Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Feds Accused of Allowing Sex Trafficking in Gambino Case


82910gambino.jpg
Thomas Orefice (AP)
When top-ranking members of the Gambino crime family were indicted for a host of crimes in April, one charge stood out in particular: sex trafficking with girls as young as 15, something one prosecutor called “a new low for the Gambino family.” But a Gambino defense attorney is now accusing the government of complicity allowing the sex trafficking to occur.

The lawyer, Gerald J. McMahon, says that one of the men running the trafficking ring was a convicted sex offender, as well as a federal witness with a cooperation agreement. According to McMahon, the witness was Jude Buoneto, who he said raped one girl and sexually abused another in the 1990s, and once ran a brothel with his mother in Brooklyn. McMahon wrote in court papers, “A reasonable person might wonder whether the government—in its zeal to make a racketeering case against the Gambino family—allowed a 15-year-old girl to be shamefully and criminally exploited.

Buoneto has been a cooperating witness with the government since 2008; the sex trafficking occurred in the summer of 2009, and McMahon is accusing Buoneto of being the 15-year-old girls pimp during that time. Defense lawyers have said that Buoneto had sex with the girl himself, as is common for a pimp. One former federal prosecutor said, “There was a screwup here. I do not believe that agents and prosecutors would knowingly allow prostitution involving a minor to go on. But since they had a cooperator in the middle of the action, they sure as hell should have known about it.” The government is still accusing Thomas Orefice of being the leader and driving force behind the sex trafficking.

According to the NY Times, because the US attorney's office does not permit cooperators to engage in illegal activity that is not part of an authorized investigation, and because of the unsavory backgrounds to many of the cooperating witnesses in such trials, "the witness’s role in the trafficking ring — except for the use of an underage prostitute — was most likely approved, and his activity known to the authorities." These questions about the Buoneto first came to light during bail hearings for a different defendant; Judge Kaplan replied that “the government has to make a judgment in many cases about where the greater good lies.”

Oregon Child Welfare Director Says States Boundaries Arbitrary

Goldberg said “the boundaries of states are really arbitrary,” and the agreement allows the agencies to better serve families whose members live in both states.
According to Merriman-Webster:

Definition of ARBITRARY

1: depending on individual discretion (as of a judge) and not fixed by law arbitrary>
2 a : not restrained or limited in the exercise of power : ruling by absolute authority arbitrary government> b : marked by or resulting from the unrestrained and often tyrannical exercise of power <protection from arbitrary arrest and detention>
3 a : based on or determined by individual preference or convenience rather than by necessity or the intrinsic nature of something arbitrary standard> arbitrary positive number> <arbitrary division of historical studies into watertight compartments — A. J. Toynbee> b : existing or coming about seemingly at random or by chance or as a capricious and unreasonable act of will arbitrary — Nehemiah Jordan>
It is under the leadership of individuals such as Bruce Goldberg that the nation has such a dysfunctional child welfare system, riddled with fraud, waste and abuse.  Boundaries of states are only really arbitrary in the child welfare policies.  States' child welfare systems can do whatever they whimsically and capriciously wish to do because there is no transparency nor accountability and do not recognize federal mandates, civil rights, or the Congress of the United States.


     Section 1. State boundaries. The State of Oregon shall be bounded as provided by section 1 of the Act of Congress of February 1859, admitting the State of Oregon into the Union of the United States, until:
      (1) Such boundaries are modified by appropriate interstate compact or compacts heretofore or hereafter approved by the Congress of the United States; or
      (2) The Legislative Assembly by law extends the boundaries or jurisdiction of this state an additional distance seaward under authority of a law heretofore or hereafter enacted by the Congress of the United States. [Constitution of 1859; Amendment proposed by S.J.R. 4, 1957, and adopted by the people Nov. 4, 1958; Amendment proposed by H.J.R. 24, 1967, and adopted by the people Nov. 5, 1968]


Oregon's work in placing children with families is commendable, but please Dr. Goldberg, consult with a legal expert before reducing the work of Oregon's founders to a throw of the dice and putting your foot in your mouth.

We got some funding issues going on here...Hello?  Is there anyone paying attention besides me?

Druckenmiller, Social Financial Genius

In order to generate a profitable return on an investment, there must be speculation in its market.  

Here, the investment is human capital and the market is society.
Schooling, a computer training course, expenditures on medical care, and lectures on the virtues of punctuality and honesty are also capital. That is because they raise earnings, improve health, or add to a person’s good habits over much of his lifetime. Therefore, economists regard expenditures on education, training, medical care, and so on as investments in human capital. They are called human capital because people cannot be separated from their knowledge, skills, health, or values in the way they can be separated from their financial and physical assets.
For about the last 30 years, there has been a significant departure in the investment in human capitol.  This is obviously notable in the U.S. High School dropout rates and the medical industry. 

When I speak of the medical industry, I speak upon the research sectors of policy, information technology, performance standards, costs and benefits.  The United States has remained stagnant in the medical research sectors, relying upon its traditional structures of producing low growth and low yields in human capital.  Universities have been found to publish biased and false research, neglecting to speculate the improvements to human capital. 

To a hedge fund, this is prime opportunity for investment in the shares, debt and commodities of the emerging market of human capital of children.  In order to produce a tax-paying citizen, the strategy must begin by setting the best interest rates of children.

Stanley Druckenmiller, Social Financial Genius
Stanley Druckenmiller (left) is not a Robin Hood, he, and his counterparts, are social financial geniuses.  

Hedge fund investments in human capital will produce consumers who will perform to revitalize the financial markets.  What better way for a corporation to continue to be profitable and establish a legacy than to groom and grow its own future customers with the marketing tool of philanthropy.

It looks like the child abuse propaganda industry is, for the first time in history, coming face-to-face with principles of free market.  Meet the competition:

Druckenmiller Sends Millions to Children, Robin Hood

Last year, billionaire fund manager Stanley F. Druckenmiller shifted $700 million of his own money to his family foundation. Before the transfer, the foundation had assets of about $6.5 million.

Transferring a quarter of his reported net worth to the nonprofit earned Druckenmiller the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s No. 1 ranking of largest individual charitable contributions in 2009. That year, he and his wife, Fiona, gave $100 million to New York University’s Langone Medical Center to create a neuroscience institute.

“The foundation gives you a billboard that says, ‘These are the causes I support,’” Stacy Palmer, the Chronicle’s editor, said in a phone interview. “It certainly lets nonprofits know what’s available.”

