Find Corporate Waste

Tag: False Certification

  • NYC Correction Officers Among Defendants in $3M Fake Check Scheme

    NYC Correction Officers Among Defendants in $3M Fake Check Scheme

    Federal prosecutors charged eight defendants in a check-fraud scheme involving current and former New York City correction officers, a Texas parole officer and an MTA employee.

    According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York⁠, Bianca Vieux allegedly recruited participants through an encrypted messaging platform. Recruits provided bank-account information so falsified checks could be deposited and withdrawn as cash.

    The defendants allegedly created or deposited more than $3 million in fake checks and obtained over $500,000. Prosecutors say the proceeds funded luxury handbags, plastic surgery and tropical vacations.

    Christopher Walker, a current NYC correction officer, allegedly made one fraudulent deposit while wearing his Department of Correction uniform. Former correction officer Valeria Waldron later worked as a Texas parole officer, while Steven Boyce worked for the New York City Transit Authority.

    Walker allegedly obtained fake checks and documents from other fraudsters. Boyce is accused of producing fraudulent Social Security cards for him.

    Two former correction officers, Aaron Warren and Tara Dildy, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and await sentencing.

  • Dallas Lab and Founders Pay $24M Over COVID Testing Claims

    Dallas Lab and Founders Pay $24M Over COVID Testing Claims

    Dallas-based Magnolia Diagnostics, its owners and several investors will pay $24 million to resolve allegations involving medically unnecessary testing performed on seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    According to the Justice Department⁠, Magnolia and owners John Bains and Kelly Bains agreed to pay $19.2 million to settle False Claims Act allegations. Investors will pay another $4.8 million over distributions they received from the laboratory.

    Federal officials alleged Magnolia required senior living communities seeking COVID-19 testing to also obtain expensive respiratory pathogen panels. The laboratory allegedly used prepopulated forms and provider signatures as standing orders covering entire facilities without individual clinical assessments.

    Magnolia allegedly continued performing the panels even after communities questioned their medical necessity or requested COVID-19-only testing. John Bains was also accused of threatening to withhold COVID-19 testing and altering signed requisition forms to broaden their apparent authorization.

    The laboratory allegedly froze thousands of specimens for weeks or months before testing them, producing results too late to guide treatment or infection-control decisions.

    The case provides a glimpse into how qui tam enforcement under the Trump administration has evolved, specifically in the Northern District of Texas.

    This settlement also offers a roadmap for Find Corporate Waste projects: follow the money beyond the entity that submitted the claims to the owners, affiliates and investors who ultimately received the proceeds.

    Public records showing where taxpayer funds flowed may expose recovery targets beyond those which can be indexed from public records, even when the recipients never billed the government directly.

  • Census Bureau Manager Took $790K in Contract Kickbacks

    Census Bureau Manager Took $790K in Contract Kickbacks

    A former U.S. Census Bureau program manager was sentenced to two years in prison for steering a multimillion-dollar federal contract to a relative’s company in exchange for $790,000 in kickbacks.

    Yolanda Jones of Maryland has agreed to settle allegations she misappropriated federal funds.

    According to the Justice Department⁠, Camille T. Jones, 47, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, directed an employee-assistance program contract and later modifications toward a prime contractor and YMJ Consulting, a subcontractor owned by her relative, Yolanda M. Jones.

    Prosecutors said Camille Jones tried to disguise the kickbacks through a fabricated service agreement between YMJ Consulting and her mental-health company. The agreement was signed in 2024 but backdated to 2020 before being provided to investigators.

    Jones also admitted sharing confidential Census Bureau procurement information with another government contractor. That contractor hired another relative for a minimal-work position paying $83,000, although Jones allegedly performed most of the work.

    Jones pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and honest-services fraud. She must also forfeit the scheme’s proceeds and serve one year of supervised release.

  • Mass. Man Kept $67K Meant for DEAD Social Security Recipient

    Mass. Man Kept $67K Meant for DEAD Social Security Recipient

    A Massachusetts man kept collecting federal benefits for six years after the intended recipient died.

    ⁠James C. Burdulis, 57, of Lynn, MA received $63,959 in Social Security benefits and $3,200 in pandemic stimulus payments intended for a beneficiary who died in May 2019.

    Burdulis had served as the beneficiary’s representative payee.

