IN THE Niger Delta, a gun is an investment that yields excellent returns. Jamnogo Blessing, a gang member, recently turned up in Yenagoa, a turbulent city in the oil-pumping Niger Delta, to buy a stash of weapons from militants who hung up their boots seven years ago. “The only language the government listens to is violence,” he says. Once rearmed, his gang will attack oil companies operating around his home town of Idheze, he adds.
An army of unemployed young men like Mr Blessing is threatening to rise up in southern Nigeria and blow up oil pipelines. The industry, on which Nigeria depends for nearly all government revenues, could be crippled, as it was for much of the early 2000s. Production has already fallen to about 1.5m barrels a day (b/d), down from 2.2m last year, as attacks gather pace. This has helped push the global oil price back up to almost $50 a barrel. And it could spell disaster for President Muhammadu Buhari, who is trying to stave off recession. His budget assumed almost double that level of output this year.
Responsibility for much of the damage has been claimed by a mysterious and skilful band called the Niger Delta Avengers. Earlier this year they set off an explosion six metres under water, cutting output by 250,000b/d. Foreign oil firms are giving up on repairs, since the saboteurs just strike again. Local producers who rely on pipelines have been forced to turn off the taps. “We’ve had not a drop of oil for four and a half months,” laments Kola Karim, the boss of Shoreline Energy, one such group.
The Avengers say they want more local control of resources. This is what gunmen in the Niger Delta always say. And by “local”, they mean they’d like a taste of the money themselves. “It’s just old wine in a new jar,” says Jonjon Oyeinfe, an activist. The last set of militants more or less stopped fighting after they were bought off with an amnesty in 2009, and a monthly stipend of 60,000 naira each (about $400 at the time). That is a huge sum in a region where most people live on less than a dollar a day, and gives other men a reason to take up arms.
Many Niger Deltans sympathise with the rebels. Until last year a local man, Goodluck Jonathan, was president of Nigeria and showered goodies on his home region. Mr Buhari, who hails from the north, has cancelled a number of pipeline security contracts that had been given to southerners, including Mr Tompolo, and slashed the budget for paying off ex-fighters by 70%. Unemployed former rebels moan that it has been four months since they got their last monthly stipend. They are also furious that a proposed oil-law amendment would scrap the royalty that went to local communities. “Right now everybody in the Niger Delta is an Avenger, because everyone is angry,” says one former fighter, sitting by a swimming pool. Other rebel groups with comic-book titles such as the Niger Delta Suicide Squad seem to pop up almost every day.
Some of their complaints are fair. Nigeria’s oil business is a labyrinth of patronage and corruption, where politicians skim off profits and cartels steal hundreds of millions of barrels every year. Oil pollution kills fish and impoverishes fishermen. Yet there is no reason to think that it would be better managed if control were devolved to the Delta. For years a hefty 13% of oil revenue has been pumped back into the producing states, but governors have generally squandered it. Another war would only make matters worse. “This will not stop until they do things right,” says the retired militant. “The time will come when Nigeria is producing no oil at all.”
UK’s Historic Vote: How 51.89% of the population voted to leave the European Union
51.89% of the population voted to leave the European Union, while 48.11% voted to remain. Almost 46.5 million people were registered to vote in Thursday’s referendum.
Pro-“Brexit” campaigners cheered, but the largely unexpected decision played havoc on world markets. London’s FTSE 100 index plunged by more than 8% at the open, with bank stocks getting hit particularly hard.
A map of the United Kingdom, which shows the areas that voted to remain in blue, and those which voted to leave in red.
Pro-independence party UKIP leader and Leave campaigner Nigel Farage told a group of journalists at Westminster following the Leave side’s victory that the EU is “dying.”
Calling for a ‘Brexit government,’ he added that “we’ve given ourselves the chance to rejoin the world … June 23rd needs to become a national bank holiday and we will call it Independence Day.”
The result reflects a deeply divided union.
In one of the most divisive campaigns in recent memory, polls had consistently shown voters split down the middle, with the outcome too close to call, and wavering voters likely to determine the result.
The UK has been a member of the European Union — and its precursors — since 1973.
Mixed reaction
The results have prompted mixed reaction from politicians. London Mayor Sadiq Kahn said that the decision was a “clear message” but urged calm.
