Latest news with #CriminalDivision
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Texas doctor sentenced to 10 years in prison in one of the ‘most significant' cases of patient harm
A Texas-based doctor was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison for healthcare fraud after he carried out what prosecutors said was a nearly two-decade scheme that involved falsely diagnosing thousands of patients with degenerative diseases and profiting handsomely off their treatments. Jorge Zamora-Quezada, a rheumatologist licensed to practice medicine in Texas, Arizona and Massachusetts before being stripped of his licenses in each state, raked in hundreds of millions of dollars for the misdiagnoses and treatment he ordered during his roughly 20 years as a medical practitioner. The treatments included punishing rounds of chemotherapy, intravenous infusions, and a battery of other tests, monthly visits, and regular procedures associated with the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic, autoimmune condition for which there is no cure. The sentencing, and his earlier court appearances, played out at times like a study in contrasts. Prosecutors detailed his extravagant lifestyle, including a private jet, 13 properties across the U.S., including in Aspen and various towns in Mexico, and a Maserati – while the health of the patients he defrauded continued to worsen. Prosecutors accused him of taking advantage of vulnerable individuals in Texas, such as teenagers, elderly individuals, and disabled persons, in order to carry out the scheme. Some of them testified at Wednesday's hearing about the ongoing side effects they suffered as a result of the doctor's actions, including receiving chemotherapy or IV infusions they did not need. Amtrak Bilked Out Of $12M By At Least 119 Employees, Doctors In Fraud Scheme; Many Still On The Job: Report It's "one of the most egregious" cases of its kind the Justice Department has brought in this space, Matthew Galeotti, head of the Justice Department Criminal Division, told Fox News Digital in a sit-down interview on Wednesday. Read On The Fox News App That's because of "all of the various kinds of misconduct rolled into one," he said, "and because it was pervasive – the scheme lasted more than 18 years." "By the time you're towards the end of the scheme, he knows the consequences some of these things have had on the victims, and he's going forward anyways," he said of the doctor. The Justice Department's Criminal Division has been prosecuting this case for years. Unlike other departments, it is one of the few where career and political staff alike are largely in lockstep, with goals and cases that transcend partisan politics and seek instead to hold criminals like the Texas doctor accountable. Galeotti said he sees the case as emblematic of the Trump administration's goals to vindicate victims and counter wasteful government spending. "Even in cases where you don't see this level of misconduct, where you're not prescribing someone chemotherapy medicine that doesn't need it, which obviously sort of stands out on its own, we still have a problem because you were wasting government funds that should be going to actually benefiting patients," Galeotti said. A Berlin Doctor Has Been Charged With The Killings Of 15 Patients Under Palliative Care A separate Justice Department official told Fox News Digital Zamora-Quezada's case was one of the "most significant" instances of patient harm that he had seen in at least a decade. "There was testimony about truly debilitating side effects from the medications, things like strokes, necrosis of the jawbone, really the jawbone melting away, hair loss, liver damage," the official said. The doctor's actions were seen as particularly egregious, in the Justice Department's telling, because they sought to prey on lower-income communities in Texas, targeting teenagers, elderly persons, and disabled individuals. The doctor also operated in areas with less access to medical care and with fewer native English speakers compared to other parts of the state. "Of course, it's always the most twisted when you're benefiting from someone else's misfortune – misfortune you caused – and misfortune you used for your own personal enrichment," Galeotti said. "They're the hallmarks of the worst kind of conduct that you see," Galeotti said. Doj Prosecutor Suing Trans Medicine Whistleblower Taken Off Case Over Apparent Conflict Of Interest Zamora-Quezada was convicted by a jury in 2020 of seven counts of healthcare fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, and one count of obstruction of justice. His attorneys argued that the fraud was not "pervasive" in the way the government made it out to be, according to public court filings. Prosecutors said Zamora-Quezada purchased condominium properties in vacation towns, including in Aspen, San Diego, and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. They said he commuted to his various doctors' offices in Texas in a Maserati and a private jet, both emblazoned with his initials, "ZQ." His assets were forfeited after he was charged, prosecutors said. Meanwhile, they said, while Zamora-Quezada was living a life of luxury, out of nearly 100,000 Medicare patients he treated, Zamora-Quezada diagnosed 72.9% of them with rheumatoid arthritis. Prosecutors compared that data to seven other Texas rheumatologists, who cumulatively diagnosed 13% of their patients with the same condition. Prosecutors asked for $100 million in restitution, but the judge required him to pay $28 million. Attorneys for Zamora-Quezada did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for article source: Texas doctor sentenced to 10 years in prison in one of the 'most significant' cases of patient harm
