Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
URBANA, Ill. – A federal grand jury indicted an Urbana woman, Titianna Ammons, of the 1100 block of North Busey Avenue, on three counts of wire fraud for allegedly defrauding the U.S. Department of Labor and Illinois Department of Employment Security from October of 2020 to October of 2021.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Star Rana Jackson, who was employed for more than ten years at the American Indian Center of Arkansas (AICA) and for a period of time served as the Executive Director before her termination, will spend the next 48 months in federal prison for wire fraud.
Source: United States Department of Justice
Federal and State Prosecutors Charge 9 Defendants for Over $42 Million in Fraud Three Fraudsters Detained This Week in Connection With Separate $15 Million Scheme FBI Announces the Creation of the Most Wanted Fraudsters List
The Justice Department today announced unprecedented federal and state cooperation in Ohio in the fight against fraud, including partnerships and a data sharing agreement to enhance the detection and prosecution of fraud; federal and state charges against 9 defendants for their alleged participation in over $42 million in fraud; orders of detention this week for three defendants, with two additional defendants pending extradition in connection with an additional $15 million in fraud; and the creation of the FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters list. The charges announced today involve numerous types of fraud, including health care fraud, government program fraud, and consumer fraud schemes.
“Ohio is leading the charge in the fight against fraud, and some states should take notice,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Working closely with Ohio officials, the Department of Justice dismantled a sophisticated Medicaid fraud scheme that exploited taxpayers to fund exotic cars and lavish lifestyles. By holding these fraudsters accountable and partnering with the FBI on a robust Most Wanted fraudster list, we are pursuing fraud more aggressively than ever. No fraud scheme is beyond our reach.”
“The Fraud Division is building a replicable model to combat the full range of fraudsters that are preying on Americans across the country,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s Fraud Division. “Whether its health care, emergency relief funds, or consumer frauds, fraudsters go where the money flows, and with our enhanced data analytics tools, dedicated prosecutors, and federal and state partners, the days of oversight lagging and accountability lacking are now over.”
“As the cases announced today demonstrate, my Office will aggressively prosecute all forms of fraud by leveraging strong relationships with our federal and state partners,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Dominick S. Gerace II. “In establishing the Southern District of Ohio Fraud Task Force, we have now reinforced those partnerships by formalizing our processes and injecting an even greater sense of urgency into our efforts to hold fraudsters accountable for pilfering taxpayer resources.”
“The days of deception are over. As the stewards of your tax dollars, if we find evidence of willful and deliberate abuse of government programs, we will investigate and prosecute those individuals responsible to the full extent of the law,” said U.S. Attorney David M. Toepfer, for the Northern District of Ohio. “We also commit to protecting our elderly who are so often targeted by conniving and scheming fraud rings who use scams that are deliberately designed to drain them of their life savings. With the full resources of this federal and state partnership, we are determined to rein in rampant fraud and bring criminals to justice.”
“Today’s takedown of multiple healthcare companies and four individuals who allegedly robbed taxpayer funded Medicaid is the latest victory in the Trump administration’s total war on fraudsters,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Together with our interagency partners we seized 7 bank accounts worth $600,000 and 14 vehicles worth millions – all of which allegedly came as direct proceeds from robbing value community healthcare resources from Americans who needed it – many of which were Medicaid enrolled children. Furthermore, today we are launching the Vice President’s historic initiative of the “Most Wanted Fraudsters” list, representing some of the alleged worst of the worst who stole millions in taxpayer money – allowing federal law enforcement to mobilize the full weight of law enforcement to bring these individuals and more to justice. I want to thank Vice President Vance for his leadership of this task force, our interagency partners for their relentless work, and most importantly thank President Trump for showing America that fraud won’t be tolerated in this country any longer.”
“These cases demonstrate that the days of fraudsters hiding behind shell companies, complex billing schemes, and other silos are coming to an end,” said CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. “By bringing together federal and state law enforcement, advanced data analytics, and unprecedented information sharing, we are building a national fraud-fighting model that identifies bad actors faster, protects taxpayer dollars, and safeguards the integrity of programs millions of Americans rely upon.”
