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DOJ Charges 455 Fraudsters in $6.5 Billion Billing Scheme

It took citizen journalist Nick Shirley to draw the nation's attention to the Somali daycare fraud in Minnesota. Estimates say fraud reached at least $9 billion in that state alone. Shirley has also drawn attention to fake hospices in California. Shirley took a victory lap on Tuesday when the doubters were presented with a statement from the Justice Department that 455 fraudsters had been charged in a $6.5 billion medical billing scheme.

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The Justice Department said in a press release on Tuesday:

The Justice Department today announced the 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, which resulted in charges against 455 defendants, including 90 doctors and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in health care fraud and opioid abuse schemes involving over $6.5 billion in false claims and significant patient harm, including death.

In addition, unprecedented international cooperation over the two-week Takedown resulted in the apprehension and return to the United States of the following health care fraudsters: one defendant in Kyrenia in connection with an over $3.7 billion scheme; two defendants in Estonia in connection with a previously charged $10.6 billion scheme; and, in the Philippines, one of FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters in connection with a previously-charged $1.2 billion telemedicine fraud scheme.

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Remember how the Gavin Newsom Press Office tried to paint Shirley as a voyeuristic child predator for looking into empty daycares?

We remember that. They had a reporter call daycares in Minneapolis to ask if they were real.

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Vice President JD Vance leading the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud ought to be one of the main Republican campaign points for the midterms, as much as securing the border was in 2024. But as NBC News reported, "Vance's anti-fraud work brings partisan bravado."

The media is complicit. Their priority at the moment is algae.

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