Whistleblower News from the Inside - September 17, 2013

Art dealer pleads guilty over selling fakes – Glafira Rosales admits to a 15-year, $80 million forgery scheme of passing off as genuine works from such Modernist masters as Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko actual fakes painted by a Chinese immigrant in his Queens garage. NYT

Social Security pays out $1.3 billion in wrongful disability claims – The Government Accountability Office finds that these payments were made to 36,000 people who claimed to be disabled but were actually working. USA Today

Whistleblower uncovers skimming by revered charity’s chief – William Rapfogel, head of the Metropolitan New York Council on Jewish Poverty, apparently padded the charity’s insurance payments, pocketing some of the excess and doling out the rest to politicians in charge of nonprofit grants. NYT

Study says methane leaks from fracking overstated – The University of Texas study finds the greenhouse gas leaks from fracking were 20% less than the EPA estimated, though some question the validity of the study and its inapplicability to all drill sites. WSJ

SCOOTER Store shuts down after federal fraud inquiry – The leading seller of power scooters and wheelchairs was disqualified from Medicare reimbursement after it was found to have engaged in more than $100 million in overcharges. CBS