Druckenmiller, 57, said on Aug. 18 that he plans to shut down his hedge fund, Duquesne Capital Management LLC, which oversees $12 billion, and spend more time on philanthropy. Topping his list is serving as chairman of the board of Harlem Children’s Zone, a nonprofit that assist at-risk children and adults.

 

Monday, August 30, 2010

Kentucky Attorney General Announces $3.75 Million Settlement With GlaxoSmithKline

ATTORNEY GENERAL CONWAY ANNOUNCES $3.7 MILLION SETTLEMENT WITH DRUG COMPANY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 30, 2010
FRANKFORT, Ky. (August 30, 2010) – Attorney General Jack Conway today announced a $3.75 million settlement with drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for deceptive or false marketing of the anti-nausea drugs Kytril and Zofran, among others. The settlement follows a January 27, 2010 decision by Franklin Circuit Judge Roger Crittenden to award the Commonwealth more than $5.8 million in civil penalties against GSK for violating Kentucky’s Consumer Protection Act.

“I believe this case has sent a clear message to drug companies that Kentucky’s Consumer Protection law will be strictly enforced,” General Conway said. “This settlement gives the Commonwealth an instant influx of much needed funds and avoids the uncertainty of a long and drawn out appellate process.”

This is the latest in a number of settlements and jury awards in the so-called Average Wholesale Price (AWP) lawsuits filed by the Office of the Attorney General against 46 pharmaceutical manufacturers. The Kentucky Medicaid program relies on these published AWPs to calculate Medicaid drug reimbursement rates.
The lawsuits allege that that the defendant drug companies published bogus and inflated AWPs for their drugs which did not bear any relationship to any prices that these companies actually charged their customers. The artificial “spread” between the bogus published prices and the real prices caused the Kentucky Medicaid program to pay millions of dollars more in drug reimbursements than it should have.

Since Attorney General Conway took office in January 2008, his Office of Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Control has recovered or been awarded over $135 million dollars for the state and federal Medicaid programs. These cases range from lawsuits and settlements against pharmaceutical companies to cases against individual providers.

A settlement is not an admission of liability in a civil case.
###

Read more: Conway reaches settlement with GlaxoSmithKline - Business Courier of Cincinnati

  Just another revenue-maximization scheme.

DOJ and HHS Host Second Health Care Fraud Summit

Of course, no Medicaid fraud in child welfare on the agenda.

Attorney General Holder and HHS Secretary Sebelius host second regional health care fraud prevention summit in Los Angeles

WASHINGTON - Today Attorney General Eric Holder and U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius kicked off the second in a series of daylong summits bringing together a wide array of federal, state and local partners, beneficiaries, providers and other interested parties to discuss innovative ways to eliminate fraud within the U.S. health care system.  The summit in Los Angeles included educational panels featuring law enforcement officials, including Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, consumer experts, providers and key government agencies.

“In communities across the region, our health care system is under siege – exploited by criminals intent on lining their own pockets at the expense of American taxpayers, patients and private insurers,” said Attorney General Eric Holder.  “But through the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team, we are fighting back in bold, innovative and coordinated ways.  In addition, the Affordable Care Act provides new resources and includes tough penalties to help stop and prevent health care fraud.  We will continue to work vigorously with our law enforcement and private sector partners to punish those who steal from taxpayers, patients, seniors and other vulnerable Americans.”

Announced during the summit was a final regulation issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) increasing protections for both Medicare and Medicare beneficiaries from potentially fraudulent suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS). The new regulation enhances Medicare enrollment standards for DMEPOS suppliers by adding several new standards and strengthens existing standards that suppliers must meet before being able to furnish equipment and supplies to Medicare beneficiaries.

“The steps we are taking today provide us with additional tools to support our continuing efforts to reduce Medicare fraud by helping ensure that only appropriately qualified suppliers are enrolled in the program.  We know the majority of medical equipment suppliers and health care providers want to improve the health of Medicare beneficiaries, but we also know there are those who look for any opportunity to take advantage of beneficiaries and Medicare, including sham operations that are not legitimate businesses,” said Secretary Sebelius.

The summit also featured educational panels that discussed best practices for both providers and law enforcement in preventing health care fraud.  The panels included law enforcement officials, consumer experts, providers and representatives of key government agencies.

The recently enacted Affordable Care Act provides additional tools and resources to fight fraud in the health care system by providing an additional $350 million over the next 10 years through the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Account.

In addition, the Affordable Care Act toughens sentencing for criminal activity, enhances screenings and enrollment requirements, encourages increased sharing of data across government, expands overpayment recovery efforts, and provides greater oversight of private insurance abuses.  For information on the 2009 Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program Report, please visit www.justice.gov/dag/pubdoc/hcfacreport2009.pdf.

Investments in anti-fraud detection and enforcement pay for themselves many times over, and the Administration’s tough stance against fraud is already yielding results. In FY 2009, anti-fraud efforts put $2.51 billion back in the Medicare Trust Fund, a $569 million, or 29 percent, increase over FY 2008, and over $441 million in federal Medicaid money was returned to the treasury, a 28 percent increase from FY 2008.

The Affordable Care Act builds on innovative strategies to fight fraud, such as the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), the joint operation between the Department of Justice (DOJ) in partnership with the 94 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, CMS and the HHS Office of Inspector General that has expanded Medicare Fraud Strike Force teams from South Florida and Los Angeles to now operating in seven regions to target health care fraud hot spots including Houston; Detroit; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Baton Rouge, La.; and Tampa, Fla.

On June 8, 2010, President Obama announced this nationwide series of regional fraud prevention summits as part of a multi-faceted effort to crack down on health care fraud. The Los Angeles summit was the second in a series, with additional summits to follow in the coming months in Detroit, Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Las Vegas.

On July 16, 2010, the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder kicked-off the first in a series of Regional Health Care Fraud Prevention Summits in Miami.

Religion Holds Up Kids As A Shield

I just love the counter argument when addressing hiring practices of religious organizations with public money are questioned. 
"If you do not believe, you will not be hired."

They hold up a baby as a transparency shield when asked to be held accountable. Weak.

I know many child welfare religious-based organizations that make the staff sign a religious pledge. This is one of the reasons why the imperialistic morality parade keeps banging their drums, purchased with taxpayer money.

If these groups do not respect separation of church and state, perhaps they can easily refuse to receive public funding and become privately funded.

I say any religious organization, mainly child placing agencies, receiving federal funding must be subject to federal audits and reviews. If there is no wrong, then transparency should not be an issue.

