Tag: fraud

Dearborn Heights Pharmacist Pleads in $3.2 Million Medicare, Medicaid Fraud Scheme

Pharmacist Mohammad Hamdan of Dearborn Heights pleaded guilty Tuesday to involvement in a fraudulent scheme that cost Medicare, Medicaid and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan more than $3 million in losses.

Hamdan, 44, admitted that from February 2019 through June 2024, he used his two pharmacies to submit false and fraudulent claims for prescriptions even though the prescribed drugs were medically unnecessary, were not actually dispensed, or were not ordered by a physician, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

In many instances, the pharmacies — Prime Pharmacy at 1948 Ford Ave. in Wyandotte and Corner Med Pharmacy at 25302 W. Warren Street in Dearborn Heights — did not have the drugs on hand but billed insurers as if he dispensed them.

In all, Hamdan submitted false and fraudulent claims totaling over $3.2 million.

Hamdan faces a possible maximum sentence of not more than 10 years in prison.

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Fake Immigration Law Firm Busted in Brooklyn Federal Indictment

A five-count indictment was partially unsealed in the Eastern District of New York that charged five defendants with wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and two counts of false impersonation of an officer or employee of the United States.  

Three of the defendants, Daniela Alejandra Sanchez Ramirez, 25 of Ibagué, Colombia and Green Brook, New Jersey, Jhoan Sebastian Sanchez Ramirez, 29, of  Ibagué, Colombia and Green Brook, New Jersey, and Alexandra Patricia Sanchez Ramirez, 38, of Ibagué, Colombia, were arrested at Newark Liberty International Airport while attempting to board a flight to Colombia with one-way tickets.  

Marlyn Yulitza Salazar Pineda, 24, of Ibagué, Colombia and North Plainfield, New Jersey, was arrested at a restaurant in New Jersey. 

A fifth defendant is not in U.S. custody.  

Daniela and Jhoan Ramirez, and Marlyn Pineda are immigration parolees, and Alexandra Ramirez is in the U.S. on a tourist visa. Daniela, Jhoan, and Alexandra Ramirez are siblings.  The four defendants who were arrested will be arraigned tomorrow morning at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn before United States Magistrate Judge Peggy Cross-Goldenberg.

Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Joseph V. Cuffari, Ph.D, Inspector General, Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, and Ryan Hill, Acting Special Agent in Charge, United States Customs and Border Protection, Office of Professional Responsibility, New York Field Office, announced the arrests and charges.

“As alleged, the defendants undermined the integrity of our immigration system by impersonating judges, law enforcement officers, and lawyers, and targeting vulnerable members of our community who sought to hire attorneys to help them navigate sensitive legal issues,” stated United States Attorney Nocella.  “The defendants brazenly stole their victims’ money and deceived them by sending fictitious documents and holding sham court proceedings. I commend our Office’s prosecution team and the law enforcement agents whose hard work has disrupted this elaborate and outrageous scheme.”

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DOJ Moves to Strip U.S. Citizenship From Former North Miami Mayor Over Immigration Fraud

The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida have filed a civil denaturalization complaint in the U.S. District Court in Miami, against Phillipe Bien-Amie, also known as Jean Philippe Janvier, a native of Haiti who used two identities to procure immigration benefits — and eventually acquire U.S. citizenship — after illegally entering the U.S.

Before he became a U.S. citizen under the name Philippe Bien-Aime, the defendant used a fraudulent, “photo-switched” passport to enter the U.S. under the name Jean Philippe Janvier. In 2001, Bien-Aime was placed in removal proceedings and ordered removed under the Janvier identity. 

He appealed the removal order, but he withdrew the appeal, representing that he had returned to live in Haiti. In reality, Bien-Aime remained in the U.S. and, using the new name and date of birth, married a U.S. citizen to obtain permanent resident status. The marriage was fraudulent and invalid because he was already married to a Haitian citizen. After making numerous false and fraudulent statements in adjustment and naturalization proceedings, he was naturalized in 2006 under the Bien-Aime identity.   

The man served as the mayor of North Miami. 

“This Administration will not permit fraudsters and tricksters who cheat their way to the gift of U.S. citizenship,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The passage of time does not diminish blatant immigration fraud.”

The complaint, filed on Feb. 18, alleges that Bien-Aime illegally procured naturalization for several reasons. 

First, he was subject to a final removal order, which disqualified him from naturalization and precluded the former Immigration and Naturalization Service from considering his application for permanent resident status. Second, the removal order prohibited U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services from considering his naturalization application and granting U.S. citizenship. 

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79th Suspect in Massive Minnesota Fraud Scheme ARRESTED After Attempting to Flee to UK — Center Received MILLIONS in Taxpayer Funds Under Walz Administration

Another taxpayer-funded grift artist has been stopped in her tracks.

The owner of Future Leaders Early Learning Center, who pocketed a staggering $3.67 million in child care funds in 2025 alone, has been arrested before she could escape to the UK.

Fahima Egeh Mahamud now becomes the 79th defendant charged in the sprawling Feeding Our Future fraud network, the same racket that stole hundreds of millions meant for kids’ meals and actual care.

