ALBANY– On the heels of a string of political scandals a new poll shows Americans believe the Empire State is in the lead when it comes to corruption. The Monmouth University poll surveyed more than 1,000 randomly selected people of all parties across the country from March 30th through April 2nd. 12 percent of those surveyed said they believed New York was the most politically corrupt followed by California at 11 percent, Illinois at 9 percent, New Jersey and Texas both at 5 percent and Washington D.C. at 4 percent. “It’s disheartening to hear,” Hoosick Falls resident Neal Turner said. “We do pay an awful lot of taxes and we do have a certain, I have a certain, expectation and I’m a little disheartened.” “With the publicity surrounding what’s been going on at the Capitol with different politicians I think that’s the general perception,” Albany resident Susan Larivee said.
HICAGO—A Chicago man was sentenced today to a 120 month term of imprisonment for taking control of two Chicago-area home health companies and using them to bilk Medicare out of more than $20 million. JACINTO “JOHN” GABRIEL, JR., 48, has been in custody since February 2014, when he entered a guilty plea to charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and tax evasion.
In sentencing Gabriel, U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle ordered him to pay $23.3 million in restitution to the Medicare program and $1.5 million to the Internal Revenue Service.
As California’s drought persists, a growing awareness of scarcity in the state’s urban regions has put agricultural water use under the political microscope.
At the beginning of April, Gov. Jerry Brown ordered cities to cut their water use 25 percent, at the same time further exposing the tensions between competing demands (Greenwire, April 2).
Federal and state officials are taking pains to defend the agriculture industry. Earlier this week in Reno, Nev., drought experts discussed how to counter the public perception that agriculture is getting off easier than the rest of the state.
Ann Mills, the Agriculture Department’s deputy undersecretary for natural resources and environment, said she had been spending “the better part of my days and some nights” working on correcting the “misperception that bubbled up” after Brown issued his executive order.
PERTH AMBOY – Last month, when a Superior Court judge tossed November’s election results for a City Council seat, she also slammed the city’s Democratic chairwoman for engaging in possible vote-by-mail fraud and taking advantage of frail nursing home residents.
Leslie Dominguez-Rodriguez stepped down from her leadership role two days later, but it was still back to business as usual.
For newlyweds Eric and Lauren Oxford, two teachers living on meager salaries in Massachusetts, their expected $3,500 tax refund meant everything.
They’ve been saving up diligently since 2013. Combined with their summertime lump pay, they’d have just enough to start shopping for their first home together. Instead, when their lease is up this month, they’ll be moving in with his mom.
Wednesday just got pretty bizarre. US Capitol Police in Washington, DC have detained a man after he flew a personal gyrocopter through restricted airspace and landed it on the West Lawn of the Capitol building. The strange incident led authorities to close off nearby streets and briefly put the Capitol on lockdown. Reports indicate that police arrived immediately after the pilot, 61-year-old Doug Hughes, touched down. Hughes is a US postal worker from Ruskin, Florida, according to the Tampa Bay Times, and orchestrated the stunt as his own attempt to protest government corruption and urge lawmakers to advance campaign finance reform.
The Florida doctor charged in a political corruption case along with New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez was indicted Tuesday in a 76-count Medicare fraud scheme that prosecutors said attempted to bilk the health care program out of as much as $190 million.
Miami U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer said Dr. Salomon Melgen, 60, was charged with 46 counts of health care fraud as well as additional charges of filing false claims and making false statements. Melgen is an ophthalmologist with offices in Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties.
TWELVE members of a counterfeit drug ring – including six from the Grimsby area – raked in more than £10 million selling fake Viagra under the cover of a mail-order fishing tackle business.
The UK-wide conspiracy offered cheap erectile dysfunction pills to online and face-to-face customers around the world.
The northern branch was led by Thailand-based Stephen Laverick, but his ex-wife Catherine Laverick, 47, of Ulceby, was in charge of day-to-day operations in the UK.
Family members from the Grimsby area were recruited to assist with the massive criminal enterprise.
Gunmen killed two people and wounded a third in an attack at the South Korean embassy in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Sunday which was claimed by the Islamic State group.
The gunmen opened fire on the embassy compound from a passing car, killing two people and wounding a third, a Libyan interior ministry spokesman told AFP.
A security source at the location said the two dead were both Libyan guards, adding that while the embassy had been closed for several months, South Korean officials were continuing to use it.