Building a National Model of Federal-State Cooperation
In connection with these fraud enforcement actions, the Fraud Division, U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, Ohio Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and other partners announced the inaugural Fraud Division–State Partnership Roundtable in Ohio and the following innovative steps to enhance federal–state cooperation to detect, investigate, and prosecute fraud:
These steps demonstrate how state and federal partners can work together to strengthen fraud detection, share information, and accelerate enforcement efforts nationwide. The inaugural Fraud Division–State Partnership Roundtable included, alongside the top leadership of the Department of Justice and federal law-enforcement and public health agencies, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague, Ohio Auditor Keith Faber, and Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson. The Department encourages every state across the country to partner with the Fraud Division on similar efforts.
Behavioral Health Fraud
In the Southern District of Ohio, four defendants were charged in connection with an over $30 million behavioral health scheme. Two defendants owned and operated behavioral health services organizations that claimed to provide therapeutic behavioral services and psychotherapy to children and young adults attending summer camps, church groups and recreational programs. As alleged, the defendants conspired to submit false and fraudulent claims for services that were medically unnecessary and not provided as represented. After one company failed to renew its credentialing with the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and was no longer able to submit claims for mental health services to Medicaid, the defendants then allegedly conspired with a co-defendant to continue submitting the fraudulent claims through a different entity. In connection with these charges, the Department seized three bank accounts with $469K in funds and 14 vehicles worth $800K, including six Mercedes Benz, a Bentley, a BMW, a Jaguar, a Maserati, two Land Rovers, a GMC, and a McLaren.
The case is being investigated by HHS-OIG, the FBI, and Ohio’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Kenneth F. Affeldt and Justin Sheridan and Special Assistant United States Attorneys Brian Walter and Jonathan Metzler from Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s Office are prosecuting the case.
In Butler County Common Pleas Court, Robert Haley, 63, of Cincinnati, was charged by indictment with an over $12 million scheme to fraudulently bill Medicaid for therapeutic behavioral services that were not actually provided to children in Butler County after-school programs. The case is being prosecuted by Ohio’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in Butler County Common Pleas Court.
Government Program Fraud
In the Southern District of Ohio, four defendants were charged in a conspiracy scheme to defraud the government out of more than $1.4 million in Covid-19 relief funds. The defendants allegedly submitted fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications on behalf of businesses, including health care providers, and applications for forgiveness to the Small Business Administration (SBA), prompting the SBA and its lenders to approve the loans and ultimately forgive the entire amount of each loan. Defendants allegedly provided false information on their PPP loan applications, claiming their businesses generated more than $100,000 in gross income for the 2019 tax year, submitted a fraudulent 1040 Schedule C with their applications, and misused the proceeds on personal expenses.
The case was investigated by SBA-OIG and VA-OIG. Assistant United States Attorney Liz McCormick and Special Assistant United States Attorney Dwight Keller are prosecuting the case.
Consumer Fraud
In the Northern District of Ohio, Jamal Abubakari, aka Jamal Abubakar, aka Arrangement, 22, of Accra, Ghana; Kamal Abubakari, aka Kamal Abubakar, aka Lancaster, 22, of Accra, Ghana; and Amanda Joy Opoku-Boachie, aka Amanda Joy Glum, aka Amanda Joy Kessei Bierman, 53 were ordered detained this week in connection with an over $15 million romance scam that defrauded over 130 victims across the United States. Frederick Kumi, aka Emmanuel Kojo Baah Obeng, aka Abu Trica, 31, of Swedru, Ghana; and Daniel Yussif, aka Denteni, aka Slab, 31, of Accra, Ghana, are awaiting extradition.
According to allegations in the three indictments, from about July 2024 to April 2026, the defendants targeted older Americans on dating websites and social media platforms to engage in romance fraud schemes. They employed advanced techniques including artificial intelligence-driven video platforms to engage victims under fictitious female personas. After being misled by false stories, the victims sent money via wire transfer to financial accounts controlled by conspiracy members, which were further transferred to co-conspirators in Ghana and elsewhere. The operation involved search and arrest operations in Ghana – assets seized are estimated to amount to over $3 million and include a Lamborghini, Tesla Cybertruck, Mercedes Benz, and BMW.
