Fraud News From World

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 20, 2023
Gerard R. Vetter Appointed Acting U.S. Trustee for Maryland, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia
Gerard R. Vetter has been appointed by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland as the Acting U.S. Trustee for Maryland, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia and for the District of Columbia (Region 4) effective July 1, the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees announced today. Vetter replaces John P. Fitzgerald III, who is retiring after 43 years of dedicated service to the department, including the last four years as the Acting U.S. Trustee in Region 4. Under 28 U.S.C. § 585(a), the Attorney General may fill U.S. Trustee vacancies by appointing an Acting U.S. Trustee.

Vetter joined the U.S. Trustee Program (USTP) in 2010 as the Assistant U.S. Trustee in charge of the Greenbelt, Maryland, office of Region 4, where he served for four years before transferring to become the Assistant U.S. Trustee in the Balti..

Merger Enforcement Sixty Years After Philadelphia National Bank

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Thank you, Aaron, for that kind introduction. And thank you to Brookings for hosting this event. Sixty years ago this week, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in United States v. Philadelphia National Bank.[1] Today, I would like to discuss the enduring impact of this landmark case.

Philadelphia National Bank is well known in banking circles for recognizing the essential role that the antitrust laws have in protecting competition in the banking sector. But the legacy of Philadelphia National Bank is much broader: it is a foundational decision that has paved the way for antitrust merger enforcement across all industries. As we revise our general Merger Guidelines, Philadelphia National Bank looms large, and its impact on antitrust merger law is enduring and undeniable for enforcement agencies and for courts.

As we reflect on the legacy of Philadelphia National Bank, I hope we can..

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Press ReleaseFederal Jury Convicts Three Defendants of Interstate Stalking of Chinese Nationals in the United States and Two Defendants of Acting or Conspiring to Act on Behalf of the People’s Republic of ChinaEarlier today, a federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, convicted three defendants on multiple counts of a superseding indictment charging them with acting and conspiring to act in the United…

June 20, 2023

SpeechAssistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen Delivers Remarks at Hoover Institution Announcing National Security Cyber SectionWashingtonI’ve been in this job a little over a year and a half. Every day I sit with the Attorney General and FBI Director for the morning threat briefing and…

June 20, 2023

Press ReleaseAir National Guardsman Indicted for Unlawful Disclosure of Classified National Defense InformationA member of the U.S. Air National Guard (USANG) stationed in Massachusetts was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Boston for allegedl..

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SpeechDirector Rachel Rossi of the Office for Access to Justice Delivers Remarks at the Black Public Defender Association ConferenceBaltimoreThank you, Heather. I want to extend my appreciation to you, the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, the Black Public Defender Association and Alaina Bloodworth and April Frazier Camara…

June 14, 2023

Press ReleaseStatement from Director Rachel Rossi of the Office for Access to Justice on the Adoption of the Equal Access to Justice Resolution at the United Nations Crime CommissionThe Office for Access to Justice today issued the following statement from Director Rachel Rossi following the adoption of the “Equal Access to Justice for All” resolution at the 32nd…

June 7, 2023

SpeechDirector Rachel Rossi of the Office for Access to Justice Delivers Remarks at the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative EventWashingtonThank you, Scott, for that kind introduction, and deep gratitude to ABA’s Rule of Law I..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 16, 2023
Justice Department Finds Civil Rights Violations by the Minneapolis Police Department and the City of Minneapolis
Following a comprehensive investigation, the Justice Department announced today that the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) and the City of Minneapolis (City) engage in a pattern or practice of conduct in violation of the U.S. Constitution and federal law. The Department also announced that the city and MPD have agreed in principle to resolve the Department’s findings through a court enforceable consent decree with an independent monitor, rather than through contested litigation.

