Because the cases are instructive and because, yes, I do write from time to time about American frauds and crooks not just the ‘New American’ variety, here is an extensive piece at the LA Times about how perhaps the largest Medicare fraud case in US history intersected with the College Admissions scam involving the rich and well-connected. Philip Esformes before the fall. As a flight risk he has been behind bars since July 2016 awaiting sentencing in September.
Now if only a paper with the stature of the LA Times would put an investigative journalist to work on the Kenyan Killer case where as one reader pointed out it would be difficult for the alleged prolific killer Billy Chemirmir to pawn that much jewelry without help, a network of criminals (dependent on old ladies being murdered) might be exposed.
I’ve reported previouslyon the case of Philip Esformes who ran a nursing home empire built on defrauding you and me, American taxpayers, but haven’t written about the Singer scam designed for elites to get their little darlings into top tier colleges.
FBI found clues to college admissions scandal years earlier in massive Medicare fraud case
Federal authorities were combing through the finances and phone records of a Miami businessman suspected of Medicare fraud when they came across a curious name: Rick Singer. Rick Singer https://www.foxnews.com/us/who-is-william-rick-singer-college-admissions-cheating-scandals-alleged-ringleader
Philip Esformes, who was accused of farming out patients from his nursing homes to steal millions in bogus insurance claims, had sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to a foundation Singer controlled. And in text messages discovered on Esformes’ phone, the men discussed how one of Esformes’ sons had performed on his college entrance exams. Only years later would authorities learn what Esformes had paid Singer to do: Slip his daughter into USC as a fake soccer player and fix his youngest son’s college entrance exam, according to statements a prosecutor made in court and sources familiar with the case.
Singer has said he struck similar deals with dozens more parents, an admission that has roiled higher education and implicated elites from Hollywood, Silicon Valley and the Newport coast. But in 2016, when agents seized the iPhone Esformes used to text Singer and obtained their messages, Singer was a peripheral, if curious, player in an enormous healthcare fraud investigation. The Esformes case marks the first time Singer is known to have crossed the radar of law enforcement.
[….]
It is unclear how much federal authorities uncovered of Esformes’ dealings with Singer while investigating his case. But at his trial in March, a fraud expert used by the government to make sense of his finances testified that Esformes had made $400,000 in payments over several years to Singer’s foundation. At least some of the money was traced to Medicaid and Medicare funds, the expert testified.
Too funny! Esformes paid Singer $400,000 and his daughter did get into USC as a fake soccer player, but get this…
The daughter, who could not be reached for comment, was enrolled at USC for a year before transferring to a fashion school in New York City, according to a source with knowledge of the case and her LinkedIn profile.
How many more of these sickening stories are out there? How many more vulnerable women are being abused or murdered in their assisted living and nursing homes, places where family members assume they are being well-cared-for?
Once again, the creep’s name makes me wonder if he is a ‘new American.’ And, once again, I searched everywhere for a photo of 29-year-old Nshimiyiana O. Hamzat, but found none.
I did learn that Hamzat is a Nigerian name, and of course he could be born and bred right here, but somehow I doubt it. Continue reading “Nursing Assistant Arrested for Raping Disabled Woman in Care Facility”→
In August of 2017, Luis Gomez (58) was sentenced to 23 years behind bars after being found guilty of sexually assaulting women who at first were not believed by supervisors who apparently thought such a nice man could not commit such horrible acts on women with major disabilities or age-related dementia. ‘New American’ care-giver and now convicted rapist, Luis Gomez
But, a jury ultimately believed the women (and police investigators); and much to my surprise, CNN did major investigative reporting on the North Carolina case in 2017.
The story is old (hat tip: Cristina) but the depth of reporting is pretty astounding and makes me wonder if CNNwas once able to dig deeply into stories that have nothing to do with Donald Trump! It is small town America and you think your elderly or infirm family members are safe, think again….. Continue reading “Nursing Home Nightmare: Guatemalan Aide Worker Sentenced for Raping Vulnerable Women in his Care”→
This is a story like so many and wouldn’t have been worth mentioning except that it was fun to find out a little bit about the perpetrator.
The joke of course is that a story like this never mentions anything about the background of the alleged crook and as Ann Coulter said one needs a “secret decoder ring” to learn more about someone with a name like this one—-Dr. Hooshang Poor.
(I searched for a photo of Dr. Poor, but gave up.)
Below is the news of Dr. Poor’s settlement with the government over his Medicare/Medicaid fraud.
FromPatch.com,
Newton Doctor Accused Of Fraud To Pay $680K In Settlement
NEWTON, MA – A Newton doctor has agreed to pay $680,000 to resolve allegations that he violated the False Claims Act by submitting inflated claims to Medicare and the Massachusetts Medicaid program (MassHealth) for care to nursing home patients, the US Attorney’s Office and the Attorney General announced Thursday. “This doctor stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from MassHealth – taking away health care resources for those who are most in need,” said Attorney General Maura Healey in a statement. “We will continue to take action to defend the integrity of MassHealth and protect Massachusetts residents.” Hooshang Poor, who has been treating patients in long-term care facilities since 1987, was audited by MassHealth and the state in 2017. The government contends that, between June 1, 2011 and May 31, 2017, Poor submitted inflated claims for nursing home care by assigning false procedural codes that overstated the length, extent, and scope of services he and his employees furnished to nursing home residents, according to the government in the settlement agreement.
“Dr. Poor enriched himself at taxpayer expense by improperly billing Medicare and Medicaid,” said United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling in a statement.
The US Justice Department statement is here. Then get this next charge.
He billed for services even while he was out of the country on ten trips! My first thought was: Did he take our taxpayer dollars abroad?