Faith-Based Organizations Protest Restrictions in Federal Legislation

A group of more than a hundred faith-based nonprofits is fighting the passage of a provision that would prohibit them from receiving federal money if they consider a job applicant's religion in the hiring process, the New York Times reports.

The groups sent a letter to Congress which argues that the provision — included in a bill to reauthorize the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration — would dilute protections granted to the groups by the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and the Constitution. Although many of the groups protesting the legislation do not receive money from the agency, they say the language of the provision is broad enough to affect other, unrelated sources of federal funding. World Vision USA, a Christian aid organization that is leading the protest, received more than $300 million in cash, goods, and services from federal sources last year, while the Salvation Army received almost $400 million from federal, state, and local governments.

The debate over federal support for programs run by nonprofits with religious affiliations dates back to the Clinton administration, when the issue was included in welfare reform legislation. Under "charitable choice," as the compromise forged by the Clinton administration was called, organizations are not allowed to discriminate against clients based on religion but are able to exercise their religious beliefs in hiring and other aspects of their operations. The Coalition Against Religious Discrimination, whose members include the American Civil Liberties Union, the Hindu American Foundation, and the NAACP, has been pushing Congress to eliminate charitable choice for years and does not believe the provision at the center of the controversy goes far enough.

That view does not sit well with the faith-based organizations petitioning Congress. "Those four lines in the legislation would be a seismic change in bedrock civil rights law for religious organizations," said World Vision USA chief legal counsel Steven McFarland. "The impact would be huge and severely affect our ability to help children and others in need."
Strom, Stephanie. “Religion-Based Groups Protest Restrictions in Bill.” New York Times 8/25/10.

North Dakota Neglects Native Child Welfare

There is a reason why North Dakota is at the forefront of a new trend in the way foster care is administered and it has to do with the fact that the state is at the forefront of a national trend of putting minority children in foster care.

Native American numbers on rise in North Dakota foster care system

Statistics show that minorities are overrepresented in the foster care system in all states.

In North Dakota, Native Americans are the largest minority group represented in the foster system, and their numbers are on the rise. They accounted for 29 percent of the state’s foster children in 2008 and 37 percent in 2009, state child welfare data show.

North Dakota has possesses the nation's lowest unemployment rate yet the largest unemployed segment of the state's population is found on the rural reservations.

The poverty rates seen among Indians on reservations in the district are reflective of the high levels of unemployment. The official U.S. Census figure for unemployment among Indians living on district reservations was 23 percent, compared to 3.7 percent nationally, with as high as 37 percent unemployment for Indians on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Many consider these figures underestimates of true unemployment because the lack of jobs on reservations discourages many from looking for work, thus lowering labor force participation.

The updated approach to foster care should be one of equality in access of resources.  This means that it is time the Tribes step up to the plate and do more for Anishinaabeg.

Since the spread of American Indian casinos and other forms of gambling across the nation, the public perception of reservation life has shifted from one of desperate poverty to windfall riches. That perception is deeply flawed. While gambling has brought substantial wealth to the members of some tribes, they remain in the minority. The fedgazette's March 2003 analysis of 42 district reservations found that the richest five tribes accounted for 54 percent of casino revenue but less than 6 percent of population. (See map of Ninth District Indian Reservations.)


Beyond the most influential tribes investing and improving quality of life for the rest of the Tribes, the issues of child welfare fraud must immediately be addressed, for it happens in Native American child welfare programs, also.
The ACF has monitored the Tribal provisions of the child welfare protections required required by the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act, but few Tribal records have been reviewed.
HHS OIG Child Welfare Services and Protections for Native American Children                                                              

Even though this report is dated 1994, there are other individual HHS OIG reviews supporting the original findings of the absence of Tribal child welfare program oversight.


North Dakota takes updated approach to foster care

State aims to keep families together

North Dakota is at the forefront of a new trend in the way foster care is administered: Don’t put children in foster care.

The idea is to help families help themselves so they can keep their children, rather than having a judge order them into the foster care system.

When children stay with their families, they typically do better in school, and the odds of them aging out of the foster care system and struggling with adult life – free of the assistance they received before – are diminished, said Gary Wolsky, president and CEO of The Village Family Service Center in Fargo.
“The problems get costlier to fix if left untended,” Wolsky said. “Prevention is always cheaper.”

The effort could save taxpayers a bundle because it’s more expensive to put a child through foster care than it is to help the whole family, Wolsky said.

The family preservation initiative has also grabbed the attention of some North Dakota lawmakers, who say they hope to see the idea take off in the state.

North Dakota lawmakers need to sit down with Tribal leaders and address the issues of fraud, waste and abuse, together, but even more importantly, establish universal systems of transparency and accountability.

Let's see if Wolsky will directly talk to Tribal families who have lost their children and publish his findings.  

More than family preservation, this is cultural preservation.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Russian-born orphans abused by US foster parents

Russian-born orphans abused by US foster parents

Anatoli Kudryavtsev
Aug 29, 2010 19:24 Moscow Time

Pavel Astakhov. Photo: RIA Novosti
The Russian children’s rights Ombudsman Pavel Astakhov has urged authorities in the United States to thoroughly investigate the latest instance of abuse of Russian-born adoptees by American foster parents.
Three teenage girls in the case were victims of beatings and sadistic torture at the hands of the Leszczynski couple, Larimer, Colorado. The man and wife, named Steve and Edelvina, are now facing criminal charges.
Astakhov accuses American social services of neglecting duty and failing to promptly detect the abuse.    

Indeed, the uncovered mistreatment goes quite some time back.     Four days before Christmas – the greatest of family occasions in good old America – one of the girls turned up for classes with a badly bruised face.
It turned out that her foster mother had hurled a heavy boot at her. A subsequent inquest also reported other abuse techniques, such as making the girls walk on their hands, stay outdoors in biting frost or pouring rain, run barefoot to 25 miles, punch one another in the face and do multiple push-ups on steel nails.
The arsenal also included threats to return the girls to their orphanages in Russia.In the community meantime, including in the Leszczynski’s church congregation, many describe the couple as God-fearing and law-abiding people, who might have been just a little bit too harsh in their child-rearing practice.
Harsh indeed, and not for the first time so with Russian-born orphans in the US. Many remember an incident last April, when an American woman simply shipped her 7-year-old adopted son Artyom Savelyev back to Russia. The boy arrived at a Moscow airport unattended, with a handwritten note of renunciation on him.All Russia-US adoptions are now on hold, pending a formal bilateral agreement on the matter.  

Good, but does that mean they have to give up the tax credits?  Probably not.



 

Baby LK Report: August 29, 2010

Baby LK recaps the week in news for the child protection industry.