In 2025 alone, the center reportedly hauled in a staggering $3.67 million in Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) funding.

This comes after her site was already flagged for receiving over $850,000 from the feeding scheme between 2020 and 2021, while spending only a fraction of that on actual food for children.

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According to court documents, Mahamud operated a food site, Future Leaders Early Learning Center, under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future between 2018 and 2021. Records show that Mahamud incorporated Future Leaders as a legal entity in March 2015 and participated in the Federal Child Nutrition Program under a different sponsorship. However, in September 2018, documents show that Mahamud signed a sponsor transfer request to be under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future.

Future Leaders received funds in 2018 and 2019, but the claims were mostly “modest,” according to a special agent with the FBI, and rarely exceeded $10,000, but in December 2020, those funds dramatically increased. An affidavit in support of a criminal complaint says Future Leaders claimed to serve more than 1,000 children per day between January 2021 and June 2021. By February 2021, prosecutors say Future Leaders was claiming to serve nearly 60,000 meals to children monthly.

There was also email communication between Aimee Bock, the so-called “mastermind” behind the Feeding Our Future fraud, and another staff member at Feeding Our Future about Mahamud’s request to “increase from 500 to 1000.”

The special agent said that investigators found evidence that indicates many invoices and receipts are “inflated or fraudulent.” Some of the invoices were from a vendor of a co-conspirator who pleaded guilty to wire fraud.

The affidavit goes on to say that from December 2020 through July 2021, Future Leaders received more than $850,000 and only spent about $125,000 on food. Forensic analysis indicates that Future Leaders made payments to individuals, including $174,159 to Mahamud and $726,566 for real property purchases and $359,020 to other companies associated with Mahamud.

Court documents indicate that on February 10, 2026, Mahamud notified the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth and Families that she was abruptly closing her center.

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Former NY Sales Director Sentenced to Prison in $70M Medicare Brain Scan Scheme

A former New York-based sales director for the Northeast region of a mobile medical diagnostics company was sentenced on Feb. 13, 2026, in federal court in Boston for conspiring to offer and pay kickbacks to doctors in exchange for ordering medically unnecessary brain scans.

The scheme resulted in fraudulent bills of about $70.6 million to Medicare. Medicare paid approximately $27.2 million to the TCD company for the fraudulent claims.

James Rausch, 57, of Point Jefferson Station, N.Y., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to eight months in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release. The defendant was also ordered to pay $17.5 million in restitution, forfeiture in the amount of $408,437 and a $20,000 fine.

 In June 2025, Rausch pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute.

From March 2015 through at least September 2020, Rausch conspired with others, including two managers for a mobile medical diagnostics company that performed transcranial doppler (TCD) scans, to enter into kickback agreements with various doctors. 

TCD scans are brain scans that measure blood flow in parts of the brain. 

Rausch and his co-conspirators agreed to offer and pay doctors kickbacks, some in cash and others by check, based on the number of TCD ultrasounds the doctors ordered. The co-conspirators created purported rental and administrative service agreements, which on paper made it appear as if doctors were compensated for the TCD company’s use of space and administrative resources of the ordering doctor’s practice based on fair market value and not based on the volume or value of referrals. These were sham agreements that hid the true nature of the arrangement of paying per test.  

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Florida, Texas Executives Get 20 Years for $233M Affordable Care Act Fraud Scheme

Two executives were each sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted for a years-long scheme to steal from the Affordable Care Act program.

The defendants — the president of an insurance brokerage firm and the CEO of a marketing company — preyed on tens of thousands of vulnerable consumers to improperly enroll them into fully subsidized ACA plans, for which the defendants earned millions of dollars in commission payments from insurance companies.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Cory Lloyd, 47, of Stuart, Florida, and Steven Strong, 43, of Mansfield, Texas, engaged in an extensive fraud scheme that sought over $233 million in fraudulent ACA plan subsidies for which the federal government paid at least $180 million. 

“Preying upon medically compromised consumers to rob hundreds of millions from taxpayer-funded programs is evil and unforgivable,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Fraud schemes like this rob citizens and shake faith in our institutions — today’s sentencing is the latest example of this DOJ’s commitment to fighting fraud nationwide.”

As proven at trial, Lloyd and Strong targeted vulnerable, low-income individuals experiencing homelessness, unemployment, and mental health and substance abuse disorders, and, through “street marketers” working on their behalf, sometimes offered bribes to induce those individuals to enroll in subsidized ACA plans. 

“These defendants didn’t just commit fraud; they built a business model around exploiting people at their most vulnerable,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “They targeted vulnerable individuals in the community, manipulated federal health programs for profit, and put victims at risk of losing critical medical care so they could cash in. Stealing hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars while endangering lives is as callous as it gets. The FBI and our partners will continue to track down and hold accountable anyone who treats vulnerable Americans as a payday.”

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SHOCKING: Liberian Illegal Alien Infiltrates U.S. National Guard and Minnesota Prison System After Overstaying Visa—Arrested Following Decade of Fraud

A Liberian national has been arrested after spending over a decade masquerading as a U.S. citizen, even going so far as to join the military and work as a law enforcement officer.

