COVID Fraud of the Week: Washington State Man Charged with Attempting to Launder COVID-19 Relief Money
Posted 07/24/20
On July 23rd, the Department of Justice announced that Mukund Mohan, a Washington state tech company executive, was taken into custody for allegedly laundering money he fraudulently received through the COVID-19 related Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). After receiving funds through the program, Mohan allegedly transferred over $230,000 to his personal brokerage account. These charges mark another instance of...
Whistleblowers Are Critical to Exposing Fraud in the Murky World of For-Profit and Private-Equity Nursing Home Operations
Posted 07/17/20
The settlement of a fraud case against 27 skilled nursing facilities controlled by private owners demonstrates “the power of whistleblowers to shine a light on improper business practices and obtain significant recoveries on behalf of United States taxpayers.” (U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna, C.D. California.) The government’s recognition of the contributions of whistleblowers in the False Claims Act case against...
COVID-19 Frauds of the Week: Fake Employees and Fake Treatments
Posted 07/17/20
Taxpayers, rightfully upset about large companies such as Shake Shack and Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse claiming large sums of Paycheck Protection Program money from the Small Business Administration, should consider shifting some of their ire to applicants posing as the original intended recipients—small businesses—who are getting in on the grift. And for fraudsters who prefer to market unproven products rather than...
This week’s COVID-19 frauds centered on (temporarily) successful attempts to receive Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds for nonexistent companies and fabricated or inflated employee headcounts.
First up is the owner of a wedding planning company that sought personal enrichment via more than $3 million in forgivable PPP loans for his 120 nonexistent employees. Fahad Shah, 44, of Murphy, Texas, was arrested...
Under Cover of Pandemic, Nursing Home Residents Illegally Evicted
Posted 06/26/20
“It felt opportunistic, where some homes were basically seizing the moment when everyone is looking the other way to move people out.” (Laurie Facciarossa Brewer, long-term care ombudsman in New Jersey). With nursing homes involved in more than 40% of coronavirus deaths, in depth reporting by Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Amy Julia Harris at the New York Times reveals a new threat to residents’ care and...
Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund Launches COVID-19 Anti-Fraud Task Force
Posted 06/25/20
Earlier this month, Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund (TAFEF)—an anti-fraud public interest organization founded in 1986—launched a task force comprised of former government officials, subject matter experts, and experienced False Claims Act attorneys to help federal and state law enforcement prevent and punish COVID-related fraud. TAFEF, which has a network of more than 400 attorneys across the country who...
COVID Frauds of the Week: Consumer and Investor Fraud
Posted 06/18/20
Scammers continue to prey on the vulnerable during the COVID-19 crisis, and thankfully, they continue to get busted for it. This week, the enforcement highlights centered on consumer and investor fraud, although there are surely numerous other kinds of fraud that have not yet been stopped.
The Federal Trade Commission this week announced that it had taken legal action to try to shut down a remarkably (and...
A Win-Win Solution: Italy Proposes a Legislative Hack for COVID-Related Whistleblowers
Posted 06/12/20
As part of Constantine Cannon’s participation in the Financial Times Global Legal Hackathon, Partner Mary Inman collaborated with a multidisciplinary team to develop a hack to empower and protect COVID19 whistleblowers in Italy. Contributors include: Nicoletta Parisi, a professor of International Law at Universita degli Studi di Catania; Priscilla Robledo, a former IP attorney who now works as a campaigner on behalf...
DOJ Charges Healthcare CEO with Criminal Securities and Healthcare Fraud
Posted 06/12/20
In 2008, Rahm Emanuel, then-President Obama’s chief of staff, famously said, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. I mean, it’s an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.” However poorly phrased, generations of political and business leaders have understood the kernel of truth in his admonition.
So have scammers and rip-off artists.
We have been following the...
Increased Federal Funds, Incentives, and Requirements for Nursing Homes Brings Worrisome Opportunities for Fraud
Posted 06/5/20
The pandemic has exposed the razor thin margin for error by which our most vulnerable are cared for in nursing homes. New aggregate federal data reveal the appalling toll on facility residents and staff: over 31,700 deaths as of June 4, 2020 (an undercounted 1/3 of all US COVID-19 deaths), according to the federal government’s Nursing Home Compare. Responsive federal funding for nursing homes, requirements for...