European Council President Donald Tusk said the UK’s decision to leave the European Union was “historic, but not a moment for hysterical reactions.
“Today on behalf of the 27 (European) leaders, I can say that we are determined to keep our unity as the 27. For all of us, the union is the framework for our common future.”U.S. President Barack Obama “has been briefed” on the results and expects to speak to Cameron later in the day.
Markets start freaking out
The shock development will have profound implications for markets and economies around the world.
Along with the FTSE’s disastrous opening, the pound has plunged more than 12% to below $1.34, its lowest level since 1985. Japan’s Nikkei tanked 6.7%, and Hong Kong’s main index dropped 3.7%. Stock futures indicate that markets in London and New York will also tank when they open for trading. Dow futures are down more than 650 points.
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said that the body is “well prepared” and “won’t hesitate” to take additional measures as markets adjust.
The “UK financial system is resilient,” he added.
‘Serious consequences’
British Foreign Minister Hammond said that Britain’s voice in Europe will be greatly diminished and that the events would “change course of British history with huge consequences.”
Speaking to CNN’s Richard Quest, Italy’s Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan acknowledged the risk of a domino effect following the vote.
Indeed, Britain’s decision has emboldened anti-Europe parties across the continent.
The far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders congratulated the UK on its decision, and called for a Dutch referendum on EU membership.
“We want be in charge of our own country, our own money, our own borders, and our own immigration policy,” he was quoted as saying in a statement on his website.
“If I become prime minister, there will be a referendum in the Netherlands on leaving the European Union as well. Let the Dutch people decide.”
Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s nationalist Front National party also congratulated the Brexit side. Her party has suggested that the French would also hold an “out” referendum if she assumed the presidency. France is holding presidential elections next year.
David Cameron, left, and his wife Samantha arrive to vote in the EU referendum in London, Thursday June 23, 2016. Cameron has announced his resignation as Prime Minister following the UK’s historic vote to leave the EU. He refused to give an exact time table for his departure, but said that he wanted a new leader to be in place by the start of the Tory Party conference in October.
Breakup of the union?
Turnout in Scotland was 67% with voters across the country voting overwhelmingly to stay in Europe. Now that the UK as a whole has determined to leave, many north of the border feel that this would be a catalyst for another Scottish referendum, allowing the country to secede from the UK.
The pro-independence Sinn Fein party in Northern Ireland also called for an Irish unity referendum — taking Northern Ireland out of the UK — in the wake of the Brexit vote.
“Scotland has delivered a strong, unequivocal vote to remain in the EU, and I welcome that endorsement of our European status,” Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said in a statement. She will deliver a statement on the Brexit vote’s implications for Scotland later on Friday morning, she said in a statement.
“And while the overall result remains to be declared, the vote here makes clear that the people of Scotland see their future as part of the European Union.”
Her predecessor, Alex Salmond, told British television that Cameron has no choice but to resign after losing the referendum.
“If this result holds, it’s the end of Britain, just simple as that… Scotland is voting overwhelmingly to stay,” historian Simon Schama told CNN before the vote.
“Bye-bye Great Britain, bye-bye United Kingdom. That will absolutely happen.”
David Cameron resigns after UK shocks the world by voting for Brexit
With the Leave campaign securing 52 per cent of the vote, Mr Cameron addressed the nation in an emotional speech outside 10 Downing Street to announce that he would be stepping down.
David Cameron has resigned as Prime Minister after Britain voted to leave the European Union.
It followed a turbulent night with Remain campaigners quietly confident until the early hours when results from Newcastle and Sunderland showed better than expected returns for the Brexit camp.
A surprise victory for a Brexit in Swansea, which was expected to vote to Remain, did little to dampen concerns despite Scotland overwhelmingly backing staying in the Union.
Other votes in Wales began to show a trend towards a surprise Leave vote, particularly in deprived communities.
Statements are expected to be made by Sinn Fein and the SNP later today calling for a breakaway from the Union. London backed Remain but the turnout was lower than expected because of bad weather.
Meanwhile on the market, the FTSE 250 index has plunged a whopping 11.7pc. The index of so-called mid-cap companies had dropped an astonishing 2,017 points to 15,309 in the first few minutes of trading.
