Tag: fraud

Waste of the Day: Education Fraud Sweeps Nation

At Broward County Public Schools in Florida, information officer Anthony Hunter allegedly used district funds to buy $17 million worth of school supplies from a friend’s business, ignoring the competitive bidding process. In return, the friend hired Hunter and his son to work a security job and sold Hunter a house for $150,000 below market value, state prosecutors claim

Chicago Public Schools received $1 million of federal grants meant for Native American students, using an application that included more than 1,000 students of South Asian descent. The district was unable to verify how many students were actually in the program, and agreed to repay the money.

Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com.

Fraud arguably hits small school districts the hardest because they have fewer budgetary resources to begin with. When Janis Bucknor, former head of Community Preparatory Academy in California, admitted to stealing $3 million from the school over five years, it amounted to one-third of all the school’s state and federal funding.

Bucknor spent $220,600 of the money on Disney vacations and also funded her internet shopping and private school tuition for her kids. She was sentenced to three years of home detention and ordered to repay the money.

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US government loses up to $521B annually to fraud as key GAO recommendations still not implemented

he federal government continues to lose an estimated $233 billion to $521 billion each year to fraud, while most agencies overseeing the nation’s largest federally funded programs have yet to implement one of the Government Accountability Office’s top recommendations for preventing those losses, according to a new GAO report.

The report, Managing Risks in Federally Funded, State-Administered Programs, reviewed the 20 largest federally funded, state-administered programs, which accounted for approximately $1.1 trillion in federal obligations in fiscal year 2025.

The GAO found in the report released Thursday that most agencies have not completed documented fraud risk assessments. The assessments are instrumental in identifying where fraud is most likely to occur and how to prevent it.

“Federal and state agencies can better manage fraud risks and prevent fraud by applying GAO frameworks for managing fraud risks and improper payments, as well as other leading practices; leveraging available federal analytic resources, such as Do Not Pay, to verify recipient identity and eligibility before issuing federal funds; and implementing recommendations from GAO and other oversight entities that would address existing program vulnerabilities,” the report read.

The watchdog said there are currently 22 open recommendations that are focused on enhancing fraud prevention practices across the programs covered in the report.

The watchdog urged federal agencies to implement them to better safeguard taxpayer funds, particularly in state-administered programs.

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Report: Ilhan Omar’s Sister Incorporated Her $20 Million USAID-Linked Consulting Firm Using the Exact Same Home Address as ‘Feeding Our Future’ Scandal

Another stunning connection has emerged between Rep. Ilhan Omar’s family and the sprawling Feeding Our Future fraud scandal that robbed American taxpayers of hundreds of millions of dollars intended to feed needy children.

Omar’s sister, Sahra Noor, registered her consulting company at a Minnesota residence connected through business records to several major figures in the Feeding Our Future operation, according to an investigation by The Daily Wire.

Noor founded Grit Partners Consulting, a health and leadership consultancy focused largely on projects in Africa.

Noor’s website claims that she has “secured more than $20 million in funding for health initiatives” and consulted on projects backed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USAID, GAVI, and the World Bank.

The website does not say that Grit Partners itself received $20 million from USAID. Rather, Noor claims to have secured more than $20 million for health initiatives while consulting on projects supported by multiple agencies and organizations, including USAID. Noor’s website

But it is the address used to incorporate her company that is now raising serious questions.

According to The Daily Wire’s investigation, Grit Partners was registered at a home on Hyacinth Way in Lakeville, Minnesota.

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Elderly Michigan Widow in Trailer Shocked to Learn She’s a ‘Mega-Donor’ to Dems – ‘Gave’ $150K via ActBlue Over 5 Years While Living on Modest Pension

An 88-year-old widow living in a trailer in rural Michigan has been listed as funneling over $150,000 to Democrat causes through ActBlue.

Nearly 15,000 separate donations averaging eight per day, every single day, for five years, Michigan Enjoyer first reported.

The latest allegations come as ActBlue continues to face intense scrutiny from congressional investigators and federal authorities over its donor verification practices and allegations of potentially fraudulent contributions.

