Fraud
Latest Articles
All Articles
Money Laundering
Chaojie Chen, 41, a Chinese national living in Chicago, pleaded guilty on Aug. 5, and Li Pei Tan, 46, from Buford, Ga., pleaded guilty on Oct. 30 to conspiracy and money laundering charges in a scheme that involved moving drug money for the Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels, according to a DOJ press release.
Financial Gains
The Justice Department reached a settlement with NH Learning Solutions Corporation (NHLS) over allegations that the company inflated Post-9/11 GI Bill claims.
Embezzlement
On Oct. 12, Colby Parks, a 65-year-old former lawyer from Seattle, was indicted for twelve counts of wire fraud for allegedly embezzling from a client’s trust account.
Embezzlement
Jeffrey A. Royer, 61, from Montrose, Colorado, was indicted on Oct. 17 on charges of participating in a foreign exchange (forex) trading scheme, according to a DOJ press release. He allegedly defrauded his many investors out of over $1 million.
Embezzlement
A renowned art advisor Iadmits to scamming clients out of millions of dollars.
Money Laundering
Allen Onyema, the Chairman, CEO and founder of Air Peace, a Nigerian airline, was charged in a superseding indictment on Oct. 11 with obstruction of justice for submitting false documents to the U.S. government to end an investigation of him.
Misrepresentation
Bobby Shumake Japhia, aka Robert Samuel Shumake Jr., aka Shaman Bobby Shu, has been indicted on security fraud and obstruction of justice.
Financial Gains
A man admitted to stealing thousands of dollars from sports betting investors for years.
AI Extortion
Aleksandr Viktorovich Ryzhenkov, a Russian national, was charged with using the BitPaymer ransomware variant to perform attacks on numerous victims in Texas and throughout the United States, holding their sensitive data for ransom, according to a public statement by the U.S. Justice Department.
Medical Fraud
Zishan Alvi, a 45-year-old man from Inverness, Illinois, pleaded guilty on Sept. 30 to his role in a COVID-19 testing fraud scheme, according to a press release by the Justice Department.
Medical Fraud
Eight defendants were charged on Oct. 8 with a total of 14 counts of crimes related to a $68 million Medicaid fraud scheme.
Medical Fraud
Acadia Healthcare, one of the biggest for-profit chains of psychiatric hospitals, has agreed to settle fraud claims alleged by the federal government, according to a Sept. 26 Justice Department statement.
Identity Theft
Three members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have been charged with conspiracy, fraud, identity theft and wire fraud for allegedly hacking into accounts of current and former U.S. officials, media, NGOs and U.S. political campaigns, according to a recently unsealed indictment obtained by The Daily Muck.
Financial Gains
Handing over a counterfeit iPhone to Apple so they can replace it with a real one is not a foolproof plan.
Medical Fraud
As of Oct. 2, 2024, Precision Toxicology, doing business as Precision Diagnostics, has settled accusations of False Claims Act violations by agreeing to repay $27 million to the federal government.
Tax Evasion
Stephen T. Mellinger III, a securities broker, financial advisor, and insurance salesman from Florida, was indicted for a decade-long scheme to operate and promote an illegal tax shelter, stealing from his clients’ funds and money laundering, according to a Justice Department press release.
Misrepresentation
Defrauding wealthy businessmen has landed this cowboy in serious trouble.
Misrepresentation
A former investment management firm partner stole over $2.4 million in two fraud schemes.
Misrepresentation
After being extradited from the United Kingdom in 2022, a Nigerian national was brought to justice for defrauding American businesses and universities of millions of dollars in an email compromise scheme.
Identity Theft
Working with the State Department and the Treasury Department, as well as other international and federal law enforcement partners, the DOJ seized cryptocurrency exchange websites and charged two Russian nationals in a billion-dollar money laundering scheme, according to an indictment that was unsealed on Sept. 26.
Medical Fraud
Billing government programs for prescriptions your customers never received can get you in hot water.
Financial Gains
Taking $70,000 in donations for a statue dedicated to fallen officers and spending it on yourself and your family won’t impress a jury of your peers.
Misrepresentation
Sport is, in theory, a noble competition in which the best of the best– those who combine talent with work ethic– win competitions and championships.
Medical Fraud
Oak Street Health, a CVS subsidiary, agreed on Sept. 18 to pay $60 million to resolve allegations that it paid kickbacks to third-party insurance agents, according to a DOJ press release.
Embezzlement
Jarett Robert Lewis, a 44-year-old man from Washington D.C, was arrested on Sept. 5 and charged with embezzling more than $320,000 from a non-profit advocacy organization.
Financial Gains
A Romanian national stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from families who can barely make ends meet.
Elder Fraud
Morice Armani Brown, a 24-year-old man from Jamaica residing in Florida, was sentenced to 63 months in prison, with an additional year on supervised release for his role in defrauding an elderly woman from Lenoir City, Tennessee.
