Virginia Pharmacy Owner Sentenced for Prescription Medication Fraud

But, it sure strikes me that there must be more to this story than we are being told!

My first question is how does a 29-year-old, Latif Mohamed Chowdhury, aka Gulam Latif Chaudhury, who is not a Pharmacist, come to own two pharmacies and set up this elaborate scheme to get his hands on dangerous drugs and bilk insurance companies and Medicare and Medicaid out of hundreds of thousands of dollars?  A 29-year-old!  Clearly there is something more.

Indeed I wonder how he managed such a light sentence—4 years—when he could have gotten twenty as noted here in an earlier article about his arrest.

Did he cut some deal with the feds to help them find bigger fish involved in the scheme?

This is the press statement from the US Justice Department on Chowdury’s sentencing. Thanks as always to readers who find important stories like this one that doubtless few will ever hear about otherwise.

Former Pharmacy Owner Sentenced for Prescription Medication Fraud

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A former pharmacy owner was sentenced today [September 27th—ed] to four years in prison for fraudulently filling and dispensing thousands of prescription medications, including opioids, outside the usual course of professional practice.

“Chowdhury blithely violated his position of trust,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Chowdhury’s warped business philosophy led him to illegally distribute a significant number of prescription medications, including dangerous, addictive opioids. Moreover, his reckless actions add to the financial cost of health care as he fraudulently billed at least $500,000 to health insurance programs for prescriptions that were never filled.”

According to court documents, Latif Mohamed Chowdhury, aka Gulam Latif Chaudhury, 29, operated and controlled two now-defunct pharmacies known as Alexandria Care Pharmacy LLC (ACP-1) and Alexandria Care Pharmacy Store #2 LLC (ACP-2). Chowdhury has never been a licensed pharmacist and has no medical qualifications. Nonetheless, between August 2015 and February 2016, Chowdhury fraudulently operated ACP-1 and ACP-2 by personally filling and dispensing thousands of dosage units of medications, including opioids, without a licensed pharmacist on-site. Chowdhury used the identities of licensed pharmacists, without their permission, to carry out his scheme.

“Chowdhury used his trusted position to enrich himself at the expense of others,” said Timothy M. Dunham, Special Agent in Charge, Criminal Division, FBI Washington Field Office. “Today’s sentencing makes it clear that the illegal distribution of opioids will not be tolerated. The FBI will work closely with our partners to continue to investigate allegations of healthcare fraud.”

Chowdhury admitted to fraudulently billing health insurance benefit programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, for refills of prescription medications that were not delivered to customers even though his pharmacies received payment for these prescriptions. Chowdhury also submitted fraudulent health insurance claims in the names of pharmacy customers for medications that were not authorized by any physician, and were not dispensed to any of the customers, in order to enrich himself through illicit profits generated by ACP-1 and ACP-2.

More here.

Of course no mention is made of his immigration status.

Ambushed! Acting Dept. of Homeland Security Secretary Shouted Down; Walks Out of Georgetown Univ. Event

Shame on Georgetown Law School for permitting the ambush!

Are we expected to believe that security at Georgetown Law School permitted this to go on.

 

Protesters wouldn’t even let Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan speak to the tony group gathered today at Georgetown Law School at the annual Migration Policy Institute confab of the elite ‘thinkers’ in the field of Washington DC immigration policy.

I’ve been to the conference a couple of times over the years to have a look at the players in the Open Borders movement that includes the Catholic Legal Immigration Network.

(See my report at RRW from the 2015 gathering. I’m still chuckling about it first because the elephant in the room was the prospect of Donald Trump as the next President of the United States!  And, secondly because Jim Simpson kept asking embarrassing questions until they finally refused him a microphone!)

Make no mistake about where most of them are on the issue of US immigration policy—the more migrants (aka Dem voters!), the better!

However, this stunt today clearly takes away any idea they may have of at least pretending that they believe in free speech and are moderate thinkers on the subject!

Look at this story from CNBC.

If the Migration Policy Institute and Georgetown Law School was so keen on hearing what McAleenan (the invited keynote speaker!) had to say, why didn’t they just call in security and throw the protesters out the minute they opened their big mouths. Then bring the room to order and let him speak.

Acting Homeland Security chief Kevin McAleenan walks out of immigration conference after multiple attempts to speak over protesters

Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan on Monday walked out of an immigration conference in Washington after multiple attempts to speak over protesters.

McAleenan, who was a keynote speaker at the conference, was met with protesters in the crowd who yelled, “When immigrants are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”

Protesters yelled the statement multiple times before McAleenan had a chance to speak at the podium. McAleenan said he would like to discuss the challenges the agency has faced over the past year with the immigration crisis, “above the politics and the daily news cycle.”

Good for you Mr. McAleenan!

