Conviction - InsuranceFraud.org

A New Jersey man was sentenced in Hartford Superior Court on Thursday for committing health insurance fraud while living in East Hartford and working in Glastonbury.

Glenroy Patterson, 49, was sentenced to three years in prison, execution of that time suspended with five years conditional discharge.

A report from the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice on Friday says that the former medical professional, who now lives in Jersey City, N.J., pleaded guilty on March 6 to health insurance fraud, a Class B felony.

As a result, Patterson can no longer be a Medicaid provider.

Patterson previously worked as a Licensed Board-Certified Behavioral Analyst, or BCBA, and owned Trading Spaces ABA, LLC, an Autism specialty group in Glastonbury.

Investigators with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and Office of the Chief State’s Attorney found that between March 2020 and December 2021, Patterson billed for applied behavioral analysis services that were never provided.

Evidence displayed at trial revealed Trading Spaces ABA, LLC was not meeting with clients as reported, but Patterson had submitted claims to the Department of Social Services for payment representing otherwise.

The investigation determined that Patterson falsely billed for and received $102,084 in Medicaid funds. He has since paid back the sum in restitution.

A former Maumee-area doctor who was previously sentenced to more than two years in prison in a Medicare fraud case has now been sentenced to time served after her original convictions were vacated on appeal.

Federal court records show Judge Jack Zouhary accepted a plea agreement for Ankita Singh on June 2 and sentenced her to time served on Count 22 of a superseding indictment. Singh was also ordered to serve one year of supervised release, pay a $25 special assessment and pay $400,000 in restitution.

The remaining counts against Singh were dismissed on the government’s motion, according to the judgment filed June 3.

The new sentence comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit vacated Singh’s 2024 convictions and sent the case back to district court. Singh had previously been convicted by a jury on six counts of health care fraud and sentenced to 26 months in prison, two years of supervised release and more than $4.47 million in restitution.

In its ruling, the appeals court found errors in the trial proceedings, including issues with jury instructions on the meaning of “willfully,” the exclusion of some statements related to Singh’s state of mind and the admission of lay testimony related to medical necessity.

The case stemmed from allegations that Singh signed thousands of prescriptions for orthotic braces for Medicare beneficiaries who were not previously her patients and whom she had not examined or spoken to. Prosecutors previously said Singh worked as an independent contractor for companies that purportedly provided telehealth services.

According to the Department of Justice’s 2024 announcement, Singh signed approximately 11,000 prescriptions for about 3,000 Medicare beneficiaries. Prosecutors said the orders resulted in more than $8 million billed to Medicare, with Medicare paying approximately $4.47 million in claims.

Court records filed after the remand show Singh’s new restitution amount is $400,000.

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.

The Idaho Department of Insurance announced that Stetzen Bailey, of Heyburn, Idaho, pled guilty on February 23, 2026, to one felony count of insurance fraud. Bailey is a former Farm Bureau insurance agent.

The DOI Fraud Unit’s investigation found that Bailey knowingly backdated an insurance policy on a 2018 Bombardier snowmobile belonging to a family member. At the time Bailey created the policy, the snowmobile had already been damaged in a collision. As a result of the fraudulent backdating, Farm Bureau Insurance paid out more than $7,000 before the fraud was uncovered. Investigators with the Department confirmed the damage occurred prior to the false effective date of the policy.

“Insurance agents hold positions of significant trust, and any agent who abuses that trust will be held fully accountable,” said Dean L. Cameron, Director of the Idaho Department of Insurance. “Fraud committed by industry professionals is especially serious because they know better. We will continue to take firm action against anyone who attempts to manipulate the system for personal gain.”

On May 11, 2026, Bailey was sentenced in Cassia County District Court to:

A unified sentence of 5 years, consisting of 2 years fixed plus three years indeterminate.
A suspended sentence in favor of 3 years of supervised probation.
Completion of 10 days on the sheriff’s work detail.
Completion of 40 hours of community service.
Payment of fines and restitution.