Meet The Pimps of AstraZeneca

A man named Stan is quite the investigative reporter, but I have found a much easier way to track who are fans.  Just make sure you use my first and last name in all your reports, Pimp Daddy Brennan.

David Brennan, the international policy pimp
Public relations firms do more than pimp propaganda for the entire child welfare industry, they monitor it, too.

AstraZeneca makes sure CMS will always be their bottom bitch.

A BRAVE NEW WORLD -Big Brother/Pharma hires data miners and PR firms to track individuals and blogs as part of their huge public perception/spin/image campaign machine

Who would have thought a little blog like mine and maybe yours were so damned important that Pharmaceutical Corporations would hire huge PR data mining firms to keep a watchful eye on us.

Yes, they rate us, write reports, even suggest a response strategy, and then take all this gathered analytical analysis to Big Brother (whoops typo: Big Pharma).

This is just one segment of the huge "Spin Machine" that is used to take any possible negative news or revelation about the "Sacred Pharmaceutical Cash Cow" to task, while reacting to any descent or counter messages in real living time.

In fact the companies the pharmaceutical Industry hire pride them selves publicly in their ability & stellar track records of taking any kind of serious negative fact/information, and then turning into a profitable positive fiction through controlling/manipulating the information, the message, the media, and in the end the highly valued public perception.

Companies like V-Fluence working for Corporations are watching us no doubt.

Just recently I had written about Robert Whitaker's New Book "Anatomy of an Epidemic".

When I happened to stumble upon a revealing tracking page VIA V-fluence the PR Firm (hired gun) working for no other than AstraZeneca Corporation.

So through my secretly held guarded trade nanotechnology methodology, and some highly honed intergalactic correspondence skills ( in other words known as pure "dumb luck"), I was able to open this interesting little page/document.

Meet the Pimps of AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca Cheif Officers  

Why New York City Recycles D.C. Administrative Rejects

I have to step in here and defend Mayor Mike Bloomberg.  Mayoral appointments are made upon recommendation of his deputies.  There are components of public consent but it only comes, again, from the public recommendation of the deputy mayors like (left) Linda Gibbs Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services.

The decision to recycle failed administrators is due to the fact that there is a very limited pool of administrative candidates who are knowledgeable in the area of revenue-maximization schemes in child welfare.  

Former D.C. child welfare administrators have demonstrated amazing accomplishments in skirting federal prosecution in fraud, waste and abuse in child welfare services; therefore, it becomes beneficial to maintain a workforce deeply entrenched in a culture of risk aversive policies of getting busted as being dysfunctional.



DC’s Incompetence Is Coming To NYC in Droves

First Director of the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitative Services Vincent N. Schiraldi (a D.C. reject) gets “recruited” by NYC. Now Schiraldi is bringing in more of D.C.’s incompetent juvenile administrators. Instead of firing incompetent administrators, government just shuffles them from one state to another. Vincent and cronies were too incompetent to fix D.C.’s Juvenile Justice, so NYC decides to take them off DC’s hands.

How do we know they’re incompetent? Just look at some of their D.C. “accomplishments” as reported by the Washington Post no less.

DC Division for Youth Rehabilitative Services Accused of Prescribing Seroquel as a Sleep Aid for Incarcerated Youths

DC Death Toll: Seven (7) Wards Slain Ten (10) Wards Charged With Murder

Violence at DC Youth Center

D.C. Mayor Fenty Fires Head of Juvenile Justice Agency: Marc Schindler (Schindler took over from disaster Vincent Schiraldi). While Deputy Director David Brown and Head of Internment David Muhammad Resigned. David Muhammad was recently hired by former D.C. crony, Vincent Schiraldi.

Here’s a release written by David Muhammad tooting his own horn – though how he thinks success is 7 wards dead and another 10 charged with murder escapes my understanding of success. Now NYC is stuck with more D.C. dysfunction.

These are not stories of incompetence.  These are resume milestones in child welfare fraud.  District of Columbia child welfare administrators posses rare skill sets.  Not only are these professionals extremely capable of maintaining operations as noted in these news stories, but they are uniquely qualified in double billing.

Remember, District of Columbia is not a state and since there is no transparency and accountability in child welfare fiscal operations, administrators are experts in double-jacket cost-reimbursements for the child welfare system, simultaneously billing Maryland and District of Columbia. 

HHS OIG District of Columbia and Maryland Medicaid Audit 2008


There are other signals flagging multiple layering of double-jackets.  The technique was identified by a former governmental auditor who wishes to maintain anonymity, termed it the "Will Smith-Bill Smith" Syndrome.

The "Will Smith-Bill Smith" Syndrome
 A child is taken into the foster care.  An administrator will submit foster care cost-reimbursements for the child named "Will Smith, Social Security number ABC-12-WXYZ". The costs are reimbursed to the government administrator.  Then, as the governmental entity has never implemented any computerized fiscal integrity systems, the administrator will also submit cost-reimbursements for the child named "Bill Smith Social Security number ABC-12-WXYZ".

There are no mechanisms in place to monitor the allowability of the costs and, in the event the syndrome is diagnosed, the administrators get recycled.

Take this syndrome and do it in a state and federal venue, and you have the creme' de la creme' in child welfare administrators.  This is why New York City recycles D.C.

Honor To An Original Source

Our friends over at Legally Kidnapped are very strong in busting the myths of foster care. One method they have found has been to elevate the silent voices of foster children, and its graduates of the foster care system.

Here is a young prolific blogger, who deserves honor for his expertise, as an original source, to bust the myths of foster care.

 this has no fucking title — it’s about parents

Stop telling me that most people MY AGE don’t have relationships with their parents.   The truth is they do…. the truth is that most of you –  of any age —  do, of some type…because the research shows it…..
….and my daily life experience shows it……I work with young adults my age, 20-somethings, I see and hear it everyday……
I don’t even get a shot, a chance — I never had a chance and yes, it matters….it fucking matters — parents matter; they mattered then and they matter now…

READ THIS SHIT


To the child abuse propaganda machines: If anyone wants to "help" this young man, then I encourage you to contract/hire with him to do public speaking, commission reports from him and pay him well for his expertise.

Friday, August 27, 2010

My Request To Michigan Senator Martha Scott

This is my constituency request to Michigan Senator Scott.  Let's see how long it will take to send me an automatically generated response to blow me off.

Senator Scott,

I have spoken with your office to secure information on the Office of Attorney General Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.  I have received nothing.

I called the Office of Attorney General to request information on the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.  I was referred to the Department of Community Health Medicaid Integrity Program.

