Tag: fraud

Children’s Health Defense Supports the Motion Against U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Alleging Fraud in Omnibus Autism Proceeding

Children’s Health Defense (CHD) Senior Staff Attorney Rolf Hazlehurst filed a motion in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims alleging that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), representing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), committed fraud in its representation of HHS in the Omnibus Autism Proceeding (OAP) in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP).

The OAP was established to consolidate and adjudicate the approximately 5,400 claims filed on behalf of children who regressed into autism following vaccination.

In 2003, Hazlehurst filed a claim in the program on behalf of his son Yates, diagnosed with autism after suffering adverse reactions following routine childhood vaccines. Hazlehurst’s claim was one of six original “test cases” in 2007 that would decide the fate of all the other claims in the OAP.

According to the newly filed motion, the DOJ attorneys engaged in a series of acts of fraud upon the courts, beginning in the NVICP and ultimately impacting the Supreme Court of the United States.

In the NVICP, DOJ attorneys concealed from the special masters and petitioners that the government’s top expert witness, a world-renowned pediatric neurologist, revised his opinion on whether vaccines can cause autism.

The expert explained to the DOJ attorneys that vaccines can cause autism in a subset of children. The witness had been scheduled to testify in the first test case in the OAP.

However, the DOJ abruptly dismissed him as a witness once they learned of his clarification. Without the witness’s knowledge, DOJ attorneys repeatedly misrepresented his prior case-specific written opinion in the OAP to argue there is no scientific basis that vaccines cause autism.

Ultimately, all of the 5,400 OAP claims were dismissed, leaving vaccine-injured children and their families with no recourse.

“The DOJ’s first act of fraud upon the court snowballed into a massive scheme of deception with far-reaching implications. Their fraudulent scheme denied justice to Yates and the thousands of other children in the OAP,” said Hazlehurst.

“By hiding that their own expert’s opinion had changed to favor Yates and other children in the OAP, the DOJ effectively closed the NVICP’s doors to the injured children with similar claims who have followed.”

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Report: Jon Stewart Found to Have Overvalued New York Home After Accusing Trump of ‘Lying’ About Property Values

Comedian Jon Stewart is facing online mockery after a new report showed that he overvalued his New York City home during a sale.  The revelation comes after Stewart devoted a recent episode of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show to ridiculing former President Donald Trump over his New York civil case involving real estate valuations.

On Monday’s show, Jon Stewart accused Trump of “lying”  about the valuation of some of his properties, claiming Trump’s “shenanigans cost the city of New York.”

But documents obtained by the New York Post appear to show that Stewart once overvalued his own New York home by more than $16 million.

In 2014, the comedian reportedly sold his 6,280-square-foot Tribeca duplex to financier Parag Pande for $17.5 million. But, according to 2013-2014 assessor records obtained by The Post, the property had the estimated market value of only $1.882 million. The actual assessor valuation for property tax purposes was $847,174.

Records also show that Stewart paid property taxes based on that assessor valuation price — in other words, what he accused Trump of doing.

The report has inspired online mockery of Stewart.

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Study Shows Colorado Marijuana Products Are Overstating THC Potency, With Researcher Citing Possible ‘Lab Fraud’

Cannabis flower sold in Colorado claims to contain much more tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, than it actually does, according to my findings published in the peer-reviewed journal Plos One.

THC is the psychoactive compound that is derived when cannabis flower—commonly referred to as “bud”—is heated through smoking or cooking.

Why it matters

Accurate THC reporting is a linchpin for medical patients, recreational consumers and the overall integrity of the cannabis industry. Medical and recreational flower is generally the same—the difference is in testing requirements, price, taxes and purchase limits. Misleading potency information can disrupt medical dosages, misguide recreational users and erode trust in an industry striving for legitimacy.

Consumers often associate higher THC levels in cannabis flower with superior quality, potentially leading to overpayment for products that may not meet their expectations. This misconception can also create incentives for cultivators, testing labs and dispensaries to generate higher THC numbers—whether through cultivation techniques or through testing fraud.

Additionally, testing for toxins, pesticides and total yeast and mold can also fall victim to falsification. Recent reports reveal instances where labs in New York and other states have passed products that should have failed. This casts doubt on the credibility of the broader testing processes in place.

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Colorado’s star forensic scientist, Yvonne “Missy” Woods, EXPOSED for alleged data fraud – those she sent to prison now want their convictions reexamined

One of the largest scandals in forensic DNA testing is unfolding in Colorado where a veteran forensic scientist abruptly quit her post last fall amid allegations that her data compilation methods are fraudulent.

Yvonne “Missy” Woods worked as Colorado’s star forensic scientist for nearly three decades supplying police and prosecutors with DNA testing data in some of the most high-profile and baffling crimes in the state’s history – that is, until she resigned in late 2023.

An internal review into Woods’ work revealed anomalies so severe that a criminal probe was launched. What many are now wondering is: Is Colorado’s criminal justice system legitimate?