Specifically, the Justice Department finds that the MPD:

Uses excessive force, including unjustified deadly force and unreasonable use of tasers;
Unlawfully discriminates against Black people and Native American people in its enforcement activities, including the use of force following stops;
Violates the rights of people engaged in protected sp..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 16, 2023
Man Convicted of $54M Bribery and Kickback Scheme Involving Fraudulent Prescriptions
A federal jury convicted a Florida man for his role in a $54 million bribery and kickback scheme involving TRICARE, a federal program that provides health insurance benefits to active duty and retired service members and their families.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, David Byron Copeland, 55, of Tallahassee, was a part-owner and senior sales manager at Florida Pharmacy Solutions (FPS), a Florida-based pharmacy that specialized in compounded prescription drugs. Copeland, along with his accomplices, engaged in a practice known as “test billing” to develop the most expensive combination of compounded drugs to maximize reimbursement from TRICARE. Copeland and his accomplices targeted physicians who treated TRICARE beneficiaries and paid bribes and kickbacks to physicians and salespeople to encourage the referral of prescrip..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 16, 2023
Canadian Man Convicted in Multimillion-Dollar Psychic Mass-Mailing Fraud Scheme
A federal jury in the Eastern District of New York convicted a Canadian man today for perpetrating a decades-long mass-mailing fraud scheme that stole more than $175 million from victims in the United States.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Patrice Runner, 57, a Canadian and French citizen, operated a mass-mailing fraud scheme from 1994 through November 2014. As part of the scheme, Runner sent letters to millions of U.S. consumers, many of whom were elderly and vulnerable. The letters falsely purported to be individualized, personal communications from so-called “psychics,” including Maria Duval (leading this type of fraud scheme to be referred to as a “Maria Duval Scam”), and promised that the recipient had the opportunity to achieve great wealth and happiness with the psychic’s assistance, in exchange for payment of a fee. Once..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 16, 2023
Woman Pleads Guilty to Murder Conspiracy
An Illinois woman pleaded guilty today for her role in a conspiracy to murder her mother while they vacationed in Bali, Indonesia, in August 2014.

According to court documents, Heather Mack, 27, originally from Chicago, and her boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, conspired to kill Mack’s mother while Mack and her mother vacationed in Bali. Mack arranged for Schaefer to travel to Bali using her mother’s credit card. After Schaefer arrived, Mack and Schaefer exchanged a series of text messages about how and when to kill Mack’s mother, which included a discussion about suffocating or beating the victim. Shortly after these text messages were exchanged, on Aug. 12, 2014, Schaefer entered her mother’s hotel room and, while Mack was present, brutally beat and killed Mack’s mother. Mack and Schaefer then placed the victim’s body into a suitcase and tried to leave the hotel in a taxi. When the driver of the taxi ..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 16, 2023
Lab Billing Company Settles False Claims Act Allegations Relating to Unnecessary Respiratory Panels Run on Seniors Receiving COVID-19 Tests
VitalAxis Inc., a Maryland-based billing company for diagnostic laboratories, has agreed to pay $300,479.58 to resolve False Claims Act allegations that it caused the submission of false claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary respiratory pathogen panels run on seniors who received COVID-19 tests.

Throughout 2020, VitalAxis performed billing services for a diagnostic laboratory in Atlanta, Georgia that provided COVID-19 testing to residents of senior living communities. For one chain of communities, the laboratory directed VitalAxis to bill Medicare for respiratory pathogen panels purportedly ordered by a physician who had not actually ordered the tests and who was ineligible to treat Medicare beneficiaries. VitalAxis found the credentials of a different physician and, without authorization, bil..

Remarks as Delivered

Good morning. My name is Kristen Clarke. I’m the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. At the heart of many of the protests that unfolded in this city, and across the nation, was a call for constitutional, fair and non-discriminatory policing and respect for people’s civil rights.

Today we are here to take an important step toward answering that call and committing to the task of building out a core feature of American democracy – an effective, accountable police department that ensures respect for constitutional rights, garners public trust and keeps people safe.

I want to provide further details about the findings of our civil rights investigation that the Attorney General just announced.

First, we found that the Minneapolis Police Department uses excessive force – both deadly and less lethal.

We reviewed MPD’s 19 police shootings and one in-custody death from January 1, 2016, to August 16, 2022. Many of ..