This investigation highlights the successful collaboration between numerous international and national partners, including the Ghana Attorney General’s Office; Economic Organized Crime Office (EOCO); Ghana Police Service (GPS); Ghana Cyber Security Authority; Ghana Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC); Ghana Financial Intelligence Centre; Ghana Immigration Service; Ghana National Intelligence Bureau; DEA’s Sensitive Investigations Unit; Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection; U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs; U.S. Department of State; FBI Washington Field Office; and FBI Legal Attaché Office in Accra. The Department of Justice remains committed to dismantling complex international cyber fraud networks and protecting U.S. citizens from financial exploitation. Assistant United States Attorneys Brian McDonough and Elliot Morrison of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio are prosecuting the case.
FBI Most Wanted Fraudsters List
To enhance the fight against health care fraud, program fraud, and other fraud schemes, the FBI today announced the “Most Wanted Fraudsters” program to publicize fugitive fraudsters. The FBI recognizes the need for public assistance in tracking fugitives. Apprehensions off of the “Ten Most Wanted Fugitive” have been the result of citizen recognition of “Ten Most Wanted Fugitive” publicity. The FBI, Department of Justice, and other law enforcement partners are committed to using every means available to apprehend the Most Wanted Fraudsters.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
An indictment, information, or complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
San Juan, Puerto Rico – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico has recovered over $4.1 million from four Puerto Rico pharmacies and their owners during the period from February 26 to May 28, 2026.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Tampa, Florida – Rigoberto Rios Gallardo (33, Los Angeles, California) has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge William F. Jung to 30 years in federal prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for three counts of production of child sexual abuse material and one count of coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Orlando, FL – A federal jury has found Anthony Joseph Brulewicz, a/k/a “Tony Montana” (54, Port Orange) guilty of four counts of distribution or possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, four counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of use, carry or possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. Brulewicz was charged as an Armed Career Criminal and now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years, up to 205 years, in federal prison.
Source: United States Army
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany- Sgt. Elijah Campbell, a public affairs mass communication specialist assigned to the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, was officially inducted into the Noncommissioned Officer Corps at Tiger Theater on Sembach Kaserne, Germany on May 29, 2026.
Originally from Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, his father, who also served in the Army, inspired Campbell to enlist in the Army in 2022 and completed basic combat training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He later graduated from the Defense Information School at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, before serving assignments that led him to Germany.
Reflecting on the milestone, Campbell said, “I faced a lot of obstacles becoming an NCO, but I persevered. The most rewarding part of my job is taking care of my Soldiers.”
This induction marks Campbell’s transition into the Army’s professional NCO Corps and reinforces his commitment to leadership, mentorship, and service.
Source: United States Army
USAG BAVARIA – HOHENFELS, Germany – To give the youngest members of U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria – Hohenfels a special day, Child and Youth Services threw Kinderfest May 30, 2026 at the School Activity Center.
The event brought on-post organizations, military units, garrison offices and directorates and more together to give Families with children a day out to enjoy sun, fun and one another’s company.
Christine McConnell, outreach services director for Child and Youth Services explained Kinderfest.
“Kinderfest is typically celebrated during Month of the Military Child as a thank you to our military and civilian children here in Hohenfels,” she said. “It’s CYS’s way to bring the community together and give back to children.”
Normally Kinderfest, an annual event, would take place during April, which the Army celebrates as “Month of the Military Child.” This year’s fest, however, took place at the end of May.
“Because this event is focused on Families, we wanted to make sure that Families could come together,” McConnell said. “There were a lot of rotations in Hohenfels during April that would have kept Families separated during this time. So we wanted to make it that as many Families could come as a whole.”
Local national employees were also welcome to bring their Families to the event.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for Families to come out and see what Child and Youth Services does with the community and how we support each other,” said Beth Payne, CYS coordinator for Hohenfels. “It is a CYS event; it is an MWR event; but more than that, it’s a community event. Kinderfest gives the entire community a chance to come into one place, meet new people, reach new Families, and make a difference for them.”
