Category: Fraud
Springsteen’s ‘Streets of Minneapolis’ an Ode to Fascists Obstructing the Law
Do you remember when Bruce Springsteen wrote that rousing anthem to honor Laken Riley? Me neither. But on Wednesday, he…
‘STOP THE SCAMS!’ Trump announces new office in DOJ dedicated to investigating fraud
With more and more fraud being investigated and exposed across the country, the Trump administration has created a new office specially dedicated to prosecuting these types of crimes.
On Wednesday night, President Trump announced the creation of the office and his nominee to run it.
‘My Administration has uncovered Fraud schemes in States like Minnesota and California, where these thieves have stolen Hundreds of Billions of Taxpayer Dollars.’
“I am pleased to nominate Colin McDonald to serve as the first ever Assistant Attorney General for National FRAUD Enforcement, a new Division at the Department of Justice, which I created to catch and stop FRAUDSTERS that have been STEALING from the American People,” Trump said on Truth Social. “My Administration has uncovered Fraud schemes in States like Minnesota and California, where these thieves have stolen Hundreds of Billions of Taxpayer Dollars.”
Trump called McDonald a “very Smart, Tough, and Highly Respected AMERICA FIRST Federal Prosecutor” and promised that the administration would “RESTORE INTEGRITY” to the federal programs.
RELATED: ‘PLAYING WITH FIRE!’ Trump responds to Minneapolis Mayor Frey’s latest act of defiance
Todd Blanche and Pam BondiPhoto by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
“STOP THE SCAMS!” Trump concluded.
McDonald, though not a well-known figure on the national stage, has a resume built for the new position.
For example, McDonald successfully prosecuted a large-scale conspiracy in 2020 that the judge in the case called “staggering in its breadth, its scope, and its audacity.”
The conspiracy case, which involved multiple people including the former police chief of Honolulu, brought multiple charges and sent several people to prison for years.
Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general under Pam Bondi, signaled his approval of the choice on X: “Colin is a rockstar, who was instrumental in our team’s mission of Making America Safe Again. He is a consummate prosecutor who loves God, family, and country and will serve the President and the American people well.”
Likewise, ambassador and chief of protocol Monica Crowley cheered on the decision: “President Trump is putting an end to the United States of Fraud.”
The announcement was made amid ongoing talks between the Trump administration and the leadership of Minnesota, one of the primary hot spots of widespread fraud.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
More Virgin Islands corruption: Another appointee of Democrat governor reaps whirlwind
Albert Bryan, the Democrat governor of the Virgin Islands, has apparently surrounded himself in recent years with fraudsters and grafters.
Bryan’s former commissioner of the territory’s parks and recreation department, Calvert White, was sentenced on Friday to five years in prison following his conviction for one count of honest services wire fraud and one count of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.
‘This is unacceptable.’
The sentencing — relatively light given that the fraud offense carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and the bribery offense carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison — took place just weeks after the Democrat governor’s former police commissioner and former budget director were found guilty of extensive corruption.
White, who resigned last January, solicited and accepted a bribe from David Whitaker, the founder of the cybersecurity firm Mon Ethos Pro Support — a bribe that was facilitated by local businessman Benjamin Hendricks.
In exchange for $16,000 to later be paid by Hendricks, White agreed to help Whitaker obtain a contract valued at over $1.4 million for the installation of security cameras at U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Sports, Parks, and Recreation properties.
The Justice Department indicated that as part of the scheme, which lasted from late 2023 until the FBI intervened in June 2024, White provided confidential bidding information to Whitaker and proactively worked in an official capacity to ensure that Whitaker would get the contract.
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
“Calvert White rigged a public bid process in exchange for a bribe,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the DOJ’s Criminal Division. “He abused the trust of those who live in the community he was supposed to serve.”
While not ordered to pay a fine, White was required to forfeit $5,000, the amount he received from Whitaker via Hendricks as partial payment for the contract, reported the St. Thomas Source. He will reportedly wear a GPS monitoring bracelet until he surrenders to authorities on March 2.
For his role in the scheme, Hendricks was sentenced last week to 68 months in prison.
“Public officials take an oath based on trust and assume a responsibility of service to the people,” said Claudia Dubravetz, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Juan field office. “When that trust is violated through acts of corruption, it undermines confidence in government and harms the communities it is meant to serve. This is unacceptable.”
