Rick E. Brown Arrested for Alleged Role in $12 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme Operating Out of Medicall Physicians Group

A Rockford, Illinois man was arrested in connection with an indictment charging three Chicago-area residents for their roles in an alleged $12 million health care fraud scheme.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon of the Northern District of Illinois, Acting Special Agent in Charge Robert J. Shields, Jr. of the FBI’s Chicago Office, and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh, III of the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Chicago Regional Office made the announcement.

According to the 10-count indictment returned on October 23, 2013,  Rick E. Brown, 56, and two other individuals allegedly participated in a Medicare fraud scheme operating out of a home visiting physician practice, Medicall Physicians Group Ltd. in Schaumburg, Illinois, that billed for services that Medicall never provided. Medicare allegedly paid the company approximately $4.7 million for fraudulently reported services from January 2007 to December 2011.

Brown and an alleged co-conspirator, Roger A. Lucero, 62, of Elmhurst, Illinois, are charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and health care fraud. The two men and another defendant, Mary C. Talaga, 53, of Elmwood Park, Illinois, are also charged with making false statements relating to health care matters.

According to the indictment, Lucero and Brown owned and operated Medicall, and Talaga submitted the company’s bills to Medicare. The indictment alleges that Brown instructed employees to bill Medicare for patient oversight and other services that were never provided, and Lucero created backdated records in an effort to conceal the fraudulent billings. Talaga is alleged to have billed Medicare for these services even though she knew they had not been documented, a practice that required her to fabricate the information submitted to Medicare.

The charges of health care fraud conspiracy and health care fraud each carry a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charges of false statements relating to health care matters carry a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

An indictment is merely a charge, and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The investigation is being conducted jointly by the FBI and HHS-OIG and brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Brooke Harper of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,500 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.

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"Organized Crime in Chicago Beyond the Mafia" Explaining Chicago's mix of crime, corruption, and politics

This book provides a comprehensive sociological explanation for the emergence and continuation of organized crime in Chicago. Tracing the roots of political corruption that afforded protection to gambling, prostitution, and other vice activity in Chicago and other large American cities, Robert M. Lombardo challenges the dominant belief that organized crime in America descended directly from the Sicilian Mafia. According to this widespread "alien conspiracy" theory, organized crime evolved in a linear fashion beginning with the Mafia in Sicily, emerging in the form of the Black Hand in America's immigrant colonies, and culminating in the development of the Cosa Nostra in America's urban centers.

Looking beyond this Mafia paradigm, this volume argues that the development of organized crime in Chicago and other large American cities was rooted in the social structure of American society. Specifically, Lombardo ties organized crime to the emergence of machine politics in America's urban centers. From nineteenth-century vice syndicates to the modern-day Outfit, Chicago's criminal underworld could not have existed without the blessing of those who controlled municipal, county, and state government. These practices were not imported from Sicily, Lombardo contends, but were bred in the socially disorganized slums of America where elected officials routinely franchised vice and crime in exchange for money and votes. This book also traces the history of the African American community's participation in traditional organized crime in Chicago and offers new perspectives on the organizational structure of the Chicago Outfit, the traditional organized crime group in Chicago.

"Lombardo recounts more than 100 years of the rise and decline of various criminal organizations, including the Syndicates, the Forty-Two Gang, and the Outfit, in this history explaining the role of organized crime in Chicago. Because Chicago crime is depicted in many popular books and movies, this history will find eager readers everywhere."--Booklist

"Lombardo argues persuasively that organized crime is not a foreign deviance implanted by will but rather a condition made possible by circumstances of the place. Recommended."--Choice

"An authoritative and colorful history that covers the whole sweep of organized crime in Chicago and puts politics, gangs, and ethnicity into clear perspective."--Dominic Candeloro, coeditor of Reconstructing Italians in Chicago: Thirty Authors in Search of Roots and Branches

Robert M. Lombardo is an associate professor of criminal justice at Loyola University Chicago and a former Chicago Police officer. He is the author of The Black Hand: Terror by Letter in Chicago.

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#OrganizedCrime Group Dismantled by @RCMPgrcpoliceand @CanBorder

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) - Serious and Organized Crime Unit - South West District (SOC-SW), in partnership with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and assistance from the Hamilton Police Service (HPS) have dismantled an organized crime group allegedly involved in importing and trafficking cocaine into the Greater Hamilton Area.