Nearly 200 die in a month at Boko Haram displaced camp
Abuja (AFP) – Nearly 200 people have died in the last month at a camp for people made homeless by Boko Haram violence in northeast Nigeria, an aid agency said Wednesday, warning of a growing malnutrition crisis.
A Doctors Without Borders (MSF) team on Tuesday visited the camp, home to around 24,000 people including 15,000 children, and found what it called “a catastrophic humanitarian emergency” unfolding.
One in five of over 800 children it examined had severe acute malnutrition while 16 severely malnourished children “at immediate risk of death” were referred to its in-patient treatment centre.
At least 188 people have died in the internally displaced people (IDP) camp in Bama, some 70 kilometres (45 miles) from Maiduguri, since May 23 — about six a day — mainly from diarrhoea and malnutrition, MSF said in a statement.
A total of 1,233 graves, many of them of for children, had been dug near the camp in the past year, the agency said.
“This is the first time MSF has been able to access Bama but we already know the needs of the people there are beyond critical,” said MSF head of mission in Nigeria Ghada Hatim.
“We are treating malnourished children in medical facilities in Maiduguri and see the trauma on the faces of our patients who have witnessed and survived many horrors.”
– ‘Walking corpses’ –
The Borno state government and international aid agencies have previously warned about acute food shortages for IDPs in northeast Nigeria and the wider Lake Chad region.
On June 15, the Borno state government said it had transferred nearly 700 people, most of them children, from Bama to Maiduguri for treatment for severe malnutrition.
Sixty-one young children and babies were said to be “critically malnourished”.
A civilian vigilante and a soldier based in the remote town of Banki, 60 kilometres from Bama near the Cameroon border, told AFP this month at least 10 people were “starving to death” every day.
The vigilante said 376 people had been buried in the last three months and those still alive were like “walking corpses”.
– Security issues –
Boko Haram, whose seven-year Islamist insurgency in northeast Nigeria has left at least 20,000 dead and displaced more than 2.6 million, controlled swathes of territory in the northeast in 2014.
But the Nigerian government has said IDPs housed in camps or host communities can return after a military counter-offensive pushed the militants out of captured towns and villages.
Despite assurances the northeast is largely clear of the rebels, sporadic attacks continue and security remains an issue, while houses, businesses and farms have largely been destroyed.
Domestic and international aid agencies are mainly based in Maiduguri and dependent on Nigerian army assistance to access camps outside the city.
The Borno state governor Kashim Shettima last week ordered police to investigate reports that relief material, including bags of rice meant for IDPs, was being stolen.
The UN’s children’s agency, UNICEF, said it has been working with its partners in Bama since March and has provided health and nutrition support for some 19,000 people.
Its primary health care centre sees on average 140 patients a day for conditions ranging from malaria, respiratory infections and diarrhoea, as well as malnutrition screening and treatment.
U.S. World Business Tech & Science Culture Sports Opinion Subscribe To Newsweek Sign In World Niger Delta Avengers Deny Ceasefire with Nigerian Government
The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) have again disavowed a purported ceasefire with the Nigerian government.
The militant group, which has carried out attacks on oil pipelines and infrastructure in the oil-producing Niger Delta region since February, announced via its Twitter feed Tuesday: “The NDA High Command never remember [sic.] having any agreement on ceasefire with the Nigeria Government.”
Nigerian Petroleum Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu has said that the government is willing to negotiate with the NDA and other militant groups, who want a greater share of the West African country’s oil wealth. Kachikwu said earlier in June that the Nigerian military would scale down its activities in the Niger Delta in a bid to clear a path for peace talks. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to engage with the grievances felt by communities in the Niger Delta.
An unnamed official in Nigeria’s petroleum ministry confirmed to Reuters on Tuesday that a one-month ceasefire had been agreed with militants in the Niger Delta, including the NDA, but the Nigerian government has made no official announcement of such a deal being in place. A former militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND)—which led an insurgency in the region in the mid-2000s—has also urged the NDA to negotiate with the government, but the latter group has denounced the former and accused it of selling out to the government.
