News

A federal district court in Philadelphia has barred Deron O. Joe, Edmund G. Dassin, and James M. Tokpawhiea from preparing federal income tax returns for others, according to the Justice Department. The men consented to entry of the civil injunction order without admitting any wrongdoing.

Until...

Dr. Hicham Elhorr of the Detroit area has been charged with Medicare fraud involving home health services and physician home visits. Dr. Elhorr is accused of being the mastermind behind a $40 million Medicare fraud scheme in which Medicare was fraudulently billed for services that were medically unnecessary or that were never actually provided.

In December 2008, Geoffrey Willson, a former contract manager for Lucent Technologies World Services, Inc. (Lucent Tech), filed a whistleblower lawsuit against Lucent Tech alleging that the company violated the False Claims Act by submitting misleading testing certifications to the U.S. Army related to its work on Iraq’s emergency communications system. According to the Justice Department,...

A former Michigan theater manager has blown the whistle on his boss’s tax fraud. The whistleblower collected documents covering an eight year period to prove that cinema owner Elaine Dawson has defrauded the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The documents allegedly prove that Ms. Dawson failed to report all of her income from her five North Michigan movie theaters.

A whistleblower lawsuit has led to a $16.5 million settlement with HCA Inc., one of the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chains, according to the Justice Department. Two of HCA’s Tennessee hospitals allegedly violated the False Claims Act and the Stark Statute by providing financial benefits to a physician group in exchange for referrals to HCA hospitals.

An LA physician assistant will serve six years in prison for his role in an $18.9 million Medicare fraud scheme. David James Garrison stole doctors’ identities to write medically unnecessary prescriptions for diagnostic tests and durable medical equipment (DME). Mr. Garrison also received a sentence of three years’ supervised release and must pay restitution of $24,935 jointly and...

New Mexico-based Akal Securities has seen tremendous growth since September 11th and has won over $3 billion in government contracts. Having won a $1.6 billion five-year contract to guard federal courthouses, Akal is now the nation’s largest courthouse security contractor. Such rapid growth and financial success has also led to growing legal problems, however.

Stolen Identity Refund Fraud (SIRF) is an extremely serious problem. Department of Justice Tax Division Directive 144, effective October 1, 2012, allows federal prosecutors to designate a point of contact to handle SIRF cases by opening grand jury investigations, charging criminals who engage in SIRF crimes, and obtaining seizure warrants for forfeiture of the proceeds of SIRF crimes, all...

Five more Detroit residents have been charged for their roles in a $24.7 million Medicare fraud scheme involving alleged fraudulent billing for psychotherapy and home healthcare services that were medically unnecessary and/or were not actually provided. The five defendants — Mohammed Sadiq, Jamella Al-Jumail, Firas Alky, and Clarence and Beverly Cooper — are operators, marketers, and...

Following her April conviction for conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and to obstruct the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Massachusetts resident Catherine June Floyd has been sentenced to five years in prison. She has also been ordered to pay $3 million in restitution for the damages caused by her tax fraud schemes.