Following a six month investigation, numerous search warrants were executed and the members of this crime group were arrested. During the investigation over 5 kilos of cocaine were seized by CBSA officers at Toronto Pearson International Airport. The cocaine originated from different South American destinations. Several illegal marihuana grow operations were also dismantled as a result of this investigation.

"The RCMP and our partners are committed to ensuring a safe and secure Canada by reducing the threat and impact of organized crime groups. The importation and trafficking of harmful, illegal drugs and their related crimes have a devastating effect on our communities, like those in the Greater Hamilton Area. Project OPLATO is a fine example of inter-agency cooperation targeting organized crime groups that only seek to enrich themselves with no regard for the health and safety of our Communities." said Inspector Todd Gilmore, OIC-RCMP SOC-SW.

"I want to congratulate all the officers involved in this project on its successful outcome," said Goran Vragovic, Regional Director General, Greater Toronto Area Region, CBSA. "It's partnerships like these between the RCMP and CBSA, that ensure the safety and security of Canadians by stopping the flow of illegal narcotics at the border that are used to fuel criminal enterprises."

The subjects below have been arrested and charged with the following offenses:

•     Jorge Alejandro Rodriguez-Oliva (age 29) from Stoney Creek, Ontario
•     Edson Ariel Rosales (age 40) from Hamilton, Ontario
•     Nicolas Salciccioli (age 25) from Stoney Creek, Ontario
•     Importing cocaine contrary to section 6 (1) CDSA
•     Conspiracy to commit an indictable offence contrary to section 465 (1) of the CC

•  Edina Kalmar (age 29) from Waterdown, Ontario
•  Conspiracy to commit an indictable offence contrary to section 465 (1) of the CC

Further arrests and charges are anticipated.

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Supported by @DeCeccodal1886 “Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World Fair” Opens @FieldMuseum

One hundred and twenty years after winning its first Gold Medal in the New World at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, De Cecco, the premiere Italian pasta company, will commemorate that singular honor with a special event at The Chicago Field Museum’s new exhibition:  “Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World Fair,” which opens October 25.  Also known as the World’s Columbian Exposition, the retrospective exhibition takes a look at the Fair that was a glittering showcase of architecture, culture, technology, and food, and attracted people from around the world.

The Fair brought visitors closer than ever before to unique wonders like exotic animals, international cultures, as well as strange new products and technological innovations from around the world.  It was the birthplace of Juicy Fruit chewing gum, the Ferris Wheel and The Field Museum as well.  “De Cecco pasta was introduced to the world at this Fair as well, and was awarded the Gold Medal for superior manufacture, color and firmness after cooking,” says Marco de Ceglie, CEO of De Cecco USA.

To commemorate their prestigious honor and the innovations of the Victorian Era, De Cecco will sponsor a special luncheon featuring a mouthwatering menu of its award winning pasta, served up at the Museum’s prestigious Founder’s Room, followed by a docent tour of the exhibition on October 25th (also known as World Pasta Day).

De Cecco is Italy’s premium pasta, chosen by renowned chefs because they know the secret to making unsurpassed pasta – the De Cecco difference!  Carefully crafted in the mountains of Central Italy, De Cecco uses a proprietary process to make its 160 pasta varieties. Production starts with full control of the milling process and using only the heart of durum wheat to produce premium semolina, then mixing it with cool natural waters from De Cecco’s own mountain spring, drawing the semolina dough through bronze dies and drying the pasta very slowly at low temperature.  Over the years De Cecco has been the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, and was recently inducted to the Italian Trade Commission’s Hall of Fame. Founded in 1886 by the De Cecco brothers in the Abruzzo region of central Italy, today De Cecco exports to more than 87 countries and is the world’s third largest manufacturer of pasta. Their product line includes premium pasta, sauces, and its own brand of olive oil, among other related fine foods.

“Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair” will be on view at The Field Museum October 25, 2013 – September 7, 2014.

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"The JFK Collection" On DVD - 8 Films Covering His Life, His Death and His Legacy

HISTORY presents The JFK Collection, an impressive 3-disc DVD set exploring one of America’s most legendary families available on October 22 from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Chronicling the life and legacy of our nation’s 35th President John F. Kennedy, the 8-film collection arrives just in time for the 50th anniversary of one of the most talked about moments in American history.

Featuring hours of content celebrating his iconic life, The JFK Collection 3-disc DVD set will be available for the suggested retail price of $19.98.

Go inside the life of John F. Kennedy, a reckless rich kid who lived on the edge and became a WWII hero and a president who challenged the nation as it had never been before. This comprehensive family portrait also includes hour-long biographies of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Joseph P. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Ted Kennedy.

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