I submitted FOIA for basic information on the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and received nothing.

In order to develop viable proposals to animate the Office of Attorney General Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the public needs to review the structure and administration.

Now, I shall submit a FOIA request for information on the Michigan Office of Attorney General Medicaid Fraud Control Unit because no one in the state seems to be willing to provide this information.

As a constituent, I am formally requesting assistance in securing this information.

India Attempts To Challenge U.S. Money Back Guarantee On Adoptions

Foreigners to spend time with child before adoptn

Mumbai: The proposed guidelines for the welfare of children adopted by foreign parents contemplate that the adoptive parents should spend some time with the child in India, before he/she is taken abroad.

Bombay High Court is currently in the process of framing these guidelines.

Additional solicitor general Darius Khambata read out some of the draft guidelines during the hearing before Justice D Y Chandrachud today.

Guidelines have been proposed by Central Adoption Regulatory Authority. High Court initiated the process after a case of a 14-year-old adopted child -- who was abandoned by her foreign parents -- landed in the court.

Central Adoption Regulatory Authority???? There is no such thing as regulation in child welfare in the U.S. but the U.S. does have a great money-back guarantee if you send a child back home!

* The tax credit applies to domestic and international adoptions, but the procedure is not the same. Credit for expenses for international adoptions can be claimed only after finalization; for domestic adoptions, the credit can be applied even if the adoption does not go through.
* The full credit can be taken for domestic special needs adoption even when the qualifying expenses don't reach that limit.
* The credit of $12,150 is per child, not per year, so even if you claim expenses paid out over more than one year for one adoption, the total credit amount remains $12,150.

Will HP Stop Medicaid Fraud In Child Welfare In Alabama?

HP Wins $135 Million Alabama Medicaid Contract

Technology upgrades will add e-prescribing, patient and provider web portals, and compliance with HIPAA regulations.





Slideshow: RFID In Healthcare
(click for larger image and for full photo gallery)
Hewlett-Packard has announced an eight-year technology services contract worth $135 million to provide system upgrades, e-prescribing tools, and website development for the Alabama Medicaid Agency. The new contract extends HP's 30-year relationship with Alabama's Medicaid agency, which oversees the Medicaid program for more than 900,000 state residents each year. HP processed nearly 32 million Medicaid claims for Alabama healthcare providers in 2009, according to a statement HP released Tuesday.




As Alabama's fiscal agent, HP will significantly enhance and continue to manage the state's Medicaid management information system (MMIS). HP implemented interChange, the state's new MMIS, in 2008. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services certified Alabama's interChange MMIS earlier this year.
Under the contract, Alabama's Medicaid officials hope HP's technology will enable the state to contain costs while meeting new Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements, and to improve healthcare delivery, provider satisfaction, and recipient access to personal healthcare information. 

Will there be assurances to report suspected or known Medicaid fraud in child welfare to Alabama's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit<>/a?  Will there be public reports on the levels of Medicaid fraud in child welfare?  Stay tuned for the annual report.

Sheriff Sebelius Ain't Reconin' Medicaid Fraud In Child Welfare

U.S. cracks down on healthcare fraud

The U.S. attorney's office and Health and Human Services Department are teaming up to fight Medicare and Medicaid fraud, which costs taxpayers billions of dollars a year


August 27, 2010
Dr. Anne Peters knew something was wrong when a fellow physician called to find out why she had been ordering so many MRIs for her patients.

The Los Angeles internist said she tried to alert authorities that someone was illegally using her physician identification and Medicare billing numbers to submit phony claims.

For months, Peters said, she couldn't get anyone to listen. Because thieves had recruited or created phantom patients, the doctor had no way of resolving the problem. "Every agency told me the victim — i.e., the patient — had to report the fraud," Peters recalled.

On Thursday, top Obama administration officials outlined new federal enforcement efforts to combat such healthcare fraud, saying quickly expanding criminal enterprises are costing taxpayers billions of dollars each year.

During a healthcare fraud summit in Los Angeles, Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said their agencies were jointly targeting fraud in the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs. They said the initiative, launched in May 2009, had so far produced more than 580 criminal convictions and recovered more than $2.5 billion in fraudulent proceeds.

"Our healthcare system is essentially under siege by criminals intent on lining their own pockets at the expense of the American taxpayers," Holder told the gathering of law enforcement officials, regulators, healthcare executives and others at Los Angeles City College. "In Los Angeles, these crimes have reached crisis proportions, driving up healthcare costs for everyone and also bringing the long-term solvency of our essential Medicare and Medicaid programs into doubt."

Sebelius said the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a final regulation Thursday to protect seniors against fraudulent medical equipment and supplies vendors.

The new rule will require suppliers of prosthetics and other items to maintain proper ordering documentation and to remain open to the public at least 30 hours a week. It also will bar such companies from using cellphones or pagers as primary business phone numbers.

"The days when you could just hang a shingle out over a desk and start submitting claims are over," Sebelius told the gathering.

Sebelius also recounted Peters' saga, fresh from a firsthand look at the scene of the alleged crime. Before the summit, Sebelius and Peters paid a visit to the Van Nuys office building that housed the purported radiology clinic that conducted the phony MRIs.

Sebelius apologized to Peters for the lackluster response to her reports of identity theft and assured her that the new healthcare reform law armed the government with new weapons to fight such fraud. Peters' complaint led to the arrest and prosecution of six people involved in what federal officials described as a well-organized medical fraud ring. Before it unraveled, the ring stole the identities of 19 physicians and used them to defraud Medicare of nearly $7 million.

"There is a new sheriff in town," Sebelius told Peters.


Hey Sheriff, can I be the deputy sheriff in charge of going after Medicaid Fraud in Child Welfare this multi-billion dollar a year racket or are you going to continue to let the State Medicaid Fraud Control Units ignore it?

Long Live The Child Welfare Fraud Whistleblowers

This happens so many times.  An administrator reports child welfare fraud and is fired, or "does not have their contract renewed" by the public body that was reported to higher authorities. Then, the whistleblowers take the action into a court of law and face a bottomless legal war chest of public funding, out spending the whistleblowers in technically dilatory motions, until the whistleblower is left, weighing their hopes of future financial survival of their families when they can no longer afford the attorney fees to fight for their jobs and reputations.

I am taking wagers that the case will be dismissed and Art Rendon will be left applying to temp agencies after the out-of-court settlement and it will be business as usual at BISD.  The "opinions" are similar in just about every case I have had the opportunity to review.  Rulings will come down that the "whistleblower" stepped outside of their assigned duties by reporting to an external authority, whereby establishing a violation of contractual agreement.