The rise of the NDA has had a dramatic impact on the oil output of Nigeria, traditionally Africa’s biggest oil producer. Nigeria is currently producing around 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd), down from 2.2 million bpd at the start of 2016, and has slipped behind Angola as the continent’s top producer.
Bring Back Our Girls demands news of escaped Chibok girl
FILE- In this Thursday, May. 19, 2016 file photo, Amina Ali, the rescue Chibok school girl, sits during a meeting with Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential palace in Abuja, Nigeria. Nigeria’s Bring Back Our Girls movement demanded Wednesday, June. 22, 2016 that the government provide news of the only one of 219 kidnapped schoolgirls to escape the clutches of the Boko Haram extremist group. (AP Photo/Azeez Akunleyan, File)
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) – Nigeria’s Bring Back Our Girls movement and family members are demanding that the government provide news of the only schoolgirl among 219 kidnapped to escape the clutches of Boko Haram Islamic extremists.
“Even this morning people came to my house asking if I had been able to find out her whereabouts. It’s outrageous! Some people are crying! We don’t understand why the government wants to keep her family away,” Yakubu Nkeki, an uncle of Amina Ali Nkeki, told The Associated Press by telephone on Thursday.
In a statement Wednesday night marking the 800th day of the mass abduction that outraged the world, Bring Back Our Girls also asked what the government is doing to try to rescue the other girls.
Hunters found Ali on May 17, wandering on the fringes of Boko Haram’s Sambisa Forest stronghold with her 4-month-old baby and the father of the child, a Boko Haram fighter who she said helped her escape.
Ali was flown to the capital, Abuja, two days after her escape for a televised meeting at which President Muhammadu Buhari promised her the best care and rehabilitation.The Bring Back Our Girls movement says no one has seen her since, not even leaders of the Chibok community where the girls were kidnapped. It says Ali has said some of the girls have died but most are alive, raising hopes they could still be rescued.
“It is now more than one month since Ms. Ali was rescued and her avowed restoration process by the federal government as pledged by the president began. Having given a reasonable length of time, our movement has a number of concerns regarding Amina Ali as well as the rest of our Chibok girls still in the terrorist enclave,” said the statement signed by the movement’s founders Aisha Yesufu and Oby Ezekwesili.
Government and military officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
It had been presumed that Ali would be debriefed by state security agents for information that could lead to a rescue operation, and that she would receive psychosocial care.
Nigeria’s military has freed thousands of Boko Haram captives this year, but none of the girls kidnapped from a remote boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok in April 2014.
The Associated Press has been unable to establish the whereabouts of some other freed Boko Haram captives taken for alleged debriefing and counseling by the office of the National Security Adviser.
Ali’s uncle said the last time he saw her and her mother, Binta Nkeki, along with baby Safiyah was in the office of the National Security Adviser at the presidential villa on May 19.
“We have had no credible information since, though I am told they are in the hands of the government,” he said.
Bring Back Our Girls also demanded the government prosecute the father of Ali’s child, Mohammed Hayyatu, for abduction and rape. The military has said he appeared to be a Boko Haram commander and was being held for interrogation.
“We are extremely disappointed with the evident lull in rescue actions and lack of any progress report,” the movement said.
National Health Care Fraud Takedown Results in Charges against 301 Individuals for Approximately $900 Million in False Billing
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch speaks a press conference joined by other law enforcement officials on June 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. (L-R) Deputy Administrator and Director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Center for Program Integrity Dr. Shantanu Agrawal, HHS Deputy Inspector General Gary Cantrell, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell, FBI Associate Deputy Director David Bowdich, U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, and Acting Director Dermot O’Reilly of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. Lynch announced the result of a national Medicare fraud crackdown that took place in 36 districts around the country.
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell announced Wednesday, an unprecedented nationwide sweep led by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in 36 federal districts, resulting in criminal and civil charges against 301 individuals, including 61 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in health care fraud schemes involving approximately $900 million in false billings. Twenty-three state Medicaid Fraud Control Units also participated in today’s arrests. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is suspending payment to a number of providers using its suspension authority provided in the Affordable Care Act. This coordinated takedown is the largest in history, both in terms of the number of defendants charged and loss amount.