Whitaker, who pleaded guilty in 2024 to two counts of wire fraud and one count of bribery and is set to be sentenced later this year, was apparently also in cahoots with former Virgin Islands Police Department Commissioner Ray Martinez and former Virgin Islands Office of Management and Budget Director Jenifer O’Neal.
Martinez was found guilty last month of five counts of honest services wire fraud, one count of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, one count of money laundering conspiracy, and two counts of obstruction of justice. O’Neal was found guilty of two counts of honest services wire fraud, one count of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.
The DOJ indicated that Martinez accepted roughly $100,000 in bribe payments from Whitaker — “including cash, luxury travel, personal expenses, private-school tuition, and restaurant equipment” — in exchange for wielding his official authority to approve invoices and award Whitaker a $1.4 million contract federally funded under the federal American Rescue Plan Act.
O’Neal knowingly approved a $70,000 inflated invoice under that contract and, in exchange, accepted a $17,730 lease payment for her business in federal funds from the inflated invoice.
Blaze News has reached out to Gov. Bryan’s office for comment.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Graham Platner Solicits Donations for Maine Anti-ICE Group Led By Accused Somali Fraudsters
Senate candidate Graham Platner (D., Maine) urged supporters to donate to an anti-ICE group led by several Somalis tied to a nonprofit under congressional investigation for allegedly defrauding the state of millions of dollars in Medicaid payments. The day after ICE launched a statewide operation targeting illegal aliens in Maine, Platner promoted the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (MIRC), a taxpayer-funded nonprofit that touted its “ICE Watch Hotline” earlier this month. Its board has included Deqa Dhalac and Nathan Davis, who have been named persons of interest in a congressional probe over their leadership roles at Gateway Community Services Maine.
The post Graham Platner Solicits Donations for Maine Anti-ICE Group Led By Accused Somali Fraudsters appeared first on .
‘Sparkle Beach Ken’ Is Too Kind To Gavin Newsom
The California governor correctly figures that if he stays on offense, his own dismal record will be ignored — even if that offense is odd.
Ilhan Omar under investigation by House Republicans
House Republicans have opened an investigation into Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) after reviewing recent financial disclosure filings that show a sharp increase in her household’s reported wealth, according to multiple media reports.
The inquiry is being led by Republicans on the House Oversight Committee, who say they are examining whether Omar and her husband, Tim Mynett, properly disclosed income and business interests as required by federal ethics laws. The review is in its early stages, and no formal allegations of wrongdoing have been announced.
‘There are a lot of questions as to how her husband accumulated so much wealth over the past two years.’
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said the panel intends to pursue answers through congressional oversight channels.
“We’re going to get answers, whether it’s through the Ethics Committee or the Oversight Committee, one of the two,” Comer said.
Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
Omar, a Democrat who represents much of Minneapolis, reported significantly higher asset valuations in her most recent annual disclosure compared with previous years. The filings list increased valuations tied largely to Mynett’s business holdings, including consulting and investment ventures.
Comer questioned the plausibility of the reported increase, saying it raised immediate red flags.
“There are a lot of questions as to how her husband accumulated so much wealth over the past two years,” Comer said. “It’s not possible. It’s not. I’m a money guy. It’s not possible.”
Republicans say the size and timing of the reported increase warrant closer scrutiny. Oversight Committee members have indicated they may seek additional documentation to better understand how the assets were valued and whether the disclosures complied with House ethics rules.
Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the House majority whip, said the issue goes beyond routine disclosure review and merits formal examination.
RELATED: First Muslim Texas lawmakers push Islamic values
Scott Heins/Getty Images
“The explosion of wealth, plus the fact that convicted fraudsters helped fund Omar’s campaign, is worth an investigation by the Ethics Committee at the very least,” Emmer said.
The investigation comes amid heightened political attention on financial transparency in Congress and broader scrutiny of fraud cases in Minnesota, though Omar has not been charged or accused of involvement in those cases.
Omar has dismissed the investigation as politically motivated and has denied any wrongdoing. She has previously said her financial disclosures are accurate and that her husband’s business activities are lawful.
A congressional investigation does not itself imply misconduct. Lawmakers frequently review disclosures and request clarifications as part of routine oversight. The House Oversight Committee has not released a timeline for potential hearings or subpoenas.
