Latest news with #Sawicki
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Owner of CT counseling practice sentenced to conditional discharge for defrauding Medicaid of $27K
An Avon woman has been sentenced to conditional discharge for defrauding the Medicaid program out of more than $25,000. Soraya Sawicki, 64, was sentenced on Tuesday in Hartford Superior Court to 18 months in prison, suspended, and five years of conditional discharge, according to the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice. One of her conditions stipulates that she cannot serve as a provider in the Medicaid program. DCJ officials said Sawicki paid full restitution as part of the plea deal she accepted. The deal required her to plead guilty to one felony count of health insurance fraud, officials said. According to officials, Sawicki was a licensed clinical social worker and the owner of Infinity Integrated Counseling and Spa Services, LLC, in Avon. An investigation by the inspectors of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State's Attorney found that she billed for services that were never provided, defrauding the program out of $27,068 between September of 2019 and June of 2021. The fraud unit was assisted in the investigation by the State of Connecticut Department of Social Services Office of Quality Assurance and the Avon Police Department. Because she was convicted of a program-related felony, Sawicki is subject to a 'mandatory exclusion as a health care provider to certain federally funded health programs pursuant to federal and state laws and regulators,' DCJ officials said. Anyone with knowledge of suspected fraud or abuse in the public healthcare system is asked to contact the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at the Office of the Chief State's Attorney at 860-258-5986.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Avon woman sentenced to 18 months for Medicaid fraud
ROCKY HILL, Conn. (WTNH) — An Avon woman was sentenced to 18 months in prison Wednesday in Hartford Superior Court for defrauding Medicaid by submitting false claims for services which she did not perform, according to a statement by The Office of the Chief State's Attorney. Soraya Sawicki, 64, pleaded guilty to health insurance fraud. She also received execution of that time suspended, with five years of conditional discharge, with the condition being that she cannot serve as a provider in the Medicaid program as part of the sentence. Woman turns herself in for Old Navy merchandise theft in South Windsor Upon sentencing, Sawicki paid full restitution of $27,068.81. She is subject to mandatory exclusion as a healthcare provider to certain federally-funded health programs. An investigation by the Inspectors of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State's Attorney discovered that between Sept. 2019-June 2021, Sawicki billed $27,068.81 for services that were not provided as a licensed clinical social worker and the owner of Infinity Integrated Counseling and Spa Services, LLC in Avon. The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at the Office of the Chief State's Attorney is asking anyone with knowledge of suspected fraud or abuse in the public healthcare system to contact them at (860) 258-5986. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Chicago Tribune
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
St. Charles show a magnet for Fox Valley art lovers
Art lovers throughout the Fox Valley made their way to downtown St. Charles over the weekend as the St. Charles Business Alliance offered its 27th annual Fine Art Show, a juried display of more than 100 artists. The two-day show ran Saturday and Sunday at its usual location in downtown St. Charles on Riverside Avenue between Main Street and Illinois Street. Jessica Reitsma of Oswego was one of the early attendees on Saturday and said her favorite art form is photography. 'I love it. It's my favorite – mostly things with nature. I probably have 10 or 15 things scattered around the house,' Reitsma said as she shopped with her mother Teresa Stanis of La Grange. 'The thing I'm drawn to most is water and waterfalls.' St. Charles Business Alliance Director Jenna Sawicki said the actual total of 112 artists at the event 'is the most we've ever had since I've been here, which is 11 years.' 'We're really excited to utilize more space and be able to showcase all these really creative artists that are coming to St. Charles,' she said. 'We're using more of the footprint behind one of the buildings and while we don't have a cap on the number of artists, we want to make sure the show flows and we have a good mixture. We want to make sure all of our artists are of a certain caliber.' While most of the artists at the show were from the Midwest, Sawicki said there were others 'that we pull from Florida and Pennsylvania' and other places. Weather permitting, the show draws around 20,000 people over the course of two days, she said. 'People come to get a sense of community and we definitely pull people from the Tri-Cities but this also pulls people from Chicago because we do have such talented artists,' Sawicki said. The show also included an activity area for kids where they could paint a car as well as artist demonstrations. Artist Tina Birkhoff said this was her first year displaying her work at the event and was very excited to be at the show over the weekend. 'I do watercolor flowers and I've only done three official art shows so far,' she said. 'I love the area and to be here is quite a blessing. My stuff is very bright – it's like Georgia O'Keeffe. My paintings take anywhere from 25 to 45 hours to do.' Stanis said she and her daughter have come 'at least three times before,' adding that 'we might be looking for a birthday present for my daughter since her birthday is in June.' 'Otherwise, we're just browsing,' she said. 'I've bought earrings here and a lazy Susan for my daughter. I love ceramics. I love all the art and seeing all the art and wish I was artistic. I've been going to art shows for 20 years.' Maxine Wrobel of Winfield was at the show on Saturday and said she had already 'bought an awesome print over there and the title of it was 'Don't Talk to Me.'' 'It's like a surly owl with a cup in its claw. It's perfect for me,' she said with a laugh. 'We've been coming for 20 years. I just like to look at everything and see what's new – what's the hip new thing and what everyone is doing. This is literally on the calendar every year.'