    Under the ⁠Social Security Administration’s program, a payee must manage benefits in the recipient’s best interest and report changes affecting eligibility.

    Instead, prosecutors said Burdulis filed five fraudulent reports between 2020 and 2024 claiming the money had been spent for the deceased beneficiary.

    He also submitted a September 2020 verification form stating that the beneficiary remained alive at the same address.

    Burdulis pleaded guilty in April to receiving stolen government money and making false statements. He was sentenced to one day in prison, deemed served, followed by three years of supervised release. He must repay $67,159.

  • Illegal Voting Case Raises Questions About Election-System Certifications

    Illegal Voting Case Raises Questions About Election-System Certifications

    The Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday that ICE Homeland Security Investigations arrested Denise Nataly Migliore, a lawful permanent resident from Australia.

    Federal prosecutors allege Migliore falsely claimed U.S. citizenship to register to vote in 2022 and 2024, then cast ballots in both federal election cycles.

    That raises a second question for Find Corporate Waste: what systems processed those registrations, and what were taxpayers told those systems could do?

    Under the Help America Vote Act, states must maintain centralized statewide voter-registration databases. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission recognizes those systems as combinations of software, hardware and related technology used to manage voter records.

    FCW is examining whether private contractors were paid to provide identity matching, data integration, eligibility controls or exception reporting, and whether those capabilities were accurately represented to government customers.

    The Justice Department’s NVRA guidance stresses accurate voter rolls while protecting eligible citizens from improper removal.

    If a taxpayer-funded vendor knowingly overstated system capabilities or falsely certified required controls, the issue could extend into procurement fraud and potentially False Claims Act exposure.

    Examine. Expose. Recover.

  • Brooklyn Adult Day Care Operators Accused in $38M Medicaid Kickback and False-Billing Scheme

    Brooklyn Adult Day Care Operators Accused in $38M Medicaid Kickback and False-Billing Scheme

    Federal prosecutors have charged eight defendants in an alleged $38 million Medicaid fraud scheme involving two Brooklyn social adult day care centers: APNA Adult Daycare and Ashiana Social Adult Daycare, according to the New York Post⁠.

    The reported indictment alleges that Medicaid recipients were paid cash kickbacks to enroll, recruiters were paid to bring in beneficiaries, and the centers then billed New York Medicaid for services that were not actually provided. Prosecutors also reportedly allege fake sign-in sheets, Pakistan-based billing support, and shell-company transfers labeled as “gifts,” “dividends,” “medicine,” or “laddu.”

    For Find Corporate Waste, the relevance is the public-funds mechanism: Medicaid claims allegedly tied to false attendance, kickback-driven enrollment, and non-rendered services.

    That is the same fraud structure FCW tracks across taxpayer-funded health care programs, including provider eligibility, billing integrity, ownership/control relationships, and public-payment exposure.

    The case also fits a broader enforcement pattern. DOJ previously announced guilty pleas in a $68 million Brooklyn adult day care fraud scheme⁠ and charged two Queens men in an alleged $120 million adult day care and pharmacy fraud scheme⁠. 

  • Aquatherm Pays $1.35M Over PPP Eligibility Allegations

    Aquatherm Pays $1.35M Over PPP Eligibility Allegations

    Aquatherm, L.P.⁠ agreed to pay $1,351,575.84 to resolve False Claims Act⁠ allegations that it improperly obtained a Paycheck Protection Program⁠ loan for which it was not eligible, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware⁠.

    DOJ said Aquatherm received an $864,982 PPP loan in March 2021 after certifying that it and its affiliates had fewer than 300 employees. Under the applicable PPP rule, that employee count included domestic and foreign affiliates.

    According to DOJ, Aquatherm is 99% owned by Aquatherm Besitzgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, a German company. The government alleged that Aquatherm exceeded the 300-employee limit when its domestic and foreign affiliates were included, making it ineligible for the loan. Aquatherm later received full forgiveness from the SBA.

    The settlement also resolved claims brought under the qui tam⁠ provisions of the False Claims Act. DOJ said the whistleblower will receive a share of the recovery.

    The case highlights a recurring PPP enforcement issue: affiliate headcount. For public-record screening, foreign ownership, control, affiliated entities, employee count, and forgiveness records can all create eligibility questions requiring verification.

