>>22145675 DOGE TEH USFS: ranching couple indicted by Forest Service for fence in place since 1950PNcurious as to why was this notabled twice in last 3 days, with just a title and link?

South Dakota ranching couple indicted by Forest Service for fence in place since 1950

Another ranching family targeted by aggressive government overreach; facing 10 years in prison Keely Covello Sep 14, 20241/2

CAPUTA, SD – A South Dakota ranching couple is facing 10 years in prison over a fence dispute.

Charles and Heather Maude, both 39, of Maude Hog & Cattle have each been charged separately with theft of government property for allegedly placing a fence on federal grassland. U.S. Forest Service (USFS) special agent Travis Lunders== arrived at their ranch without warning, armed and in full tactical gear, to serve the couple separate grand jury indictments.

The couple is barred from discussing the case with each other and must each retain their own legal counsel. Each separately faces up to 10 years in prison or a $250,000 fine.

“It’s stressful, financially and mentally,” Charles Maude told Cowboy State Daily. “It’s something nobody should have to go through.”

87 days from notice of conflict to indictment

The dispute began onMarch 29, when the couple were told to remove a ‘no hunting’ sign from a fencepost between their land and the Buffalo Gap National Grassland after an alleged complaint from a hunter. The Maudes complied, though they say they were not shown proof of a complaint.

Just over amonth later, Forest Servicedistrict ranger Julie Wheelerand special agent Lunders met with the couple, and it was agreed the USFS would survey the land to determine property lines. Ms. Wheeler said the survey could take up to a year.

A mere five days later and without notice, Mr. Lunders showed up at the Maude ranch with a survey team.

OnJune 24, Mr. Lunders returned again, this time with indictments.

The Maudes claim they pursued resolution as soon as the issue was raised to them, and provided options to settle the dispute including obtaining a special use permit or making a land trade. They stated they had not been advised of any rule violations and maintained their grazing agreements in good standing.

Permit agreement and fence placement consistently acknowledged since 1960

The Maude family has had an ongoing grazing agreement with the Forest Service for 60 years. The fence was built in 1950, and its placement has been consistently acknowledged at each renewal.

“The criminal indictment appears unnecessary and conflicts with USDA’s stated good neighbor practices with regard to land management practices,” Senator Mike Rounds wrote in an open letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

He called the Forest Service’s indictments an “overzealous prosecution of a ranching family in my state” and requested Mr. Vilsack review the dispute.

History of conflict between South Dakota ranchers and USFS

There’s been ongoing conflict between ranchers and the Forest Service in the area, now raised to a fever pitch after the Maudes’ indictment.

https://www.americaunwon.com/p/south-dakota-ranching-couple-indicted

>>22147475

2/2

NCBA VP of government affairs Ethan Lane says the USFS has a long history of harassing ranchers in the area. “The Forest Service’s deference to the heavy-handed special agent with a long history of abusing permittees is unconscionable,” he wrote in a statement.

Mr. Lane added that escalating a question around a century-old fence to the level of imprisonment is an necessary and heavy-handed overreach that he says has caused alarm in the local ranching community.

Senator, cattle industry groups rally behind the Maude family

“This case is a prime example of what can happen when federal agencies view ranchers as enemies, rather than partners,” said Mark Roeber, president of the Public Lands Council (PLC), in a statement. “I urge the U.S. Forest Service to rethink their plan to slap handcuffs on these hardworking ranchers and instead pursue an alternative resolution to this issue.”

Shad Sullivan, property rights committee chairman at R-CALF, called the indictments both erroneous and “retaliatory.”

“The Forest Service has long said they want to be good neighbors, and taking shots at easy targets isn’t being good neighbors,” Rachel Gabel, the editor of The Fence Post, told the Daily Mail,adding that the case went from ‘zero to 120 mph in 87 days.’

“I’m deeply disgusted by the Forest Service’s persecution of Charles and Heather,” National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) President Mark Eisele said in a statement.“The U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Attorney’s Office have maliciously targeted and prosecuted these family ranchers, and it’s clear that if this can happen in South Dakota, government overreach can happen anywhere.”

A GoFundMe to help with legal fees has raised over $41,000 as of this writing. Click here to donate.Link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-the-maude-family-preserve-their-legacy

“The Maude family has owned the US Forest Service allotment in question since the Forest Service came into existence andhas managed that same land since 1913. The family has never been advised it was violating any rules and to this day the family maintains its grazing agreement in good standing,” organizer Katie Dirksen wrote on the fundraising website.

https://www.americaunwon.com/p/south-dakota-ranching-couple-indicted

This psychopaths in the Government need to go through a psych test, and kicked out if they fail, mercy and empathyWhat did they want another Bundy Ranch murder?

>>22146545, >>22146604 Curious Circumstances in the Shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian ThompsonPN

DOJ launched probe into UnitedHealth for insider trading and attempted to stop monopoly

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in Manhattan on Wednesday morning

Andrew Witty of UnitedHealthcare, sent this message to the major insurer's employees in the hours after his co-CEO Brian Thompson was shot dead outside a Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4.

Multiple senior executives at UnitedHealthcare have been under investigation by the Department of Justice, though it is not clear if CEO Brian Thompson was part of that investigation before his murder.

Thompson was gunned down in midtown Manhattan on Wednesday morning in what police are calling a targeted attack. There were reports that the executives were accused of insider trading and fraud, and last year the DOJ launched a probe into whether the nation’s largest insurer was unfairly restricting competitors and running a monopoly.