In order to answer that question, the state says it needs to review and retest about 3,000 DNA samples that Woods handled. The end result could be thousands of cases thought to have been solved having to be looked at a second time, public defenders warn.

Those convicted based on Woods’ potentially corrupted DNA findings could end up suing the state, and prosecutors are now bracing for this onslaught. The state has also allocated nearly $7.5 million in preparation for these possible retrials and case reviews, along with retesting.

“This is a huge, unprecedented mess,” said George Brauchler, a former district attorney in the Denver suburbs whose office oversaw numerous cases in which Woods testified. “I want to know: What in the world did she do?”

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A REAL SOCIAL SECURITY OFFICE GAVE ME A FLYER WITH A SCAM PHONE NUMBER ON IT

“WE NEED TO let you know you have been selected for $100 in rewards.”

It was a cheery automated message, not what I expected when I called the number for the Social Security Administration’s primary office in Manhattan. The message went on: “Simply press 1 now to be connected to a live agent and claim your gift today.”

I double-checked the number, which a Social Security employee had just given me at the agency’s local office in Harlem in late February. I needed to replace a lost card, which was a service only offered at certain locations, the agent told me. He slid me a flyer and circled the contact information for the office in the Financial District in Manhattan.

“You can call this number to try making an appointment,” the agent told me.

Still sitting in the lobby of the Harlem building, I dialed the number a couple more times, and each time reached a different grifter: I was eligible for another $100 gift card to Walmart, then help getting “free insurance.” I just had to hand over my name and address, to “confirm you’re eligible,” one scammer said. These are prototypical phone scam scripts.

In a recent experimental study, researchers posing as employees of a fictious government agency convinced more than 16 percent of older adult participants to hand over personal information, including their Social Security numbers. In another experiment, with college students, more than a third of participants gave out personally identifying information to scammers.

Highly unusual about the flyer in my hands, however, was that a very real government agency had given it to me.

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AI Fraud Act Could Outlaw Parodies, Political Cartoons, and More

Mixing new technology and new laws is always a fraught business, especially if the tech in question relates to communication. Lawmakers routinely propose bills that would sweep up all sorts of First Amendment-protected speech. We’ve seen a lot of this with social media, and we’re starting to see it with artificial intelligence. Case in point: the No Artificial Intelligence Fake Replicas And Unauthorized Duplications (No AI FRAUD) Act. Under the auspices of protecting “Americans’ individual right to their likeness and voice,” the bill would restrict a range of content wide enough to ensnare parody videos, comedic impressions, political cartoons, and much more.

The bill’s sponsors, Reps. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) and Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), say they’re concerned about “AI-generated fakes and forgeries,” per a press release. They aim to protect people from unauthorized use of their own images and voices by defining these things as the intellectual property of each individual.

The No AI Fraud Act cites several instances of AI being used to make it appear that celebrities created ads or art that they did not actually create. For instance, “AI technology was used to create the song titled ‘Heart on My Sleeve,’ emulating the voices of recording artists Drake and The Weeknd,” states the bill’s text. AI technology was also used “to create a false endorsement featuring Tom Hanks’ face in an advertisement for a dental plan.”

But while the examples in the bill are directly related to AI, the bill’s actual reach is much more expansive, targeting a wide swath of “digital depictions” or “digital voice replicas.”

Salazar and Dean say the bill balances people’s “right to control the use of their identifying characteristics” with “First Amendment protections to safeguard speech and innovation.” But while the measure does nod to free speech rights, it also expands the types of speech deemed legally acceptable to restrict. It could mean way more legal hassles for creators and platforms interested in exercising their First Amendment rights, and result in a chilling effect on certain sorts of comedy, commentary, and artistic expression.

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TSA director arrested by US Customs and Border Protection

An official with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been arrested on an outstanding warrant, according to local reports.

TSA Assistant Federal Security Director Maxine McManaman was arrested in Atlanta by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Dec. 28. 

McManaman had a warrant for her arrest posted by the St. Lucie County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office, which claimed she and an alleged accomplice named Delroy Chambers Sr. exploited a relative suffering from dementia by falsifying documents in their name, according to Port St. Lucie Police.

The Florida authorities allege that the duo forged signatures on a quitclaim deed transferring ownership of a property in the relative’s name over to themselves.

The relative whose property was transferred to McManaman and Chambers allegedly could not have signed the quitclaim deed, because the individual was found to have been in Atlanta on the date listed, according to police. 

Chambers was previously arrested on Dec. 20 in Port St. Lucie, charged with two counts of exploitation of an elderly or disabled adult, simple neglect and two counts of forgery. He eventually bonded out of jail. 

McManaman is facing a third-degree felony charge of forgery.

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Preacher who sold £91 ‘divine plague protection kits’ he said could cure Covid after he was visited by God loses appeal against fraud conviction

A preacher who sold £91 ‘divine plague protection kits’ as a cure for Covid-19 has lost his appeal against his conviction for fraud today. 