Financial Gains
Jonathan Freeze, a 65-year-old man accused of conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud, pleaded guilty on Sept. 4 before United States District Judge Robert J. Colville, according to a plea agreement obtained by The Daily Muck.
Medical Fraud
Dennis W. Haggerty, a 48-year-old man from Burr Ridge, Ill., was sentenced to spend six years and five months in federal prison for misappropriating over $1.85 million in company funds, according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Illinois.
Medical Fraud
“Ignorance and Empathy” may sound like the title of a Jane Austen novel, but they are two causes of what can be called “innocent” Medicare fraud. However, health care providers must remember two maxims: ignorance of the law is no excuse, and the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
Medical Fraud
For over 13 years, Alexandria, La., pain management specialist Dr. Michael E. Dole billed Medicare for medically unnecessary urinalyses of his patients, according to a six-count indictment released Sept. 18, the Department of Justice announced in a recent press release.
Money Laundering
In a fascinating new case that tests the legality of AI-generated art, Michael Smith, a 52-year-old musician from Cornelius, North Carolina, was arrested and indicted for using sophisticated artificial intelligence to create a streaming music fraud scheme that netted him more than $10 million.
Financial Gains
Daniel Jarrett Ridlinghafer, 37, of Marana, Ariz., was indicted on 11 charges of bank, wire and mail fraud by a federal grand jury in Tuscon on Aug. 14, according to a DOJ press release. Ridlinghafer defrauded homeowners out of more than $695,000, prosecutors say.
Elder Fraud
As of the writing of this report, five Dominican Republic nationals have been extradited to New Jersey in a “grandparent scam” that defrauded hundreds of elderly Americans of millions of dollars. A Bronx man has also been arrested for wire fraud conspiracy in connection with the scheme.
Elder Fraud
Everyone’s fantasy: a rich relative you never knew about dies and leaves you several million dollars. Your first thought is, “This will change my life.” For 400 U.S. senior citizens who were conned out of $6 million over a five-year period, that statement proved to be all-to-true.
Identity Theft
Carlos Corona, a 37-year-old man from South Los Angeles, was sentenced to seven years and three months in federal prison for leading a conspiracy that defrauded banks and credit unions of more than $2.7 million, according to a court judgment in the case.
Financial Gains
In March 2016, federal agents seized a 2000-year-old, one-ton ceramic mosaic piece of floor that had been illegally brought into the United States several months earlier.
Elder Fraud
Two more members of an international fraud ring that preyed on elderly Americans in several U.S. states were sentenced to federal prison on Aug. 16, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Western Michigan announced in a press release. That leaves only the leader, nicknamed “Master,” to have his day in court.
Police
Bankruptcy is helpful when debt seems insurmountable, but committing bankruptcy fraud to get out of paying a settlement can get you in hot water.
Identity Theft
Four years ago, the United States and the world were in the grips of the COVID pandemic. While there were many heroes in that battle, there were also villains.
Medical Fraud
Owners of the medical practice named Orange Medical Care P.C. from Newburgh, New York, Ashikkumar A. Raval, and Manish A. Raval, were ordered to repay at least $600,000 of a $1.6 million lawsuit by the U.S. federal government, according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York.
Embezzlement
Nothing grinds the gears of law-abiding taxpayers more than a city official stealing nearly a million dollars from the city.
Embezzlement
With great power comes great responsibility. One trusted town clerk didn’t learn this lesson as he decided to steal the town’s money he was hired to protect.
Police
A federal jury convicted Morteza Amiri, a former police officer, of one count of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a scheme to obtain pay raises from the Antioch Police Department, California, by falsely obtaining a university degree.
Identity Theft
Elvis Week is not the time to steal Graceland if you want to do it without the media attention. This “clever” lady, allegedly, didn’t get that memo.
Medical Fraud
When your doctor prescribes a custom compound medication for you, the last thing you’d expect is they’d get extra cheddar for doing so.
Financial Gains
Alcides Roman, a 65-year-old man from Lebanon, Tennessee, has been indicted on charges of defrauding investors out of more than $1 million.
Money Laundering
Mozambique’s former finance minister, 68-year-old Manuel Chang, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Aug. 8 after being convicted of conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a $2 billion scheme that targeted investors in the United States and other countries.
Identity Theft
After eluding authorities for seven years, an Orlando man has been sentenced to almost 5½ years in federal prison for fraud and identity theft, the U.S. Attorney for Central Florida reported in a press release.
Medical Fraud
The owner of a Spokane Valley medical supply company will pay almost $225,000 for a kickback scheme to bill Medicare for unnecessary medical equipment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.
Medical Fraud
A New Orleans man, John M. Spivey, who pled guilty on July 30 to conspiracy to commit Medicare fraud will not be sentenced until April 15, 2025, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a press release.