Thvoughn Lynden Curry, 34, and Alexis Daneen Curry, 34, both of New River, Arizona, were sentenced Monday by Senior U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow for their role in a scheme to defraud the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), Arizona’s Medicaid Agency, of over $12 million.

Both defendants were previously convicted at trial of one count of Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud, three counts of Health Care Fraud, and eight counts of Transactional Money Laundering following a four-day bench trial earlier this year. Thvoughn Curry was sentenced to 88 months in prison, and Alexis Curry was sentenced to 70 months in prison. Both were also ordered to three years of supervised release and to pay restitution of over $12 million to AHCCCS.

“The President tasked us to eliminate fraud and recoup every taxpayer dollar possible, and we’ve delivered in this case, bringing the Currys to justice for stealing millions from the government,” said U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine. “Beyond their own fraud, the Currys also preyed upon Arizonans fighting deadly addictions, placing them in imminent danger, with some victims overdosing on illicit drugs under 1 Family Clinic’s care. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners will use every legal means available to track down and prosecute fraudsters and protect vulnerable citizens.”

“Healthcare fraud is a direct attack on our community’s safety net,” said IRS-CI Phoenix Field Office Acting Special Agent in Charge Scott Brown. “The Currys diverted millions from Arizona’s Medicaid program to line their own pockets, depleting vital resources from those who depend on these services. These sentences reflect the seriousness of that harm and reinforce IRS-CI commitment to protecting the integrity of taxpayer funded healthcare programs. Those who abuse these systems and violate the public’s trust can expect to be held accountable.”

“Fraud on this scale is not just a financial crime, it directly harms the vulnerable populations AHCCCS exists to serve,” said Roberta Harrison, Interim Director of AHCCCS. “This sentencing reflects the strength of our partnerships with law enforcement and underscores our commitment to aggressively pursuing those who attempt to misuse public funds.”

“The successful conviction and six-year prison sentence in this case are the direct result of outstanding collaboration between our law enforcement partners,” said Mesa Police Chief Dan Butler. “Complex investigations often extend beyond the jurisdiction of a single agency, and this case highlights the importance of sharing resources, information, and expertise. We appreciate the efforts of every investigator, prosecutor, and agency involved in bringing this case to a successful conclusion and ensuring justice was served.”

The Currys defrauded AHCCCS through “1 Family Clinic, LLC,” their purported outpatient behavioral health clinic in Mesa, Arizona. They first defrauded AHCCCS by submitting a fraudulent application to enroll as an AHCCCS provider, falsely claiming that Alexis Curry was the sole owner and manager. In the application, the Currys did not disclose Thvoughn Curry’s role in the business, even though they were required to do so because he was an owner and managing employee. At the time, Thvoughn Curry had an active, outstanding warrant for state felony fraud charges.

Once approved by AHCCCS based on the fraudulent application, the Currys engaged in fraudulent billing practices. Between approximately Feb. 1, 2021, and March 31, 2023, the Currys routinely billed AHCCCS in a uniform, nearly identical pattern for services that were not actually provided. The Currys targeted AHCCCS’s American Indian Health Plan for fraudulent billing. Throughout the course of the scheme, 1 Family billed an average of more than 12 hours of service per member per day. The clinic, however, was open for far fewer hours than that, and even when the clinic was open, 1 Family failed to provide the licensed substance abuse therapy they billed to AHCCCS.

Prosectors further argued in court documents that the Curry’s conduct preyed on vulnerable, low-income Arizonans with real treatment and rehabilitation needs. According to medical records, residents were often left unsupervised, with several overdosing and experiencing life threatening health emergencies.

As a result of their fraudulent billings, AHCCCS paid 1 Family Clinic more than $12 million—funds that were intended to be used for legitimate healthcare services for low-income individuals.

The evidence at trial showed that the Currys spent much of the money they received from AHCCCS on themselves. They purchased properties and luxury vehicles, including a 2019 Lamborghini Urus for more than $300,000.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support 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.

