Free Republic

A Long Island school clerk overseeing board of education elections tore up ballots and threw them in a dumpster to help her favorite candidate win, a newly revealed internal probe found. Hempstead Union Free School District Clerk April Keys allegedly rigged the May 19 trustee election by smuggling official ballots out of her office and handing absentee ballots to favored candidate Victor Pratt so he could trash them, according to a 51-page petition filed by the district with the state Education Department. Keys could now face criminal charges as the district is looking to overturn Pratt’s razor-thin win. “The Board...

Federal authorities on Tuesday charged 10 Southern California defendants in a series of healthcare fraud schemes, including one case involving nearly $270 million in fraudulent Medi-Cal claims and another that allegedly defrauded Medicare out of approximately $27 million. The charges were part of the Justice Department's broader "2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown," which resulted in charges against 455 defendants nationwide in schemes involving more than $6.5 billion in alleged fraud. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche described the operation as "the greatest combined federal and state effort in combating healthcare fraud in history."

Today we are here to announce the results of the 2026 National Healthcare Fraud takedown. This announcement marks the greatest combined federal and state effort in combating healthcare fraud in history. When we talk about the team that's working on these cases, I want to give some context around that. There are nine healthcare fraud strike forces that have been part of this effort. 57 US attorney's offices, 41 state attorney general's offices—not red states, not blue states, but both—working together with the federal government, multiple law enforcement agencies, including inspector generals, some of the agencies that are here with...

More than 450 alleged fraudsters — including 90 doctors and medical professionals — were busted for bilking at least $6.5 billion in fake Medicare and Medicaid claims, with one greedy nurse splashing her ill-gotten gains on an $865,000 Bulgari necklace, $594,000 Ferrari and a $4.6 million Philippines beach resort, authorities said. The colossal crackdown, which spanned 45 US states and territories, was announced Tuesday by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who called it “the greatest combined federal and state effort combating health care fraud in history.” In total, 455 people were netted — including alleged con artists who blew the...

Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday announced is seeking to fine an immigration attorney who allegedly filed false asylum claims -- the first time the agency has filed such a claim. Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, announced five notices of intent to fine attorney Vinod Doddamani, who they say filed 32 immigration cases in which he filed 64 fraudulent documents. Doddamani faces a $250,000 fine for what DHS says is a pattern of filing allegedly false asylum claims. He allegedly filed the "identical or nearly identical in language and substance, containing the same...

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that 455 people have been indicted for alleged health care fraud, believed to cost taxpayers over $6.5 billion. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the defendants spanned 45 states and territories. “These individuals participated in health care fraud schemes involving over $6.5 billion in false claims submitted to Medicare, Medicaid and other health care programs,” Blanche said during a press conference. The acting attorney general highlighted a corporate executive in Arizona accused of fraud involving over $1 billing “involving unnecessary wound grafts.” He added that the alleged “scheme” cost...

U.S. District Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz threw out subpoenas against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and other officials regarding immigration. “This course of events- in and of itself-establishes beyond reasonable dispute that the subpoenas were a part of a broader campaign to coerce state and local officials in Minnesota to assist the Trump administration in its enforcement of immigration laws,” wrote Schiltz. “And, of course, this campaign played out against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s well-established history of using criminal investigations to retaliate against and pressure the President’s political and personal adversaries.” President Donald Trump and his administration initiated...

A fugitive accused of helping mastermind a $3.7 billion Medicare fraud scheme — one of the largest in U.S. history — is in American custody after authorities tracked him down in Turkey and flew him back to the U.S. to face charges, the FBI announced Monday. Ibrahim Khaldoon Hilmi was recently detained by Turkish authorities after he fled the U.S. in May 2025, the FBI said. The FBI's Critical Incident Response Group flew out to Turkey and transported Hilmi to the U.S. on Friday through a foreign transfer of custody operation. FBI Director Kash Patel hailed the operation as a...

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison lashed out when asked about his handling of the Minnesota fraud scandal following Vice President JD Vance's threat to refer him to the Justice Department, while pushing back on a widely cited $8 billion figure as only mentioned by those "aligned with the Trump Administration." "That is a false number," Ellison said. "The fact is, is that fraud is always wrong." "Why don't you give me a break, man?" he continued. The comments come as Vance, the head of the Trump administration’s new anti-fraud task force, threatened to press the Justice Department to open an...

For years, a South Florida nursing school operator sold a simple proposition: Skip the schooling, buy the diploma, become a nurse. Nearly 3,000 people took her up on it. On Monday, the scheme caught up with her. Carleen Noreus, 52, of Plantation, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering following a two-week trial in Fort Lauderdale. She had taken her chances before a jury rather than accepting a plea deal, changing her mind mid-trial, a decision prosecutors say will factor in her favor at sentencing. Noreus served as president of Carleen Home Health...

