Tag: fraud

Whistleblower Points Finger at Gavin Newsom as Congress Digs Into California Hospice Fraud

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said his committee is focusing its investigation on alleged large-scale hospice fraud in California following a state audit that identified billions in questionable spending.

During a televised exchange, Sandra Smith introduced the issue by pointing to the scope of the allegations, stating, “California focusing on allegations of rampant hospice fraud, another wasteful spending on taxpayer dollars.”

Smith then asked Comer about the direction of the investigation, saying, “Let’s bring in our House Oversight Committee Chairman, James Comer, welcome to you, Mr. Chairman. So where is your energy focused here?”

Comer responded by outlining the committee’s current priorities, saying, “We’re focused solely on hospice fraud in California, specifically in Los Angeles County.”

He referenced the findings of a recent audit, stating, “A state audit just came out and confirmed that there’s at least three and a half billion dollars, billion dollars in hospice fraud, primarily in one county, Los Angeles County, in California.”

Comer emphasized the scale of the alleged fraud relative to federal spending, saying, “That three and a half billion dollar price tag represents over 10% of the total bill for the federal government, for hospice in all 50 states, in every city and every state in America.”

He said the audit raised clear concerns about systemic issues, stating, “So the red flags are there that there was rampant fraud.”

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Church attendance report pulled after YouGov finds ‘fraudulent’ responses

A report claiming the number of young people attending church in England and Wales had skyrocketed has been retracted, after the underlying data was found to be flawed.

The Bible Society’s “Quiet Revival” report had been widely reported on since its publication last year and became an accepted part of discourse among many Christians.

Now YouGov, which carried out the research, has told the Bible Society that an internal review of the data found that some of the respondents who completed its survey were “fraudulent”.

It has said that quality control measures, which usually remove such responses, were not applied due to human error.

The original report claimed to show that 4% of 18-24 year olds surveyed in 2018 told YouGov they were Christian and went to church at least once a month, rising to 16% by 2024.

The so-called “Quiet Revival” in young people going to church was mentioned in Parliament, lead to in-depth press coverage, and churches around the country presented their own evidence of young people “turning to Jesus”.

Last year, 600 people attended a church conference in Woking called “turning up the volume on the Quiet Revival”, hearing the phenomenon likened to “a great wave sent by God”.

But academics questioned the findings, pointing out that the results seemed out of step with other data. Results from the long-running British Social Attitudes Survey, and even the Church of England’s own figures, show a long term decline in church attendance.

Experts said that YouGov’s methodology – gathering data from volunteers who received cash rewards for their time – left it vulnerable to “bogus respondents” skewing the data.

YouGov now says that tools meant to eliminate data from such respondents – who may have participated and given random answers just to claim the rewards – “were not administered in the optimal way”.

It says the review of the figures it gave to the Bible Society had taken place “due to the ongoing scrutiny this work received.”

“YouGov takes full responsibility for the outputs of the original 2024 research, and we apologise for what has happened,” says its CEO Stephan Shakespeare.

“We would like to stress that Bible Society has at all times accurately and responsibly reported the data we supplied to them,” he said.

The Bible Society says it is “frustrated and disappointed to be in this position”, adding: “YouGov repeatedly assured us in private before publication, and several times in public following publication, that the results were reliable.”

Professor David Voas, emeritus professor of social science at University College London, was one of those who raised suspicion over the Bible Society’s findings.

“We’ve been telling them (the Bible Society) for the better part of a year that there were serious problems with the data – and even what those problems were likely to be – and they refused to engage with us,” says Professor Voas.

“I don’t know whether to feel gratified by the vindication or annoyed by the amount of time I wasted in pointing out that the numbers were clearly wrong,” he says.

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BLM Activist Ordered to Pay Back $224,000 in COVID Relief Funds, Donations

A Black Lives Matter activist in Boston was ordered on March 23 to pay back more than $224,000 in pandemic relief funds and donations to her nonprofit.

Monica Cannon-Grant, 44, pleaded guilty last fall to multiple fraud charges and filing false tax returns. She was sentenced to serve six months of home confinement, 100 hours of community service, and four years of probation.

