MARYLAND NEWS

A judge sentenced the Riverdale, Maryland, man to five years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud and for conspiracy to make false statements relating to health care matters in connection with a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicaid.  The defendant’s conviction stems from a scheme involving services purportedly provided by Holy Health Care Services, LLC (“Holy Health”), a mental health services provider with locations in Washington, D.C. The judge also ordered the man to pay restitution in the full amount of the loss, $4,450,588.66.  Source: US Attorney, District of Maryland

The Potomac resident accomplished this fraud scheme by practicing dentistry without a license on Maryland Medicaid recipients, almost exclusively children, and using the names, provider numbers, and professional credentials of licensed dentists to submit claims...The Maryland Board of Dental Examiners revoked his license to practice dentistry in February 2015...Only a licensed dentist may own a dental practice and perform dentistry. From 2015 through January 2023, he continued to own Greenbelt and Rockville practices and continued to practice dentistry. Source: Maryland Attorney General’s Office

Mosby was previously convicted on two counts of perjury in a separate criminal trial that took place in November. Source: NBC news.com

 

Federal court records unsealed Monday in Baltimore detail what prosecutors described as a $1.89 billion cryptocurrency fraud scheme and charges against three people, including a former Severna Park resident.  Source: Baltimore Sun via Yahoo Finance

A grand jury indicted Anne Arundel County Register of Wills Erica Griswold on Monday after state prosecutors accused the elected official of cashing a check worth thousands of dollars intended to pay a citizen's inheritance tax.  Source: Capital Gazette and Maryland State Prosecutor

Maryland, lost thousands after someone walked into a Verizon store in California & got a new sim card using her phone number…The woman told 7News that Verizon said someone in California walked into one of its stores and purchased a new phone along with a new SIM card and used Hussey's current phone number to activate the new phone. Source: I-Team, 7 News-WJLA TV

According to the superseding indictment, from October 2020 until December 2023, the defendants and their co-conspirators contacted the victims by mail and over the phone and convinced them that they had won millions of dollars in a lottery or sweepstakes but were required to send payment in advance for taxes and other fees before they could receive their winnings.  The defendants and other conspirators caused the victims to send payments for the purported taxes and other fees through wire transfer, by gift card, by sending cash and by other payment methods. Source: US Attorney, District of Maryland

A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging five Marylanders with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and bank fraud and related charges in connection with a fraud scheme involving more than 600 stolen checks with a face value of over $5 million...The indictment alleges that one of the individuals used her position as a USPS mail handler assistant at the Washington Network Distribution Center to steal checks from the Center, then communicated regarding the sale and distribution of over 600 stolen checks with another suspect.  The checks had a face value of more than $5 million.  In addition, the indictment alleges that the conspiracy also stole checks rom USPS collection boxes. Source U.S. Attorney, District of Maryland

Among other things, the Maryland Office of Legislative Audits found:

• 100 officers each recorded more than 1,000 hours of overtime in 2022, with several officers racking up six figures in overtime pay.
• In violation of departmental policy, 70% of overtime requests were approved after, not before, overtime was performed.
• BPD did not have properly executed agreements with groups like the Horseshoe Casino and the Maryland Stadium Authority, which employs BPD officers as security at Ravens and Orioles games, leaving overtime payments largely undocumented. Source: Baltimore Brew and Maryland Office of Legislative Audits
  

 

Former Baltimore Orioles superstar pitcher and Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Palmer has filed a civil suit against a former friend who allegedly defrauded his family of $985,000, claiming "breach of contract for business and personal loans, negligent misrepresentation, fraud in the inducement and unjust enrichment." Source: https://bleacherreport.com and The Baltimore Banner