For years we have written and discussed the massive fraud and wasting of taxpayer wealth that the American political class has allowed to happen. From the halls of Washington DC to local mayor offices, the fraud has probably cost the American taxpayer trillions of dollars over time. Most recently, due mostly to the great journalism of Nick Shirley, we have seen how massive that fraud has been in Minnesota and other states.
1)Thus, it has been a little while but let’s take a few days and review all kinds of fraud that have been going on lately:
U.S. Senator James Lankford has introduced legislation in Washington that is named for getting rid of the fraud in Federal unemployment programs.
The legislation is aimed at reforming the Unemployment Insurance Program that allowed hundreds of billions of dollars to be fraudulently paid out during and after the Covid pandemic.
The legislation would strengthen the program so that only those eligible and in need would get financial assistance.
The legislation would also require states to go after and recover improper payments to those who defrauded the program during Covid.
It is the Senator’s estimation that upwards of $100 billion has been lost via unemployment government support programs.
The good news is that finally someone is focusing on stopping the pilfering of taxpayer money. The bad news is why did it take this long.
2)That $100 billion estimate may not be high enough, given what has been uncovered from a fraud perspective across a number of states:
The state of Maryland is now being investigated for a fraud effort in that state that resulted in up to a staggering $1.3 billion being paid out incorrectly.
A 2025 audit estimated that in just three states, California, New York, and Massachusetts, there were $305 million paid out during the Covid era for improper Covid claims that were accepted.
California Congressman, Young Kim, testified recently that an estimated $32 million in unemployment fraud was paid out in that state.
So that is $305 million of taxpayer dollars wasted in just three states in just one area of government spending. The numbers across all government spending programs and all 50 states could be staggering, possibly making that $100 billion number meek.
3)But fraud does not just happen in government programs:
Consistent with other Black Lives Matter (BLM) criminal incidents we have discussed, a Federal grand jury in Oklahoma City recently indicted Tashella Sheri Amore Dickerson on charges of wire fraud and money laundering.
Dickerson has been the executive director of the Black Lives Matter Oklahoma City organization.
She has been accused of siphoning off over $2 million of BLM funds for her personal use over the past five years.
Her BLM organization accepted charitable donations via its linkage with the Alliance For Global Justice (AFGJ) and other donors.
The indictment says that Dickerson deposited at least $2.35 million into her personal bank accounts rather than the BLM accounts.
Those funds were then allegedly used for personal international travel, vacations, retail shopping, food and groceries, a personal vehicle, and six real estate properties.
The indictment also alleges she filed false annual reports to the AFGJ.
The total indictment includes 20 counts of wire fraud and 5 counts of money laundering.
She is facing up to 450 years in jail and fines of over $7 million.
Unfortunately, this is just one of several fraud instances where BLM funds, funds that were received by donors who expected the money to be used to actually improve black lives, were criminally diverted for personal use and abuse.
4)But it is not just outsider and BLM executives committing fraud these days as we consider the following government employee fraud:
A contracting officer for the USAID foreign aid Federal government entity and three corporate executives have allegedly pleaded guilty to their part in a bribery scheme.
They have been accused of diverting %550 million in taxpayer money designed for government programs to themselves.
The government employee, Roderick Watson, the contracting officer allegedly took bribes from Darryl Britt beginning back in 2013.
Britt was looking to get government congrats for his business.
Court filings say that Watson received about $1 million in bribes that included cash, luxury, items and personal favors.
The bribes were connected with 14 USAID contracts over a decade.
Then Walter Barnes’ company, which at one time was a sub-contractor of Britt’s company, allegedly started bribing Watson from 2018 to 2022 with tickets to NBA games, wedding expenses, and down payments on mortgages.
These payments were facilitated via Paul Young, the president of another company with ties to both Britt and Barnes.
The guilty pleas involved charges of bribing a public official and securities fraud.
Watson faces up to 15 years in prison and the others face up to five years in prison in addition to paying hefty fines.
The good news, as always, these culprits were found out and will be getting the penalties they deserve for defrauding the American taxpayer. The bad news, as always, is how many other government employees are doing the same scam of the taxpayer.
A good update to scamming in the country: criminals scamming government programs, an executive scamming their own BLM charity, and a government employee scamming the government.
More defrauding and wasting of taxpayer episodes to follow.
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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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