Attorney General Lynch and Secretary Burwell were joined in the announcement by Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, FBI Associate Deputy Director David Bowdich, Inspector General Daniel Levinson of the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG), Acting Director Dermot O’Reilly of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), and Deputy Administrator and Director of CMS Center for Program Integrity Shantanu Agrawal M.D.
The defendants announced today are charged with various health care fraud-related crimes, including conspiracy to commit health care fraud, violations of the anti-kickback statutes, money laundering and aggravated identity theft. The charges are based on a variety of alleged fraud schemes involving various medical treatments and services, including home health care, psychotherapy, physical and occupational therapy, durable medical equipment (DME) and prescription drugs. More than 60 of the defendants arrested are charged with fraud related to the Medicare prescription drug benefit program known as Part D, which is the fastest-growing component of the Medicare program overall.
“As this takedown should make clear, health care fraud is not an abstract violation or benign offense – It is a serious crime,” said Attorney General Lynch. “The wrongdoers that we pursue in these operations seek to use public funds for private enrichment. They target real people – many of them in need of significant medical care. They promise effective cures and therapies, but they provide none. Above all, they abuse basic bonds of trust – between doctor and patient; between pharmacist and doctor; between taxpayer and government – and pervert them to their own ends. The Department of Justice is determined to continue working to ensure that the American people know that their health care system works for them – and them alone.”
“Millions of seniors depend on Medicare for essential health coverage, and our action shows that this administration remains committed to cracking down on individuals who try to defraud the program,” said Secretary Burwell. “We are continuing to put new tools and additional resources to work, including $350 million from the Affordable Care Act, for health care fraud prevention and enforcement efforts. Thanks to the hard work of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, we are making progress in addressing and deterring fraud and delivering results to help ensure Medicare remains strong for years to come.”
According to court documents, the defendants allegedly participated in schemes to submit claims to Medicare and Medicaid for treatments that were medically unnecessary and often never provided. In many cases, patient recruiters, Medicare beneficiaries and other co-conspirators were allegedly paid cash kickbacks in return for supplying beneficiary information to providers, so that the providers could then submit fraudulent bills to Medicare for services that were medically unnecessary or never performed. Collectively, the doctors, nurses, licensed medical professionals, health care company owners and others charged are accused of submitting a total of approximately $900 million in fraudulent billing.
“The Medicare Fraud Strike Force is a model of 21st-Century data-driven law enforcement, and it has had a remarkable impact on health care fraud across the country,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “As the cases announced today demonstrate, the Strike Force’s strategic approach keeps us a step ahead of emerging fraud trends, including drug diversion, and fraud involving compounded medications and hospice care.”
“These criminals target the most vulnerable in our society by taking money away from the care of the elderly, children and disabled,” said Associate Deputy Director Bowdich. “The FBI is committed to working with our partners and the public to stop fraud and ensure that healthcare dollars are used to help the sick, and not line the pockets of criminals.”
“While it is impossible to accurately pinpoint the true cost of fraud in federal health care programs, fraud is a significant threat to the programs’ stability and endangers access to health care services for millions of Americans,” said Inspector General Levinson. “As members of the joint Strike Force, OIG will continue to play a vital role in tracking down these criminals and seeing that justice is done.”
“DCIS, in partnership with our fellow federal investigative agencies, will continue to uncompromisingly investigate and bring to justice the people who perpetrate these criminal acts,” said Acting Director O’Reilly. “Their actions threaten to cripple our vital national health care industry, and place our citizenry at risk. We will remain vigilant.”
“Taxpayers and Congress provided CMS with resources to adopt powerful monitoring systems that fight fraud, safeguard program dollars, and protect Medicare and Medicaid,” said Deputy Administrator and Center for Program Integrity Director Agrawal. “The diligent use of innovative data analytic systems has contributed or led directly to many of the law enforcement cases presented here today. CMS is committed to its collaboration with these agencies to keep federally-funded health care programs safe and strong for all Americans.”
The Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations are part of the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), a joint initiative announced in May 2009 between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country. The Medicare Fraud Strike Force operates in nine locations and since its inception in March 2007 has charged over 2,900 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for over $8.9 billion.