Democrats have criticized the probe as partisan, arguing that Republicans are targeting a prominent progressive lawmaker. Republicans counter that the inquiry is about transparency and accountability.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Taxpayers are funding California’s Medicaid shell game
Federal prosecutors in Minnesota have launched one of the largest Medicaid fraud crackdowns in American history. Raids. Indictments. Billions of dollars. A system designed to help the poor became a loot bag for criminals and grifters.
California saw those headlines and said, “They should have consulted us!”
Taxpayers don’t care whether fraud happens the Minnesota way — through day-care centers and nonprofits — or the California way — through health care accounting games.
Sacramento’s progressive class has spent years perfecting a cleaner version of the same scam — one that stays inside the lines, collects federal dollars on paper, and sends the bill to taxpayers everywhere else. Call it “legal.” Call it “approved.” Call it “routine.” None of those words makes it legitimate.
In 2004, the Government Accountability Office warned Congress that states were gaming Medicaid through intergovernmental transfers. States would shuffle public money through a circular process to make spending look real, inflate federal matching payments, then cycle the funds back to themselves. The GAO described “round-trip” arrangements that generated federal dollars without exposing states to true financial risk and that undermined the balance Congress intended.
Washington shrugged. Some states backed off. Others refined the trick.
California scaled it.
Medi-Cal, the state’s massive Medicaid program, now serves as the vehicle for this legal laundering operation. State officials insist that the system complies with federal rules. Fine. A loophole still remains a loophole, and taxpayers still pay the tab.
Paragon Health Institute, a conservative health policy organization, has laid out the mechanism clearly. Counties and public hospital systems transfer funds to the state through IGTs. The state counts that money as the “non-federal share” of Medicaid spending, then claims a larger federal match. Sacramento sends the combined state and federal funds back to government-owned providers through supplemental payments and formula-driven reimbursements.
The math almost always works in the contributors’ favor. The entities that send money in get reimbursed in full — and often receive more than they put up.
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
California’s ambulance program shows how ugly this gets. Under the state’s Ground Emergency Medical Transport program, California bars payments from the state’s general fund. Public ambulance agencies instead receive “supplemental payments” that California largely restricts to public providers, limiting private companies’ access.
The result: California pays public ambulance providers about $1,065 per transport, while it offers private ambulance companies roughly $339 for the same job.
Then the federal government matches the inflated payments.
This isn’t just favoritism. It warps the market. It pushes private providers out and leaves patients with fewer options.
California has also expanded Medi-Cal eligibility regardless of immigration status. The state claims it funds routine coverage for “undocumented” adults with state dollars, but emergency Medicaid remains federally reimbursable. Sacramento still taps federal funds through the back door, even as it sells the program as a self-funded moral gesture.
This system stinks — even when regulators bless it.
And the political contrast tells you everything. Minnesota’s fraud scandal has created enough public anger to drive its Democrat governor out of the next election. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), whose administration runs a program built on the same kind of federal exploitation — just with better paperwork — remains a top Democrat presidential prospect in 2028.
The federal government could stop this tomorrow. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could clamp down on the abuse of IGTs and demand a genuine state contribution, not an accounting illusion. Instead, under the Biden administration, CMS approved major expansions and encouraged the same incentives that fuel the problem.
Audits don’t fix it, either. Regulators review what states claim on paper, not what taxpayers actually fund. If a state can justify the scheme in bureaucratic language, CMS signs off. Fraud analysis often misses the point for the same reason. A state can structure IGTs so the “state share” exists largely as a bookkeeping device. Federal taxpayers remain the only party exposed to real financial loss.
Congress never designed Medicaid to serve as a revenue stream for local governments. It created Medicaid to help the poor. California’s 12-to-1 payment disparities punish the poor by reducing competition, shrinking access, and driving private providers out of business.
RELATED: The insane little story that failed to warn America about the depth of Somali fraud
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images
Congress already has the solution. The GAO outlined it two decades ago, and the George W. Bush administration backed the basic idea: Close the loophole by prohibiting Medicaid payments that exceed actual costs for government-owned facilities.
In plain English: Stop rewarding government-owned providers with inflated reimbursements that private providers can’t touch. Set equal rules. Require real state contributions. Cut the circular funding schemes that turn Medicaid into a federal ATM.
