Scoundrel Spotlight - COVID-19 Fraudster Lourdes Navarro

This week's Scoundrel in the Spotlight is Lourdes Navarro and her husband Imran Shams.  The married pair ran the LA County medical lab Clinical Laboratory Inc. (also called Health Care Providers Laboratory).  Their lab performed COVID-19 screening tests primarily for nursing homes and other facilities catering to the elderly population.  Last Thursday (October 5), Navarro pleaded guilty to fraudulently billing the government and private insurance programs during the COVID-19 pandemic...

DOJ Ramps Up Enforcement Against COVID-19 Fraud

Even as mask restrictions are being relaxed in most parts of the country, the U.S. Department of Justice is ramping up its oversight of federal funds spent to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.  Just last week, DOJ announced criminal charges against 21 defendants in nine federal districts for their alleged participation in COVID-19 fraud schemes that resulted in over $149 million in false billings to federal programs.   The fraud schemes targeted...

Catch of the Week: A Tale of Two Cons

The start of February 2022 brought resolutions in two different COVID-19 fraud cases, one in the Paycheck Protection Program and one in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. Both involved scammers with previous criminal records who fraudulently obtained COVID relief money. The Department of Justice continues to prioritize enforcement against fraudsters who take advantage of the Paycheck Protection Program, even when the amounts involved are relatively low. On February 7, the...

Catch of the Week: Archdiocese of New Orleans pays $1 million to Resolve Katrina-Related Allegations, Highlighting Importance of Enforcement in Disaster Recovery Fraud

We’ve covered this before: natural disasters and fraud against the government often go hand in hand. The government, through agencies and programs such the FEMA and the federally-backed flood and crop insurance programs, can distribute enormous sums of money very quickly in the wake of hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and the like. Distributing lots of money quickly after natural disasters gets immediate help to people affected by these phenomena. Their homes...

Next Up: Infrastructure Oversight Week?

More than four years after “Infrastructure Week” was first announced by President Trump back in June 2017, Congress has finally passed an infrastructure bill and President Biden will soon sign it into law.  A staggering $1.2 trillion in taxpayer money will soon start flowing from the U.S. Treasury to private contractors to upgrade the nation’s roads, bridges, power grid, and other public works.  Is it too soon to start talking...

Catch of the Week: Florida Lab Owner Pleads Guilty to $73 Million Telemedicine Fraud Scheme

Editor’s Note: For this week’s biggest story, the record $90 million settlement secured by a Constantine Cannon client against Sutter Health, read more here. Healthcare fraudsters have a track record of exploiting health crises for personal gain. The COVID-19 pandemic created new telemedicine opportunities for patients to receive care without having to see doctors in person. As expected, fraudsters seized on these telemedicine opportunities to line their own pockets. This...

Catch of the Week: Florida Man Charged with Stealing Over $12 Million in Funds Slated for PPE

DOJ continues to make good on its promise to root out fraud in pandemic relief.  This week, a Florida resident Brian Sperber was indicted for defrauding hospitals and medical institutions out of more than $12 million dollars by falsely promising to deliver personal protective equipment to those purchasers. Sperber and his co-conspirators, who ran medical supply and logistics companies, took orders for N95 masks and medical gloves, but failed to...

Catch of the Week: Telemedicine Company Owner Charged in $784 Million Kickback Scheme

Underscoring the fraud risks associated with the government’s continued expansion and loosening of restrictions on telehealth, the U.S. Department of Justice recently announced that a grand jury in New Jersey has returned a superseding indictment against the Florida owner of multiple telemedicine companies, referred to by DOJ prosecutors as the Video Doctor Network, for allegedly participating in a massive Medicare fraud scheme. The “Video Doctor” Kickback Scheme Creaghan Harry, of...

DOJ Lowers The Boom On COVID-19 Healthcare Scams, Again

Hey, fraudsters, did you hear?  There was a global pandemic, so the government pumped trillions of dollars into the economy.  Probably a good time to get a piece of the cut, you ask?  They’ll never find out, right?  So many ways to grift! Well, not so much.  From the start, the cops on the beat, led by the United States Department of Justice, have screamed from the rooftops:  “Don’t do...

As COVID-19 Stimulus Funds Flow, DOJ Puts Fraudsters on Notice and Calls Whistleblowers “Essential”

On March 11th, President Biden signed The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), a sweeping economic stimulus plan that will pump $1.9 trillion into the US economy. In addition to direct relief to Americans, ARPA includes record-setting government spending in numerous areas to speed recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing recession. As we have previously written, with such massive government spending,...