Last month,the DOJ along with attorneys generals from Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey and New York filed a lawsuit to block UnitedHealth Group Incorporated’s proposed $3.3 billion acquisition of rival home health and hospice provider Amedisys Inc.

The transaction, according to the complaint, would eliminate competition between UnitedHealth and Amedisys.

By eliminating the competition, patients who receive home health and hospice services would be harmed, as would insurers who contract for home health services and nurses who provide those services, according to the DOJ.

"We are challenging this merger because home health and hospice patients and their families experiencing some of the most difficult moments of their lives deserve affordable, high quality care options," Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said last month. "The Justice Department will not hesitate to check unlawful consolidation and monopolization in the healthcare market that threatens to harm vulnerable patients, their families, and health care workers." (Bullshit)

Both companies view each other as close competitors for home health and hospice services, and UnitedHealth’s proposal would eliminate that competition.

UnitedHealth proposed divesting certain facilities to VitalCaring Group to address some of the overlaps between UnitedHealth and Amedisys, the DOJ said. But that proposal does not alleviate harm in over 100 home health, hospice and labor markets, the DOJ added, which generate over a billion dollars in revenue each year and serve at least 200,000 patients, while employing at least 4,000 nurses.

"American healthcare is unwell. Unless this $3.3 billion transaction is stopped, UnitedHealth Group will further extend its grip to home health and hospice care, threatening seniors, their families and nurses," Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division said.

FOX Business reached out to UnitedHealth but has not yet heard back

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/doj-launched-probe-unitedhealth-insider-trading-attempted-stop-monopoly

If you do research on Pharma getting sued by DOJ, they always settle them with a fine, for a tiny fraction of the income they make. So they get a slap on the hand and go back to all the corruption. Hospitals associations also.

U.S. Settles Lawsuit Alleging Medical Staffing And Services Companies Defrauded Medicare By Submitting Claims Under The Names Of Doctors Who Did Not Perform The ServicesThursday, July 27, 2023

U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York

Defendants Agree to Pay a Total of $475,000(that's it?)

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Naomi Gruchacz, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (“HHS-OIG”), announced today that the United States has filed and settled a civil fraud lawsuit against ADVANCED HEALTH PARTNERS, INC., f/k/a “Medicom Management Services, Inc.”; MEDEXCEL USA, INC.; MEDEXCEL EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN SERVICES OF YONKERS, PLLC (“MEPSY”); and TRI-STATE EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS, PLLC (collectively the “Defendants”). This settlement resolves a lawsuit under the False Claims Act alleging that the Defendants submitted or caused the submission of false claims to Medicare using the names and identifying information of physicians who did not perform or supervise the medical services claimed and, in many cases, were no longer employed by the Defendants.

Under the terms of the settlement approved today by U.S. District Judge Nelson S. Román, the Defendants admitted and accepted responsibility for their conduct and agreed to pay $475,000 in damages to the United States.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Advanced Health Partners, working with Medexcel, fraudulently billed Medicare on behalf of MEPSY and Tri-State at significant cost to taxpayers. This settlement holds these entities accountable both through the monetary payment and the detailed admissions they have made.”

HHS-OIG Special Agent in Charge Naomi Gruchacz said: “Providers that conceal or fail to submit accurate billing information can affect individuals who depend on Medicare funding for access to safe and effective health care services. The laws are meant to preserve the integrity of program funds and the provision of appropriate, quality services to patients. Our agency collaborates frequently with our law enforcement partners to investigate providers alleged to undermine our federal health care programs by submitting fraudulent claims, thus violating the False Claims Act.”

As part of the settlement, the Defendants admit, acknowledge, and accept responsibility for the following conduct:

• Between 2007 and 2017 (the “Covered Period”), MEPSY and TRI-STATEprovided clinical staff to operate emergency departments at various hospitalsin or around the Southern District of New York (the “Emergency Departments”).

• During the Covered Period,ADVANCED HEALTH PARTNERS submitted claims to the Medicare program(the “Subject Claims”) for professional services rendered at the Emergency Departments by physicians or other clinical staff employed by MEPSY and TRI-STATE.

• MEDEXCEL provided management services to MEPSY and TRI-STATE. Additionally, MEDEXCEL provided back-office support and guidance to ADVANCED HEALTH PARTNERS concerning its billing practices,including, in some instances, by directing which physician’s National Provider Identification number (“NPI”) to use to bill for specific services.

• During the Covered Period,several thousand of the Subject Claims used the NPIs of physicians who did not render or supervise the services in question, rather than the NPIs of the physicians who had actually rendered or supervised the services. Specifically, ADVANCED HEALTH PARTNERS, whoreceived billing guidance from MEDEXCEL, used the NPIs of physicians who previously had been, but were no longer, employed by MEPSY or TRI-STATE.

• DefendantsMEPSY and TRI-STATE received substantial reimbursement from Medicare to which they were not entitled as a result of these claims, and ADVANCED HEALTH PARTNERS and MEDEXCEL caused Medicare to make these unwarranted payments.

In connection with the filing of the lawsuit and settlement,the Government joined a private whistleblower lawsuit that had been filed under seal pursuant to the False Claims Act.

• • *

Mr. Williams thanked HHS-OIG for its assistance.

The case is being handled by the Office’s Civil Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Peter M. Aronoff and Jacob M. Bergman are in charge of the case.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/us-settles-lawsuit-alleging-medical-staffing-and-services-companies-defrauded-medicare

The question is were these surgeons even competent to do the surgeries? Why did they not use their current ones, were there too many malpractice suits?