Taxpayers don’t care whether fraud happens the Minnesota way — through day cares and nonprofits — or the California way — through health care accounting games. We care that Washington keeps subsidizing systems designed to break the rules everyone else has to follow.
California built this machine. Congress can shut it down.
‘Where are all the workers?’ BlazeTV’s Sara Gonzales exposes potential H-1B visa fraud in Texas
BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales appears to have uncovered a rash of possible H-1B visa fraud in the Lone Star State.
“If you thought Somalian day-care fraud was a problem, it turns out that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” said Gonzales. “There’s a whole new problem that it turns out is taking tens of thousands of jobs away from Americans and changing our communities forever that you probably haven’t even thought of. I’m talking about H-1B visas.”
The H-1B visa program enables U.S.-based employers to temporarily hire foreign workers into specialized positions that American citizens supposedly can’t do. H-1B specialty occupation workers are generally admitted for a period of up to three years, which can in most cases be extended for another three years.
‘I’m not buying it.’
While the H-1B is a nonimmigrant visa, it paves the way for foreigners to obtain permanent residency in the country.
Lawmakers from both parties have in recent years expressed concerns about H-1B visa fraud and abuse, proposing amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act that would reform or even abolish the program.
Amid chatter online about serial abuse of the program in Texas, Gonzales began scrutinizing H-1B employers operating in her region, two of which didn’t pass the smell test.
One of the two companies, which appears in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ H-1B Employer Datahub as Qubitz Tech Sysystems [sic] LLC, had 12 H-1B beneficiaries approved last year. The company, whose visa job contact is Hari Madiraju, has apparently been hiring “software developers” from abroad for years.
BlazeTV
Gonzales went to the address listed for Qubitz in Frisco, Texas — a four-bedroom house in a residential neighborhood where a man responding to “Hari” answered the door.
In footage of the encounter, Hari appears greatly vexed by Gonzales’ presence and even more so when she asks about Qubitz and its H-1B visa workers.
The moment that Gonzales mentions Qubitz, Hari announces that he is calling the police.
“I would love for the cops to come out here,” says Gonzales.
“Are the workers in here? Are the 12 workers for your company in here? Do they work out of here?”
Hari indicates that the workers are located at his “company.” When Gonzales asks where his company is, Hari appears to tell the 911 operator, “Somebody is knocking on my door and then they are like threatening me. … Please, can you help me?”
Gonzales later paid a visit to the supposed Qubitz office Hari suggested was headquarters for his dozen or more workers only to find a prison-cell-sized room with a single chair and some folding tables.
“Pretty cramped working quarters for 12 H-1B workers,” said Gonzales. “I’m not buying it.”
3Bees Technologies Inc., which is listed as active on the Texas Comptroller website, similarly raised eyebrows.
According to the H-1B Employer Datahub, the company — whose agent, director, and president is Vamsi Krishna Vajinapally — had 27 H-1B beneficiaries approved in 2022 and 19 visa petitions apparently denied the following year.
While the visas approved in 2022 for Vajinapally’s foreign workforce — which at one time supposedly comprised software developers, software quality assurance analysts, and software engineers — are apparently no longer valid, Gonzales was nevertheless surprised to find little evidence the recipients had a legitimate workplace to leave behind.
The BlazeTV host visited the location listed as the company’s address in Irving, Texas. As with Qubitz, she found a house in a residential neighborhood.
After finding no discernible evidence of people working at the location during business hours and receiving passing insight from a neighbor that something shady was afoot on the block, Gonzales traveled to the recently updated Plano address on the 3Bees website.
At that location, Gonzales found a building under construction, devoid of signs of office workers and software development. Gonzales indicated that while the location is currently being transformed into a social club, the location was formerly a WeWork, a remote office space that anyone can rent.
Gonzales indicated that Vajinapally of 3Bees has attempted to hire H-1B workers for another supposed tech business whose alleged Texas-based office is another rentable virtual office in Lewisville.
Qubitz and 3Bees did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.
“Once you start scraping data from H-1B databases, you start seeing immediately all of these patterns,” said Gonzales.
“The biggest question I have right now is: If we were able to find this with just a little bit of Google-searching and follow-up, why hasn’t USCIS done anything to combat this?”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