Epoch Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
DOJ Incentivizes Corporate Reporting, Whistleblowing for Sanctions, Tariffs, Immigration Violations
Matthew Galeotti, head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, announced a new white-collar crimes enforcement plan at a May 12 financial conference, spotlighting the Trump administration's focus on disrupting transnational networks that evade U.S. sanctions, tariffs, and immigration law. It also expanded its whistleblower program to cover these priority areas. The DOJ will be pulling back on monitoring American corporations, while incentivizing companies to self-report and cooperate with investigations against bad actors. 'Self-disclosure is key to receiving the most generous benefits the Criminal Division can offer. Why? Because coming forward and coming clean lets the Department devote its resources to investigating and prosecuting individual wrongdoers and the most egregious criminal schemes,' Galeotti The DOJ had amended its disclosure policy to incentivize reporting in 2023, highlighting a general policy of deferred or non-prosecution agreements for cooperating companies. The Galeotti said the DOJ is prioritizing tips and whistleblower reports for fraud in government programs like Medicare or procurement; violations of sanctions, especially in ways that support terrorist organizations; and trade violations such as tariff and customs fraud. Related Stories 5/13/2025 5/8/2025 White collar crimes have been tied to the material support of foreign hostile nations and terrorist organizations, Galeotti said, especially in money laundering. In a 'Illicit financial and logistical networks undermine our national security by facilitating sanctions evasion by hostile nation-states and terror regimes,' Galeotti said in his May 12 speech. In Treasury Department sanctions targeting Iranian regime-backed terrorist groups and the Chinese military, for example, the networks often span the globe. On May 13, the Treasury Department A March 20 A February
RNZ News
13-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
FBI ordered to prioritise immigration, as DOJ scales back white collar cases
By Sarah N. Lynch , CNN File image. Photo: AFP / Ricardo Arduengo The FBI ordered agents on Monday to devote more time to immigration enforcement and scale back investigating white-collar crime, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters, as the Justice Department issued new guidance on what white-collar cases will be prioritised. In a series of meetings, FBI agents were told by their field offices they would need to start devoting about one third of their time to helping the Trump administration crack down on illegal immigration. Pursuing white-collar cases, they were told, will be deprioritised for at least the remainder of 2025, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations. Reuters could not immediately determine how many field offices were informed of the change, or whether it would apply to agents across the country. An FBI spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment. The orders came on the same day that Matthew Galeotti, the head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, issued new guidance to prosecutors that scales back the scope of white-collar cases historically pursued by the department and orders prosecutors to "minimize the length and collateral impact" of such investigations. Immigration enforcement has largely not been the purview of the Justice Department's law enforcement agencies in the past. But as President Donald Trump has stepped up an immigration crackdown, thousands of federal law enforcement officials from multiple agencies have been enlisted to take on new work as immigration enforcers, pulling crime-fighting resources away from other areas. Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi have also previously announced they will scale back efforts to prosecute certain kinds of white-collar offenses, including public corruption, foreign bribery, kleptocracy and foreign influence. As part of those efforts, the Criminal Division has also been reviewing corporate monitorships that companies were required to install as a condition of settling criminal cases. Several of them have since been ended early, while others have continued. In Monday's memo, Galeotti laid out the categories of cases that will be prioritized to include health care fraud, trade and customs fraud, elder securities fraud, complex money laundering including "Chinese Money Laundering Organizations," and cases against financial gatekeepers who enable terrorists, transnational criminal organisations and cartels, among others. He said the department will also update its whistleblower award pilot program to encourage tips on cases that lead to forfeiture, such as those involving cartels and transnational criminal organisations, violations of federal immigration law, corporate sanctions offenses, procurement fraud, trade, tariff and customs fraud, and providing material support to terrorists. The memo also instructs prosecutors to carefully consider whether corporate misconduct "warrants federal criminal prosecution". "Prosecution of individuals, as well as civil and administrative remedies directed at corporations, are often appropriate to address low-level corporate misconduct and vindicate US interests," the memo says. It also orders prosecutors to only require companies to hire independent monitors if they cannot be expected to implement a corporate compliance program "without such heavy-handed intervention." - Reuters