Including today’s enforcement actions, nearly 1,200 individuals have been charged in national takedown operations, which have involved more than $3.4 billion in fraudulent billings. Today’s announcement marks the second time that districts outside of Strike Force locations participated in a national takedown, and they accounted for 82 defendants charged in this takedown.
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For the Strike Force locations, in the Southern District of Florida, a total of 100 defendants were charged with offenses relating to their participation in various fraud schemes involving approximately $220 million in false billings for home health care, mental health services and pharmacy fraud. In one case, nine defendants have been charged with operating six different Miami-area home health companies for the purpose of submitting false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, including for services that were not medically necessary and that were based on bribes and kickbacks. In total, Medicare paid the six companies over $24 million as a result of the scheme.
In the Southern District of Texas, 24 individuals were charged in cases involving over $146 million in alleged fraud. One of these defendants is a physician with the highest number of referrals for home health services in the Southern District of Texas. This physician has been charged with participating in separate schemes to bill Medicare for medically unnecessary home health services that were often not provided. Numerous companies that submitted claims to Medicare using the fraudulent home health referrals from the physician were paid over $38 million by Medicare.
In the Northern District of Texas, 11 people were charged in cases involving over $47 million in alleged fraud. In one scheme, a physician allowed unlicensed individuals to perform physician services and then billed Medicare as if he performed them. Additionally, the physician certified patients for home health care that was often medically unnecessary. Home health companies submitted approximately $23.3 million in billings to Medicare based on the physician’s fraudulent certifications.
In the Central District of California, 22 defendants were charged for their roles in schemes to defraud Medicare of approximately $162 million. In one case, a doctor was charged with causing almost $12 million in losses to Medicare through his own fraudulent billing, including performing medically unnecessary vein ablation procedures on Medicare beneficiaries.
In the Eastern District of Michigan, 19 defendants face charges for their alleged roles in fraud, kickback, money laundering and drug distribution schemes involving approximately $114 million in false claims for services that were medically unnecessary or never rendered. Among these are owners of a physical therapy clinic who lured patients through the payment of cash kickbacks and medically unnecessary prescriptions for Schedule II medications for the purpose of stealing more than $36 million from Medicare.
In Tampa, Orlando and elsewhere in the Middle District of Florida, 15 individuals were charged with participating in a variety of schemes including compounding pharmacy fraud and intravenous prescription drug fraud involving $17 million in fraudulent billing. In one case, the owner of several infusion clinics allegedly defrauded the Medicare program of over $8 million through a scheme involving reimbursement claims for expensive intravenous prescription drugs that were never purchased and never administered to patients.
In the Northern District of Illinois, six individuals were charged in cases related to three different schemes involving bribery and false and fraudulent claims for home health services and disability benefits. The charged defendants include individuals who owned or co-owned the fraudulent providers and a medical doctor. In total, these schemes resulted in over $12 million being paid to the defendants and their companies. If you or a loved one has been arrested for disability fraud too then you may need to contact a firm like these philadelphia criminal lawyers to see if you could get help with your legal troubles.
In the Eastern District of New York, 10 individuals were charged in six different cases, including five individuals who were charged for their roles in a scheme involving over $86 million in physical and occupational therapy claims to Medicare and Medicaid. In that case, the defendants are alleged to have filled a network of Brooklyn clinics that they controlled with patients by paying bribes and kickbacks. Once at the clinics, these patients were subjected to medically unnecessary therapy. The defendants then laundered the proceeds of the fraud through over a dozen shell companies.
In the Eastern District of Louisiana, three defendants were charged in connection with a health care fraud and wire fraud conspiracy involving a defunct home health care provider. This scheme centered on the payment of kickbacks through patient recruiters in exchange for patients who oftentimes never received nor qualified for home health care as billed. Once admitted, patient medical records were routinely fabricated and altered to support false and fraudulent claims to Medicare.
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In addition to the Strike Force, today’s enforcement actions include cases brought by 26 U.S. Attorney’s Offices, including the unsealing of search warrants in investigations being conducted by the Eastern District of North Carolina, Southern District of Georgia, District of Columbia, Eastern District of Texas, Southern District of West Virginia, Middle District of Louisiana, District of Minnesota, and the Northern District of Alabama.
