June 28, 2019

After debate duel, O'Rourke, Castro set dueling Austin events Friday

After an eye-opening showdown between Julián Castro and Beto O’Rourke during Wednesday’s debate in Miami, the presidential contenders will travel to Austin for separate Friday night events, inviting further comparisons between the two Texas candidates.

Only now, it’s Castro who is on the rise after the former San Antonio mayor went on the offensive in the debate, gaining political momentum at O’Rourke’s expense and capturing a coveted piece of the national spotlight.

Castro’s meet and greet, announced last week, will begin at 7 p.m. at Cheer Up Charlies, a downtown Austin bar.

Not to be outdone in a city ripe with Democratic voters, O’Rourke announced Thursday that he too will hold an Austin event Friday that will begin at 6 p.m. at Scholz Garten, only a few blocks from Castro’s gathering.

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20190627/after-debate-duel-orourke-castro-set-dueling-austin-events-friday

June 28, 2019

Lozoya: Brownsville being left behind due to digital divide

BROWNSVILLE, RGV – As he said he would, Mario Lozoya of the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation brought up the subject of the digital divide when he appeared at a Wilson Center conference in Washington, D.C.

GBIC’s executive director was a panelist at the 6th Annual Building a Competitive U.S.-Mexico Border Conference hosted by the Mexico Institute. The Mexico Institute is part of the Wilson Center.

The title of the panel discussion was: From Risk to Asset: Economic Development in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region. The panel consisted of Lozoya, Jon Barela, CEO of The Borderplex Alliance and Federico Schaffler, director of the Texas Center for Border Economic Enterprise Development at Texas A&M International University in Laredo. The moderator was Christopher Wilson, deputy director of the Mexico Institute.

“Connectivity, in terms of broadband, 67 percent of the households in Brownsville are not connected,” Lozoya stated.

Read more: https://riograndeguardian.com/lozoya-brownsville-being-left-behind-due-to-digital-divide/

June 28, 2019

Anne Arundel Medical Center To Pay More Than $3M To Settle Federal False Claims Act Allegations

Baltimore, Maryland – Anne Arundel Medical Center (“AAMC”), located in Annapolis, Maryland, has agreed to pay the United States $3,154,000 to settle allegations under the False Claims Act that it submitted false claims to Medicare for services that were not medically necessary.

The settlement agreement was announced today by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge of the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, Maureen Dixon; Norbert E. Vint, Acting Inspector General of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management; and Robert E. Craig, Jr., Special Agent in Charge for the Defense Criminal Investigative Services, Mid-Atlantic Division.

“Companies that submit false bills to the government must be held accountable. The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to taking the steps necessary to protect Medicare and other federal healthcare programs from fraud and abuse and recover taxpayers’ money,” said U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur.

In or about June 2007, AAMC opened its Anticoagulation Clinic (“the Clinic”) to monitor outpatient’s anticoagulation therapy. Patients who take Coumadin or the generic equivalent have their blood routinely tested to monitor their clotting times. These tests are known as prothrombin time international normalized ration (PT-INR) tests. These tests measure how much time it takes for a patient's blood to clot and can be billed by a clinic using Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code 85610. If test results indicate the need to adjust a patient’s Coumadin dose, or the patient presented with a change in medical condition, the provider may perform, and submit a claim for, an Evaluation and Management (E/M) service. According to the settlement agreement, between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2013, AAMC submitted false claims to Medicare, TRICARE, and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program for E/M services that were not medically reasonable and necessary at the same time it submitted and was paid for claims for the blood tests.

Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/anne-arundel-medical-center-pay-more-3-million-settle-federal-false-claims-act

June 28, 2019

Massachusetts Laboratory and Its Owners Pay Over $1.5 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations

U.S. Attorney John H. Durham, Special Agent in Charge Phillip Coyne of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, and Connecticut Attorney General William Tong today announced that CLINICAL SCIENCE LABORATORY, INC. and its owners, STANLEY ELFBAUM and LOUIS AMORUSO, have entered into a civil settlement agreement with the federal and state governments and have paid $1,508,106 to resolve allegations that they violated the federal and state False Claims Acts.

Clinical Science Laboratory, Inc. (“CSL”), located in Mansfield, Massachusetts, provides laboratory-testing services, specifically urine drug testing services, for substance abuse patients enrolled in the Connecticut Medicaid program. The government alleges that CSL, Elfbaum and Amoruso violated Connecticut’s so-called “Most Favored Nation” regulation (Conn. Agencies Regs. § 17b-262-649), which provides, in essence, that clinical laboratories should not seek payment from Connecticut Medicaid for services at a price that is higher than the lowest price the laboratory charges for the same or similar services from other third parties. Specifically, the government alleges that CSL regularly accepted payments from Connecticut Medicaid for urine drug screen testing at the rate of $38 per test, while at the same time charging substance abuse treatment clinics approximately $2 per test

To resolve the governments’ allegations under the federal and state False Claims Acts, CSL, Elfbaum and Amoruso agreed to pay $1,508,106, which covers claims submitted to the Connecticut Medicaid program from October 1, 2016, through May 23, 2017.