Federal District Court Judge Angel Kelly in Boston set the monetary judgment equal to the amount of money Cannon-Grant admitted taking from nonprofit Violence in Boston, which Cannon-Grant founded and where she formerly served as CEO.

In March 2023, a grand jury handed down a 27-count indictment against Cannon-Grant and her husband Clark Grant, charging them with fraud in connection to Violence in Boston, which they founded in 2017. Grant died in a motorcycle crash three weeks after the indictment was served while driving about 30 minutes east of Boston.

Federal prosecutors said Cannon-Grant paid herself about $25,100 in 2020 and more than $170,000 in 2021 from the nonprofit’s account, according to the charging documents.

About $181,037 of the total funds in question were donated to the organization and diverted for her personal use, $33,426 was obtained from pandemic unemployment assistance benefits, and $12,600 were from rental assistance funds, according to the judge.

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Senate Confirms First Ever Assistant Attorney General to Investigate Fraud Nationwide

The US Senate on Tuesday confirmed the first ever Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald to investigate fraud nationwide in a 52-47 vote.

In January, President Trump announced he nominated Colin McDonald to serve as the Assistant Attorney General for National Fraud Enforcement.

“I am pleased to nominate Colin McDonald to serve as the first ever Assistant Attorney General for National FRAUD Enforcement, a new Division at the Department of Justice, which I created to catch and stop FRAUDSTERS that have been STEALING from the American People,” Trump said.

“My Administration has uncovered Fraud schemes in States like Minnesota and California, where these thieves have stolen Hundreds of Billions of Taxpayer Dollars. Colin McDonald is a very Smart, Tough, and Highly Respected AMERICA FIRST Federal Prosecutor who has successfully delivered Justice in some of the most difficult and high stakes cases our Country has ever seen. Together, we will END THE FRAUD, and RESTORE INTEGRITY to our Federal Programs. Congratulations Colin — STOP THE SCAMS!” Trump said.

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Missouri Nonprofit Leader Sentenced to 16 Years in $19.7M Child Meal Fraud

This week, U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig sentenced a former nonprofit executive who stole $19.7 million from a program meant to feed Missouri children to 16 years in prison and ordered her to repay the money.

Connie Bobo, 46, was executive director of New Heights Community Resource Center at the time, which accepted money to provide meals to low-income, school-age children after school and during the summer.

Bobo, 46, of St. Charles, Missouri, was convicted by a jury of three counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft and two counts of obstruction of an official proceeding after a three-day trial in October. Bobo set out to defraud the state from the very outset of her participation in the state’s meal program for children, a sentencing memorandum filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman says. 

“Connie Bobo’s trial clearly showed that this was the largest public assistance and pandemic fraud in state history,” said U.S. Attorney Thomas C. Albus. “Hungry children were turned away when Bobo’s distribution events ran out of food, all because she was spending public money on luxury goods, real estate and an extravagant vehicle.”

In 2018, she submitted fraudulent state program enrollment documents and created fake board members, fake trainings and fake bylaws designed to induce Missouri to provide her with meal money, the memo says. Bobo submitted hundreds of fraudulent meal reimbursement claims from 2019-2022 and spent millions of dollars in public meal funds on luxury goods, homes for relatives, a new home for herself, a $200,000 Mercedes-Benz G550 Wagon for a romantic partner and a $2.2 million commercial real estate investment, evidence and testimony showed.

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Five More Somalis Plead Guilty in $14.6 Million Minneapolis Feeding Our Future Fraud Case

Five additional defendants, all Somali, have pleaded guilty to wire fraud in one of the largest pandemic fraud cases in U.S. history, the Minneapolis Feeding Our Future scandal that stole hundreds of millions of dollars meant for hungry children during COVID.

Ikram Yusuf Mohamed, 42, her husband Shakur Abdinur Abdisalam, 46, her sister Aisha Hassan Hussein, 29, Sahra Sharif Osman, 43, and her mother Fadumo Mohamed Yusuf, 59, each entered guilty pleas this week, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The group ran fake food distribution sites under the Feeding Our Future nonprofit umbrella and submitted phony claims for hundreds of thousands to over a million meals that were never served.