According to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Charlie LeDuff, 88-year-old Elizabeth Waffle was stunned after learning Federal Election Commission records attribute 14,696 separate donations totaling nearly $150,000 to her name over the past five years.

The records indicate she averaged roughly eight donations every single day during that period, including 47 donations to Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed over the last two years.

She admitted making a few small, legitimate donations as a “true believer” in liberal causes, including some to El-Sayed. But 47 donations to him alone over two years? The avalanche of $150K total? Impossible. Some were tied to old addresses. Others went to candidates she’d never heard of.

Waffle told LeDuff she had no knowledge of the donations.

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Authorities Arrest Fugitive Behind Alleged $547 Million Medicare Fraud

A man on the FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters list, accused of a scheme to defraud Medicare of $547 million, was arrested by authorities on Monday.

The foreign national, Khalid Satary, 54, owned and operated multiple diagnostic testing laboratories in the United States between 2016 and 2019 that billed Medicare for “expensive and medically unnecessary genetic tests,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a July 21 statement.

Satary is accused of conspiring with several patient recruiters and telemarketing services to generate unnecessary cancer genetic test samples that were reimbursed by Medicare at the rate of $10,000 to $20,000 per sample.

To run the operation, Satary allegedly paid millions of dollars in bribes and illegal kickbacks to patient recruiters and doctors.

The defendant was initially indicted in 2019. However, Satary was later released on bond, with the condition that he doesn’t work in the healthcare sector. While on bond, Satary allegedly conspired with labs in Texas to continue submitting fraudulent genetic testing claims to Medicare.

A federal arrest warrant was issued against him in December 2022. However, Satary failed to appear for a court hearing and was believed to have escaped the United States. On July 20 this year, the defendant was arrested in the Middle East with a fake Mexican passport using a fake name. He was then transferred to U.S. authorities.

The Most Wanted Fraudsters list was announced by FBI Director Kash Patel last month. The White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud partnered with the FBI to compile the list, according to a June 19 X post from Vice President JD Vance, the task force’s chairman.

The task force was established through a March 16 executive order signed by President Donald Trump, which said criminals and other individuals were exploiting various benefit programs intended to provide American citizens with a safety net.

Trump ordered the task force to “coordinate and accelerate a comprehensive national strategy to stop fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.”

One of those on the list, Said Abdullahi Ereg, surrendered to law enforcement on June 10, according to the FBI and federal prosecutors. Ereg is accused of laundering millions of dollars from a program that aimed to feed needy children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another individual on the list, Herbert Leon Kimble, accused of $1.2 billion Medicare fraud, was arrested on June 11 in the Philippines.

In its latest statement, the DOJ said that Satary has been charged with various fraud-related crimes, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and paying bribes and illegal healthcare kickbacks. He faces a multi-decade prison term if convicted.

“The arrest of Khalid Ahmed Satary and return to the U.S. is the third Most Wanted Fraudster capture from this FBI and our partners in just five weeks—continuing the historic run of success for this new initiative,” Patel said in the statement.

“This is another subject who exploited a program dedicated to helping our most vulnerable and instead stole for himself. Satary has been on the run since 2022, but we got him thanks to great work and coordination from the interagency and our overseas partners.”

The Epoch Times was unable to reach Satary’s legal representative.

According to the FBI’s website, Satary is one among nine individuals currently mentioned on the Most Wanted Fraudsters list.

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CMS Stopped Medicare Payments to California, and This Is How Gavin Newsom Responded

Yesterday, the Trump administration announced it was pausing more than $1 billion in federal Medicaid payments to Minnesota and California because of the suspected rampant fraud and noncompliance in both states. In a press conference with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) head Dr. Oz and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, it was announced that California will not receive $867 million until it can prove Medicaid and Medicare payments are legitimate.

Dr. Oz pointed out that California spending on in-home care went up 24 percent in the last two years, double the country’s average. “California increased spending at twice the rate of the average of the rest of the entire nation,” he said. “That doesn’t make sense.” Doubly so when you consider that California has had a net population loss over the last several years.

We all knew Gov. Gavin Newsom would respond to this pausing of payments, and he tried to blame President Trump for it. But it did not go well for Newsom, at all.

“They’re withholding it. But we knew this weeks ago because we’ve been working with them, but they decided again to make it a thing,” Newsom said.