“We must ensure that taxpayers’ health care dollars used for substance abuse treatment are properly spent,” said U.S. Attorney Durham. “Clinical laboratories should not charge government health care programs a higher price than they charge to other providers for the same or similar services, and those who do so will be held accountable.”

Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ct/pr/massachusetts-laboratory-and-its-owners-pay-over-15-million-settle-false-claims-act

June 28, 2019

Executive Director and CEO of Sponsor Organization Sentenced to 10 Years' Imprisonment, and Owner of

Executive Director and CEO of Sponsor Organization Sentenced to 10 Years’ Imprisonment, and Owner of Catering Company Sentenced to 8 Years’ Imprisonment, for Their Roles in $26 Million Scheme to Defraud Federal Food Program for Underprivileged Children


The former executive director and CEO of a sponsor organization for the federally-funded Child Care Food Program (“CCFP”) and the former owner of a catering company that was awarded contracts to provide nutritious food for needy children were sentenced today for their roles in a complex fraud, kickback, bribery, and money laundering scheme that victimized the CCFP and the children it was meant to serve.

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael J. De Palma, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Brian Swain, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, Karen Citizen-Wilcox, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Rick Maglione, Chief, Fort Lauderdale Police Department, made the announcement.

Sandra Ruballo, 47, of Davie, Florida, was sentenced to 120 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Ruballo was also ordered to pay a $900 special assessment, restitution, and a forfeiture money judgment of $26 million. Carlos Andres Montoya, 48, of Miramar, Florida, was sentenced to 97 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Montoya was also ordered to pay a $200 special assessment, restitution, and a forfeiture money judgment of $13 million.

For more than six years, Ruballo and Montoya defrauded the federally funded Child Care Food Program, which provides free and reduced meals to underprivileged children at hundreds of daycare centers in Florida. As part of the scheme, the conspirators falsified paperwork, entered into various kickback arrangements, manipulated the catering contract bid process, and inflated annual budgets, all in order to receive millions of dollars of falsely and fraudulently obtained federal funds for their own personal use and benefit.

Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/executive-director-and-ceo-sponsor-organization-sentenced-10-years-imprisonment-and

June 28, 2019

Two New Jersey Men Sentenced In Manhattan Federal Court For Scheme To Steal Over $2 Million In Stock

Two New Jersey Men Sentenced In Manhattan Federal Court For Scheme To Steal Over $2 Million In Stock Certificates From Deceased Manhattan Woman


Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ROBERT MERLO was sentenced today to 42 months in prison and STEPHEN DECKER was sentenced on June 12, 2019, to 57 months in prison for participating in a scheme to steal more than $2 million in stock certificates from the apartment of a deceased Manhattan woman, open a brokerage account in her name in order to liquidate the stocks, and then use those stolen assets to attempt to purchase over $2 million worth of gold coins. MERLO was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft after a four-day trial in March 2019. DECKER pled guilty to the same charges in January 2019. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Robert Merlo and Stephen Decker engaged in a conspiracy to steal stock certificates from a deceased woman, liquidate them, and convert the proceeds for themselves. Their conduct was the financial equivalent of grave-robbing, and the sentences they received reflect the seriousness of their crimes.”

As reflected in the Indictment, documents previously filed in the case, and evidence introduced at trial:

From approximately March 2016 to February 2017, MERLO and DECKER engaged in a scheme with others known and unknown designed to steal over $2 million from a deceased Manhattan woman (the “Victim”). As part of the scheme, DECKER and another co-conspirator, who both worked in the Victim’s building, stole stock certificates valued at over $2 million from the Victim’s Manhattan apartment after the Victim’s death. DECKER approached MERLO, a New Jersey-based insurance agent and DECKER’s longtime friend, to find a way to monetize the stock certificates. In August 2016, MERLO and DECKER agreed with others to make false representations to a financial institution (“Company-1”) in order to open a brokerage account (the “Account”) in the Victim’s name, deposit the stolen stock certificates into the Account, and sell the shares in the brokerage account, resulting in a cash balance of over $2 million. MERLO agreed to help launder the cash balance in the brokerage account, approaching several individuals to carry out his plan. MERLO, DECKER, and their co-conspirators then attempted to purchase $2 million in gold coins using the assets in the Account. MERLO, DECKER, and the other co-conspirators met several times over the course of months and communicated using prepaid or “burner” phones regarding the fraudulent scheme.

Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/two-new-jersey-men-sentenced-manhattan-federal-court-scheme-steal-over-2-million-stock

June 28, 2019

Owner of Tampa-Area Medical Marketing Company Found Guilty in $2 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme

A federal jury found the owner of a Tampa, Florida-area medical marketing company guilty today for his role in an over $2.2 million Medicare fraud scheme involving the payment of kickbacks and bribes to medical clinics in Miami in exchange for the referral of DNA swabs that were obtained from Medicare beneficiaries.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez of the Middle District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Michael McPherson of the FBI’s Tampa Field Office and Assistant Inspector General Shimon Richmond of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office made the announcement.

Following a four-day trial, David Brock Lovelace, 49, of Land o’ Lakes, Florida, the owner of DBL Management LLC was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to pay health care kickbacks and one count of structuring currency transactions to avoid reporting requirements. Lovelace is expected to be sentenced on Oct. 2, 2019, by U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew of the Middle District of Florida, who presided over the trial..

According to the evidence presented at trial, Lovelace was paid by Clinical Laboratory Company A for each DNA swab that Lovelace arranged to be referred to the laboratory. In order to obtain DNA swabs, Lovelace paid cash kickbacks and bribes to medical clinics in Miami in exchange for the referral of DNA swabs that were obtained from Medicare beneficiaries. Lovelace directed the owners of the medical clinics to collect the DNA of all of the patients at the clinics, regardless of medical necessity.

Read more: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/owner-tampa-area-medical-marketing-company-found-guilty-2-million-medicare-fraud-scheme

June 28, 2019

Second Brother Sentenced in Multi-Million Dollar Insurance Fraud Scheme

A former insurance agent of One Stop Insurance Agency was sentenced today to 101 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $20,056,054.67 in restitution for his role in defrauding two finance companies.

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

Stuart Alan Starr, 62, formerly of North Miami Beach, pled guilty in April 2019, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts of wire fraud. In August 2018, his brother Glen Wayne Starr pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and later in October 2018, received the same sentence as Stuart Alan Starr.

According to documents filed with the court and statements made in court during the plea and sentencing, Stuart Alan Starr and his brother, Glen Wayne Starr, from March 1990 to August 2015, operated One Stop Insurance Agency, Inc. The company was located at 17088 West Dixie Highway, North Miami Beach, Florida 33160. Both Starr brothers were licensed insurance agents with the state of Florida. One Stop was an approved agent of Progressive Insurance Company, Castle Point and Lloyds of London and authorized to write insurance policies underwritten by those carriers. One Stop specialized in offering liability and cargo insurance policies to independent truckers and small trucking companies for coverage of trucks, tractor-trailers and heavy equipment. Since the premiums for this type of coverage was often extremely expensive, when small trucking carriers could not afford the large lump sum payments for those premiums, One Stop would arrange to have the truckers or trucking companies finance the premiums through loans obtained from one of several finance companies with which One Stop worked. These finance companies included Pro Premium Finance Company, Standard Premium Finance Management, Corporation, and DAB Premium Finance, LLC.

Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/second-brother-sentenced-multi-million-dollar-insurance-fraud-scheme

June 28, 2019

Parkville, Topeka Men Indicted for $346 Million Fraud Scheme

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Two men have been indicted by a federal grand jury for a conspiracy in which they fraudulently profited from hundreds of millions of dollars in federal government contracts they were not entitled to receive, which were set aside for small businesses owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans, and minorities.

Patrick Michael Dingle, 48, of Parkville, Missouri, and Matthew L. Torgeson, 46, of Topeka, Kansas, were charged in a 16-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Missouri, on Wednesday, June 26.

The federal indictment alleges that Dingle and Torgeson, along with Matthew C. McPherson, 43, of Olathe, Kan., operated companies with straw owners who qualified as socially and economically disadvantaged individuals or service-disabled veterans, but who did not actually control the companies. Conspirators fraudulently obtained small business program certifications and veteran-owned business certifications, the indictment says, which they used to obtain approximately $346 million in federal contract payments to which they were not entitled. McPherson has been charged and pleaded guilty in a separate, but related, case.

Dingle, Torgeson, and McPherson allegedly used Stephon Ziegler – an African-American service-disabled veteran – as the nominal owner of Zieson Construction Company, headquartered in North Kansas City, Missouri. In reality, the indictment says, Dingle managed and controlled the daily operations of Zieson Construction Company and Dingle, Torgeson, and McPherson controlled the long-term decision making for Zieson Construction Company. They fraudulently obtained approximately 199 set-aside contracts from 2009 through 2018, for which the government paid Zieson Construction Company approximately $335 million. Ziegler has been charged and pleaded guilty in a separate, but related, case.

Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/parkville-topeka-men-indicted-346-million-fraud-scheme

June 28, 2019

Jimmy Fallon - Wheel of Political Impressions with Trevor Noah