IRS Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation in this case and received substantial assistance from the Mesa Police Department and AHCCCS-Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Corbet and Lindsay Short, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecution.

A Florida woman was convicted for her role in a multi-state scheme to fraudulently obtain unemployment insurance benefits.

Cheryl Galloway, 67, of Yulee, Florida, was convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud in U.S. District Court, said Margaret E. “Meg” Heap, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.

Galloway now faces up to 20 years of imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release when Judge Dudley H. Bowen convenes sentencing proceedings at a later date.

There is no parole in the federal system.

“Using the postal system to advance a fraudulent scheme in order to enrich yourself will result in the harshest of consequences,” said U.S. Attorney Heap. “This case, and many others like it, demonstrate that federal investigators and prosecutors will identify these criminals and hold them accountable.”

As described in court documents and testimony, over a two-year period, Galloway, along with her co-conspirators, electronically submitted fraudulent applications with agencies in at least 40 states. The fraud scheme employed by Galloway and her co-conspirators involved filing for pandemic unemployment benefits around the country, stating they were impacted in those states, and lying about various material aspects of the applications. As a result, the conspirators received approximately $480,000 to which they were not entitled, and they attempted to obtain even more money through fraudulent and deceptive means. Some of the benefits were in the form of a debit card sent to Galloway through the U.S. Mail.

“After a five-day jury trial, Cheryl Galloway was found guilty for her role in a scheme that stole taxpayer-funded benefits. Galloway and her co-conspirators filed fraudulent claims with workforce agencies across the country, falsely claiming employment and pandemic-related unemployment to obtain benefits they never deserved,” said Anthony P. D’Esposito, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Labor. “This conviction is a stark reminder that my office will continue to aggressively investigate, prosecute, and pursue anyone who steals from American taxpayers.”

In March 2020, Congress authorized additional funding and expanded eligibility for state-administered unemployment insurance programs as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. In an effort to maintain the integrity of those benefits, the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Labor (OIG-DOL) investigates individuals attempting to fraudulently access unemployment insurance funds.

Anyone with information about attempted unemployment insurance benefits fraud can contact OIG-DOL at www.oig.dol.gov/hotline.htm.

The case was investigated by the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Labor and prosecuted for the United States by Southern District of Georgia Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelsey L. Scanlon and J. Bishop Ravenel.

A federal jury in the Middle District of Tennessee convicted a Tennessee woman yesterday for illegally distributing controlled substances.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Heather Marks, 43, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner who was licensed by the Drug Enforcement Administration (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. From September 2016 through May 2018, Marks and others overprescribed highly addictive opioids, including oxycodone and oxymorphone, to Lifeforce patients. 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. She is scheduled to be sentenced on September 1, 2026, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count of conviction. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division; U.S. Attorney Braden H. Boucek for the Middle District of Tennessee; Special Agent in Charge Terrence G. Reilly of the FBI; Special Agent in Charge Kelly Blackmon of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); and Special Agent in Charge Chris Ramage of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) made the announcement.

FBI, HHS-OIG, and TBI investigated the case.

Assistant Chief Jim Hayes and Trial Attorneys Lauren Randell and Manu Sebastian of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.

The Department of Justice’s Health Care Fraud 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 since 2007. 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.

A Kansas woman was sentenced to 15 months in prison for fraudulently receiving approximately $450,000 by simultaneously collecting federal and state government benefits in her own name and through identity theft.

According to court documents, Tamera Ruth Powers, 68, of Tonganoxie pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.

Tamera Ruth Powers stole the identity of her relative, Minda Sue Rakestraw, who died in 1977. Powers used Rakestraw’s identity to obtain a Kansas identification card and to marry a man by the last name Landis. Powers then began using the name Minda Sue Landis. Powers defrauded the U.S. government and the State of Kansas by receiving benefits under separate identities. Powers maintained accounts at two different banks to receive payments under her name and the alias Minda Sue Landis.

In April 2005, Powers applied for Social Security Administration (SSA) Disability benefits under the name of Minda Sue Landis. In August 2012, Powers applied for SSA disability benefits in her actual name, falsely stating on the application she had not previously applied for SSA benefits.

