Man admits he threatened French couple with fake U.S. government letter while he was employed by DHS
CBSN
Washington — A Virginia man admitted that while he was employed by the Department of Homeland Security, he and his wife wrote a letter on fake State Department letterhead and impersonated an official in order to threaten a French couple who had employed their daughter as an au pair in Southern France.
In court on Monday, Ralph Karau pleaded guilty to one count of Misuse of Names, Words, Emblems, or Insignia — a law that makes it illegal to fraudulently use official U.S. government symbols "for the purpose of conveying the false impression that such communication is from a department," according to court documents.
According to records filed with the plea agreement, in October of 2019, Karau and his wife, Kathleen, prepared the letter soon after their daughter had returned to the U.S. from her stint as an au pair, and a forensic investigation showed that Karau had worked on the letter on devices issued to him by the government.
Probationary workers across multiple federal health agencies in the Department of Health and Human Services received virtually identical letters Saturday evening informing them they would be terminated from their positions, sources told CBS News.
It was Sept. 18, 2003 when Justine Vanderschoot's remains were discovered in a remote location more than two weeks after she disappeared. But it's in the garden outside her bedroom window where her parents Don and Lynnette still come to find her.
This story previously aired on Feb. 10, 2024. It was updated on Feb. 15, 2025. AMIE HARWICK (video): You can seek therapy to address an issue like depression, anxiety, a breakup. You can also seek therapy to be a better you! GARETH PURSEHOUSE (voicemail): I have so much I need to say. Please give me a chance to just say it. … Please (crying) please.
A team of President Trump's advisers are expected to meet with Russian officials next week to begin peace negotiations over the war in Ukraine, two U.S. government officials familiar with the details told CBS News Saturday.
Signaling a major shift in civil rights enforcement, the federal agency that enforces workplace anti-discrimination laws has moved to dismiss six of its own cases on behalf of workers alleging gender identity discrimination, arguing that the cases now conflict with President Donald Trump's recent executive order, court documents say.
A New York man was arrested Friday in the cold case killing of a trans performer 15 years after her apartment was set on fire, the Brooklyn District Attorney announced in a news statement.
President Trump toured a Boeing airplane to check out new hardware and technology features and highlight the aircraft maker's delay in delivering updated versions of the Air Force One presidential aircraft, the White House said Saturday.
Ohio's health department confirmed Saturday that a farmer in the state was discharged from the hospital after being sickened by bird flu, marking the fourth American to have been hospitalized with the H5N1 virus.
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A civil lawsuit accusing rap moguls Jay-Z and Sean "Diddy" Combs of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000 has been dropped by the accuser, according to documents filed in federal court in New York on Friday.
One week after President Trump fired the head of the National Archives and Records Administration, the second-in-command, the deputy archivist, has informed colleagues of his intent to retire, a source familiar with the situation confirmed to CBS News Friday.
Probational federal employees who lost their jobs on Thursday as part of the Trump administration's mass firing of government workers expressed shock and anger at the terminations, which they contend will hurt the government's ability to provide services.