Express Tribune
10-05-2025
- Express Tribune
New civil rights unit handling Diddy case
The sex-trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs, which kicks off on Monday, marks the highest-profile case so far for a nascent group in the Manhattan US Attorney's office focusing on criminal prosecution of civil rights violations, reported Reuters. Since its launch in 2022 by then-Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams, the unit has brought 21 criminal cases with allegations including antisemitic hate crimes, excessive use of force by law enforcement, sexual abuse of a minor, and environmental negligence by a construction contractor. The nine-lawyer group, called the Civil Rights Unit in the Criminal Division, is separate from a longstanding Civil Rights Unit in the Civil Division. That unit generally brings civil lawsuits against companies and local government entities, including a lawsuit against New York City to try to reduce violence in jails. The new criminal division unit has a solid record. It has secured 15 guilty pleas and one trial conviction, with two defendants acquitted at trial, according to a Reuters review of press releases and court records. Ten defendants charged by the unit, including Combs, have cases pending. "There has been additional resources and time and attention" devoted to sex trafficking, Williams told reporters at the time. The trial of Combs, who is known for elevating hip-hop in American culture, will bring more international attention to the unit's work than previous cases. Combs, 55, pleaded not guilty last September to forcing women to participate in sexual performances. The prosecutors on Combs' case include Maurene Comey, who secured the conviction of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell on sex-trafficking charges at trial, and Mitzi Steiner, who charged Solano-Arias. Victims of sexual violence can be hesitant to come forward, and prosecutors who specialise in such cases may be more effective, said Rachel Maimin, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan. "It's not the same as working with victims of other violent crimes," said Maimin, a partner at law firm Lowenstein Sandler.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Yahoo
Trio of men face federal charges for defrauding veterans agency
Three men face federal charges for running a scheme using a massage therapy school to allegedly defraud the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs of more than $9.1 million in education benefits, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Brian Matsudo, 58, of Honolulu ; Marshall Scott, 39, of Kapolei ; and Raheem Wells, 37, of Indianapolis are accused of conspiring to defraud the VA of tuition money by overcharging veterans, ignoring rules about the percentage of veterans in a class required to qualify for benefits, and lying about the courses they were taking. The funds included money from the Post 9 /11 GI Bill education benefit program for a total of $9, 176, 032. Matsudo was the owner of Elite Massage Academy between November 2016 and November 2022. He allegedly conspired with Scott and others to obtain tuition assistance payments from the VA by intentionally failing to disclose the school was 'not in compliance with applicable VA rules and regulations.' Matsudo billed between $13, 193 and $21, 455 per program, per enrolled veteran, according to an April 23 plea agreement. Matsudo charged 'veterans more than civilians for offered courses ' and exceeded the 85 % of a class limit that were eligible for VA educational assistance. Scott submitted enrollment certification forms to the VA on behalf of at least 40 military veterans supposedly enrolled at the massage training school. He allegedly falsified the courses taken and credit-hours earned, and certified that Matsudo's academy was in compliance with all rules and regulations when he knew it was not. Wells was a student at the massage training school in 2020 and 2021. Between about May 2020 and November 2022, Wells and Scott allegedly recruited 'students ' who allowed the school to lie to the VA by listing them as enrolled in courses. Matsudo paid Scott for each person that he and Wells had recruited with the proceeds of the tuition payments made by the VA. Wells received monthly payments from the people he recruited to participate in the scheme, according to federal prosecutors. Matsudo paid out about $333, 893 to the pair, according to federal court documents. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. In April, Scott and Wells were both charged in an indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud. If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count. Wells was also charged with obstruction of justice for instructing a witness to lie to federal law enforcement agents, and faces up to 20 years in prison. The VA Office of the Inspector General and Federal Bureau of Investigation are investigating the cases. Trial attorney Ariel Glasner of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section is prosecuting the case against Matsudo, with trial attorney Jennifer Bilinkas of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section. Glasner and Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Nolan for the District of Hawaii are prosecuting the case against Scott and Wells.