Really? Newsom knew this weeks ago and didn’t say a word about it until today? We don’t buy that for a second.

“We’re trying to be collaborative,” he continued, “understand, it’s ready, fire, aim for them. They’re suggesting something but they haven’t even gotten the response from the state. And now they’re suggesting it very publicly in order to make. This is politics and you know it’s politics. To the extent it’s substantive, bring it on. We want to work with them.”

CMS said it was withholding payments for noncompliance, after requesting information and a plan to address Medicare/Medicaid from California months ago. Has the Newsom administration sent that plan to CMS? Is Newsom really working with the Trump administration he routinely bashes?

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HORROR: Whistleblower says Native Americans were drugged, locked in fake rehab houses so criminals could steal billions from Medicaid – up to 2,000 dead or missing

A massive Medicaid fraud scheme in Arizona has left up to 2,000 Native Americans feared dead or missing, with whistleblowers and attorneys sounding the alarm that the nightmare is still ongoing.

New whistleblower allegations claim vulnerable Native Americans were allegedly lured into white vans with promises of treatment, then plied with fentanyl, methamphetamine, alcohol, and other drugs before being imprisoned inside fake behavioral health homes where operators allegedly billed Medicaid for months of fraudulent “treatment.”

Arizona officials have previously estimated the fraud exceeded $2.5 to $2.8 billion, while the latest whistleblower allegations contend the broader network may have generated up to $12 billion in fraudulent Medicaid claims over time.

Even more chilling, as many as 2,000 Native Americans may be dead or missing as a result of the sprawling scheme, according to NewsNation Now.

Arizona officials knew about the fraud as far back as 2019, according to the lawsuit.

The news outlet reported:

A Navajo advocate who has blown the whistle on fraudulent “sober living” homes in Arizona says she began shining a light on the Medicaid scam targeting Native Americans after her own cousin was kidnapped by operators who plied her relative with drugs and alcohol.

“They told her she would go to Phoenix for the day and (they would) take her home. All throughout the ride they gave her alcohol,” Reva Stewart told “Jesse Weber Live” on Friday.

She said the people who took her cousin demanded personal information from her as they tried to persuade her to stay at a residence. When her cousin refused, Stewart said, they gave her a fentanyl pill and “told her that she would have to find her way home.”

When Stewart learned of her relative’s ordeal, she realized there was a connection between other missing Native Americans and white vans that were observed cruising around tribal communities.

A civil lawsuit against the Arizona government says state officials enabled what essentially was a plot to divert as many as 7,000 Native Americans to fake sober living homes in Phoenix.

Operators allegedly charged billions in Medicaid services that were not provided as handlers plied residents with drugs. An estimated 2,000 victims are still missing, attorneys have said.

During a recent interview, Stewart detailed the ongoing lawsuit and whistleblower testimony, describing conditions that resemble human trafficking more than addiction treatment.

According to whistleblower accounts, recruiters allegedly drove through tribal communities in unmarked white vans looking for vulnerable people struggling with addiction.

Victims were allegedly offered food, shelter, and treatment before being transported to bogus treatment centers.

Once inside, many never received legitimate medical care.

Instead, whistleblowers say patients were deliberately kept addicted because every additional day meant another Medicaid reimbursement.

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‘I See Dead People’: Treasury Blocks $99 Million In Federal Payments To Deceased Americans

The Treasury Department announced Tuesday morning that it has successfully implemented new safeguards to prevent government payments to dead people in an effort to reduce waste and fraud.

The verification system includes screening 885 million federal payments against expanded death records, effectively auditing payments totaling nearly $2.7 trillion.

It has already flagged and stopped payments totaling roughly $99 million that had been marked to be sent to dead people.

“Treasury has delivered on a key promise of President Trump’s mandate to stop improper payments and fraud before money leaves the Treasury, and strengthen the integrity of the federal payment system,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

“Together with Vice President Vance’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, this new safeguard addresses a longstanding vulnerability and helps ensure every dollar the federal government spends reaches its intended recipient. Treasury will continue efforts to modernize the federal payment system, strengthen safeguards against fraud and improper payments, and protect taxpayer dollars.”