The audit also found that Poor billed MassHealth for more than $15,000 in services that took place while he was traveling abroad on 10 different occasions.
Dangerous drugs improperly administered!
The government said Poor did not establish proper guidelines for his staff to follow when prescribing medications to their patients and yet during the audit period, Poor’s nurse practitioner and physician’s assistant wrote 657 prescriptions, including 211 for narcotics such as fentanyl, oxycodone, and methadone.
More details here, but there is no mention of any jail time for Dr. Poor!
Who is this guy I wanted to know!
US News has a little bio for Dr. Poor and we learn he has been practicing medicine here for 20 years and received his medical training at Shiraz University of Medical Science.
That University is in Iran. Is Dr. Poor a US citizen? That is unclear.
We learn a few more nuggets of information at MyLife. We learn that he has used several aliases and that he is a Muslim.
Hooshang Poor is 68 years old today because Hooshang’s birthday is on 03/05/1950. Hooshang’s Reputation Score is 3.42. Before moving to Hooshang’s current city of Newton Center, MA, Hooshang lived in Sunny Isles Beach FL. Hooshang Dadkhahipoor, Hooshang Dadkhahi Poor, Hooshang Dadkhani-poor, Hoo Dadhahipoo and Hoshang D Poor are some of the alias or nicknames that Hooshang has used. Background details that you might want to know about Hooshang include: ethnicity is Caucasian, whose political affiliation is unknown; and religious views are listed as Muslim.
So, LOL! maybe the headline to the story should read, Muslim Doctor from Iran Rips off American Taxpayers.
Of course, that will never happen! But, I can dream can’t I? I’m increasingly seeing stories about nursing home frauds that usually involve some issues of dangerous drugs being handled improperly, so are you keeping a close eye on loved ones in long term care facilities?
And one more thing, if you are looking for something to do, contact the reporter or editor of the paper when you see stories of obvious ‘new Americans’ committing crimes and ask why they aren’t telling us any background on the perp?
The case involves American crooks, nursing homes, doctors, hospital workers, and over a billion in lost taxpayer dollars. Editor: One of my readers is urging me to write something about American frauds, crooks and criminals so I’ve picked this news about a case the federal government says is its largest bust (so far). (Incidentally, the charity fraud posts like the one I wrote about yesterday are about Americans too!)
Today’s story is about former ‘one-percenter’ Philip Esformes and his father Rabbi Morris Esformes and their nursing home empire.
From the Miami Heraldon Tuesday,
Once among the ‘1 percent,’ executive faces $1 billion Medicare fraud trial
Not long ago, Miami Beach executive Philip Esformes was living quite comfortably among America’s “1 percent,” raking in millions from his healthcare business, gobbling up pricey real estate and darting around the country in chartered jets. Philip Esformes has been held behind bars since his arrest in July 2016.
Then, in a flash, his luxurious lifestyle went poof: FBI agents arrested Esformes in July 2016 and he suddenly became the poster boy for the biggest Medicare fraud case in the country. He was charged with bilking $1 billion out of the federal healthcare program for the elderly and disabled, while his vast business assets and bank accounts were frozen. Worse, Esformes, 50, was ordered held without bail at the Federal Detention Center in Miami. Esformes was back in court Monday for one final hearing before he goes to trial by himself on Feb. 11. Once always tan and fit, he looked wan and frail as his defense team tried in vain to delay the start of trial. They sought more time to review the Justice Department’s long list of patients who prosecutors say received no services or medically unnecessary treatment at Esformes’ Miami-Dade chain of skilled-nursing and assisted-living facilities.
[….] Esformes is standing trial alone because all of his co-conspirators have already pleaded guilty, including a physician’s assistant, Arnaldo Carmouze, and a former Larkin Community Hospital outpatient director, Odette Barcha. In January, both admitted that they recycled Medicare patients through the hospital and Esformes’ network of nursing homes and ALFs in an elaborate bribery scheme that prosecutors say was orchestrated by the healthcare executive.
Carmouze, 59, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud Medicare by accepting bribes for making patient referrals to Larkin and Esformes’ healthcare facilities. Barcha, 52, pleaded guilty to conspiring to pay bribes to physicians to refer patients to Larkin and receiving kickbacks herself to move patients into Esformes’ facilities.
Read the story, the list of charges is stunning, including this one:
See a timeline of more than two decades of scams involving Philip and his father Rabbi Morris Esformes here: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/ct-esformes-timeline-met-20161002-story.html
Esformes is also accused of referring his own network of patients to convicted healthcare-fraud offenders, including Guillermo and Gabriel Delgado, who are serving prison time. The brothers admitted swindling Medicare for mental-health, prescription-drug, and home-healthcare services, and they ultimately helped federal investigators target the Miami Beach executive.
According to the indictment, the brothers paid some kickbacks for the patients by disguising them as payments for escort services for Esformes as well as related travel and hotel expenses. Esformes was also charged with obstructing justice because prosecutors say he plotted in 2015 with the Delgado brothers to help one of them leave Miami for Israel to avoid trial.
More here.
For those interested in more on the cheaters, see this local news storyfrom 2016 about divorce court proceedings where Philip’s ex-wife said he believed that “money is king.”
Accused wealthy fraudster’s alleged parenting style: ‘Money is king’
Are you keeping tabs of loved ones in nursing homes? Are they receiving treatment they don’t need while the facility bills Medicare? Or are they perhaps keeping a rehab patient longer than is necessary simply to milk the system, a system that is predictedto be insolvent by 2026?
Imagine “Medicare for all” that the Dems continue to clamor for!
And one more thing, if you are looking for something to do, contact the reporter or editor of the paper when you see stories of obvious ‘new Americans’ committing crimes and ask why they aren’t telling us any background on the perp? 