In the Northern District of Georgia, nine defendants were charged for their roles in two health care fraud schemes involving $7 million in fraudulent billings. Eight defendants were charged in a scheme where bribes and kickbacks were allegedly paid to a state of Georgia official in exchange for falsifying applications and licensing requirements and recommending the approval of unqualified mental health providers.
In the Middle District of Alabama, two defendants were charged for their roles in a mental health services scheme allegedly involving $246,000 in fraudulent billings.
In the Middle District of Tennessee, a doctor was charged for his role in an illegal kickback scheme under which he allegedly referred patients to a certain DME supplier in exchange for cash kickbacks.
In the Western District of Kentucky, a business entity was charged for its role in a health care fraud scheme.
In the Southern District of Ohio, two defendants were charged for their roles in a $7.5 million home healthcare fraud scheme.
In the Western and Eastern Districts of Pennsylvania, three defendants were charged for their roles in drug diversion and embezzlement schemes.
In the Southern District of New York, a pharmacist was charged for his role in a scheme involving over $51 million in fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid billings.
In the Districts of Maine, Alaska, Kansas, Connecticut and Vermont, five defendants were charged for their roles in Medicaid-related schemes.
In the Eastern District of Missouri, four defendants, including a doctor and pharmacist, were charged for their roles in schemes involving over $3 million in billings.
In the Southern District of California, eight individuals were charged in health care-related cases. In one case, five individuals, including a doctor and a pharmacist, were charged in a scheme to pay bribes and kickbacks to doctors in exchange for prescribing expensive durable medical equipment and compound pain creams that were not medically necessary. The indictment alleges that approximately $27 million in false and fraudulent claims were submitted to insurers.
In the District of New Mexico, two defendants were charged for their roles in a Medicaid fraud scheme.
In the Northern District of Iowa, a settlement agreement was reached with a corporate entity for its role in a health care fraud scheme in a juvenile residential treatment facility.
In the District of Oregon, one defendant was charged for his role in a $1.7 million optometry services scheme.
In the District of Puerto Rico, civil demand letters were issued to six individuals for their roles in a scheme to defraud the Medicaid program.
In addition, in the states of Florida, Iowa, South Dakota, Indiana, New York, Michigan, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Oregon, Kentucky and Alaska, 49 defendants have been charged in criminal and civil actions with defrauding the Medicaid program and 57 sites were searched, pursuant to search warrants. These cases were investigated by each state’s respective Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
The cases announced today are being prosecuted and investigated by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices nationwide, along with Medicare Fraud Strike Force teams from the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and from the U.S. Attorney’s Offices of the Southern District of Florida, Eastern District of Michigan, Eastern District of New York, Southern District of Texas, Central District of California, Eastern District of Louisiana, Northern District of Texas, Northern District of Illinois and the Middle District of Florida; and agents from the FBI, HHS-OIG, Drug Enforcement Administration, DCIS and state Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
A complaint or indictment is merely a charge, and all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The Affordable Care Act has provided new tools and resources to fight fraud in federal health care programs. The law provides an additional $350 million for health care fraud prevention and enforcement efforts, which has allowed the department to hire more prosecutors and the Strike Force to expand from two cities to nine. The act also toughens sentencing for criminal activity, enhances provider and supplier screenings and enrollment requirements and encourages increased sharing of data across government.
In addition to providing new tools and resources to fight fraud, the Affordable Care Act clarified that for sentencing purposes, the loss is determined by the amount billed to Medicare and increased the sentencing guidelines for the billed amounts, which has provided a strong deterrent effect due to increased prison time, particularly in the most egregious cases.
Since January 2009, the Justice Department’s Civil Division, along with U.S. Attorney’s Offices around the country, has recovered a total of more than $29.9 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $18.3 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.
Nigerian President appoints new Police IG
President Buhari congratulates Ibrahim Kpotun Idris. Mr. Idris (right) replaces Solomon Arase (left) who retires today.
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Kpotun Idris, as the Acting Inspector-General of Police.
The Acting Inspector-General, who hails from Kutigi, Lavun in Niger State, was born on 15th of January 1959, and was enlisted into the Nigerian Police Force in 1984, after graduating from the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria with a Bachelors degree in Agriculture. He also holds a degree in Law from the University of Maiduguri.
