Punishment

Published on: February 20, 2012

Watch Out Would Be Los Angeles Medicare Fraud Perpetrators: Obama Administration Pulling Out All the Stops

In 2008, the Federal Government recouped $2.14 billion from people who committed Southern California Medi-Cal fraud and other similar crimes across the nation. Last year, thanks to a dedicated effort inside the Obama Administration, the Federal Government recouped $4.1 billion — nearly double the 2008 amount. The number of people charged with fraud across the U.S. also bumped up 75% over the 2008 numbers.

Unsurprisingly, the Obama Administration has been celebrating. Kathleen Sebelius, the Health and Human Service Secretary, blogged about the report: “The Obama Administration is doing more to stop fraud before it happens… Department of Justice officials are tracking fraud scams as they move across the country, so that criminals are spotted when they try to re-enroll into Medicare or Medicaid.”

Good news for tax payers – but what if you’ve been caught up in the dragnet and charged with Southern California Medicare fraud?

Published on: February 13, 2012

Not a Los Angeles Medicare Fraud Verdict of $21 million, But It Easily Could Have Been…

by Michael Kraut

Last week, a man pleaded guilty to a $21 million fraud plot that reads like something out of the annals of Los Angeles Medicare fraud files. And the story did take place in “LA”—but Louisiana, LA, not Los Angeles, LA.

Still, the story is pregnant with lessons for people (and family members of people) who have been recently arrested and charged with crimes like Southern California insurance fraud, Los Angeles credit card fraud, and all other types of Los Angeles white-collar crime.

The accusations are, sadly, typical and mundane. According to the Associated Press, Rodney Taylor, a 45-year-old Louisiana man, recruited state companies to bill Medicare fraudulently for certain pieces of medical equipment. This scam, which persisted from 2004 to 2009, ultimately led to $21 million in fraudulent claims, according to prosecutors.

Published on: February 6, 2012

Taran Noah Smith, Home Improvement Star, Hit with Burbank DUI Charge

by Michael Kraut

Home Improvement star Taran Noah Smith’s driving record may need improvement; the 27-year old actor was stopped last Tuesday for driving under the influence in Burbank.

According to news reports, police pulled Smith over near Third Street and Burbank Boulevard early Tuesday morning. The Burbank Leader reports that Smith’s car had been parked, but the vehicle was still running. Police smelled marijuana around the vicinity and found what they believed to drugs in Smith’s 1998 Honda Accord. After being arrested for driving under the influence in Burbank, Smith was booked into a Glendale jail and held on a bail of $10,000. His court date is set for March 1.

Smith is probably best known for his role as the youngest child on Tim Allen’s Home Improvement, which ran from 1991 to 1997. He got his start as a child actor young – at age seven.

Smith’s Burbank DUI arrest highlights several important factors:

• Being a celebrity does not immunize you from getting arrested for marijuana or alcohol-related Burbank DUI. The law is the law, no matter what your station in life or level of celebrity;
• You can still be arrested for Burbank DUI, even if your vehicle is not actively being driven on the road. Consider Smith’s situation – his vehicle was stopped when the police found him (although the motor was running);
• Early mornings and weekend nights are particularly dangerous times for drivers, since the average car is more likely to be driven by someone who is Burbank DUI. This is just pure statistics. People party and/or drink on the weekends and evenings. So if you want to avoid drivers who might be under the influence in Burbank or elsewhere in Southern California, avoid driving during these dangerous times – late at night, Friday and Saturday nights, and national holidays.

How might the arrest redound for Smith’s career? Likely, that question is low on his list of priorities. In fact, a Burbank DUI charge – even a relatively minor one that does not involve injuries or damage – can lead to a cavalcade of penalties, such as not insignificant jail time, California license suspension, mandatory alcohol education classes, forced installation of an IID device in your vehicle (which means you cannot drive unless you blow a sober breath into a machine), annoying court costs and fines, and so forth.

And let’s not forget the indirect costs of Burbank DUI! These can include huge insurance-related problems (which in and of themselves can cost you thousands of dollars over several years) and damage to your professional and personal reputation.

As an experienced Los Angeles DUI lawyer will tell you, it’s no fun to face these charges.

The silver lining (if there is one) is that you do not have to fight this battle on your own. Help and resources abound, if you’re willing to do research, accept strategic guidance, and take responsibility for what’s happened to you. A Los Angeles DUI attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help you make significant progress towards restoring your reputation, blunting the charges against you, and developing a strategic battle plan not just to move beyond this one event but also to get the help and support you need to get your life back on track.

Attorney Kraut is a vastly experienced, highly reputable and compassionate Burbank DUI criminal offense attorney (2600 West Olive Avenue, 5th Floor, Burbank, California 91505 Phone: (818) 563-9810). He also has unique experience, in that he has played for “both sides” – prosecutor and defense attorney. He can leverage his first-hand experience as a prosecutor to help you understand what prosecutors will be planning.