In August 2013, Powers applied for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits using her real name. In the SSI application, she lied about her marital status and failed to disclose previously using another name and social security number.

Also in August 2013, Powers applied for assistance from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) through the State of Kansas. She didn’t report she was married or her spouse’s income on the application while led to her receiving more than to which she was entitled.

In December 2013, she began receiving Medicaid benefits through the State of Kansas. She did not disclose her marriage, true household income, or that she had used other names which would have made her ineligible for any Medicaid benefits.

In June 2023, Powers applied for Retirement Insurance Benefits through SSA. In the application she falsely stated that she was not married, and she failed to disclose that she had used other names.

Based upon Powers’ scheme, which is estimated to have gone on for 10 years, the United States suffered loss in the amount of $137,839 and the State of Kansas suffered losses in the amount of $315,257.

“Public benefits provide a safety net to those who need and legally qualify for the assistance. Defrauding the system by misappropriating taxpayer money is a violation of public trust, and it’s only a matter of time until we find the perpetrators and hold them accountable,” said U.S Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser. “To reduce the risk of identity theft following the passing of a loved one, we encourage all next of kin or estate executors to report the death to the Social Security Administration and all major credit reporting agencies.”

As part of the sentence, a federal judge ordered Powers to pay approximately $452,097 in restitution.

“This sentencing sends a strong message that schemes to defraud the Medicaid, SNAP, LIEAP, and Social Security Disability programs will not be tolerated,” stated Steven D. Anderson, Kansas Inspector General. “The Office of Inspector General will continue to work cooperatively with our law enforcement partners to aid in the identification and prosecution of individuals engaged in these types of crimes.”

The Social Security Administration – Office of Inspector General, Office of the Kansas Inspector General, Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF), and Kansas Department of Revenue (KDOR) investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Oakley prosecuted the case.

A man was convicted in Washington state for running a fraudulent business that sent “imposter nurses” to healthcare facilities across Washington state, officials announced Monday.

The Washington Attorney General’s office said a King County jury found David Mungai Njenga guilty on 11 counts in the Medicaid fraud trial on May 28, including a felony charge for leading organized crime.

The jury also found Njenga guilty of five counts of first-degree identity theft, one count of second-degree identity theft, three counts of first-degree theft and one count of second-degree theft.

The Attorney General’s office said Njenga created a fraudulent nurse staffing company called Heritage Medical Staffing, Inc., which was based in Kent, Washington.

The company supplied nursing homes and long-term care facilities with “imposter nurses” using the identities and credentials of real nurses that Njenga stole, officials said.

The nursing homes then paid Njenga for what they thought were real licensed nurses.

Njenga also kept most of the profits for himself, and paid the imposter nurses “far below what real nurses would be paid,” the Washington Attorney General’s Office said.

According to officials, some of the imposter nurses showed a lack of basic healthcare knowledge, such as how to take someone’s blood pressure and dispensing the wrong medication.

The case was initially referred to the attorney general’s office in 2019 by the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office, after charging a woman for using a fake identity and claiming to be a licensed registered nurse.

Officials said the woman previously worked for Njenga and received stolen identity documents from him.

According to the Washington Attorney General’s Office, between May 2017 and October 2019, Njenga ran a “multifaceted criminal enterprise” by obtaining the IDs of five real licensed nurses in Washington and created fake IDs using one person’s fingerprints.

With his first company, Heritage Medical Staffing – which was later renamed to Pro Med Alliance Medical Staffing, Inc. – Njenga recruited unlicensed or unqualified people and presented them as licensed nurses to long-term care facilities across the state including in Yakima, Bothell, Redmond, Shoreline, Vashon Island and North Bend.

Authorities said Njenga will be sentenced June 16 in King County Superior Court, and faces a prison sentence ranging from 12 years to 16.5 years. Officials note he faces up to $50,000 in criminal penalties.

