Find Corporate Waste

Category: anti-Kickback Statute

  • Louisiana Woman Pleads Guilty in PPP Kickback Scheme

    Louisiana Woman Pleads Guilty in PPP Kickback Scheme

    A Louisiana woman pleaded guilty for her role in a multi-state Paycheck Protection Program fraud scheme that allegedly used ineligible borrowers, fake tax forms, and kickbacks to obtain pandemic-relief funds.

    According to the DOJ, Lisa Lemoine, 38, of Bossier City, Louisiana, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

    Federal prosecutors said Lemoine worked with alleged co-conspirators Sniders Jean-Jacques, Lorne Johnson, Tanya Pierre, Ashley Spike, and others to submit fraudulent PPP applications for borrowers and collect up to 30% of the loan proceeds as a fee.

    Beginning in March 2021, Lemoine allegedly recruited borrowers who were not eligible for PPP loans, claimed they operated qualifying businesses, and created fake tax forms to support the applications.

    Prosecutors said she received kickbacks from borrowers who obtained PPP funds and shared those payments with co-conspirators.

    Jean-Jacques, Johnson, Pierre, and Spike were charged separately in connection with the same alleged scheme.

    The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the scheme.

    This case underscores why Find Corporate Waste tracks PPP cases. Anyone with inside knowledge of PPP application brokers, fake tax forms, borrower-recruitment networks, or lender-side approval failures may have information relevant to public-fraud enforcement.

    Contact Find Corporate Waste if you know how taxpayer funds were obtained, approved, or forgiven despite false statements.

  • Hawaii Housing Official Sentenced In $11M Affordable Housing Bribery Scheme

    Hawaii Housing Official Sentenced In $11M Affordable Housing Bribery Scheme

    Find Corporate Waste will continue to investigate similar fraud theories.

    A former Hawaii County housing official was sentenced to 46 months in prison for his role in a public corruption scheme involving affordable housing agreements worth more than $11 million, according to the DOJ.

    Alan Scott Rudo, a former Housing Specialist at the Hawaii County Office of Housing and Community Development, admitted that he accepted bribes in exchange for using his official position to help secure county approval of three affordable housing agreements.

    The agreements benefited development companies tied to Paul Sulla, Gary Zamber, and Rajesh Budhabhatti: Luna Loa Developments LLC, West View Developments LLC, and Plumeria at Waikoloa LLC.

    The DOJ said the companies promised to build affordable housing for Hawaii County residents but never built a single unit. Instead, the defendants obtained more than $11 million worth of land and excess affordable housing credits.

    From that amount, Sulla, Zamber, and Budhabhatti paid or attempted to pay Rudo approximately $1.93 million in bribes and kickbacks.

    Rudo pleaded guilty and testified at trial. His co-conspirators were convicted by a federal jury in June 2025. Zamber was sentenced to 70 months, Budhabhatti to 90 months, and Sulla to 60 months in prison.

    This case shows how affordable housing programs can be converted into private enrichment when public officials, developers, and professionals coordinate around government-controlled benefits.

    Anyone with inside knowledge of similar housing-credit, land-transfer, or public-benefit abuse should report the conduct to Find Corporate Waste to see if your case qualifies as a False Claims Act referral pathway.

  • Brooklyn Clinic Owner Convicted in $52M Health Care Fraud and Kickback Scheme

    Brooklyn Clinic Owner Convicted in $52M Health Care Fraud and Kickback Scheme

    A federal jury in the Eastern District of New York convicted Tony Brown-Arkah, 78, owner of American Medical Centers, a Brooklyn clinic that purported to provide substance abuse treatment, for his role in a $52 million health care fraud, narcotics, and kickback scheme.

    According to the Department of Justice, Brown-Arkah’s clinic illegally prescribed Suboxone, a Schedule III narcotic used to treat opioid use disorder, while allowing drug diversion activity to operate around the clinic. Witnesses testified that patients were directed to sell prescriptions outside the facility, including to a van near the clinic.

    The DOJ said many patients received prescriptions signed by a nurse practitioner in Florida who did not see or speak with them. Patients were also subjected to medically unnecessary testing, while Medicare and Medicaid were billed for services that were not provided or not legitimate.

    Brown-Arkah was also convicted of paying patient kickbacks and receiving laboratory kickbacks tied to unnecessary testing referrals. Prosecutors said he used a shell company and sham contract to conceal the payments.

    The case reflects the DOJ’s continued focus on health care fraud involving addiction treatment, laboratory testing, controlled substances, and federal program billing.