They used fake attendance rosters, inflated invoices through a related company, and paid kickbacks to cover their tracks.

Prosecutors say the five stole and laundered a total of $14.6 million in federal Child Nutrition Program funds, money that was supposed to feed kids during COVID but instead funded personal luxuries like rent, furniture, vacations, dining out, and DoorDash orders.

Each defendant’s company received more than $1 million in taxpayer money.

  • Ikram Yusuf Mohamed opened multiple sites that pulled in over $6.9 million, hid her role by using family names, created Star Distribution LLC for fake invoices ($4.9 million direct and $1.4 million more), and demanded over $1.3 million in kickbacks.
  • Shakur Abdinur Abdisalam ran Inspiring Youth & Outreach LLC, falsely claimed over 1 million meals, received $1.5 million, and paid a $21,000 kickback.
  • Aisha Hassan Hussein ran United Youth of MPLS LLC, claimed 1.3 million meals, received $2.2 million, and paid a $166,000 kickback.
  • Sahra Sharif Osman ran Youth International Club LLC, claimed nearly 700,000 meals, received $1.4 million, and paid a $7,500 kickback.
  • Fadumo Mohamed Yusuf ran Active Mind’s Youth LLC, claimed over 500,000 meals, received $1 million, and paid a $38,500 kickback.

All five pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel.

Each faces up to 20 years in prison.

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SHOCKING: Democrat Texas Rep. Veronica Escobar’s Staffer Caught Posing as Attorney 11 TIMES to Sneak Cell Phones into ICE Detention Facilities – Permanently BANNED After Security Breach

A senior staffer for Texas Democrat Rep. Veronica Escobar repeatedly lied and impersonated an attorney to gain unauthorized access to an ICE detention facility on at least 11 separate occasions, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The staffer, Benito Torres, a senior caseworker in Escobar’s office, falsely claimed to be a licensed attorney or “accredited representative appearing before EOIR on immigration matters.”

Torres signed visitor logs stating he possessed a signed Form G-28 (Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Accredited Representative) and used the deception to meet with detainees at the Camp East Montana ICE facility in Texas.

On January 30, Torres was caught passing a personal cellphone to multiple detainees, a clear violation of facility rules that prohibit personal phones and group meetings.

When confronted by the facility administrator, Torres admitted he was not an attorney and was visiting only as a private citizen. He falsely claimed the visits had been coordinated through Rep. Escobar’s office and ICE headquarters.

A full review of visitor logs revealed Torres had pulled the same stunt at least 11 times between September 26 and January 30.

Earlier this week, Todd M. Lyons, the Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director at ICE, sent a formal letter to Rep. Escobar detailing the violations and permanently banning Torres from all ICE facilities nationwide.

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U.S. Moves to Denaturalize Nigerian National Behind Tax Scam That Targeted Over 259,000 Victims

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed and served a civil denaturalization complaint in the U.S. District Court in Baltimore, Maryland, against Emmanuel Oluwatosin Kazeem, a native of Nigeria who organized a vast conspiracy to steal identities and file fraudulent tax returns. 

In 2017, he was convicted of 19 counts of mail and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and sentenced to 15 years in prison. But in 2024, then-President Biden commuted his sentence after only six years.

The newly filed denaturalization complaint alleges that Kazeem’s fraud scheme, which he committed in the years before and after his naturalization, along with the concealment of his crimes, precluded him from obtaining his naturalization lawfully. The complaint also alleges that Kazeem had, prior to his fraud scheme, engaged in a sham marriage to obtain permanent resident status and then married a second woman, further disqualifying him from naturalization.

“The Trump Administration will not permit wrongdoers to retain the U.S. citizenship that they were never entitled to in the first place,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “U.S. Citizenship is a privilege, and we will continue to ask courts to revoke a status that was obtained through fraud and deceit.” 

According to court documents and evidence presented at Kazeem’s criminal trial, in May 2013, a victim in Medford, Oregon, notified the IRS that false federal and Oregon state tax returns were filed electronically using her and her husband’s personal identifying information (PII), including social security numbers and dates of birth.

