Latest news with #healthfraud
Malay Mail
13-07-2025
- Health
- Malay Mail
US anti-vaxxer doctor who destroyed Covid jabs, gave fake certs go free after Trump admin pressured to drop charges
WASHINGTON, July 13 — US Attorney General Pam Bondi said yesterday she had ordered charges to be dropped against a doctor accused of destroying Covid-19 jabs and issuing fake vaccination certificates. The abrupt halt to proceedings comes just days after the trial commenced, and is the latest boost to the vaccine-sceptic movement from President Donald Trump's administration. Michael Kirk Moore, a plastic surgeon in the western state of Utah, was charged by the Department of Justice in 2023 alongside his clinic and three others for 'running a scheme' to defraud the government. He was accused of destroying or disposing of over US$28,000 (RM120,000) worth of government-provided Covid vaccines and handing out at least 1,937 false vaccine record cards in exchange for payment. Moore, who faced decades behind bars, was also accused of administering a saline solution to children — at the behest of their parents — so that they would think they had been vaccinated against Covid. Moore's trial began this week at a federal court in Salt Lake City. But on Tuesday, Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of Trump's most vocal hard-right supporters, said she had written to Bondi calling for charges against Moore to be dropped. 'Dr. Moore gave his patients a choice when the federal government refused to do so. He did not deserve the years in prison he was facing. It ends today,' Bondi wrote on X. Bondi's decision also notably comes as she faces fire from right-wing activists over her handling of a probe into the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. She thanked Greene and Utah Senator Mike Lee, another hard-right lawmaker, for their advocacy for dropping charges against Moore. The Covid-19 pandemic sparked fierce political division in the US between those who supported lockdowns and vaccination drives, and those who considered the measures as restrictions on freedom. Trump, himself vaccinated against Covid-19, has appointed as his Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has initiated an overhaul of American vaccine policy. Kennedy said Moore 'deserves a medal for his courage and commitment to healing,' in an X post in April. At the end of May, Kennedy announced that federal authorities would no longer recommend Covid-19 jabs for children and pregnant women, prompting accusations from medical groups that he was taking away parents' ability to opt for vaccinations. Kennedy has been accused of spreading vaccine misinformation, including about the measles vaccine, even as the US grapples with its worst measles epidemic in 30 years. — AFP
Daily Mail
01-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Disgraced ex-NBA star sentenced to jail for two years after pleading guilty to $4million healthcare scam
Former NBA star Sebastian Telfair has been sentenced to six months in jail after failing to meet the terms of his supervised release in relation to a health fraud case. Back in 2021, Telfair was among a number of NBA stars who were arrested following a $4million health care scam done by defrauding the league's health insurance plan. Two years later, the former NBA star pleaded guilty to charges of fraud - which amounted to $350,000 from his own claims - and was sentenced to three years of probation. However, it has now emerged that Telfair has since failed to abide by the court-ordered community service and failed to report to his probation officer. According to Sportico, Telfair has now been ordered to report to prison on August 12th and will serve six months behind bars for his actions. The outlet claim that U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni told Telfair: 'You thumbed your nose at your probation officer and me over and over'. The outlet further claim that, in a hearing on Thursday, Telfair told officials that 'things' were 'stacked against' him claimed he sometimes gets 'stuck in the mud'. He later acknowledged that that he missed his appointments with the probation officer and offered an apology. However, judge Caproni was not convinced over Telfair's claims and insisted that he had done 'absolutely nothing' to help his case. Telfair, meanwhile, has a previous criminal record with two separate gun charges - with the most recent being in 2017 when Telfair was found with weapons and marijuana during a traffic stop in Brooklyn. The case went to trial and in 2019, he was found guilty of felonious weapons possession and sentenced to three years in prison. Telfair was initially tipped as one of the NBA's most exciting prospects when he broke into the league back in 2004 but things didn't turn out as expected for the Lincoln High graduate. After struggling during two years at Portland, he went on to become one of the league's notorious journeymen after also suiting up for the Clippers, Suns, Raptors, Timberwolves and more.
Fox News
09-05-2025
- Fox News
Amtrak bilked out of $12M by at least 119 employees, doctors in fraud scheme; many still on the job: report
At least 119 Amtrak employees and doctors took the railroad company for a ride in a massive $12 million health fraud scheme, a watchdog found. Amtrak's Office of Inspector General (OIG) said employees based in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Connecticut and Washington, D.C., accepted cash kickbacks from three healthcare providers in exchange for the use of their insurance information and that of their dependents in a scheme from 2019 to 2022. "The sheer volume of employees who cavalierly participated in this scheme to steal Amtrak's funds suggests not only a serious lapse in basic ethics, but a troubling workforce culture, at least in the Northeast region, in which blatant criminal behavior was somehow normalized," said Amtrak Inspector General Kevin H. Winters. Fox News Digital has reached out to Amtrak. The healthcare providers used that employee information to file fraudulent and questionable medical claims for services that were never provided or not medically necessary, the OIG said. Overall, the taxpayer-funded railroad carrier's health plan was billed more than $16 million and was bilked out of $12 million. Of the 119 employees implicated, 28 retired or resigned as a result of the OIG's investigation, and 30 left the company for "other reasons." Another dozen employees have been criminally charged, and seven have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Sixty-one are still on the job. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Amtrak said it has taken "significant steps" to address medical insurance fraud. "Like many employers, Amtrak calls on medical benefit providers and insurers to do more to identify suspicious activity and stop medical insurance fraud," the company said. "Amtrak strongly condemns this reprehensible act that occurred between 2019 and 2022 and is taking swift action with all active employees involved in the investigation. "While we continue to work closely with the OIG to identify and stamp out fraud, we also continue to work on other initiatives to address this issue," the statement added. "Amtrak has implemented various measures to enhance fraud prevention and empower employees to report suspected wrongdoing. These efforts include increasing oversight and strengthening efforts to eliminate fraudulent schemes." The OIG launched a probe when an agent noticed unusual billing patterns in reports by data analysts. Three New York healthcare providers with "questionable" billings who shared a high number of Amtrak employees as patients were identified by investigators. An undercover agent posing as an Amtrak employee met with Punson Figueroa, aka "Susie," an acupuncturist from Long Island City, New York, June 16, 2021. During the visit, Figueroa told the agent to sign his name 30 times for service without dating the signatures, the OIG said. Figueroa then submitted alleged fraudulent claims to Amtrak's healthcare plan, saying the agent had visited providers at least seven times in May 2021 for acupuncture and physical therapy. The agent visited Figueroa's office again on July 29, 2021, where she allegedly handed him an envelope containing $1,000. Figueroa continued to use the agent's insurance information to submit dozens of fraudulent claims to Amtrak's healthcare plan, investigators said. Figueroa pleaded guilty to defrauding Amtrak's healthcare plan, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay restitution of $9.05 million. Two other healthcare providers and a medical biller have also pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme. Michael DeNicola, a podiatrist from New York, pleaded guilty June 29, 2022, to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, distribution of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a gun. He has not yet been sentenced. Regina Choi, a medical biller from Woodside, New York, who previously worked for Figueroa, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud June 11, 2024, for submitting false and fraudulent claims to the Amtrak health care plan and paying cash kickbacks to Amtrak employees. Her sentence is also pending. In 2018 and 2019, OIG auditors issued separate reports that said Amtrak could strengthen measures to identify fraudulent medical claims sooner. Both reports noted billing patterns indicative of potential fraud among hundreds of providers, the OIG said.
