My wife worked in healthcare for 20 years and an auditor told her a terrifying story it was either his younger brother or son endured at the hands of the saintly FBI/DOJ.
This guy was a young doctor who had just graduated med school and begin his career working in an established practice with several long time doctors. After he was there a few months he started noticing things in the billing notes that were not right from his notes and memory. The practice was billing Medicare for services they hadn’t provided or padding services supposedly rendered to Medicare patients.
This young doctor knew this was criminal and fraud and wrong and he did what normal people thought and have been told to do, he went to federal law enforcement—the FBI and reported what he had found. Was the FBI grateful? Did they thank him? NO! They pulled this young doctor into a room, brow beat him and told him you will wear wires, you will remove or copy documents and you will testify to anything we tell you about this practice or we will charge you as well. The young doctor was stunned thinking this can’t be happening, I do the right thing and now I am the FBI’s bitch to do and say anything they want or else I go to jail!
He wore wires and made copies of documents a few times and finally after six months of torment they wanted him to entrap certain other doctors in this practice whom he said were not doing these illegal activities. He said no and they threatened him again and he told them to go F*&K themselves and do what they had to do he was done doing their sleazy work and threw their paperwork on the desk and walked out. They didn’t prosecute him, but he did testify, but wouldn’t lie for them. Needless to say he despises the FBI and DOJ, says they are just as dirty and criminal as those they persecute and prosecute.
At least now people know what to do:
“Better Call Saul”.
Seriously, folks, if the FBI starts harassing you for any reason the first thing you do is call an attorney.
We all know that a great deal of power brings out very ugly traits in some individuals. But imagine what it can do in a huge unaccountable national government bureaucracy whose job it is to catch criminals.
As you say, very much like the mafia...except, not only is it within the law, it IS the law.
The FBI really is the absolute bottom of the law-enforcement barrel. Worse than meter maids IMO.