  • Arkansas Lab and Owners Pay $30M Over Alleged Kickback-Fueled Testing Scheme

    Arkansas Lab and Owners Pay $30M Over Alleged Kickback-Fueled Testing Scheme

    An Arkansas pathology lab and its owners agreed to pay $30 million to resolve federal allegations that their business model turned physician referrals and add-on testing into a taxpayer-funded billing pipeline.

    The settlement covers Advanced Pathology Solutions PLLC, APS MSO LLC, and current and former owners Kevin Hannah, Donell Burkett, and Daniel Hunter Pledger⁠. According to the Justice Department, APS operated “lean labs” with gastroenterology practices across the country and allegedly provided financial benefits to those practices in exchange for exclusive referrals of pathology specimens to APS’s North Little Rock laboratory.

    Federal prosecutors also alleged APS caused special stains and confirmatory testing to be ordered automatically before a pathologist determined whether the tests were medically necessary.

    In essence, the government alleged extra testing was built into the process first, while medical necessity came second.

    The settlement also resolves claims that APS and CEO Kevin Hannah paid volume-based commissions to Richard Sorgnard⁠ to induce referrals for epidermal nerve fiber density testing. The United States contended the commissions equaled 4% of collections from referred ENFD testing.

    The case originated from three whistleblower lawsuits filed under the False Claims Act⁠. As part of the resolution, APS entered into a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement with HHS-OIG⁠ requiring compliance reforms, training, auditing, and review of physician referral relationships.

    For Find Corporate Waste⁠, the settlement shows how federal health care fraud can hide inside ordinary-looking referral networks, lab protocols, and billing defaults. When financial incentives shape where specimens go and testing is added before necessity is established, taxpayers are left paying for a system designed around revenue rather than care.

  • Massachusetts Man Admits to Taking Nearly $88K in Stolen Social Security Benefits

    Massachusetts Man Admits to Taking Nearly $88K in Stolen Social Security Benefits

    A former Haverhill, Massachusetts resident has pleaded guilty to receiving stolen government money after collecting approximately $87,817 in Social Security disability benefits that continued to be paid following the death of the intended beneficiary.  

    According to the  U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts⁠, Christopher D. Leon, 56, admitted to receiving stolen government funds from November 2019 through August 2025. Prosecutors said Leon was living with the beneficiary when she died and later received a Social Security award notice mailed to his address. After benefits began flowing into the deceased beneficiary’s bank account, Leon allegedly used her debit card to make monthly ATM withdrawals.  

    Leon pleaded guilty on June 10, 2026, to one count of receiving stolen government money or property. Sentencing is scheduled for September 23, 2026. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss.  

    The case was investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Massachusetts.  

    For Find Corporate Waste, the case is another reminder that federal benefit programs remain vulnerable to improper payments long after a recipient’s death, creating ongoing taxpayer exposure when safeguards fail.

  • Utah Men Charged in Alleged $5.5M IRS and SBA COVID-Relief Fraud Scheme

    Utah Men Charged in Alleged $5.5M IRS and SBA COVID-Relief Fraud Scheme

    Federal prosecutors have charged two Provo, Utah men in an alleged scheme to defraud the IRS and the Small Business Administration out of more than $5.5 million tied to COVID-era relief programs.

    According to the SBA Office of Inspector General⁠, David Starling, 61, and Benjamin Young, 39, were charged with conspiring to defraud the United States. Young was also charged with twelve counts of wire fraud. A third defendant, Adam Starling of Oregon, previously pleaded guilty.

    The government alleges the defendants owned or controlled eight companies and falsely listed family members — including spouses and children — as employees. Prosecutors say they created false tax documents reporting more than $4 million in wages, then used those documents to obtain COVID-relief benefits.

    The alleged proceeds included $3 million in tax credits and $200,000 in Paycheck Protection Program loans, which were later forgiven based on alleged false statements.

    The case also includes a separate SBA-backed loan angle. Prosecutors allege Young used fraud proceeds and embezzled funds to buy commercial space in Provo, then relied on fabricated documents to obtain a $2.5 million SBA-secured bank loan.

    For Find Corporate Waste⁠, this case is another reminder that COVID-relief enforcement is not just about the original loan. It is about payroll records, forgiveness certifications, tax filings, affiliated entities, and the paper trail behind taxpayer-backed money.