    DOJ Press Release — Clinic Owner Convicted for $52M Health Care Fraud, Illegal Narcotics Distribution, and Kickback Scheme

    DOJ Health Care Fraud Unit

    Find Corporate Waste — False Claims Act

  • Michigan Home Health Owner Convicted in $1.6M Medicare Fraud Scheme

    Michigan Home Health Owner Convicted in $1.6M Medicare Fraud Scheme

    A federal jury in the Eastern District of Michigan convicted Ruby Scott, a Michigan nurse and owner of Delta Home Health Care LLC, for a $1.6 million Medicare fraud scheme involving illegal kickbacks, stolen patient records, and false home health billing.

    According to the DOJ, Scott paid a discharge nurse at a Detroit hospital to identify Medicare patients and send their confidential records to Delta without the patients’ knowledge.

    From 2018 through 2021, Scott allegedly used those records to bill Medicare for home health services. The DOJ said she paid the nurse more than $130,000 through CashApp, PayPal, checks, and cash, including roughly $300 per patient when Delta successfully billed Medicare.

    Prosecutors said Scott falsely represented that doctors had certified patients as eligible for home health care, including that they were homebound, even though no doctor had evaluated those patients for Delta’s services. In some cases, Scott allegedly used real doctors’ identities to fabricate evaluations. One witness testified that a patient for whom Delta received thousands of dollars in Medicare payments never received services from Scott’s company.

    Delta also failed to maintain patient files for more than one-third of the patients it billed Medicare for. Medicare paid Delta more than $1.2 million for those patients alone. The DOJ said Scott caused approximately $1.6 million in losses to Medicare.

    The jury convicted Scott of five counts of health care fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay illegal health care kickbacks, and four counts of paying illegal health care kickbacks. She is scheduled to be sentenced on September 24, 2026.

    For Find Corporate Waste, this case shows how public health care dollars can be drained through kickbacks, fake medical necessity, stolen patient information, and false billing records. Medicare fraud is not victimless. Every false claim takes money from taxpayers, legitimate providers, and patients who depend on the system

  • Takeda to Pay $13.6M Over False Claims Act Allegations Tied to Physician Payments

    Takeda to Pay $13.6M Over False Claims Act Allegations Tied to Physician Payments

    Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A. Inc. has agreed to pay $13,670,921 to resolve False Claims Act allegations involving improper payments to physicians who prescribed Trintellix, an antidepressant medication marketed for major depressive disorder. The Department of Justice said the alleged conduct caused false claims to be submitted to Medicare and other federal health care programs.  

    The settlement centers on the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits offering or paying anything of value to induce referrals or prescriptions covered by Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and other federal health care programs.

    DOJ alleged that from January 2014 through October 2020, Takeda paid improper remuneration to health care providers, including speaker honoraria and meals at high-end restaurants, to encourage prescriptions of Trintellix.  

    According to the government, Takeda selected certain providers for its Trintellix speaker bureau and gave them paid speaking opportunities with the intent that those payments and related benefits would influence prescribing decisions.

    The DOJ also alleged that some prescribers attended multiple programs on the same topic, received meals and drinks, and gained no real educational value from repeated attendance.  

    The case is important because it shows how False Claims Act liability can arise even when the drug itself is legitimate and the prescription may appear ordinary on paper. The issue is not simply whether a medication was dispensed. The issue is whether federal health care dollars were tainted by payments, perks, or side benefits that improperly influenced medical judgment.

    Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said that the DOJ remains committed to pursuing False Claims Act violations arising from illegal kickbacks, warning that such conduct can undermine patient trust and increase drug costs for taxpayers. The Eastern District of California, HHS-OIG, and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service also participated in the investigation.  

    This settlement also fits into DOJ’s broader enforcement posture. The release specifically ties the case to the Administration’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and the National Fraud Enforcement Division, both aimed at fraud, waste, and abuse in federal programs. DOJ emphasized that False Claims Act enforcement remains central to recovering taxpayer dollars and holding wrongdoers accountable.

    The Takeda settlement is another example that shows how federal fraud may not always look like a fake business or a forged invoice. Sometimes it involves more sophisticated schemes like a polished compliance program, a speaker event, a catered dinner, or a repeat “educational” session that quietly changes prescribing incentives.

    Find Corporate Waste exists to help taxpayers, whistleblowers, and concerned insiders spot the patterns others miss.

    If you have information about improper billing, kickbacks, false certifications, pandemic relief abuse, or corporate conduct that may have caused taxpayer money to be wasted, we want to hear from you. Federal fraud often hides behind paperwork that looks clean on the surface. The more people come forward, the harder it becomes for corporations to treat public money like private profit.