Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Mortgage Fraud in Florida: We’re Number 1 (Unfortunately)!!
Mortgage fraud has been a hot button issue for the federal government ever since the wave of major bank failures that began in 2008. The 16th Annual LexisNexis Mortgage Fraud Report was recently released, finding that as the economy improves and the housing industry rebounds, mortgage fraud (particularly application fraud) continues to be on… Read More »
Cellphone Technology: A Major Player in the Law Enforcement Arena
As the cellular telephone continues to become our primary means of communication, it’s only fitting that the underlying technology often finds itself in the forefront of all kinds of legal disputes. This is especially true in the criminal defense arena. Almost daily, we hear of a variety of criminal offenses, from drug trafficking to… Read More »
Abuse of e-Filing Numbers: A New Frontier for Tax Fraud
You’d think that by now Florida has seen every kind of scam, hustle, and fraud the human mind can conceive. When I talk about federal regulators keeping their watchful eyes trained on Sunshine State healthcare providers, for example, it’s safe to say they’re not doing it solely because the weather is so inviting and… Read More »
Florida Halts Executions (For Now)
In light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to review the constitutionality of Oklahoma’s lethal injection protocol, Florida’s Supreme Court has halted executions for the time being. Death row inmate Jerry William Correll was scheduled to die via lethal injection on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015, but the state’s highest court ordered a stay of… Read More »
Federal Moratorium Leading to Miami Convictions
To combat health care fraud, the federal government has the power to prohibit unscrupulous health care providers from enrolling in Medicare and Medicaid. In 2013 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services exercised that power to ban several providers and ambulance suppliers in the Miami, Houston, and Chicago areas from enrolling. This ban was… Read More »
Fake Doctor Gets 17 Years for Medicare Fraud
A Miami-area woman was recently found guilty of posing as a doctor and engaging in years of health care fraud. Alejandro Collazo pretended to be a doctor at a Hialeah clinic. There she used the identities of real doctors to write thousands of prescription referrals, and tricked patients into thinking she was a real… Read More »
“Wolf of Wall Street” Medical Supply Firm Raided in South Florida
In the latest case of Florida healthcare companies being targeted by federal investigators, FBI agents recently raided a Boca Raton medical supply company with ties to the men in “The Wolf of Wall Street” as part of an ongoing health care fraud investigation. The agents raided the offices of Med-Care Diabetic and Medical Supply… Read More »
U.S. Supreme Court to Review Lethal Injection
The U.S. Supreme Court has recently granted review of Oklahoma’s death penalty procedure. Three inmates sued the state over its lethal injection procedure, specifically its use of a chemical called “midazolam.” Midazolam is one of three drugs used in the chemical cocktail that make up Florida’s lethal injection process. The Oklahoma inmates argue that… Read More »
Florida’s Doctors and Health Care Continue to be Targeted by the Feds
After releasing Medicare payment data for the first time since the 1970s, the Justice Department is now joining in lawsuits against high-billing doctors, accusing them of fraud and illegal health practices. The Medicare payment report indicated that the top 1% of 825,000 individual medical providers accounted for 14% of the $77 billion in billing… Read More »
Fort Lauderdale Investment Firms Indicted for Gold Fraud
Officials from Florida companies located in the Fort Lauderdale – Miami region were charged with defrauding investors out of $16 million. Officials at Liberty International Financial Services (LIFS) – a Fort Lauderdale investment firm – solicited investors for precious metals (gold, silver, and palladium). From 2010 to 2011, company officials at Liberty International Financial… Read More »