But after persistent shouts, McAleenan walked off the stage without delivering his speech.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement: “Unfortunately the Acting Secretary and the audience did not get the opportunity to engage in a robust dialogue this morning due to the disruptions of a few activists.”

DHS added that the attendees would have learned about the agency’s “successful strategy to work with international partners to reduce unlawful migration and end the exploitation of children by smugglers and cartels.”

The conference was organized by the Migration Policy Institute and Catholic Legal Immigration Network and held at the Georgetown University Law Center on Monday.

Cry me a river!

“We very much regret that the keynote address Homeland Security Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan was to deliver today at the 16th annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference was disrupted by protestors and could not occur,” said Andrew Seele, president of MPI, in a statement, and that “we very much regret” protesters disrupted McAleenan’s speech.

What a joke! The venerable Georgetown University is “committed to free speech!”

Georgetown University, in a statement, said, “We share our partners’ regret that the audience did not get to hear from the Secretary and engage in a dialogue through the Q&A session that was scheduled to occur following his remarks. Georgetown Law is committed to free speech and expression and the ability of speakers to be heard and engage in dialogue.”

If you are as disgusted with Washington, DC, as I am, this is just one more example of what a swamp it is filled with elite snobs too weak to even stand up to fascist agitators!

NYC: Man Arrested in Murder of Homeless Men was from Dominican Republic

As I have said on many previous occasions, I catch a few minutes of CNN every morning just to see what the spin is on the Left for the day.

The 24-year-old suspect, Rodriguez “Randy” Santos, had only been in the US for four years.

Today they reported on the beating death of four homeless men in New York City’s Chinatown.  But, they claimed that although an assailant had been arrested, there had been no identification made of the man. I know I heard the alleged killer’s name yesterday, so why was CNN acting dumb this morning?

Turns out the alleged killer is another ‘homeless’ man who is actually homeless because his mother booted him from her home because he hit her.  The family is from the Dominican Republic.

First, you might want to look at this story at the New York Post and see all of the run-ins he had with the law over the last two years.  What the heck!  Why was he even on the streets? Why hadn’t he been shipped home to the Dominican Republic?  Sanctuary NYC!

The unhinged maniac who allegedly killed four homeless people in Chinatown was busted last year for biting a man’s chest during a savage assault, a law enforcement source told the Post.

There is much more at the New York Post.

Now here is the story about his Dominican family.  From the New York Daily News:

Mother of suspect in quadruple homeless homicide was terrified of her violent, drug-addled son

Fioraliza Rodriguez knew her homeless son was deeply troubled: He struggled with a drug habit, stole from the family, assaulted her and his grandfather.

The distraught mother still burst into tears Saturday after learning her deranged older boy was behind bars for the brutal bludgeoning deaths of four fellow homeless men during a bloody Chinatown rampage.

“Oh my God, oh my God!” she screamed in Spanish. “Lord help me! Oh my God!”

The 55-year-old Rodriguez told the Daily News that she never believed her son Randy, despite his myriad problems, could take someone’s life.

“I never thought he would kill someone,” she said.. “I was afraid of him, though, because he punched me. That’s when I told him to get out of my house.”

According to family members, Randy Rodriguez Santos started using drugs when he arrived in New York from their native Dominican Republic about four years ago. He soon turned violent, breaking his grandfather’s nose in a 2016 incident, and just last Monday slipped into the family home to steal a watch, a phone and three phone chargers.

His mom booted Randy from the house more than three years ago, but he remained a menacing presence popping in and out of their lives.

“When I told him to leave, he came back and threatened me,” she recounted. “He said when I go back to Santo Domingo, he’ll get people to cut my face.”

Are you wondering how ‘Randy’ came to be living apparently legally in America—family reunification!  

By the way, have you noticed that almost every story blasting the President in recent weeks on immigration policy says he is breaking up families.

Obviously the talking point has gone out via the Open Borders agitators to their lackeys in the press—mention the broken families!  This is one family that the law should have broken!

So we got ‘Randy’ Santos most likely through family reunification and the question is how did we get mama Fioraliza?  Likely through family reunification!

See this informative backgrounder at the Migration Policy Institute on immigrants from the Dominican Republic living in the US—about a million of them—mostly here through chain migration (family reunification).

So with all this information out on the “maniac” Rodriguez Santos  yesterday why was CNN playing coy this morning and pretending not to know who had been arrested?  No wonder we can’t trust them!

Addendum: Just a reminder that I am putting up fresh material at the newly reconstructed Refugee Resettlement WatchThis fishy story yesterday from Idaho might just as easily have been posted here at ‘Frauds and Crooks.’

St. Cloud High School Riot: Students All One Race

Update!  I have been warned by Lisa Schwarz, News Director of the St. Cloud Times that I am not permitted to use their news story.  