Bishop Climate Wiseman, 47, offered a package, containing a small bottle of hyssop, cedarwood and olive oil along with a prayer card and piece of scarlet yarn. 

The head of the Kingdom Church in Camberwell, south London, said he had a visitation from God and told jurors he had performed miracles. 

Wiseman denied he was a conman and insisted he was a ‘man of God’, despite being convicted of fraud at Inner London Crown Court last December after telling members of his flock that the kits could ward off and cure infection.

Southwark Trading Standards officers were alerted to his scam on 24 March 2020 – the day after the country was plunged into lockdown. 

Wiseman was sentenced to 12 months jail suspended for two years and ordered to complete 130 hours unpaid work. 

He was also ordered to pay £60,072 in costs to Southwark Borough Council and given three months to pay.  

Wiseman appealed against his conviction on the grounds the trial judge directed the jury inadequately on essential questions of knowledge and dishonesty.

Hyssop is mentioned in the Bible as a means of warding off plague, specifically leprosy, and has a history of use in remedies for nose, throat, and lung afflictions. 

However, the only modern use for the aromatic garden herb is for the flavouring of foods and beverages due to its sweet scent and bitter taste. 

He also claimed an error in his defence counsel’s closing speech should have led the judge to discharge the jury.

Wiseman also renewed his application for leave to appeal against the costs order.

But Lady Chief Justice Carr, sitting with Mr Justice Goose and Mr Justice Foxton, threw out his appeal at the High Court.

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Full Extent of COVID Fraud Will ‘Never Be Known With Certainty’

A couple claiming to run a farm that employed dozens of people used fake employee records to get more than $1 million in COVID-19 relief payments when they actually employed no one on a farm that did not exist.

A social media influencer created fake documents to score more than $400,000 in COVID-19 funds meant to help small businesses, then used the money to buy cryptocurrency and gifts for his girlfriend.

A state employee whose job was to stop unemployment benefits fraud helped other fraudsters navigate around fraud prevention systems so they could steal more than $1 million, including federal tax dollars made available to states during the pandemic.

Only now, nearly four years after the federal government approved an unprecedented amount of emergency spending in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, are investigators getting a full picture of all the ways that schemers and thieves raided programs. Congress approved about $4.6 trillion in COVID-19 emergency spending, and so much of it was stolen that auditors now say we’ll likely never have a full accounting of it all.

“When the federal government provides emergency assistance, the risk of payment errors—including those attributable to fraud—may increase because the need to provide this assistance quickly can lead agencies to relax or forego effective safeguards,” the Government Accountability Office (GAO) explained in a new report summing up efforts to recoup stolen funds. “Because not all fraud will be identified, investigated, and adjudicated through judicial or other systems, the full extent of fraud associated with the COVID-19 relief funds will never be known with certainty.”

As Reason has previously reported, auditors believe that about $200 billion was fraudulently disbursed from two programs run by the Small Business Administration (SBA) during the pandemic. That’s about one-sixth of all spending run through the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. Additionally, the GAO believes that between $100 billion and $135 billion in federal unemployment funds—provided to states on a temporary basis during the pandemic—were lost to fraud.

One former U.S. attorney has called it “the biggest fraud in a generation.”

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Deepfake Fraud Surges More Than 1000%, Insiders Say It’s Just The Beginning

As the line between fact and fiction gets harder to distinguish, online criminals need just two hours to create a realistic, computer-generated “deepfake” product that can ruin someone’s life.

The surge in popularity of hyper-realistic photos, audio, and videos developed with artificial intelligence (AI)—commonly known as deepfakes—has become an internet sensation.

It’s also giving cyber villains an edge in the crime world.

Between 2022 and the first quarter of this year, deepfake use in fraud catapulted 1,200 percent in the United States alone.

Though it’s not just an American problem.

In the same analysis, deepfakes used for scam purposes exploded in Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom. In the study, the United States accounted for 4.3 percent of global deepfake fraud cases.

Meanwhile, AI experts and cybercrime investigators say we’re just at the tip of the iceberg. The rabbit hole of deepfake fraud potential just keeps going.

“I believe the No. 1 incentive for cyber criminals to commit cybercrime is law enforcement and their inability to keep up,” Michael Roberts told The Epoch Times.

Mr. Roberts is a professional investigator and the founder of the pioneer company Rexxfield, which helps victims of web-based attacks.

He also started PICDO, a cyber crime disruption organization, and has run counter-hacking education for branches of the U.S. and Australian militaries as well as NATO.

Mr. Roberts said legal systems in the Western world are “hopelessly overwhelmed” by online fraud cases, many of which include deepfake attacks. Moreover, the cases that get investigated without hiring a private firm are cherry-picked.

“And even then, it [the case] doesn’t get resolved,” he said.

The market for deepfake detection was valued at $3.86 billion dollars in 2020 and is expected to grow 42 percent annually through 2026, according to an HSRC report.

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