The event also brought Families from other garrisons. Rachel Faulkner, the director of the Child Development Center at Tower Barracks, came to support the event bringing her Family in tow.
“I’m here with the kids; they enjoy it,” Faulkner said. “It is a nice day, so we took a drive out.”
And there was much for Families to see and do. Military units brought their personnel carriers and unmanned aerial vehicles. The Falcon Team landed their helicopter on the field to give young children, and their parents, the opportunity to sit inside and take their photo. Outdoor Recreation gave some children their first archery lessons. The American Red Cross brought their dogs to take photographs with Families. The Religious Support Office held face-painting. Fire and Emergency Services had children play a game where they pushed small emergency vehicles with the blast of a fire hose. The on-post financial institutions gave away snacks, water, juice, stationery, fidget spinners and much more. Morale, Welfare and Recreation marketing from the garrison headquarters came down to hold a raffle.
Children had fun bouncing in large inflatable structures, riding a mechanical bull, kicking balls into novelty inflatable nets, and more. Because it was late spring, weather permitted the use of a large inflatable waterslide with mist spraying over its young users.
And indeed, the weather was clement for three of the four scheduled hours of Kinderfest. In the final hour a stormfront rolled in from the northwest, and concern for the safety – and enjoyment – of those attending precluded Kinderfest’s normal conclusion. Organizations pulled their awnings down, collapsed their tables, and bagged their ungiven giveaways. Parents held their children’s hands, pushed their strollers, cradled their toddlers and speedwalked to their automobiles as the rain started falling and the wind whipped petals off the early blooming trees in an airy swirl rich with ozone and petrichor.
To learn more about Child and Youth Services, visit their page at https://hohenfels.armymwr.com/categories/cys-services.
To see more photos from Kinderfest, visit the photo album here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usagbavaria/albums/72177720334010599.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
The Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division today announced that its Health Care Fraud Unit, one of the most active white-collar litigating components across the Department, secured federal jury trial convictions in six trials in just under three weeks. The convictions in six trials between May 13 and June 1 spanned federal courtrooms across the United States, including in Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Detroit, New York and Nashville.
Six trial convictions in under three weeks ties the Health Care Fraud Unit record for number of trials to result in a conviction in a single month period. The cases behind these recent convictions, however, represent a greater level of sophistication and complexity: more than $1.1 billion in fraud losses across six distinct schemes, including a digital health platform that industrialized Medicare fraud at national scale, a proactive data-driven prosecution of a physician who out-billed every other Medicare provider in the country for Botox, and prosecutions requiring simultaneous command of health care data analytics, financial forensics, sophisticated digital evidence, and expert testimony. These results reflect not merely the volume of trials but the caliber of the Fraud Division’s trial practice that carried each one of them to conviction. The Health Care Fraud Unit has completed nine trials to date in 2026 (all of which have resulted in convictions) and 17 trials in 2025, maintaining an extraordinary pace of white-collar trial activity.
The Health Care Fraud Unit operates through an integrated team model, pairing specialized trial-ready prosecutors with data analysts, investigators, and paralegals who work together from the opening of an investigation through the return of a verdict. Leadership reinforces this specialization and emphasis on trial preparation: specialized Assistant Chiefs for Trials oversee and support trial teams across the country, facilitating trial preparedness and institutional knowledge. The results demonstrated over this period reflect a team of trial lawyers who are prepared to take cases to trial and hold accountable those who defraud our nation’s health care programs and steal from the American taxpayer.
“What sets the Fraud Division apart is not only our ability to proactively detect, investigate and dismantle fraud schemes before they cause further harm, but the depth and skill of the trial lawyers who carry those cases across the finish line. The American people should rest assured that we are prepared to seek accountability at trial for health care fraudsters, whether for a $1 million fraud in Michigan or a $1 billion fraud in South Florida,” said Colin McDonald, Assistant Attorney General for the National Fraud Enforcement Division. “The Fraud Division is providing full-spectrum accountability to any fraudster who seeks to use Americans’ hard-earned savings as their personal piggy-bank.”
