WASHINGTON, D.C.—The DOJ’s newly created National Fraud Enforcement Division announced Friday a wave of arrests, convictions and sentences in fraud schemes that targeted more than $340 million in taxpayer funds over just the past week.
The actions, spanning April 10 through April 17, involved cases from across the country targeting fraud in federal programs including Medicare, Medicaid, COVID-19 relief funds, unemployment benefits, Paycheck Protection Program loans, Social Security disability payments and tax credits.
“The National Fraud Enforcement Division is committed to prosecuting anyone who steals from American taxpayers,” Colin McDonald, assistant attorney general for the division, said in a statement. “Over the past seven days the Department of Justice has taken enforcement action in fraud schemes totaling over $340 million, with loss or intended loss amounts in individual cases ranging from $54,000 to over $100 million. No matter the amount, we are steadfast in our effort to eliminate fraud.”
The division was launched April 7 by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to centralize prosecutions of fraud against taxpayer-funded programs. Its work supports President Donald Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a government-wide initiative chaired by Vice President JD Vance.
Prominent Cases Mentioned
In one of the largest, a man in Minneapolis was sentenced to 43 months in prison for his role in a $250 million fraud scheme that exploited a federally funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two others, Suleman Yusuf Mohamed and Gandi Yusuf Mohamed, pleaded guilty in the same Feeding Our Future case for receiving more than $10 million intended to feed children.
A Florida nursing assistant was sentenced to nine years in prison for his part in an $11.4 million health care fraud and wire fraud conspiracy. The scheme involved sending hundreds of Medicare beneficiaries unnecessary orthotic braces they did not need.
A former teacher in San Diego pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder millions in health care fraud proceeds. She and her co-conspirators billed Medicare nearly $51 million, received about $20 million and laundered at least $14 million while paying $3.7 million in unlawful kickbacks.
A Creve Coeur, Missouri, chiropractor was sentenced to more than eight years in prison and ordered to repay $4.7 million to Medicaid, Medicare and Tricare. He was convicted of health care fraud and issuing fraudulent prescriptions for nearly 95,000 oxycodone pills and other controlled substances with no legitimate medical purpose.
Five people were arrested Wednesday in Kentucky, Indiana and Colorado on charges they fraudulently obtained about $1.6 million in COVID-19 relief funds. Kaelynn Greene, 31, and Camden Newton, 32, face charges including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. Betty Walker, also known as Betty Bailey, 39; Breanna Patterson, 32; and Jordan Greene, 34, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Other Cases
- A Seaside, Oregon, woman sentenced to 28 months in prison and ordered to pay $581,283 in restitution for filing fraudulent pandemic unemployment claims using more than two dozen fake employees.
- A Peoria, Arizona, man who pleaded guilty to submitting 14 false tax returns seeking more than $1.8 million in fraudulent COVID-related tax credits.
- A Slidell, Louisiana, doctor sentenced for a scheme that billed Medicare more than $6.6 million for medically unnecessary cancer genetic tests.
- A West Bloomfield, Michigan, man arrested on charges he sought more than $5 million in fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loans.
- A Houston resident, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, who admitted using a stolen identity to fraudulently obtain more than $278,000 in disability and Medicare benefits over more than a decade.
Author: Mario Lotmore
One Response
$340 million is a staggering amount. Makes you wonder how many more schemes are out there.