Published on: January 30, 2012

The Slippery Slope to Los Angeles Medicare Fraud (And Other Crimes)

by Michael Kraut

Angelenos read the stories all the time and judge harshly: when doctors, chiropractors, dentists, pharmacists and other providers commit healthcare fraud in Los Angeles, we have a visceral reaction of disgust.

• How could someone charged with caring for the lives of our neighbors so grotesquely take advantage of their positions of power?

• Given our fiscal crisis at home here in California and nationwide, why would anyone try to rob the already fast-dwindling Medicare coffers?

Published on: January 22, 2012

Police Chief Convicted of DUI – Long Beach DUI Attorney Reacts

by Michael Kraut

Those who drive under the influence in Long Beach and cause injury accidents are often ignorant of the law or of the consequences of their actions.

Or, at least, the conventional wisdom would have you believe that.

As we have covered countless times on this Long Beach DUI blog, all sorts of people are stopped, arrested, and ultimately convicted for DUI – some of whom even make and enforce the DUI laws. When lawmakers, police officers, prosecutors, and others who work in the Long Beach DUI system are tagged for such crimes, a big hubbub in the media and blogosphere inevitably sparks. Makes sense, right? After all, police officers, Congressmen, Los Angeles DUI attorneys, etc understand the dangers better than practically anybody out there.

That’s why a recent fiasco out of Etowah County, Alabama, has attracted so much head-scratching among Los Angeles DUI lawyers.

According to WHNT News 19, the police chief of Tuscumbia, AL, Tony Logan, was convicted by jury last week of misdemeanor DUI. Logan was sentenced to 30 days, and his driver’s license might be suspended. But his punishment is less interesting than the fact that he was not just a police officer, but the chief of police for a whole town.

Brandon Hughes, a local prosecutor, summed up the jury’s message: “Drinking and driving on Alabama’s roadways is not going to be tolerated. I just hope it sends a message to folks around the state…to be more careful…there are repercussions [for driving DUI].”

Is there any moral to this story? Can we learn anything from Tony Logan’s experience?

Indeed, we can.

Logan’s arrest and subsequent conviction demonstrates how easy it is easy for anyone — even a super-educated Los Angeles DUI lawyer who understands the dangers of driving under the influence on a very personal level and who works with DUI cases on a day-to-day basis — can make errors of judgment that lead to arrests, accidents, and worse.

Of course, this is not to excuse bad behavior or DUI – it is merely to place it in context. If you were arrested for driving under the influence in Long Beach or for engaging in other misbehavior behind the wheel, you are not alone. The transgression doesn’t make you a bad person, or even a bad driver. (It does, however, mean that you might need a Los Angeles DUI attorney.)

Going forward, keep the following in mind:

1. Learn from your mistakes, if you made any, to avoid getting into similar trouble.

To do this, you need to reflect on what happened: what caused you to misbehave or ignore the Long Beach DUI laws?

2. Deal with the reality of your arrest and charges.

A Long Beach DUI criminal defense attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454 ) will help you plan the next steps. Attorney Kraut is one of the most respected local DUI attorneys – he has a great reputation among his legal peers, a nearly immaculate record at jury trials, and he draws on his Harvard Law School education and background as a former Deputy District Attorney (14+ years) to deliver superlative service for his clients.

Published on: January 16, 2012

Los Angeles Medicare Fraud Scheme Lands Pastor 15 Years Behind Bars and nearly $7 Million in Reimbursements

by Michael Kraut

Last Monday, 61-year-old Christopher Iruke was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for designing and executing a Los Angeles Medicare fraud scheme; he leveraged his position as a local pastor to defraud the government. Iruke and his wife, Connie Ikpoh, and Aura Marroquin (an employee) were convicted in August of Los Angeles health care fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud.

Last Monday, US District Judge Terry Hatter sentenced Iruke for his role in the complicated scheme. According to a CNN report, during the 2011 trial, prosecutors presented evidence “that Iruke bought fraudulent prescriptions and documents…to bill Medicare for equipment that were either medically unnecessary or never provided”…for instance, they billed Medicare of about $6,000 for a power wheelchair that actually cost closer to $900.

As Iruke’s situation escalated and became more legally and logistically entangled, he asked his sister to protect him from a Medicare audit by opening two additional medical supply firms. Witnesses told jurors that Iruke and his coconspirators “paid kickbacks to street level marketers to offer Medicare beneficiaries free [devices and equipment] in exchange for the beneficiaries’ Medicare numbers and personal information.” Iruke and his conspirators allegedly leveraged these data as part of their complicated scheme.

Published on: January 2, 2012

When Someone You Love and Care About Commits Los Angeles Medicare Fraud

by Michael Kraut

On this blog, we talk a lot about why doctors, chiropractors, dentists, and others commit Los Angeles Medicare fraud. What drives them, psychologically, socially, and societally?

