For the last several weeks we have focused on two themes in our posts. The first theme was good old political class insanity and how the politicians in this country always make things worse and we pay for their ineptness in so many ways. The second theme was a continual review of which major city or state government will get to bankruptcy court first given that our top candidates are already in financial death spirals.
We are going to step back from these themes for a while and embark on what is going to be a long list of instances of government and criminal and fraud corruption. Every level of government these days seems to have government programs that are infested with criminal actions that steal hard earned taxpayer dollars for themselves, depriving needy Americans of the resources they need to overcome the problems they face everyday.
There will be no special or organized order as we explore the multitude of capers and criminal actions against government programs. The only thing we can say now is that the almost daily uncovering of new fraud cases and investigations will be disgusting and long.
Before going any further, let’s give credit to Nick Shirley, a 23 year old independent journalist who uncovered billions of dollars worth of government fraud in Minnesota before moving on to California where he has been uncovering similar government corruption and criminal fraud in that state. It seems that his efforts were the catalyst that started an avalanche of criminal schemes stealing taxpayer dollars becoming public knowledge.
1)Not unexpectedly we are starting today’s discussion on government fraud in California, fraud central:
Sheryl Davis is the former Human Rights Commissioner for San Francisco.
Let that sink in: she is a former government employee.
She is accused of stealing millions of dollars to fund a high flying lifestyle.
The funds were supposed to be used to help those in the city’s black community.
She allegedly used the stolen funds for a vacation to Martha’s Vineyard, concert tickets, and her son’s graduate school tuition.
A city audit had uncovered over $4.6 million in “ineligible or questionable spending” but nothing was done for a long time, allowing the alleged fraud to continue.
But of course her defense is that the alleged stealing of the money was not her fault, according to her lawyer: [She] “lacked proper guidance, financial supervision, and adequate support from the city.”
I guess she did not understand that using the money destined for the needy in the community could also be used for her own greedy lifestyle, pathetic excuse.
Thus, it appears that not only common criminals are ripping off taxpayers, sometimes those inside government walls are also stealing the tax dollars, depriving the needy Americans of the help they need.
2)Definition: Hospice is specialized, compassionate care for individuals with a terminal illness (typically a life expectancy of 6 months or less) who have chosen to forgo curative treatment to focus on quality of life, comfort, and pain management.
With that setup, consider more fraud in California, his time related to a bogus hospice operation:
The owners of 626 Hospice, doing business as St. Francis Palliative Care, billed Medicare for about $7.45 million.
But the giveaway that this was a bogus operation is that almost 97% of their customers survived the fate of dying, a completely ridiculous survival rate, given the definition of hospice above.
Eight people have been arrested by the Feds for running this fraudulent hospice operation and then billing Medicare.
When records showed that just about every customer enrolled in the fake program left the program alive, that was the trigger that caused the investigation and the realization that the operation was fake.
According to a local Fox News report: “80% of the people who enter hospice die there, most within 3 weeks but in the case of these two hospices according to the records 97% are discharged alive.”“So this morning the feds accuse these hospice owners of stealing…“
Obviously, the eight folks arrested are assumed innocent until proven guilty. But that is quite the hospice survival rate.
3)But possibly most disgusting case of fraud we have come across so far is the following case involving a member of Congress:
A Federal grand jury in Miami recently returned an indictment against Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus McCormick, and several other people.
They are accused of stealing Federal disaster funds, money laundering the stolen funds, and using the money to support the Congresswoman's 2021 Congressional campaign.
The indictment alleges the Congresswoman and her brother had a FEMA Covid staffing contract with the Federal government and somehow the company received a mistaken overpayment of $5 million of FEMA funds.
The defendant allegedly took the overpayment and conspired to keep the money by passing the funds through multiple accounts to hide the funds, much of which eventually funded the Congresswoman’s election campaign.
Other stolen funds were distributed to the defendants for their personal use.
The Congresswoman and her accountant were also charged with conspiring to file a false tax return.
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida stated, “Today’s indictment shows no one is above the law. This indictment reflects our Office’s commitment to follow the facts, apply the law, and protect the American taxpayer. Public money belongs to the American people. When FEMA funds are diverted for personal or political gain, it erodes trust and harms us all. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that American taxpayer dollars are used as intended and that the public’s trust is safeguarded.”
Cherfilus-McCormick faces over 50 years in prison if found guilty and others indicted also face decades in prison.
If found guilty, then just unbelievable. This was not a case of some lowlife back alley operator or burrito stand owner stealing taxpayer funds, this was a sitting member of Congress allegedly stealing taxpayer wealth for her own benefit and career. If guilty, then she should go to prison for 50 years.
4)Let’s discuss a different type of fraud and the ripping off of the American taxpayer, also originating out of Congress, As most people know, a recent member of Congress and candidate for the governorship of California, Eric Swalwell, recently resigned his Congressional seat and dropped out of the governor’s race as a result of serious and multiple sexual harassment and attack accusations from multiple women. Which brings us to the following type of taxpayer fraud:
My Congresswoman, Paulina Luna, recently made the following public statement: “A friendly reminder that House Oversight subpoenaed the records of the Congressional sexual harassment slush fund and we will be releasing them, Maybe we’ll see more resignations, you never know.”
What she is referring to is basically a slush fund that members of Congress allocated for themselves which pays out settlement money to victims of sexual assault and harassment by members of Congress.
In other words, they sexually harassed someone and the taxpayers paid for the settlement that makes the sexual harassment situation go away.
This funding process was originally set up by the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 and was first administered by the Office of Compliance which later got renamed the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights.
This government office investigates sexual harassment claims and then uses Treasury money to settle legitimate claims, keeping the name of the Congressional member involved in the accusations a secret.
So, if a member of Congress gets involved with some sexual hanky panky they do not have to pay for their misbehavior, the American taxpayer pays, a sweet deal if you can get it.
Between 1997 and 2019, the American taxpayer covered the misbehaving members of Congress by paying out over $18 million to make their sexual harassment deeds go away.
The OpenThe Books website correctly stated in 2021: “After 23 years and $18 million in payouts from the Workplace Rights office, it seems like taxpayers might have a right to know more details.”
Fortunately there is some movement to open the books and “the release of all awards and settlements paid pursuant to Section 415 of the Congressional Accountability Act prior to December 12, 2018 for misconduct by Members of Congress,” as demanded by Congresswoman Nancy Mace.
And Paulina Luna is heading the movement for transparency and taxpayers' right to know who got taxpayer money to cover their deeds and how much they got.
Again, a different type of taxpayer fraud but still fraud. Only in DC can one break the law and sexually harass others and have their guilt go away by paying off the accusers and victims with taxpayer money.
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If you agree that we need to deseat every member of Congress for their lack of success and accomplishment, then please consider going to the following petition link to help the cause:
https://www.change.org/p/deseat-congress-reset-freedom
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