Embezzlement
Long-time Des Peres Alderman John Pound was sentenced on Aug. 1 to five years of probation and ordered to repay $292,305 he embezzled from two clients of his property management company from 2006 to mid-2020, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri.
Embezzlement
Christopher Adam Jensen-Tanner, a former escrow company owner from Roswell, New Mexico, has been sentenced to 46 months in prison for defrauding his clients, according to a July 29 press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, New Mexico District.
Medical Fraud
A North Carolina/Tennessee healthcare company has been charged in federal court with Medicare fraud, according to a complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Misrepresentation
Did 23 Chinese Swimmers Cheat at the 2021 Olympics? A Meeting Has Been Called to Find Out
Misrepresentation
The U.S. has arrested a former Special Forces soldier and owner of a private security company on charges related to organizing a failed Venezuelan coup in 2020.
Medical Fraud
In a significant move to combat healthcare fraud, the Justice Department, in coordination with the FTC, filed an amended complaint last month against Cerebral, Inc., a telehealth provider, and its executives.
Negligence
Magellan Diagnostics, Inc., a medical device company out of Billerica, Massachusetts, pled guilty to federal criminal charges in June over accusations that it concealed a malfunction of a device that recorded incorrectly low lead results in tests it provided for tens of thousands of their patients, many of whom were children, according to a Department […]
Corporate
Fraud on Facebook isn’t new. But the social media platform is one of the likeliest places you’ll encounter a scam.
Elder Fraud
A man from Iowa was recently sentenced to an 18.5-year stint in federal prison for conning elderly victims out of $3 million.
Medical Fraud
Daniel Hurt, of Fort Lauderdale, has agreed to pay the government $27 million to settle allegations that he conspired to violate the False Claims Act (FCA) by submitting fraudulent claims to Medicare for cancer genomic tests (CGx) that were not necessary, according to a Department of Justice (DOJ) press release.
Identity Theft
Kader Gahmaal Biwaki Edmond pleads guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud following a $250,000 Zelle scam.
Racketeering
The U.S Secret Service seizes a web domain used in a new type of cryptocurrency con called Pig Butchering, which was used to defraud one victim out of $341,000.
Identity Theft
Fraud is everywhere, and anyone can fall victim to it, but older populations, who aren’t always as tech-savvy, are especially vulnerable.
Medical Fraud
It’s a crime that costs Americans billions. An offense that endangers lives. And no one is immune from the effects of these unlawful acts– they literally affect each and every one of us. The crime is medical fraud.
Misrepresentation
On May 23, police arrested collectible trading card vendors who prosecutors say defrauded customers of $2 million, according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York.
Elder Fraud
Last week, prosecutors charged Jiaci Liu with crimes related to a sophisticated fraud scheme aimed at seniors, according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California.
Misrepresentation
CHARLOTTE, NC – North Carolina consumers are facing a new wave of scams being ushered in thanks to sports betting.
Racketeering
Two brothers have been arrested following an alleged novel scheme to exploit the very integrity of the Ethereum blockchain to fraudulently obtain approximately $25 million worth of cryptocurrency within approximately 12 seconds, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Medical Fraud
Health care can be a polarizing issue in the United States. Annual costs exceed $4.5 trillion, representing over 17% of total U.S. GDP.
Medical Fraud
The military health system provides medical care for current and many former service members.
Elder Fraud
Defrauding the elderly– it’s one of the most craven and despicable crimes a person can commit.
Financial Gains
In the military, “Gold Star” families are those who have made the ultimate sacrifice– the loss of their loved ones in the service of their nation.
Identity Theft
Not everyone has fallen victim to a scam, but everyone has been the target of an attempted scam.
Medical Fraud
Fraudsters Include Inmates, Cops, Soldiers
Tax Evasion
Warning: if you bought something called the “Ultimate Tax Plan,” you might have purchased your way into the ultimate fraud.
Tax Evasion
The Justice Department filed a civil injunction against four individuals and one company on Tuesday.
Embezzlement
Employees at the Sandia National Laboratories worked unnecessary overtime and changed project codes on official paperwork, an internal Department of Energy audit released on April 1 found.
Embezzlement
Corrections Officer Pleads Guilty to Defrauding First Responders with Bogus Crypto, Investment Funds
There’s nothing worse than getting stabbed in the back by one of your own.
Medical Fraud
On March 26, Robert M. Clark of Florida pled guilty to charges related to his role in bilking Medicare for more than $30 million, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release.
Negligence
For law enforcement, military, and other security forces, nothing in their kit is more important than personal protective gear. Helmets and body armor provide lifesaving protection against bullets, bombs, knives and more.
Misrepresentation
Two men fraudulently obtained contracts managed by the Veterans Administration, according to a March 19, 2024 statement released by the VA.