I honor all whistleblowers, relators and anyone who has the fortitude to stand up and report fraud.

A Lawsuit is not always to gain money, it can also be used as a public speaking platform to convey a more powerful message of a public issue.

 STOP MEDICAID FRAUD IN 
CHILD WELFARE
Rendon files whistleblower suit against BISD
The Brownsville Herald  August 26, 2010

By Gary Long, The Brownsville Herald, Texas
Aug. 26--Former Special Services administrator Art Rendon has filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that the Brownsville Independent School District fired him in retaliation for revelations he made about mismanagement and fraud in the district's special education department.
Attorneys for Rendon filed the suit on Monday in U.S. District Court in Brownsville against BISD, trustees Rolando Aguilar, Joe Colunga, Ruben Cortez and Rick Zayas, individually and in their official capacities, and Superintendent Brett Springston, individually and in his official capacity.
It claims that BISD violated Rendon's First Amendment free-speech rights and his 14th Amendment due-process rights and that the district's actions constitute "whistleblower retaliation."
BISD, the four trustees and Springston "conspired, plotted and schemed" against Rendon "in an attempt to silence and intimidate Plaintiff," the lawsuit says.
"Plaintiff would not keep silent on the abuse within his department of Special Services at BISD. He witnessed firsthand the deprivation of his students' constitutional due-process rights and unjust harm being done to their physical and mental well-being.
"Because of this, Plaintiff was harassed, defamed, investigated, placed on administrative leave with pay for an entire school year, and ultimately nonrenewed from his position as administrator of Special Services," the lawsuit says.
It also contends that once Rendon "began to speak out on matters he deemed to be illegal, the District conspired, plotted and orchestrated the nonrenewal of his Chapter 21 contract" in violation of his 14th Amendment due-process rights.
The lawsuit says Rendon attempted to resolve the matter through BISD's grievance process but that ultimately "BISD ended Plaintiff's longstanding career as an educator and administrator with BISD."
Prior to the actions mentioned in the lawsuit, Rendon had worked for BISD for 24 years.
The whistleblower retaliation claims involve Rendon contacting Hershel Price, a Medicaid fraud investigator, the Cameron County District Attorney's Office, and Texas Ranger Roland Casteneda to voice "his concerns and fears about what he believed to be systemic fraud and abuse of the system.
"Plaintiff explained in detail and outlined his suspicions of how the system was being abused by BISD employees and its legal counsel, Walsh, Anderson, Brown, Gallegos and Green, P.C. In an effort to profit at the expense of children with special needs, and at the expense of taxpayers, BISD and Walsh wanted Plaintiff to ignore the misdiagnoses of special needs students, the due-process violations occurring in the Admission Review and Dismissal (ARD) conferences and the due-process hearing violations."
Because of his actions, Rendon "began to suffer disparate treatment" and attempted to remedy the situation through BISD's grievance process.
"Plaintiff was doing anything and everything reasonably necessary to save his twenty plus tenure at BISD; but, because of the truth disclosed, the same led to Plaintiff's nonrenewal," the lawsuit says.
BISD would not comment on the lawsuit, citing its longstanding policy not to comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit seeks economic damages, past and future, based on Rendon's $102,000 annual salary as Special Services administrator until the end of his work life, approximately eight years.
In addition it seeks compensation for mental anguish, past and future, at an amount to be determined by the jury, general damages, reinstatement of position, reasonable attorney fees, cost of suit, all other relief the court deems reasonable and pre-judgment and post-judgment interest as allowed by law.
No trial date has been set.

Parents Accused Of Torturing 3 Adopted Russian Sisters

 Folks over in Russia are not going to be too thrilled about this.

Parents Accused Of Torturing 3 Adopted Russian Sisters
Affidavit: Girls Forced To Do Endless Push-Ups, Run 43 Miles, Hit Each Other

LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. -- A Larimer County couple is charged with abusing three adopted Russian sisters, forcing them to do hundreds of push-ups, run 43 miles in three days, and do headstands for over an hour, according to court documents.

Since Jan. 1, 2006, the parents' punishment for bad behavior included making one girl do push-ups with a nail-embedded board under her thighs and forcing the sisters to hit each other in the face and smack their heads together, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by TheDenverChannel.com

Just another taxpayer funded activity!

Iowa Is A Statistical Hellhole For False Claims

There are reasons why Iowa looks like a "hellhole of abuse" and it goes far beyond the presentation of its statistics.

Child abuse statistics are egregiously skewed and perversely exist without any challenge.

Before indulging into these articles, here is a response to a poignant post on the social perceptions of parenting.

The things I have read in case law and from handling cases;

The parent is guilty of neglect because she took a shower while the infant napped in the crib.

The parent is guilty of neglect because the house is cluttered with too many books.

The parent is guilty of neglect because the family cat sleeps at the foot of the child's bed.

The parent is guilty of abuse because said parent insists that the teenage child clean her room.

The parent is guilty of neglect and abuse because said parent washes child, and changes child's pajamas and sheets after child wets bed.

The parent is too strict in that said parent insists that the children complete their homework before watching television or playing computer games.

Three days of dishes were left unwashed in the sink. Actually, it was THREE dishes. The social worker, being single, admitted that she used one dish a day. So to her, three dishes equated to three days worth of unwashed dishes.

And the list goes on and on and on.

Has Iowa become a hellhole of abuse? newspaper asks

An editorial in today’s Washington Times singles out Iowa in opining on how child abuse registries reflect “an imaginary tide of abuse.”
Just looking at statistics, it might appear that Iowa is one of America’s child-abuse hotbeds, the newspaper wrote.
“Iowa authorities have been forced to remove children from their homes at a rate twice the national average in recent years. Roughly 50,000 of the state’s 3 million residents have been placed on a ‘child abuse registry’ used to warn off some potential employers and focus state resources on protecting the victimized children.”
It goes on: “How has Iowa gone from heartland to hellhole? The answer is that it hasn’t. And the millions of Americans on such lists in 45 other states reflect the same imaginary tide of abuse.”
Click here to read the full editorial.

Assure people belong on child abuse registry


In July, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled the state wrongly placed an Iowa City mother on the state's child abuse registry. The Iowa Attorney General's Office concluded the ruling could force the state to remove more than 25,000 other Iowans from the list, too. That concerned the Iowa Department of Human Services, which maintains the registry.

So the state asked the court to rehear the case. The court said no, but amended the ruling to clarify the impact out here in the real world. Instead of dropping thousands of names, the amended version may not result in DHS removing anyone other than the defendant in the case.

