Recent Posts in Fraud Category

Two men were arrested in connection with what police call a complex, multimillion-dollar car theft ring. Kirsio Cruz, of Norco and Luis Marroquin, of Huntington Park, California were taken into custody by the California Highway Patrol and the Department of Motor Vehicles after a long investigation. The men are believed to have stolen 26 cars valued at least $1.2 million by using fake documents to remove the actual lien holders from the vehicles' titles. 

The men conspired to remove the lien holders using fraudulent notary stamps, fraudulent CHP stamps and fraudulent DMV stamps. The arrest were made at King City Auto Sales in Los Angeles. Police also served a search warrant at an unlicensed registration service in Los Angeles, where more evidence of fraudulent activity was found. The state attorney general’s office has filed multiple charges in Los Angeles County Superior Court against the men. CHP authorities said the theft investigation is still ongoing.

Regardless of what type of theft charges you are facing, our Los Angeles car theft criminal defense lawyers are confident we can assist you with your defense. We will aggressively approach your theft case with the intention of either having the charges lessened or getting the charges dismissed.

At Marks and Brooklier, we have  successfully defended individuals since 1976 in all types of theft crimes including: burglary, robbery, commercial burglary, conspiracy, counterfeiting, grand theft, grand theft auto, petty theft, petty theft with prior, residential burglary, shoplifting, carjacking, forgery, embezzlement and white collar crimes.  Contact our office to learn more about what we can do for you.

Sylvester Ijewere, was also ordered to pay $211,755 in restitution by United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer of the Central District of California. In addition, Ijewere was ordered to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.

Ijewere pleaded guilty on April 12, 2010, to health care fraud. Ijewere, the owner of Maydads Medical Supply, admitted that between June 2007 and October 2009, he conspired with others to purchase fraudulent prescriptions and medical documents which he used to submit false claims to Medicare for expensive, high-end power wheelchairs, and other DME. Ijewere received approximately $4,000 in reimbursement payments for each power wheelchair claim he submitted to Medicare. Approximately 50 percent of the Medicare beneficiaries to whom Ijewere claimed Maydads had supplied power wheelchairs and other equipment lived more than 100 miles from Maydads’ Los Angeles-area offices in Central and Northern California.

As a result of this scheme, Ijewere admitted that he submitted or caused the submission of approximately $471,345 in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare through Maydads. Ijewere’s co-conspirator, Donna Wells, a patient recruiter, was charged for her role in the scheme in October 2009, and is scheduled to begin trial on Nov. 9, 2010.

Sentencing was announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr. for the Central District of California; Tony Sidley, Assistant Chief of the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse (CAL-DOJ); Glenn R. Ferry, Special Agent-in-Charge for the Los Angeles Region of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for HHS (HHS-OIG); and Steven Martinez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jonathan T. Baum of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kerry C. O’Neill of the Central District of California. The case is being investigated by CAL-DOJ. The case was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

Since their inception in March 2007, Strike Force operations in seven districts have obtained indictments of more than 810 individuals who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $1.85 billion. In addition, HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

Because a federal healthcare fraud crimes charge is a serious matter, you will need to consult an experienced and professional attorney who can take charge of the situation quickly. Penalties for federal fraud crime include sentences up to 30 years, in addition to fines and other penalties. It is imperative you do not risk your freedom when you have the power of the federal government investigating your case. Criminal defense attorney's Donald Marks and Anthony Brooklier are strong and aggressive lawyers from Marks & Brooklier. We have years of experience in this field, serving hundreds of clients in Los Angeles County, San Fernando Valley and Beverly Hills area. We are confident we can assist you with your federal fraud crime charges. Contact a Los Angeles healthcare fraud criminal defense lawyer today for a free consultation

The government alleges that the 165-bed acute care hospital fraudulently inflated its charges to Medicare patients to obtain larger reimbursements from the federal health care program. The settlement covers claims submitted by the hospital for short inpatient admissions, usually of one day or less, when the services should have been billed on an outpatient observation basis or as emergency room visits.

“Our office will aggressively work with investigative partners to protect healthcare funds from fraud and abuse,” said Laura Duffy, United States Attorney for the Southern District of California. “Today’s settlement demonstrates our commitment to holding health care providers who receive federal funds and knowingly defraud or overcharge federal health care programs accountable.”

The allegations arise from a lawsuit that was brought under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act (FCA), which permit private citizens with knowledge of fraud against the government to bring an action on behalf of the United States and to share in any recovery. The whistleblower in this case, Pietro Ingrande, a former employee of El Centro Regional Medical Center, will receive $375,000 as his share of the recovery.

The United States has agreed to dismiss the lawsuit as a result of the settlement. In addition, as a condition of continued participation in federal health care programs, the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (OIG-HHS) has required El Centro Regional Medical Center to enter into a Corporate Integrity Agreement. The agreement subjects the hospital to strict policies and procedures to ensure future compliance with applicable statutes and regulations that govern the use of federal health care funds.

“Whistleblowers are critical to ensuring that Medicare dollars are not siphoned off, but find their way to those who most need them,” said Glenn R. Ferry, Special Agent in Charge for the Los Angeles Region of the OIG-HHS. “Office of Inspector General special agents and our law enforcement partners have forged a powerful team that will work with private citizens who come forward to protect the Medicare Trust Fund and defend it from fraud and abuse.”

The investigation and settlement of this case are the result of the collaborative effort of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, OIG-HHS, and the FBI. This settlement is part of the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and another step for the HEAT initiative, which was announced by Attorney General Holder and Secretary Sebelius in May 2009. The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid fraud through enhanced cooperation.

Fraud consists of many different types of crimes, but is generally defined as intentional misrepresentation or concealment of information in order to deceive or mislead. Fraud crimes use deception on unsuspecting individuals who fall for a scheme or sales pitch that sounds too good to be true. If you have been accused of a state or federal fraud crime, you will need an experienced Los Angeles fraud crimes defense attorney to represent you in defense against these charges. Depending on the manner in which the fraud was committed, a fraud crime may be charged on the state or federal level. Fraud criminal lawyers at the Los Angeles based law firm Marks and Brooklier handle defense for any number of fraud crime charges.

If you has been arrested for a federal fraud crime, you will need to consult a Los Angeles and United States federal fraud criminal defense lawyer who has the special knowledge of this area of the law. Attorneys Donald Marks and Anthony Brooklier are qualified Los Angeles criminal attorneys to represent you. Contact us for a free consultation, 24/7, strictly confidential.