NDTV
24-05-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Auschwitz Museum Warns Against Fake AI Images Of Victims
The Auschwitz museum warned on Friday against Facebook posts with "harmful" AI-generated fictional images of victims of the Nazi German death camp, condemning them for "falsifying history". The museum at the site of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau camp has long used its own social media accounts to publish authentic victim photos, names and information to raise Holocaust awareness. Now the museum has discovered that at least a couple of Facebook pages were producing similar victim bios but with fictional information or photos. "People have started to notice that there are pages, including one called '90's History' where there are short bios of the victims as well as photos that were clearly made by artificial intelligence," said museum deputy spokesman Pawel Sawicki. "Producing artificial images of real people, or what is even more troubling, producing false identities of victims, is certainly troubling and also very harmful for the memory of those who died at Auschwitz," he told AFP. Such posts were harmful because "producing artificial information, last names, is falsifying history", said Sawicki. This sort of disinformation could even lead to Holocaust denial, he added. "There is of course a danger that if we have these fake people, then perhaps someone could claim that the whole thing is made up," said Sawicki. He said the museum was in touch with US tech giant Meta, which owns Facebook, in the hopes that it could look into the matter. Nazi Germany built the death camp in the city of Oswiecim after occupying Poland during World War II. The Holocaust site has become a symbol of Nazi Germany's genocide of six million European Jews, one million of whom died at the camp between 1940 and 1945. More than 100,000 non-Jews also died at Auschwitz-Birkenau, including non-Jewish Poles, Roma and Soviet soldiers.
Daily Mirror
30-04-2025
- Daily Mirror
Victim stripped naked as 'degrading and horrific' attack recorded on Snapchat
Durham Crown Court heard that Josh Workman viciously beat a man while Reuben Sawicki recorded the 'horrific assault' on Snapchat - before dragging their unconscious victim into a field The victim of a "degrading" attack was stripped naked before he was brutally beaten by thugs, who recorded footage of the assault on Snapchat. Durham Crown Court heard that Josh Workman removed the clothing of an unidentified victim before viciously punching him in the ribs and head as he lay unconscious, with Reuben Sawicki filming the degrading assault. Sawicki, 18, also filmed the moment Workman, 20, smashed a glass over the man's head, the court was told, with the two now awaiting sentencing after lodging guilty pleas for assault occasioning actual bodily harm after the man was found unconscious and alone in a field. Teesside Live reports that police were called last year following reports that a man was alone and injured in a field, with investigators later arresting six people in connection with the shock discovery. An investigation concluded he had been dragged to the open space after he was viciously assaulted, with one of the man's relatives finding him with serious injuries. He sustained a fractured eye socket and jaw injuries, with a recording discovered on Sawicki's mobile later showing how thugs had laid into him before he was abandoned. The video showed a man wearing a hi-vis jacket lying on the floor of a residence being stripped by Workman, who could be seen stripping him down so his genitals were exposed before pulling his top up and punching him in the ribs. The court heard Workman could also be seen smashing a glass "over or near" the man's head. Sawicki and Workman could be heard mentioning being "crossed in the video", and the court heard an "element of revenge" was involved in the attack. Sawicki, who was 17 when the attack was carried out, had four previous convictions for seven offences, the court was told, including burglary and driving offences. Workman was under a community order at the time, and had 10 previous convictions for 31 offences, mainly for dishonesty. Calum McNicholas, representing Sawicki, said he is remorseful and had "teared himself away from drug addiction", while Tony Davis, defending Workman, said his client was "still lightly convicted" and asked a judge to credit his guilty plea. While sentencing the pair, Judge Nathan Adams said the two had carried out a "horrific assault" involving "gratuitous degradation of the victim". Judge Adams described the video as being "intended as a message to others [and that] this is what happens if people cross the both of you". The judge handed Sawicki, of Garside Grove, who he found did not "inflict any violence", an 18 month community order, while Workman, of Camp Street, Peterlee, was jailed for 12 months. Sawicki must also complete 160 hours unpaid work and 15 rehabilitation days.