Jane Doe v. Iowa Department of Human Services  

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: If the Iowa Attorney General's Office was forced to remove other Iowans from the Central Registry, that would, in effect, set the stage for civil litigation of due process violations and the potential and substantial increase in false claims filings.  Remember, all this is paid for with taxpayer dollars.

 HHS OIG Iowa Medicaid Payments for Targeted Case Management 2007

Hell, New York just shredded the requests to be removed from the Central Registry.

John Travolta and Kelly Preston On: Anti-Psychiatric Medication



What is being said here is absolutely incorrect.  It is not a $1 billion dollar a year industry...it is a multi-billion dollar a year, international industry.

Regional Fraud Prevention Summit

Regional Fraud Prevention Summit

HHS Secretary Sebelius and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder host the second in a series of Health Care Fraud Prevention Summits in Los Angeles, CA, on Thursday, August 26.
Watch the event live on August 26 at 2pm EDT / 11am PST at www.hhs.gov/live.
To learn about the administration's efforts to curb health care fraud, visit www.StopMedicareFraud.gov.

I am holding my breath to see if they mention Medicaid fraud in child welfare.
Health Care Fraud Prevention Summit

Thursday, August 26, 2010

No Pro Se Qui Tam

A person cannot and will not represent anyone but his/her self. A mother cannot represent her children in a court of law. That is why there are Guardian Ad Litum. A person shall not represent the United States in a court of law unless they are an officer of the court, meaning an attorney. You have to be an attorney to represent a party to an action, but first, the United States must agree to be a party.

There are SCOTUS decisions clarifying the pro se litigant in a qui tam action but I have better things to do than to teach law right now.

I would normally upload the filing but it contained so many procedural errors, I did not think it economical.

I highly respect the work of Jim Gottstein PsychRights, but sadly, must forecast the dismissal of the action.

Illinois Medicaid Fraud Case Using PsychRights’ Model Complaint Unsealed

The Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights®) announces the unsealing of the first Medicaid Fraud case for prescribing psychiatric drugs to children and youth by someone other than PsychRights using PsychRights’ model Qui Tam Complaint.

United States ex rel Linda Nicholson v. Lilian Spigelman, M.D., Hephzibah Children’s Association, and Sears Pharmacy, was filed in Illinois by attorney S. Randolph Kretchmar as a result of PsychRights’ Medicaid Fraud Initiative Against Psychiatric Drugging of Children & Youth.

Here is a really nice article why qui tam relators cannot represent the United States.

2nd Circuit Addresses Limits on Qui Tam Actions Under False Claims Act

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has issued two opinions clarifying the law on qui tam actions under the False Claims Act.

The Circuit first ruled that where the United States is not a party to the action, a notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days after the entry of judgment or it is untimely. That decision came in United States of America, ex rel. Irwin Eisenstein v. City of New York, 06-3329-cv.

Second, the court found in United States of America, ex rel. Mergent Services v. Flaherty, 06-3081-cv., that qui tam actions cannot be brought pro se.

Judges Ralph Winter, Roger Miner and Jose Cabranes decided both cases, with Judge Winter writing for the court.

The False Claims Act allows a private person, called a "relator," to bring an action on behalf of the government where the person has knowledge of false or fraudulent claims to the government. Under the act, relators can recover between 15 percent and 25 percent of any award or settlement amount.

In Eisenstein, Irwin Eisenstein and four other New York City employees brought an action as relators on behalf of the United States, claiming it was unlawful for the city to charge nonresident employees a fee equivalent to municipal income taxes paid by city employees who reside in the city.

They claimed a violation of the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. §§3729-3733, which imposes civil liability for anyone who "knowingly presents ... a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval."

Their theory was that since non-resident employees are able to deduct this fee as an expense on their federal tax returns, their taxable income is lower than it would be otherwise and so the city is depriving the federal government of revenue.

Southern District of New York Judge Deborah A. Batts dismissed the action on March 31, 2006, and rendered final judgment on April 12, 2006. Eisenstein filed notice of appeal on June 5, 2006, 53 days later.

In a civil case, notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days under Federal Rule of Appelate Procedure 4(a)(1)(A). But when the United States is a party to the action, Rule 4(a)(1)(B) allows for any party in the action to take 60 days to file notice of appeal.

"The government played no role in this litigation until filing an amicus brief ordered by the court," Winter said at the Circuit. "Because we conclude that the United States is not a 'party' to this action for the purposes of Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1)(A) and (B), we further conclude that Eisenstein's notice of appeal was untimely," and the court was without jurisdiction.

Even though the action was ostensibly brought to vindicate the interests of the federal government, Winter said, "In our view, the United States is not a party for these purposes to a qui tam action when the government fails to intervene or to raise or resist any legal claim."

Eisenstein had argued that the 60-day period should apply because the United States was the "real party in interest" in the case. The court disagreed.

Winter said that, as used in Rule 4(a)(1), "the word 'party' refers to the person participating in the proceedings with control over the litigation."

The court then noted the "underlying intent" of the 60-day rule: to "account for the slow machinery of government when the United States is the party responsible for prosecuting the action."

The holding puts the court at odds with three other circuits: the 5th, 7th and 9th. Only the 10th Circuit views the issue the same way as the 2nd Circuit, describing the involvement of the United States as "tangential or nominal" in United States ex rel. Petrofsky v. Van Cott, 588 F.2d 1327 (1978).

Lewis D. Zirogiannis of Hughes Hubbard & Reed represented Eisenstein. Assistant Corporation Counsel Andrew G. Lipkin represented the city.

PRO SE CLAIM

In the second opinion, John Bal and his company, Mergent Services, claimed Marie Flaherty failed to pay Bal for air-purifying equipment he provided her, but she nonetheless submitted a false receipt for reimbursement of $1,750 to New York state's Individual and Family Grant Program, which is funded in part by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist New Yorkers with disaster-related needs following the 9/11 terror attacks.

Southern District of New York Judge Harold Baer dismissed the case, concluding that Bal is not an attorney and was "not qualified to represent the interests of the United States.

The 2nd Circuit agreed, with Winter saying, "The circumstances under which civil litigants may appear without counsel are limited by statute," 28 U.S.C. §1654, which permits parties only to "plead and conduct their own cases personally."

In Machadio v. Apfel, 276 F.3d 103, (2002), the 2nd Circuit held that, under the statute, "an individual who is not licensed as an attorney 'may not appear on another person's behalf in the other's cause.'"