AIG Idris has served in various commands and formations in the Nigerian Police Force, working in the Police Mobile Force for 17 years as Unit Commander, Squadron Commander, and Commandant. He served as Commissioner of Police in Nasarawa and Kano States and was also the Commissioner of Police in charge of Police Mobile Force at the Force Headquarters.
He was also at the United Nations Mission in Liberia and East Timor and was awarded “Medal of Merit” by the President of the Republic of East Timor in recognition of his service.
AIG Idris, who was in charge of Operations at the Force Headquarters before his appointment as the Acting Inspector-General of Police, will act in that capacity pending his confirmation.
Mr. Ibrahim replaces Solomon Arase who retires today.
Buhari returns to Nigeria after London medical stay
Abuja (AFP) – Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari returned to Abuja on Sunday, saying he was feeling well after a two-week stay in London where he received treatment for an ear infection.
“I’m ok. You can see me inspecting the guard of honour,” the 73-year-old told reporters as he arrived back at Abuja airport.
Speaking in the local Hausa language, he jokingly added: “I’m strong, If you want to wrestle with me, let’s wrestle.”
His spokesman Femi Adesina said the president would resume work on Monday.
Buhari left Nigeria on June 6 for tests on what the presidency described as a “persistent ear infection” that had forced him to pull out of a series of engagements.
According to the presidency, Buhari went to see an ear, nose and throat specialist in the British capital “purely as a precaution”.
The presidency has historically been reticent about disclosing health matters of the head of state and speculation has swirled for weeks about the seriousness of Buhari’s condition.
Ahead of the trip to London, he notably cancelled a planned visit to Lagos and missed a meeting of the West African regional bloc ECOWAS.
Buhari had initially been due to arrive back in Nigeria on Thursday.
His delayed return prompted fresh concern about his health woes, which come at a sensitive time for the country as it grapples with the security threat from Boko Haram Islamists and economic difficulties.
Rio state declares financial emergency, requests funding for Olympics
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Rio de Janeiro’s governor declared a state of financial emergency Friday and requested federal funds to help fulfill obligations for public services during the Olympics that start Aug. 5.
Emergency measures are needed to avoid “a total collapse in public security, health, education, transport and environmental management,” a decree in the state’s Official Gazette said.
The state’s revenue, largely tied to the petroleum industry, slumped in the last two years as global oil prices collapsed.
The announcement followed this week’s visit to Rio by Brazil’s Interim President Michel Temer, who said the federal government would ensure all obligations are met for a successful Games.
Rio is expecting about 500,000 foreign visitors during the Olympics, which has coincided with Brazil’s worst recession since the 1930s and a political crisis that last month led to the suspension of President Dilma Rousseff.
“The state’s financial emergency in no way delays the delivery of Olympic projects and the promises assumed by the city of Rio,” Mayor Eduardo Paes said on Twitter.
He also underscored that legacy construction projects, with the exception of an 8.79 billion-real expansion of Rio’s metro that is expected to be finished just days before the Games open, are the responsibility of the city and that most have been completed.
The local organizing committee for the Games said the state’s fiscal situation did not impact its actual running of the Olympics, which relies entirely on private funds.
While the majority of Olympic infrastructure costs have been spread across city, state and federal budgets, with some financing from private companies, the state is responsible for most day-to-day security and health services in Rio.
The financial pinch resulted in a 30-percent cut in the state’s security budget – just as Rio has seen a jump in homicides and assaults in recent months, raising concerns about safety ahead of the Olympics.
The state of Rio expects a budget deficit of over 19 billion reais ($5.56 billion) this year as spending planned before oil prices fell outstrips revenue that is tumbling during Brazil’s recession.
Rio state’s debt has been downgraded several times.
On Wednesday, Fitch Ratings downgraded Rio’s debt rating to ‘B-’ from ‘B+’, saying the state was suffering “a fast-deteriorating liquidity position.”
Since late last year, the state has been forced to delay pension and salary payments and shutter some schools and hospitals, where crucial supplies, including medicines and syringes, are lacking.
Brazil is also facing an outbreak of the Zika virus, which has been linked to the birth defect microcephaly in which babies are born with abnormally small heads frequently associated with developmental issues.
