San Diego, California - Last week in federal court a slew of conspirators involved in a massive Workers’ Compensation kickback scheme were ordered to serve prison sentences and pay millions in financial penalties for their roles in the corrupt payment of millions of dollars to induce doctors and other medical professionals to refer hundreds of injured workers for medical treatments and services.

San Diego, California - Hardev Panesar pleaded guilty in federal court, admitting that he orchestrated a long-running immigration-fraud scheme that tricked more than 100 victims out of millions of dollars based on false claims that they could secure immigration status in the United States.

San Francisco, California - San Francisco police officer Rain Olson Daugherty pleaded guilty to robbing two San Francisco banks, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett. The guilty plea was accepted by the Honorable William H. Orrick, United States District Judge.

Washington, DC - Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a prize competition to spur innovation in wave energy-powered desalination systems. The Waves to Water Prize will draw upon U.S. innovators to accelerate technology development through a series of contests to demonstrate small, modular, cost-competitive desalination systems that use the power of the ocean to provide potable drinking water to remote coastal and island communities.

Washington, DC - The Federal Trade Commission charged two companies and their owner with bilking hundreds of thousands dollars annually from consumers for sham job placement and resume repair services. A federal court halted the scheme and froze the defendants’ assets at the FTC’s request.

West Lafayette, Indiana - Suicide rates among farmers in India remain high, accounting for more than 12,500 deaths in the country in 2015, according to a government report. Although many have blamed climate change for farmers’ distress, the issue is likely much more complex.