United States v. Blackman Trial Conviction (Industrial-Scale Telehealth Platform Fraud, $1 Billion):
Brett Blackman was the founder and CEO of HealthSplash, which owned DMERx, an internet platform that did not facilitate legitimate medicine but instead industrialized fraud. Foreign call centers blasted spam mailers targeting hundreds of thousands of Medicare’s most vulnerable patients, pressuring elderly beneficiaries into accepting medically unnecessary orthotic braces. When patients agreed, DMERx connected the leads to telemedicine companies that took illegal kickbacks in exchange for signing bogus physicians’ orders, orders that falsely certified a doctor had personally examined the patient, when in many cases the doctor never spoke with them at all. The government’s undercover agent posed as a Medicare beneficiary and documented the scheme in real time: a foreign call center pushed the agent into multiple braces, and a DMERx doctor then signed orders claiming to have conducted in-person tests that are physically impossible to perform remotely. To conceal the conspiracy, Blackman and his co-conspirators manipulated physicians’ orders to evade Medicare audits and used sham contracts to disguise kickback flows. All told, the scheme generated more than $1 billion in false billings, of which Medicare paid more than $450 million. Blackman was convicted of health care fraud conspiracy, kickback conspiracy, and conspiracy to defraud the United States. His co-defendant Gary Cox, convicted at a prior trial, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. (Southern District of Florida)
United States v. Mailyan Trial Conviction (Proactive Data Driven Lead for Botox Billing Fraud: Obstruction, Fabricated Records, $45 Million):
This prosecution began not with a witness or a complaint, but with a data anomaly. The Health Care Fraud Unit’s Data Analytics Team identified Dr. Violetta Mailyan as a statistical extreme: she had been paid more by Medicare for Botox injections than any other physician in the United States, collecting more than $24 million over four years, roughly six times the next-highest provider group, all neurologists. What the data predicted, the trial evidence confirmed. Mailyan billed for thousands of Botox injections that were never administered, including while she was on vacation in Cabo, Mexico; Maui, Hawaii; Las Vegas; Pennsylvania; and New York. She billed for a patient who was federally incarcerated at the time of the purported injection. She submitted more than $19 million in claims on days when her clinic was closed. She back-dated claims to bill for injections purportedly provided before patients had even contacted her clinic to request an appointment. When federal investigators closed in and a grand jury subpoena arrived, Mailyan fabricated and back-dated patient consent forms and medical records and delivered the altered documents to agents, adding obstruction charges to the fraud counts. Post-verdict, the jury found a Tesla Model X, a Tesla Cybertruck, brokerage accounts valued at over $7.3 million, and four California properties subject to forfeiture as proceeds of the fraud. (Central District of California)
United States v. Scott Trial Conviction (Home Health Kickback Network: Hospital Nurse Bribed via CashApp, Stolen Patient Identities):
Ruby Scott, a licensed nurse and owner of Delta Home Health Care LLC in Michigan, built her patient pipeline by corrupting a hospital discharge nurse, a relationship she had first cultivated at a prior employer and then carried with her when she launched Delta. The nurse used her hospital access to identify Medicare patients and fax their confidential records to Delta without their knowledge or consent. Scott transmitted over $130,000 in illegal kickbacks to the nurse through CashApp, PayPal, check, and cash. Scott then used those stolen patient profiles to bill Medicare for home health services, falsely certifying that physicians had evaluated and cleared the patients as homebound, when in fact no physician had ever seen them for that purpose. Scott went further, appropriating the identities of real doctors to fabricate the existence of physician certifications those doctors never performed. A witness testified that one patient for whom Delta collected thousands of dollars in payments had never received any services from the company at all. Delta failed to maintain records for over one-third of its billed patients, patients for whom Medicare paid more than $1.2 million. Total losses exceeded $1.6 million. Scott was convicted of five counts of health care fraud, conspiracy, and four counts of paying illegal kickbacks. (Eastern District of Michigan)
United States v. Brown-Arkah Trial Conviction (Substance Abuse Clinic as Narcotics Hub: Narcotics Diversion, Undercover Video, $52 Million):