According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), 45-year-old Liberian national Morris Brown was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Minneapolis on January 15 following an extensive federal investigation tied to Operation Twin Shield.

Federal authorities say Brown last entered the United States legally in 2014 on a nonimmigrant student visa, but that visa was terminated the following year after he failed to enroll in a full course of academic study, placing him out of lawful status.

Instead of departing the country as required by law, DHS officials allege Brown embarked on what U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow described as a decade-long scheme of deception.

“Operation Twin Shield continues to deliver results as the Department of Homeland Security relentlessly pursues those who seek to cheat our immigration system,” said USCIS Director Joseph Edlow.

“This alien tried every trick in the book to remain in the United States after losing legal status. We will use every tool at our disposal to ensure he faces justice for his many violations of the law.”

Even more alarming, federal officials say Brown enlisted in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in 2014, despite not having legal immigration status, and subsequently went AWOL the following year.

He was eventually taken into custody and discharged from military service in 2022 under “other than honorable conditions,” according to DHS.

Yet, two years after that discharge, Brown allegedly attempted to naturalize as a U.S. citizen based on his prior military service, an application DHS described as “another commission of fraud.”

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Jury Convicts Chinese National in $2M Scheme Targeting Elderly Bank Customers

A federal jury has convicted a Chinese national of using his role as a bank employee to access confidential client information to target elderly customers and create a scheme to steal their money and then use it for his personal benefit.

After a five-day trial in front of U.S. District Judge J. Philip Calabrese, Yue Cao, 36, was found guilty on 10 counts of bank fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count of money laundering.

Court documents and evidence presented before the jury showed that Cao was a quant analytics manager at an Ohio-based bank who was hired to help protect customers from fraud. 

Instead, from about 2022 to 2023, he used his access to steal the identities and money of elderly customers who had not enrolled in the bank’s online services. 

He did this by first using an offshore service to create email addresses in the names of more than 100 victims. 

Then, he used these emails to enroll the victims in online banking—all without their knowledge or authorization. Additionally, Cao directed the victims’ bank statements and other notifications to the email addresses he created. Because he controlled their online banking, he transferred the victims’ money directly to his personal bank and credit card accounts.

He also used the victims’ identities to open accounts in their names without their knowledge and transferred their money into them. Some of these were brokerage accounts, where he then engaged in options trading using their money. He even arranged trades between the unauthorized accounts he set up and his own brokerage account.

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Massachusetts auditor heads to court after finding $12M in fraud

he Massachusetts state auditor is headed to court as part of her effort to audit the state legislature.

State Auditor Diana DiZoglio, earlier this year, notified the state legislature that she would begin the audit, after 72% of state voters approved a law permitting her to do so.

However, state lawmakers declined to produce documents necessary for the audit, Fox News reported. She is now challenging the state at the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

In 2025, her office identified roughly $12 million in public fraud related to state programs. The court battle comes in the wake of national fraud revelations in Minnesota linked to the state’s Somali expat community.

That development has turned the public’s attention to state government’s and their attitudes toward enforcing restrictions on eligible recipients of public aid.

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Minnesota Sheriff Whose Office Missed Billions in Fraud Now Attacks ICE

On Friday morning, Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt stood before reporters and expressed relief that “Operation Metro Surge” was coming to an end. 

She spoke about rebuilding trust and emphasized that her office does not conduct civil immigration enforcement, adding that “nothing has changed” in the county’s policies.

The speech was among the most inflammatory anti-ICE remarks she could have delivered. Operation Metro Surge was a federal enforcement effort launched under the direction of the Trump administration’s border team, including Border Czar Tom Homan, in response to escalating tensions and public safety concerns in Minneapolis and surrounding areas. 

The purpose was straightforward: enforce existing federal immigration law and prevent further instability. When violence threatens to spiral out of control, federal authorities have both the power and the obligation to intervene.

Instead of acknowledging that reality, Sheriff Witt framed the operation primarily as a political burden placed on her office. She spoke at length about strained relationships and eroding trust, suggesting that local law enforcement had been forced into difficult positions by federal action.

What she did not do was thank federal officers for stepping in during a volatile moment. She did not acknowledge that ICE enforces statutes written by Congress. She did not recognize that immigration enforcement is a lawful function of the executive branch, not an optional courtesy.

Minnesota has spent the past several years confronting overlapping crises of disorder and fraud. The Feeding Our Future scandal alone involved what federal prosecutors described as a $250 million scheme to exploit taxpayer-funded child nutrition programs. 

Additional investigations into Medicaid and autism services fraud revealed systemic vulnerabilities that drained public funds of well over $8 billion and embarrassed state leadership. 

These were large-scale criminal operations that flourished under the watch of state and local authorities.

Public safety is not limited to street patrols. It includes institutional competence and, above all, requires proactive enforcement and coordination across agencies. 

Yet at the very moment federal officers increased their presence to deter violence and enforce immigration law, the sheriff’s message signaled distance, not partnership.

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