“This verdict is the result of our team’s commitment to cracking down on Medicaid fraud and ensuring the safety of our health system,” Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said. “We are gratified to get justice for the many people harmed and put at risk by these crimes.”

The attorney general’s office won default judgements of $40,500 against each of Njenga’s businesses – Heritage Medical Staffing and Pro Med Alliance Medical Staffing, Inc.

The Washington Attorney General’s office says a co-defendant in the case, Everlyn Njuki, was not included in the trial. Authorities claim Njuki left the United States and issued a warrant for her arrest.

A Texas police chief torched his wife’s SUV, called it stolen, and collected on the claim. A federal court just upheld his fraud conviction.

On June 1, 2026, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the conviction of Christopher Filline, former police chief of Castroville, Texas, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. It is a sharp study in how staged-theft fraud falls apart – and in the red flags a claims investigator can spot from the start.

Here is the story the trial evidence told, as the court laid it out. In 2016, the Fillines were badly stretched: heavy medical bills, about $30,000 in credit-card debt, and overdue mortgage and car payments. Filline’s wife’s 2007 Lincoln Navigator only added to the strain. He called it a “piece of junk,” griped about repair costs, and kept saying he wanted it gone. He even texted his mechanic to “take [the Navigator] and burn it.”

He found his help in-house. Filline asked Ambrose Rymers, an animal-control officer who worked under him, whether he had any “piece of shit cousins” who would “take care of the vehicle and get rid of it.” Rymers brought in his cousin, Oscar Hernandez, who the court says had a criminal history. Once Rymers passed along that the police chief wanted the vehicle gone, Hernandez agreed. Nobody got paid.

Filline set the stage. The Navigator sat near the police station with the keys inside for two weeks. In the early hours of July 16, 2016, Hernandez drove it to a dead-end road in Bexar County, soaked it in gasoline, and set it alight. Two days later, Filline reported it stolen.

The claim is where insurers should pay attention. Filline filed an online claim with Farmers Insurance Group on July 19, 2016, then a proof-of-loss form two days after. Aaron Wood, a Farmers claims investigator, testified to a pile of red flags. Filline’s story kept moving – he said Sunday in one version, Monday in another. He called his insurance agent before he ever reported the theft to police. And the Navigator needed a transponder key that locksmiths couldn’t copy for that model in 2016, so with Filline holding the only key, an ordinary theft made little sense. Wood added that a burned, recovered vehicle is itself a warning sign, since torching a car earns a thief nothing.

The fire marshal saw it too. Bexar County Fire Marshal Marcel Garcia called the Navigator a “total burn” but found the tires, rims, and other valuable parts still on it – exactly what real thieves strip first. He found no forced entry, no witnesses, and noted Filline kept a marked patrol car at home that would scare off most thieves.

The case went quiet, and Farmers paid roughly $14,000 to clear the Navigator’s loan. It stayed cold until Hernandez was arrested two years later on unrelated charges. What he said at the scene pushed Garcia to reopen the arson case. Rymers confessed, named Filline and Hernandez, and secretly recorded a later talk in which Filline asked whether the investigator “[had] something” and “what are we going to do about it?”

A jury convicted Filline under 18 U.S.C. § 1349. He drew three years’ probation, a $5,000 fine, and $14,388.25 in restitution. Rymers, the court notes, pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy.

On appeal, Filline didn’t dispute that the Navigator was deliberately burned, that he filed a claim, or that the claim crossed state lines. His only argument: the government never proved an agreement, which sits at the center of any conspiracy charge. The Fifth Circuit wasn’t persuaded. Writing for the panel, Judge Don Willett said circumstantial evidence “is not second-class evidence,” and that the motive, the recruitment of a criminal relative, the choreographed burning, and the later cover-up together let a rational jury find a conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt.

For carriers, the lesson lives in the file. Almost every signal pointing to fraud – the shifting loss timeline, the agent called before police, the lone transponder key, the pointless burn, the intact tires and rims on a “total” loss – was in front of the claims investigator at the time, long before anyone confessed.

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