Tony Brown-Arkah owned American Medical Centers, a Brooklyn clinic nominally offering substance abuse treatment that functioned in practice as a vehicle for drug diversion, kickbacks, and large-scale fraud against Medicare and Medicaid. The clinic lured patients by prescribing Suboxone, a Schedule III narcotic used to treat opioid use disorder that, as a trial witness testified, is commonly abused by prison inmates by boiling the medication and administering it as eye drops, then directed patients who did not want their prescriptions to a van parked on the clinic steps where they could sell them for cash. Prescriptions were signed by a nurse practitioner who lived in Florida and never saw or spoke with patients. Laboratory results showing the absence of Suboxone in patients’ systems, a significant clinical red flag for diversion, were ignored. Brown-Arkah billed Medicare and Medicaid for office visits where he, a non-clinician, was the only person who met with the patient, and for services that were never provided at all. He paid patients cash kickbacks to recruit additional patients and received thousands of dollars monthly from a laboratory in exchange for referring patients to unnecessary testing, concealing those payments through a shell company and sham contracts, and then lying to law enforcement about them. A confidential source captured Brown-Arkah on undercover video offering an illegal cash kickback, during which he described competitors who engage in the same conduct and observed, apparently without self-awareness: “that’s why they go to jail.” Total fraud losses exceeded $52 million across Medicare and Medicaid. (Eastern District of New York)
United States v. Popovych Trial Conviction (Physical Therapy Clinic Kickback Ring: Ambulette Drivers, Coded Texts, Falsified Records)
Olga Popovych managed a network of Brooklyn physical therapy clinics whose patient referral pipeline ran not through physician referrals but through cash payments to ambulette drivers, the operators who transported Medicare patients from their homes to therapy appointments. Popovych was personally involved in distributing the kickbacks and communicated about them with co-conspirators through coded text messages, having suspected law enforcement was watching the clinics. To conceal who was actually providing care, Popovych falsified medical records to indicate that licensed physical therapists had treated patients on days those therapists were not present at the clinic. Between 2018 and 2020, Medicare paid the clinics more than $8 million on the strength of those fabricated records. Evidence at trial also showed Popovych took steps to conceal the scheme when she suspected surveillance, communicating in code with co-conspirators about the payment of kickbacks. After a one-week trial, the jury convicted Popovych of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, conspiracy to make false statements, four counts of health care fraud, and three counts of making false statements relating to health care matters. (Eastern District of New York)
United States v. Marks Trial Conviction (Nurse Prescribed Nearly 1 Million Highly Addictive Opioid Pills to Tennessee Community)
Heather Marks was an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner who was licensed by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to distribute controlled substances. Marks prescribed controlled substances to patients seeking pain treatment at Lifeforce Pain and Wellness (Lifeforce), a pain clinic located in Carthage, Tennessee. Lifeforce was a small, rural clinic that purported to provide pain treatment. Marks and others overprescribed highly addictive opioids, including oxycodone and oxymorphone, to Lifeforce patients from September 2016 through May 2018. Marks herself prescribed nearly a million opioid pills to almost 1,000 Lifeforce patients over the course of the conspiracy. These patients were often addicted to illegal drugs and the opioids Marks and others prescribed to them at Lifeforce. Marks ignored obvious signs of Lifeforce patients taking illegal drugs at the time she prescribed them opioids, which put these patients in danger of overdosing. Marks further prescribed opioids to Lifeforce patients who she knew were likely selling the opioids on the street. Lifeforce patients would often travel hundreds of miles to obtain opioid prescriptions at Lifeforce because they knew Marks would prescribe the opioids they needed to either abuse or sell on the street. The jury convicted Marks of conspiracy to illegally distribute controlled substances and eight counts of illegally distributing controlled substances. (Middle District of Tennessee)
*
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (Fraud Division). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
Since March 2007, the National Fraud Division’s Health Care Strike Force program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in federal districts across the country, has charged more than 6,200 defendants who collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
United States Attorney Matthew L. Harvey has been named as Vice Chair of the Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Executive Board, helping to lead efforts in the region to combat fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other drug trafficking across multiple states.