As Jack Phillips reports for The Epoch Times, while speaking to Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo on July 21, Bessent said his office believes there is “up to $350 million that we can stop before the end of this year” in line with Vice President JD Vance’s anti-fraud task force that was initiated earlier this year.

“This number might be up to $500 billion, which is about 1.66 percent of GDP,“ he added, referring to potentially improper payments that could be blocked.

”So that could go a long way towards paying down the debt, providing more services. And this is just the start.”

In February, Trump signed the “Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act,” which authorizes the Treasury Department to access the Social Security death master file to evaluate payments.

Access was initially granted on a temporary, three-year basis through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, signed in 2021, according to the Treasury.

In March, Trump signed an order to establish the Vance-led task force to investigate the federal government’s “vast benefits system for citizens in need that includes housing, food, medical care, cash assistance, and more” while stating that some states have not implemented “basic fraud controls.”

Vance in May said that the fraud task force has located and “exposed billions of dollars in benefits that have been stolen from the American people” in two months.

He cited fraudulent payments sent out through small business loans, Medicaid reimbursements, and COVID-19-related relief programs.

In early 2025, the Elon Musk-associated Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was established to look into fraud, waste, and abuse across the federal government. DOGE recently announced that its mandate ended on July 4.

At one point, DOGE staffers were investigating Social Security payments and records for possible fraud. DOGE’s access was the subject of numerous lawsuits before the Supreme Court ruled in DOGE’s favor last summer. The task force in May 2025 said it performed a “major cleanup” of the agency’s records, finding that 12.3 million people in the system were marked as “deceased.”

The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to an Epoch Times request on Tuesday for additional comment on the figures that Bessent provided.

Bessent added in a statement that the department will “continue efforts to modernize the federal payment system, strengthen safeguards against fraud and improper payments, and protect taxpayer dollars.”

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Democrats Nominate Anti-ICE Candidate Accused of Mortgage Fraud and Throwing a Bottle at a Woman for Maine Senate Race

Democrats in Maine have selected former state Senate President Troy Jackson as their nominee for the Senate seat currently held by Republican Susan Collins.

Jackson supports abolishing ICE, Medicare for All, and expanding the Supreme Court.

The new candidate will replace Graham Platner, who withdrew from the race amid sexual misconduct allegations.

Jackson secured overwhelming support in county delegate elections over the weekend, winning majorities in nearly every county.

This gives him a commanding lead heading into the Democratic nominating convention scheduled for July 25.

Several rivals, including Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and former state CDC director Nirav Shah, have already dropped out and endorsed Jackson.

Jackson, a logger from Allagash, previously served as Senate President from 2018 to 2024.

He ran unsuccessfully for governor and has long been aligned with progressive causes, including labor unions.

An ethics complaint was filed against him in 2023 regarding a 2019 home purchase in Augusta using an FHA loan.

Jackson allegedly signed documents stating the Augusta property would be his primary residence but continued to claim Allagash as his residence for legislative and other purposes.

The politician claimed he “never really read” the mortgage documents and relied on his broker.

The Maine Ethics Commission reviewed complaints but did not pursue further action.

Additionally, the group Progressive Victory has warned that Jackson once threw a bottle at a female colleague, describing the incident as an “open secret” in Maine politics.

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President Trump Exposes National Academy of Sciences for Publishing FRAUDULENT, Biased Climate Manuals Used by Federal Judges — Orders Suspension and Debarment Review of the Climate Fraud

President Donald Trump dropped a major bombshell on Truth Social Sunday night, revealing that the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has been caught publishing fraudulent, biased, and misleading “scientific” manuals on climate change that federal judges relied upon to greenlight massive climate cases.

For years, everyday Americans have been forced to sit back and watch as radical left-wing activists, rogue activist judges, and entrenched bureaucrats used junk science to destroy energy independence, cripple domestic manufacturing, and force the fraudulent “Green New Scam” down our throats.

These bogus manuals, Trump announced, have created huge losses across our country. He is now ordering Federal Suspension and Debarment Officials to review the conduct. Taxpayers will no longer fund this climate fraud, and judges will no longer be allowed to treat political propaganda as science.

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