The FBI is now investigating voter fraud in Los Angeles. Federal agents descended on the streets of Skid Row in downtown LA Thursday following allegations that the homeless had been paid to vote in the June 2 primary. About 20 agents swooped in on the notoriously blighted area after homeless people staying there claimed they’d been bribed with cash to sign multiple registration forms, forge signatures, and fill out voter information for the mayoral and gubernatorial primaries. The California Post looked on as plainclothes agents questioned Skid Row residents, asking them if they were paid to vote or were aware...

A prominent Pakistani-American businessman who spent years cozying up to powerful Democrats stands accused of being part of a $38 million Medicaid scam. Civic leader and well-known Brooklyn Community Board 13 member Pervez Siddiqui, 78, was arrested Monday along with seven co-conspirators. They are alleged to have run a large-scale Medicaid kickback and false-billing scheme through two social adult day care (SADC) centers in Brooklyn: APNA Adult Daycare and Ashiana Social Adult Daycare. The scam ran from 2019 through December 2025, feds allege, with seniors being signed up for day cares that they rarely or never attended, then getting a...

The scientists have been right about climate change all along, says former Vice President Al Gore on the 20th anniversary of the release of "An Inconvenient Truth," the Oscar-winning documentary about Gore's campaign to educate people about climate change. When asked by ABC News chief meteorologist and chief climate correspondent Ginger Zee whether the film and its predictions on global warming hold up, Gore responded, "Unfortunately, yes." "The scientists were dead right on all the important elements of it, and it really is insane that we are continuing to use the sky as an open sewer and we're trapping so...

Seattle cleaned itself up to host the World Cup the way a child cleans his room before his parents come upstairs: by shoving the dirty laundry under the bed and stuffing everything else into the closet. Socialist Mayor Katie Wilson herded thousands of drug addicts away from the SoDo neighborhood’s Lumen Field football stadium and nearby Downtown’s hotels, then bragged that “Seattle is ready” for the massive influx of international visitors. But walk just a few blocks, and the truth crowds the sidewalk — hunched over and smoking fentanyl. This week I joined Jonathan Choe, senior fellow at the Discovery...

The Trump Administration has notified South Africa that it is ending the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) after the country failed to protect white South Africans from violence and displacement, the Daily Caller has learned. The State Department told the country that its government failed to do the following six things: provide exemptions or alternatives for US companies to Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment laws and other race-based mandates. have senior government officials unequivocally condemn all race-based incitement to violence, including the “kill the Boer” song, more frequently. prevent the implementation of measures that would allow expropriation without...

Some within the Democrat Party are reportedly worried investigations into California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) may hurt his possible run for the presidency in 2028.The concerns center on the fact that Newsom’s image could become marred even before he chooses to enter the race, allowing Republicans to use allegations and news of the investigations against him, the Hill reported Thursday.“There’s not one candidate who wants to enter what will inevitably be a brutal primary campaign cycle with that chain around their necks,” a Democrat strategist told the outlet.

A nationwide welfare fraud crackdown reached Massachusetts this week, as federal authorities announced the arrests of 15 people — 11 of them illegal immigrants — accused of stealing more than $1.4 million in American taxpayer-funded benefits. The defendants are accused of fraudulently obtaining benefits through programs including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food assistance, MassHealth, Social Security disability payments, housing assistance and unemployment benefits, according to the Department of Justice. "Alarmingly, 11 of the 15 charged defendants are suspected illegal aliens, some of whom assumed stolen identities to steal these taxpayer-funded benefits and avoid detection," Acting Assistant Attorney General Colin...

Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling issued formal letters to the governors of 53 U.S. states and territories today, demanding immediate action to combat FRAUD WASTE ABUSE in the unemployment insurance program. The department announced its intent to crack down on rampant FRAUD and end mismanagement, improper payments, and CORRUPTION within the UI program. Acting Secretary Sonderling notified states that, in partnership with the IG, the department will use every available enforcement tool—including withholding administrative funds from states for the first time in history—to ensure compliance in protecting UI system integrity and safeguarding taxpayer dollars. “We are officially putting...

Just yesterday, it was reported that Hollywood insiders fear the city is turning into the next Detroit. Movie and TV productions are talking their business to other, more attractive locations with fewer rules and better tax rates. In response to this, Adam Schiff and other lawmakers want to give Hollywood a federal tax subsidy. In other words, they want taxpayers to bail out Hollywood.

The U.S. Labor Department told all 50 states on Wednesday that they need to get serious about fighting fraud and waste in unemployment insurance, or else they won’t get more money for those programs from the federal government. It’s the latest example of President Donald Trump ’s administration scrutinizing potential theft or misuse in state programs that get funding from Washington. While the letters went to all governors, the public announcement about them focused on issues in three states where Democrats are in charge. That’s been the case for many similar announcements from the Republican administration. “We are officially putting...