A Palm Beach County, Florida doctor was arrested and charged with conspiring to commit health care fraud and wire fraud for his alleged participation in a massive years-long health care fraud scheme throughout Palm Beach County, billing for fraudulent tests and treatments for vulnerable patients seeking treatment for drug and/or alcohol addiction.

In a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday, Michael J. Ligotti, D.O, 46, of Delray Beach, Florida, was charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud. Ligotti made his initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart in the Southern District of Florida.

The complaint alleges that from approximately May 2011 through March 2020, private insurance companies and Medicare were fraudulently billed approximately $681 million for laboratory testing claims and other services as part of this fraudulent scheme, for which they paid approximately $121 million.

“This massive, multi-year alleged fraudulent billing scheme by a trusted medical professional generated millions of dollars by preying on patients seeking substance abuse treatment,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The charges announced today demonstrate the Department of Justice’s continued resolve to dismantle substance abuse treatment fraud schemes and prosecute those who exploit vulnerable patients seeking help for their substance abuse problems.”

“The substance abuse treatment fraud allegedly perpetrated by the defendant sacrificed the genuine care of vulnerable patients at a time when they urgently needed a trusted health care provider,” said U.S. Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan for the Southern District of Florida. “Health care providers who allow greed to take precedence over their Hippocratic Oath and participate in these schemes are criminals and will be held accountable for their unscrupulous conduct.”

“The FBI and its partners are working tirelessly every day to detect and combat health care schemes like substance abuse treatment fraud,” said Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI's Miami Field Office. “The FBI will not relent in our efforts to dismantle scams that take advantage of vulnerable patients. If anyone suspects they are a victim of health care fraud please call your local FBI office.”

“The treatment of addiction helps restore an individual’s independence from drugs and good health, so they can go back to their families and be productive members in our society,” said Special Agent in Charge Kevin W. Carter of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Miami Field Division. “Physicians and other medical professionals who hold positions of trust within our communities, will absolutely be held accountable for violations of that trust. The DEA Miami Field Division remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners to safeguard our local communities against those who engage in fraudulent practices that endanger both the health and lives of Floridians.”

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/florida-doctor-charged-massive-681-million-substance-abuse-treatment-fraud-scheme

An author of malicious computer software and a member of the Infraud Organization pleaded guilty today to RICO conspiracy, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

Valerian Chiochiu, aka “Onassis,” “Flagler,” “Socrate,” and “Eclessiastes,” 30, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge James C. Mahan in the District of Nevada. Chiochiu is a national of the Republic of Moldova, but resided in the United States during the period of the conspiracy. His plea came just over a month after the co-founder and administrator of Infraud, Sergey Medvedev of Russia, separately pleaded guilty on June 26. Sentencing for Chiochiu has been scheduled for Dec. 11.

Infraud was an Internet-based cybercriminal enterprise engaged in the large-scale acquisition, sale, and dissemination of stolen identities, compromised debit and credit cards, personally identifiable information, financial and banking information, computer malware, and other contraband.

“Over the course of seven years, Infraud and its alleged conspirators created a sophisticated cybercriminal racketeering scheme that victimized individuals, merchants, and financial institutions to the tune of over half a billion dollars in losses,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Justice Department is committed to unmasking cyber criminals and their criminal organizations that use the internet for fraudulent schemes.”

“HSI and our partners are at the forefront of combating financial crimes and illicit activities spread on the Internet,” said Special Agent in Charge Francisco Burrola for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Las Vegas Office. “While criminal operators may continue to grow the reach of their criminal activity, ultimately they do not escape the reach of law enforcement. We continue to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle hidden illegal networks that pose a threat in cyberspace.”

According to the indictment, the Infraud Organization was created in October 2010 by Medvedev and Svyatoslav Bondarenko, aka “Obnon,” “Rector,” and “Helkern,” 34, of Ukraine, to promote and grow interest in the Infraud Organization as the premier destination for “carding” —purchasing retail items with counterfeit or stolen credit card information — on the Internet. Under the slogan, “In Fraud We Trust,” the organization directed traffic and potential purchasers to the automated vending sites of its members, which served as online conduits to traffic in stolen means of identification, stolen financial and banking information, malware, and other illicit goods. It also provided an escrow service to facilitate illicit digital currency transactions among its members and employed screening protocols that purported to ensure only high quality vendors of stolen cards, personally identifiable information, and other contraband were permitted to advertise to members. In March 2017, there were 10,901 registered members of the Infraud Organization.

Bondarenko currently remains a fugitive.

According to the indictment, Chiochiu provided guidance to other Infraud members on the development, deployment, and use of malware as a means of harvesting stolen data. As part of his plea agreement, Chiochiu admitted to authoring a strain of malware known to the computer security community as “FastPOS”.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/malware-author-pleads-guilty-role-transnational-cybercrime-organization-responsible-more-568

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi trashed Dr. Deborah Birx during a private meeting with White House officials on Thursday night — calling the coronavirus task force coordinator “horrible” and “the worst,” according to a report.

Pelosi (D-Calif.) moaned about Birx to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and chief of staff Mark Meadows during negotiations on Capitol Hill about further coronavirus aid, Politico reported Friday afternoon.

“Deborah Birx is the worst. Wow, what horrible hands you’re in,” Pelosi said to the pair, accusing the physician of spreading misinformation about the pandemic, the report said.

She went on to praise Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert on the coronavirus task force, who she said: “Came to his senses, and is now a hero.”

The private sledging of Birx follows an unflattering New York Times report published earlier this month which portrayed the physician as someone eager to provide President Trump with only good news about the pandemic.

“A highly regarded infectious diseases expert, she was a constant source of upbeat news for the president and his aides, walking the halls with charts emphasizing that outbreaks were gradually easing,” the report read.

Pelosi’s Thursday salvo comes as experts on the task force find themselves caught in the political cross hairs and as the pandemic drags into its six month with no end in sight.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany scolded the Times for the “appalling” story and defended Birx an “extraordinary doctor.”

https://nypost.com/2020/07/31/nancy-pelosi-trashed-dr-birx-in-meeting-with-meadows-mnuchin-report/