So to honor her request and to “avoid further action,”  I am removing the text I snipped from their story about the students involved in the recent Tech High riot. 

Please visit the St. Cloud Times directly! (Link below)

(My original post begins here.)

Whew! That is a relief!  At least now there won’t be any reason for race hustlers like CAIR to get involved, right!

“Students of the same race.”  That is how police characterize the make-up of the gangs of fighting students we reported here on Thursday.  But thanks to a Minnesota law which allows names of those who committed felonies, who are aged 16 and 17, be made public, we now have a clearer idea of who exactly was involved in a brawl that brought 20 police officers to a school in a city that has seen years of tension created by the arrival of Somali refugee families.

No secret decoder ring needed—names tell us all we need to know!

(See my extensive St. Cloud file at Refugee Resettlement Watch, here. I first heard of Tech High Somali problems in this story from 2008. A few posts featuring St. Cloud are here at ‘Frauds and Crooks.‘)

 

St. Cloud’s new Tech High has only been open for a few weeks. The old Tech High was featured many times in posts at RRW over the years. https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/?s=St.+Cloud+Tech+High

 

Here is the latest news from the St. Cloud Times (hat tip: John):

5 students charged with felonies, 14 with gross misdemeanors after Sept. 25 Tech fight

ST. CLOUD — Nineteen students involved in the Sept. 25 fight at Tech High School are facing criminal charges, according to St. Cloud Police Assistant Chief Jeff Oxton.

To see who was involved….

Go here.

 

Amazon Worker Strike in California Inspires Another Minnesota Worker Strike

Hey, I am just reporting the news. Don’t assume I am in any way feeling bad for Amazon!   See my previous posts on Somali workers protesting in Minnesota.

The Awood Center helped organize the walkout. http://www.awoodcenter.org/

From The Verge:

Amazon workers in Minnesota walk out in protest over part-time work

A day after The Verge reported on Sacramento Amazon workers protesting Amazon’s strict time-off rules, more than 60 Amazon workers in similar roles in an Eagan, Minnesota, warehouse walked off the job. During the two-and-a-half-hour protest, workers demanded the lifting of the 30-hour-per-week cap, a more respectful work environment, and a less strenuous workload.

The Sacramento and Eagan employees work in Amazon delivery stations, which are smaller warehouses that sort packages for delivery routes. Delivery stations are staffed almost entirely by part-time employees who receive no medical insurance and can be fired for taking more than 20 hours off without pay per quarter.

“We are not allowed to work more than 30 hours per week, even though there’s more work,” said a worker in a video of the walkout posted by Workday Minnesota. Amazon would be required to offer employees who work more than 30 hours a week medical insurance under the Affordable Care Act. The worker went on to say that they must lift heavy boxes and take time off without pay if they get injured. “We have no value here, they treat us like we are not human.”  [Golly! Was Obamacare just a way to let the big guys like Amazon avoid paying medical insurance?—ed]

Nimo Omar, an organizer with the Awood Center, a nonprofit focused on East African workers that has been active in organizing Minnesota Amazon employees, attended last night’s walkout. Omar said the workers demanded a more respectful work environment and complained of heavy workloads and close monitoring, including managers knocking on the door if they spent more than several minutes in the bathroom. Like the Sacramento workers, they also felt Amazon’s unpaid time-off policy was inflexible and demanded the option to work more than 30 hours a week.

Rep. Ilhan Omar spoke at an Amazon worker strike here in 2018. https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/12/17/583163/US-Amazon-muslim-workers-prayer-breaks-protest

The Eagan delivery center and nearby fulfillment center in Shakopee, Minnesota, have emerged as hotbeds of worker activism within Amazon’s distribution system. Many of the workers are Muslim immigrants from Somalia and elsewhere in East Africa, and in the summer of 2018, they began protesting that the pace of work and time-off system made it difficult to observe Ramadan. Amazon met with the organizers, but workers say the company didn’t address their concerns. They staged a strike during Prime Day this year over the increasing pace of work and other issues.

[….]

Before the Eagan workers walked out, the Awood Center posted a message to Facebook saying workers in Minnesota were dealing with the same issues as those in Sacramento.

Shortly after 9PM, more than 60 workers walked off the job. According to the Awood Center, the employees agreed to return to work two and a half hours later when the manager on site agreed to talk to his boss about their demands.

The Awood Center said in a Facebook post that all truck deliveries for the night were canceled due to the backlog created by the walkout.

Will Amazon eventually cave to demands? We will be watching!

Just so you know, most Somalis in the US today are here through the US Refugee Admissions Program and federally-funded refugee resettlement contractors like the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service placed them in Minnesota

.I’m so glad to have RRW back!  Here is a post I wrote in 2011 explaining how Minneapolis became Little Mogadishu.