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Is “Taxation Without Representation” Occurring in 2026? Massive School District Bond Fraud Uncovered Across the US

Perhaps no phrase is used more to describe the grievances of the colonists in the lead-up to the American Revolution than “No taxation without representation!”

Mark Maloy, a historian wrote “While the exact phrase did not appear until 1768, the principle of having consent from the people on issues of taxation can be traced all the way back to the Magna Carta in 1215.

The Magna Carta was one of the first steps in limiting the power of the king and transferring that power to the legislative body in England, the Parliament. Parliament had the power to levy taxes. When King Charles I attempted to impose taxes on the English people by himself in 1627, the Parliament passed the Petition of Right the following year, which stated that the subjects of the king “should not be compelled to contribute to any tax, tallage, aid, or other like charge not set by common consent, in parliament.”

The Magna Carta, the Petition of Right and the English Bill of Rights from 1689 helped to form the basis of the British constitution (which is not a single document, but a combination of written and unwritten agreements). The British constitution protected the rights of Englishmen. English colonists in North America believed that they had the same rights as Englishmen. In North America, colonists formed their own colonial governments under charters from the king and regulated their own forms of taxation through their colonial legislatures. For many decades, these colonies enjoyed an extended period of benign neglect as the English parliament let them handle taxation on their own.

In Great Britain in the eighteenth century, there were no income taxes because it was viewed as too much of a government intrusion into the lives of the people. Instead, taxes were placed on property and on imported and exported goods. Money from these taxes helped to pay for public goods and services and supported the government’s military for defense.

In North America, the British colonies regulated their own tax system in each individual colony. These taxes, though, were exceedingly low, and the colonies did not have a professional military to support. Instead, they used a volunteer militia system to defend their towns and homes from attacks along the frontier.

In 1754, the French and Indian War broke out in North America. During the war, the British sent their military to help defend the colonies. The war spread across the globe and became known as the Seven Years’ War. Following Britain’s victory in 1763, the British national debt greatly increased. They now had a larger empire that needed to be defended. In light of this tenuous situation, and since the North American colonists benefited directly from the British military during the war, Great Britain looked to levy taxes on the colonists to raise revenue for the Crown.

In Massachusetts in 1764, James Otis published a pamphlet titled “The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved,” which argued that man’s rights come from God and that governments should only exist to protect those natural rights. He believed that any attempt to tax the colonists without their consent violated the British constitution. Here, Otis made a compelling argument for the need for representation in any taxation on the colonies: “no parts of His Majesty’s dominions can be taxed without their consent; that every part has a right to be represented in the supreme or some subordinate legislature; that the refusal of this would seem to be a contradiction in practice to the theory of the constitution.”

Colonists wrote pamphlets protesting taxes and explaining their views. Daniel Dulaney the Younger from Maryland wrote this one in 1765.

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Muckraker Investigates California’s Election Fraud: Foreigners From Africa Encourage Ballot Petition Fraud

Another one!

Muckraker released footage of its latest investigation into California’s election fraud.

Click here for the video.

– Petitioners paying homeless people with cigarettes and cash for signatures.
– Voters lied to about what they were signing.
– Foreign nationals encouraging outright fraud.

“Furthermore, we exposed a man previously named in Swiss criminal complaints for ballot petition fraud, who is now running a petition company in Los Angeles. He suggested to us that it is “okay” to give cigarettes in exchange for ballot petition signatures, which is a misdemeanor crime under California law,” Muckraker reported.

This is the second time this week that undercover journalists have exposed a cash for ballots scheme in California.

The O’Keefe Media Group on Tuesday released part one of its investigation into a California elections fraud cash for ballots scheme.

Earlier this week James O’Keefe and his team of journalists went undercover on Skid Row in Los Angeles posing as homeless people.

‘Petitioners’ told the undercover journalists that they are paid between $7-$10 per signature. Some of them earn up to $1,000 per day.

“California NGOs Encourage Fake Addresses To Homeless People To Sign Petitions & Register Voters, A State & Federal Felony. Footage Shows 28 Instances Of Cash Changing Hands For Ballot Signatures & Voter Registration Forms,” they said.

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