9 comments

  • burkesquires 1 hour ago
    I think fraudsters should have to work off the money they stole at prison wages…punishments are supposed to be deterent and prevent people from commingting crime…don’t seal a billion dollars becasue IF you get caught you will have to pay back half is not a deterent…BUT if they have to pay off a billion dollars at 13-52 cents/hour…that is a deterent!
    • free_bip 24 minutes ago
      I wouldn't want to see that. That's called slavery!

      And no, the severity of the crime does not (IMHO) justify it.

    • inamberclad 36 minutes ago
      I'd like to see a prison sentence for corporations.
      • x3n0ph3n3 14 minutes ago
        I'd like to see the death penalty (dissolution) for them.
  • frinxor 13 minutes ago
    Seeing a lot of these pop up more recently, but this has been happening for a decade now apparently. Isn't this the fault of Medicare itself, of not having routine checks and better processes for preventing these fraudulent claims at the source?

    If only the big scams are being caught (and we don't know what % are being caught), there's likely a lot more going undetected.

  • exabrial 1 hour ago
    > An Arizona man was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $452 million in restitution for conspiring to defraud Medicare and other federal health care benefit programs of more than $1 billion by operating a platform that generated false doctors’ orders used to support fraudulent claims for various medical items.

    I wish all headlines read like this instead of "here's why you should be scared"

    • lixtra 1 hour ago
      As you would expect from a state press release, not a tabloid publication.
  • rdtsc 1 hour ago
    > The fraudulent doctors’ orders generated by DMERx falsely represented that a doctor had examined and treated the Medicare beneficiaries when, in fact, purported telemedicine companies paid doctors to sign the orders without regard to medical necessity

    They'll get doctors as well? Hopefully they are part of the co-conspirators group they mentioned they convicted at the start. Criminals are going to be criminal, but it's especially disheartening when doctors engage in this. All those years going to school should be canceled and thrown into the trash immediately if they get convicted of these kinds of crimes. The path of ever being a doctor should be closed for them.

  • keernan 43 minutes ago
    Why does he only have to repay 45%?
    • wredcoll 31 minutes ago
      Article says medicaid only paid 300ish million on the claims.
  • AndrewKemendo 1 hour ago
    I mean that’s pretty unabashed good news. I’m probably the most cynical person that comments regularly and I’ll take it!

    It’s something at least.

    • Cipater 1 hour ago
      You're nowhere near the most cynical peron here if your first thought wasn't "how long till he gets pardoned"?
      • atmavatar 46 minutes ago
        My first thought was that the guy was required to pay back less than half of what was stolen.

        From there, of course, it's a short hop to "he has more than enough money left over to purchase himself a pardon."

        • Nevermark 6 minutes ago
          Well if he wasn't already contributing some percentage to the "right" people ahead of time, and saying the "right" things ("autism, something, something, vaccines, something something, persecution, ..."), he wasn't very good at what he did.

          Despite the great post-sentencing opportunities for monetary re-justicing, insurance still works better when paid for up front.

        • wombatpm 18 minutes ago
          Recent reports say the going price is a million
  • hermannj314 1 hour ago
    Does polymarket let you bet on when Trump pardons this guy?
    • rdtsc 1 hour ago
      It's your great chance to win big money! You should bet on it!
    • kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 1 hour ago
      Couldn't you go find out yourself? Or was your purpose to score some internet points with a snarky political jab?
      • garyfirestorm 1 hour ago
        Is it a ‘snarky political jab’ if it is highly likely to happen irl?
      • gregjw 55 minutes ago
        It's funny when people are more upset about being called out than seeing the person they voted in do absurd things again and again.
      • hermannj314 1 hour ago
        It is a snarky political jab.

        President Trump loves to pardon white collar criminals in exchange for donations. It is his whole thing and well documented.

        • wombatpm 9 minutes ago
          The donations to his Presidential library are a scam. I’ve made this prediction elsewhere. I am 99% confident that the Trump Presidential Library will not be build during his lifetime. Further,I am 50 year old nonsmoker and I am 85% confident the Trump Presidential Library will not be built in my lifetime.

          I also expect the new East Wing Ballroom will not be built this term and the donations will mysteriously disappear with the next administration.

      • nutjob2 26 minutes ago
        I guess you've never heard of a rhetorical question.

        But speaking of snark why are you so upset? Trump has form pardoning people for purely political reasons and for personal gain of various kinds.

  • jmyeet 43 minutes ago
    Meanwhile, we have the former governor of Florida and now Seantor from Florida Rick Scott, who was CEO of the company successfully prosecuted for the largest Medicare fraud in history ($1.7 billion) [1].

    Here's what to watch: how long it takes for a donation to show up to the Trump library and how soon after that the sentence is commutted. This has erased roughly $1 billion in penalties so far since January 20. Hell, it might only take $1 million.

    [1]: https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2003/June/03_civ_386....