustabout, Inc. (Kodiak) are now charged as follows: Aghorn and Day with violating 42 U.S.C. § 7413(c)(1), the general duty clause of the Clean Air Act (CAA); 42 U.S.C. § 7413(c)(5)(A), CAA knowing endangerment; 18 U.S.C. § 1505, obstruction of an Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) proceeding; Aghorn with violating 29 U.S.C. § 666(e), OSHA willful violation causing death to employee; and all three with violating 42 U.S.C. § 300h-2, Safe Drinking Water Act (SWDA), 18 U.S.C. § 1001, false statements, and 18 U.S.C. § 371, conspiracy to violate the CAA and SWDA
Aghorn owns and operates oil wells and leases in Texas. Kodiak performed oilfield support and maintenance services for Aghorn. Day was a vice president for both Aghorn and Kodiak. The CAA and OSHA charges stem from the defendants releasing hydrogen sulfide (and obstructing the investigation) that caused the deaths of Aghorn employee, Jacob Dean, and his wife, Natalee Dean. Both were overcome by hydrogen sulfide at the facility in Odessa.
All three defendants are charged with violating the Safe Drinking Water Act and making false statements regarding the mechanical integrity of Aghorn injection wells in forms and pressure charts filed with the State of Texas Railroad Commission. All three defendants are also now charged with a multi-object conspiracy.
United States v. Gunvor S.A.
United States v. Mauricio Gomez Baez
United States v. SAP SE
United States v. Empire Bulkers Ltd., et al.
On January 8, 2024, Empire Bulkers, Ltd., was arraigned on probation violation charges. The court sentenced the company in January 2023 to pay $1 million fine and complete four years of probation, subject to the terms of a government approved environmental compliance plan (ECP) to include independent ship audits and supervision by a court-appointed monitor (CAM). The probation allegations, include the following:
1. Empire Bulkers failed to promptly notify the CAM of all reports of non-compliance received from employees. Empire Bulkers waited approximately 14 days before providing the CAM with a report that the Chief Engineer of the M/V Panagiotis discharged bilge water overboard in violation of MARPOL and the ECP.
2. Between October 5, 2023, and October 19, 2023, Empire Bulkers conducted an undisclosed and unilateral investigation into allegations that the Chief Engineer of M/V Panagiotis committed a deliberate violation of MARPOL and the ECP.
3. Empire Bulkers refused to allow the Third-Party Auditor to attend and audit shoreside training required under the ECP.
Empire operated the M/V Joanna, a Marshall Islands registered Bulk Carrier, owned by Joanna Maritime. Between October 25, 2020, and March 11, 2021, the companies tampered with required oil pollution prevention equipment and falsified the ship’s Oil Record Book. The Coast Guard found that the crew bypassed the ship’s Oily Water Separator by inserting a piece of metal into the Oil Content Meter so that it only detected clean water instead of what was the actual overboard discharges. The defendants falsified the log and sought to obstruct the Coast Guard’s inspection.
The defendants also violated the PWSA by failing to immediately report a hazardous situation that affected the safety of the ship and threatened U.S. ports and waters. During the inspection on March 11, 2021, the Coast Guard discovered an active fuel oil leak in the ship’s purifier room that resulted from disabling the fuel oil heater pressure relief valves, an essential safety feature designed to prevent catastrophic fires and explosions. The companies pleaded guilty to violating APPS and the Ports and Water Ways Safety Act (PWSA) (33 U.S.C. § 1908; 46 U.S.C. § 70036).
The U.S. Coast Guard Criminal Investigations Division conducted the investigation.