Latest news with #JulieA.Beck
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Yahoo
Wixom auto parts company fined $200K after pleading guilty to Clean Water Action violation
A Wixom chrome plating operation that investigators found overrode 460 warning alarms as it dumped wastewater with elevated levels of potentially health-harming chemicals into the city's sanitary sewer system has been sentenced for federal Clean Water Act violations. Tribar Technologies Inc. was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Detroit to pay a $200,000 criminal fine, $20,000 in restitution and to serve five years' probation. Tribar officials had earlier pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act, a misdemeanor, with its wastewater release, Acting U.S. Attorney Julie A. Beck said in a release. According to court documents, Tribar manufactures decorative trim assemblies and components for the automotive and commercial vehicle markets in southeast Michigan. At Tribar's Plant 5, the Wixom facility where the improper wastewater discharge occurred, the company uses an electroplating process to apply chrome finishing to plastic automotive parts. The Tribar Manufacturing facility in Wixom, on Aug. 8, 2022. On July 23, 2022, Tribar Plant 5 accumulated approximately 15,000 gallons of untreated wastewater with high concentrations of hexavalent chromium. After attempts at treatment, the chemical levels were still at levels that required additional treatment before release into Wixom's sanitary sewer system. But on July 29, 2022, a Tribar employee released about 10,000 gallons of insufficiently treated wastewater from the tank into the city sewer system. Some 460 alarm bells sounded at the plant but were disabled, according to investigators. Tribar officials did not report the illegal discharge until Aug. 1, 2022. State public health and environmental regulators issued an emergency advisory that day, urging the public to avoid contact with Huron River water between North Wixom Road in Oakland County and Kensington Road in Livingston County, an area that includes Hubbell Pond, also known as Mill Pond, in Oakland County; and Kent Lake in Kensington Metropark. The alert lasted several days, as extensive testing found hexavalent chromium in Hubbel Pond and Kent Lake, but at levels that did not exceed regulatory values to protect aquatic life. A sign reads the closure of The Maple Beach at Kensington Metropark in Milford Township, Michigan due to water contamination on Aug. 8, 2022. The hexavalent chromium release from the Tribar facility contaminated the Huron river, the Michigan EGLE testing is being done from Kent Lake at Kensington Metropark back to Wixom. "Tribar's failure to adequately train and supervise its employees jeopardized the safety and quality of local water resources," Beck said. Hexavalent chromium is a metal used in electroplating, stainless steel production, leather tanning, textile manufacturing and wood preservation. It can be harmful to human health when ingested, touched or inhaled, and has been associated with breathing problems and lung and intestinal cancers. Hexavalent chromium has been dubbed "the Erin Brockovich chemical" after the California woman who discovered widespread contamination with the metal from a large state utility. Actress Julia Roberts' portrayal of the citizen turned environmental activist in the 2000 movie "Erin Brockovich" won Roberts the Best Actress Academy Award the following year. The Tribar case was investigated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Department of Justice Environmental Crimes Division, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the FBI and the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service. As part of its guilty plea and sentence, Tribar Technologies is required to install an environmental management system and compliance plan within the first six months of its 5-year probation. Contact Keith Matheny: kmatheny@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Wixom chrome plater Tribar fined $200K for Clean Water Act violations
CBS News
29-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Sterling Heights business pays $1.4 million to settle Paycheck Protection Program violation claim
A Michigan business has paid over $1.4 million to settle allegations with the federal government that it falsely claimed eligibility for loan forgiveness under the Paycheck Protection Act. The case against Slifco Electric LLC of Sterling Heights was detailed in a press release issued Tuesday by acting U.S. Attorney Julie A. Beck from the Eastern District of Michigan. Congress created the PPP program in March 2020 to provide emergency assistance to businesses that faced financial challenges at the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible businesses could apply for loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration, and additional requirements applied to those seeking to have the loans forgiven at a later date. The agreement settles allegations that Slifco violated the False Claims Act by falsely certifying that it was eligible for full loan forgiveness through the program. The United States had alleged that Slifco Electric failed to disclose that Slifco Electric paid $730,031 in capital distributions to its owner, John P. Slifco, for his personal expenses. That information would have been required as part of the application. "When businesses and individuals obtained COVID-19 relief funds that they didn't deserve, taxpayers were cheated," Beck said in her press release. "This office is committed to addressing fraud perpetrated against government programs, and we will continue to hold accountable those who violate the law." "The favorable settlement in this case is the product of enhanced efforts by federal agencies such as the Small Business Administration working with the U.S. Attorney's Office, SBA's Office of Inspector General and other Federal law enforcement agencies, as well as private individuals who uncover fraudulent conduct to recover the product of this fraud as well as penalties," SBA General Counsel Wendell Davis said in his statement. The matter was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Gentner from the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, with assistance from the SBA's Office of General Counsel.
CBS News
24-04-2025
- CBS News
Pontiac man pleads guilty to federal charges involving pandemic unemployment benefits fraud
A Michigan man has pleaded guilty to a role in a large-scale unemployment benefit insurance fraud scheme that involved more than $4 million in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance funds. The details were related in a press release from Julie A. Beck, acting U.S. District Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, supported by the U.S. Department of Labor, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service and other agencies. This was not the only fraud investigation involving claims filed into the PUA federal program, which expanded and extended unemployment benefits to people whose ability to work was disrupted during 2020. A similar one handled by the Eastern District Attorney's office looked into fraud involving those who were out of work in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Maryland. And another scheme involved fraudulent claims made in 20 states. "Taxpayer money diverted into the pockets of criminals means less money going to Michiganders who actually need help getting through difficult financial times and who follow the rules when seeking assistance," Beck said in her statement. In the latest report, Terrance Calhoun Jr., 36, of Pontiac, Michigan, pleaded guilty to committing aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and to possessing 15 or more unauthorized access devices, all in relation to acts of unemployment insurance fraud, the press release said. According to the plea agreement, Calhoun and others used stolen personal identification to file hundreds of false unemployment claims over a six-month time frame in Michigan, Arizona and Maryland. The claims were made in the names of other people, without their knowledge or consent, and resulted in debit cards loaded with over $4 million in unemployment insurance funds mailed to addresses where the conspirators could claim them. About $1.6 million in purchases and cash withdrawals were made from those accounts. Calhoun faces a possible federal sentence of up to 20 years in prison for each of the wire fraud counts, up to 10 years in prison for possessing 15 or more unauthorized access devices, and a mandatory consecutive 2-year sentence for the aggravated identity theft charge. Sentencing is set for Aug. 27.