Examples of this rule "abound in our case law," Winter said, including that "a laymen cannot represent a corporation even if the sole shareholder"; a "non-lawyer general partner may not represent the partnership"; and "a layman may not appear pro se on behalf of his minor child."

"These rulings not only are called for by the text of 28 U.S.C. 1654," he said, " ... but also constitute good policy for both litigants and the courts."

The only place a pro se is found in a qui tam action is in the original latin text:

qui tam pro domino rege quam pro se ipso in hac parte sequitur

Sometimes I speculate that these "qui tam" templates is a marketing technique for PsychRights to generate publicity and fees. A person can file these template complaints and then he swoops in for the right amount of money to save the day. I do not know but I have to put it out there because the pro se qui tam template is only good for raising awareness to the fact that Medicaid fraud in child welfare is alive and thriving.

Better legal advice would be to refer an individual to their respective State Legislation and Attorney General Office to file under its False Claims Act. Illinois Whistleblower Reward and Protection Act III. Comp. Stat. $$175/1-178/8.

The mechanisms exist.  Let's use them.

Judge dismisses Huron Consulting whistleblower case

Something is terribly wrong in New York. This is the third fraud case today that has been dismissed.

Judge dismisses Huron Consulting whistleblower case

Aug 26 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a whistleblower lawsuit filed against Huron Consulting Group Inc (HURN.O) by a former accountant, who accused the management consultancy firm of involvement in false medical claims and reimbursements.
The plaintiff, Associates Against Outlier Fraud, an entity solely owned by Steven Landgraber, brought in a number of fraud claims under federal and state laws against Empire Heathchoice Assurance, a unit of Huron Consulting.
Empire is an intermediary under contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that manages Medicare and Medicaid, to administer the Medicare program, including auditing of annual reports.
Defendant Huron was hired to provide consulting services to St. Vincent Catholic Medical Center, a network of five hospitals, prior to and during the bankruptcy restructuring of the hospital network.
Landgraber worked as an accountant consultant for St. Vincent in 2005 and 2006.
In his complaint, Landgraber said Huron, together with the consulting firm Speltz and Weis, "ran -- really controlled the (St. Vincent) Hospitals, including the hospital's reimbursement submissions and activities."
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff dismissed the lawsuit and said in his ruling that neither the fraud claims nor the conspiracy charge against Huron could be sufficiently proved by the plaintiff Landgraber.
"The amended complaint does not sufficiently plead the false claims that were allegedly presented for payment, nor that defendants caused them to be presented," Rakoff said in a ruling.
Whistleblower cases, sometimes known as qui tam cases, are a means for people who believe companies have defrauded the government to file suit. These people can share in settlement or other payments that companies may make.
Judge Rakoff said the parties would have to set a schedule for the filing of a second amended complaint before Aug 31.
The case is IN re: Associates Against Outlier Fraud vs Huron Consulting Group Inc et al, Case No. 1:09-cv-01800, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. (Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Rumor Is Tom Corbett Is Under Federal Investigation

Tea Party Investigation of Corbett, Others On Hold

Will wait until after Election Day


LEESBURG- Berks County Patriots (BCP) has placed its independent investigation of possible corruption in the state Department of Revenue  and the Attorney General's office on hold until after the November elections.
The nonprofit organization has been looking into an ongoing federal lawsuit filed by former Deputy Attorney General Thomas D. Kimmett and Sherry Bellaman, who currently works in the attorney general's financial enforcement section. The suit alleges Mr. Kimmett was unjustly fired for pointing out potential improprieties, malfeasance and corruption in the state's collection of unpaid taxes.
 Word through the twitter grapevine  Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett, who is a candidate for the Office of Governor, is under federal investigation.

So now the world knows why there is so much child welfare fraud in Pennsylvania! 

"Whistleblower" Suit Allows Peek into AG's Office

Civil Rights denied, plaintiff says


A "whistleblower" suit in federal court against state Attorney General Tom Corbett and most of his senior staff is offering a glimpse into both Mr. Corbett's management style and the continuing inability of the state to collect debts.
In August 2008, former Deputy Attorney General Thomas D. Kimmet filed suit in U.S. Middle District Court claiming violation of his constitutional rights and that he had been thwarted by Mr. Corbett and his lieutenants from correcting inefficiencies in the Office of Attorney General's (OAG) Financial Enforcement Section. Three months later Mr. Kimmet's state employment was terminated after about two years in the OAG and a decade in the state Department of Revenue (DOR).
FES is a debt collector of last resort after efforts to collect debts and back taxes have failed in a wide variety of state activities including state universities, DOR and other agencies. The 20-month old suit is currently before U.S. District Judge John Jones, a longtime Republican, former head of the state Liquor Control Board and who was mentioned in the recent past as a gubernatorial prospect. A jury trial has been requested by Mr. Kimmet.
Responses from the OAG deny most, but not all, of the claims made by Mr. Kimmet. Court documents obtained by Pennsylvania Independent indicate continuing problems with FES management procedures, debt collection and accounting that have been going on for years. The OAG claims Mr. Kimmet was hired and directed to correct the problems spelled out in the complaints of Mr. Kimmet.
Attorney General Tom Corbett
Corbett 041610
A deposition by Mr. Corbett on March 11, 2010 indicates the attorney general relies heavily on his senior staff to deal with problems inside the office of his 1,100 employee bureaucracy, which includes 200 attorneys. Mr. Kimmet's suit paints a picture of a castle guard surrounding Mr. Corbett, who is running in the May 18 Republican primary for governor against state Rep. Sam Rohrer of Berks County.
The Corbett Team
Mr. Corbett's six-hour deposition makes clear he believes in a military style chain-of-command management and feels it is the proper way to manage the offices of the state's chief law enforcement officer.
Also named in Mr. Kimmet's suit are First Deputy Attorney General William Ryan, Executive Deputy AG Louis Rovelli, former AG Chief of Staff (and Corbett Gubernatorial  Campaign Manager) Brian Nutt, Deputy AG Michael Roman, AG Human Resources Director Bruce J. Sarteschi, FES manager Jill Keiser, retired FES manager Steve Brandwene and DOR employees James Furlong and Robert Coyne.
During his deposition Mr. Corbett indicated he could not recall or did not know the answers to more than 35 questions put to him by Charles Kimmet, a Washington D.C. attorney representing his uncle, Thomas D. Kimmet. Sherry Bellaman, a former administrative assistant to Thomas Kimmet at FES, is also part of the Kimmet suit as a plaintiff. She is still employed at the OAG and is represented by Harrisburg Attorney Donald Bailey.