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AFNSAmerica First News Syndicate

AFNS Desk

Fraud & Corruption

Follow-the-money research on waste, fraud, and abuse.

Fraud & CorruptionUNDER INVESTIGATION; no charges filed. Banner cites one source with direct knowledge for the inquiry's focus. FBI does not confirm or deny.

Report: FBI Investigating Ex-Baltimore School Board Member's Company for Possible Kickbacks and Money Laundering

The Baltimore Banner, citing one source with direct knowledge, reports that the FBI is investigating KEYS Development, a behavioral health company founded by former Baltimore school board member Mujahid Muhammad, for possible Anti-Kickback Statute violations related to health care fraud and money laundering. A search warrant was carried out Sept. 30. No one has been charged. The FBI does not confirm or deny the investigation, and the Banner could not reach Muhammad.

· AFNS Research Desk

Fraud & CorruptionSentenced Nov. 5; both pleaded guilty

Ex-Hinds County DA Owens Gets 41 Months, Ex-Councilman Banks 45 Months in Jackson Bribery Scheme

U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III on Thursday, Nov. 5, sentenced former Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens to 41 months in federal prison and a $100,000 fine, and former Jackson Councilman Aaron Banks to 45 months and a $15,000 fine, for their roles in a Jackson, Mississippi bribery scheme. Both pleaded guilty. The judge called Owens the ringleader. Former Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba awaits sentencing.

· AFNS Research Desk

Fraud & CorruptionConviction; sentenced

Feeding Our Future Organizer Salim Said Sentenced to 30 Years in Minnesota Child-Meal Fraud Case

Judge Nancy Brasel sentenced Salim Said, co-owner of Safari Restaurant on Lake Street in Minneapolis, to 30 years for his role in the Feeding Our Future fraud. Safari-linked defendants took $44 million in total, according to MPR News. It is the third-longest sentence so far in a case that has charged 81 people (MPR News).

· AFNS Research Desk

Fraud & CorruptionAllegations; indictment, defendants presumed innocent

Six Mobile, Alabama Tax Preparers Indicted in Alleged $177M Fraudulent Refund Scheme

Federal prosecutors in Mobile unsealed an indictment against six people tied to JB Accounting Tax Service. It alleges they filed more than 9,000 false tax returns claiming $177 million in refunds, and that the IRS paid out about $81 million. These are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent.

· AFNS Research Desk

Fraud & CorruptionJury conviction; sentencing Jan. 2027

Florida Medical Equipment Owner Convicted in $8.6 Million Medicare Brace Fraud Scheme

A federal jury in the Middle District of Florida convicted Sophie Dufort, 57, of Gainesville, on five counts. The scheme involved more than $8.6 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for orthotic braces that elderly and disabled patients didn't want or need. She faces up to 20 years on the top count, and sentencing is set for January 2027.

· AFNS Research Desk

Fraud & CorruptionCharged; presumed innocent

Two Muskegon Heights Council Members Charged Over City Property Deals After City Hall Raid

Muskegon County Prosecutor DJ Hilson charged Muskegon Heights council members Derrick Lamar Collins with a felony and Lashae Felice Simmons with a misdemeanor over city property deals. The case grew out of a July City Hall search. Collins's attorney says he didn't break the law. Both are presumed innocent, and the prosecutor says the investigation continues.

· AFNS Research Desk

Fraud & CorruptionGuilty plea; sentencing pending

Oregon Contractor Pleads Guilty to Paying $465,000 in Kickbacks for U.S. Postal Service Repair Work

Ilya Zagaryuk, 40, of Damascus, Oregon, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to pay kickbacks. He admitted paying $465,347.75 to a co-conspirator at a USPS prime contractor that steered more than 475 postal repair projects to his firm. Inflated estimates and invoices hid the payments. He faces up to five years in prison, and sentencing has not been set.

· AFNS Research Desk

Fraud & CorruptionAlleged (civil)

Minnesota AG Sues Two More Groups Over Alleged $12.8M in Child-Nutrition Fraud

Minnesota Attorney General Ellison filed two more civil lawsuits alleging child-nutrition fraud. Nasib Bakery allegedly claimed more than $2.8 million for meals it never served, and East African Healthcare Network allegedly claimed more than $10 million for over 3 million meals in 2020-22. These are civil allegations; neither defendant has been found liable.

· AFNS Research Desk

Fraud & CorruptionCharged (alleged)

DOJ Charges 15 in Nearly $2B Los Angeles Health Care Fraud Takedown, Including a $1.6B Sham Rehab Scheme

The Justice Department charged 15 people, six of them medical professionals, in health care fraud schemes in Los Angeles totaling nearly $2B. The largest is a $1.6B scheme that allegedly lured vulnerable people into sham substance-use treatment programs. DOJ calls it the largest case of its kind it has ever prosecuted.

· AFNS Research Desk

Fraud & CorruptionAlleged

Fort Bend County Tax Assessor Indicted for Allegedly Using County Payroll to Pay Her Mother's Caretakers

Fort Bend County, Texas, Tax Assessor-Collector Carmen Turner (D) faces federal charges after allegedly putting two "deputy tax clerks" on the county payroll to care for her 81-year-old mother. Prosecutors also say she hired a man who already worked full-time in Chicago and had him kick back part of his county pay. She is still in office.

· AFNS Research Desk