We also talk about what these defendants should do, how to grapple with the situation, etc. But let’s take time to change perspective and consider the role of family members. If you are the spouse or child of someone charged with any Southern California white crime, such as credit card fraud, insurance fraud, identity theft, etc., you may feel mixed emotions about what’s going on.

• On the one hand, perhaps you are shocked by the news of the arrest or investigation – you had no idea.

Published on: December 26, 2011

Metaphor for Learning Your Loved One Stopped for Pasadena DUI: Radiation Reported in Japanese Baby Formula

by Michael Kraut

No one ever expects the call.

When you find out that someone you love – a husband, wife, child, close friend – was pulled over for driving under the influence in Pasadena, your mind reels. What happened? Is he/she okay? Was anyone else hurt? What were the damage? Where are victims now? Questions like these flood your brain and overwhelm you.

In many ways, it takes just a simple announcement – a teensy bit of information – to radically change your perception of your long term relationship and of your life going forward.

Absent a dramatic metaphor, this discussion has been boilerplate. Of course, a Pasadena DUI charge will change your life and the life of everyone of your family. Of course, if you get convicted of violating California Vehicle Code Section 23152 (a) or 23152 (b) (or the injury DUI laws 23153(a) or 23153 (b)) life is going to be different and scary. You may face jail time, massive fines and other costs, insurance problems, driver’s license suspension, etc.

But those descriptions don’t really get at what it really feels like to be on the inside of a DUI defense situation.

Fortunately, we can turn to the Japanese for an appropriate metaphor.

Two weeks ago, a Tokyo-based infant formula company, Meiji company, issued a recall of 400,000 cans of formula because of fears that the baby food contained radioactive cesium. Officials are blaming the March 11 hurricane/tsunami that walloped Japan, which led to a multiple-core meltdown at a Japanese nuclear facility, which in turn may have indirectly contaminated the formula. Public health officials in Japan have been quick to reassure. But once the cat’s out of the bag, panic naturally sets in.

Likewise, once someone gets arrested for Pasadena DUI – irrespective of the circumstances – panic sets in.

What do you do? Who can you call? Why did it happen? How can it never happen again?

To make sense of all these questions, speak with an experienced, highly respected Pasadena DUI criminal defense attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (790 East Colorado Boulevard, 9th floor, Pasadena, California 91101 Phone: (626) 345-1899). Attorney Kraut understands DUI law from both sides. For 14-plus years, he served as a prosecutor, during which time he prosecuted many Los Angeles DUI cases. Now, in his capacity as a criminal defense attorney, the Harvard Law School-educated Mr. Kraut works tirelessly to educate his clients and help them build the stiffest and most strategic defenses possible.

Published on: December 18, 2011

The Perfect Metaphor for Glendale DUI: MythBusters Show Rockets Cannonball Through Sleeping Couple’s House

by Michael Kraut

Practically no one intends to drive under the influence in Glendale. Misjudgments, carelessness, and other factors come into play and ultimately lead to dire circumstances. It’s typical for Glendale DUI defendants to have trouble explaining to other people precisely what went wrong and why.

After all, everyone knows the dangers of driving under the influence in Glendale — the serious penalties that you can face if you violate the law, not to mention the long-term costs that you will face financially, emotionally, and physically. Often what happens is not a thought out “breaking of the law,” but rather a momentary lapse of reason that has consequences well beyond the moment.

That’s all a little abstract. The explanation does not have the metaphorical punch needed to really communicate this feeling. Fortunately, the Discovery Channel’s MythBusters accidentally created the perfect metaphor to help give people perspective for what it feels like get busted for Glendale DUI. On December 7, the MythBusters team was experimenting with what happens to a cannon when it fires materials other than cannonballs.

Guess what? A massive accident happens!

According to the Times, the Discovery team fired a cannon at some trash cans, but the projectile went off course into a nearby home, where a couple was sleeping. Their bedroom was pierced by a 10-inch hole. According to the Times, “the cannonball was travelling as fast as a bullet. It exited the house, bounced across four lanes of traffic, struck the roof of another house and then smashed through the window of a parked minivan.” Fortunately – miraculously, perhaps – no one was injured. But the incident shows how small miscalibrations, accidental or even on purpose, can ricochet to massive, dangerous effects.

Likewise, when you miscalibrate how to drive in Glendale – drive too fast, drive while distracted, drive while DUI – the consequences can be metaphorically similar to the consequences of that misfired cannonball shot. Damages to life and limb can be the tragic consequence.

If you or someone you care about needs a Glendale DUI criminal defense attorney, trust Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (121 W Lexington Dr, Glendale, CA 91203 Phone: (818) 507-9123). Mr. Kraut is a Harvard Law School-educated former District Attorney (14-plus years in that office) who has close relationships with those in the legal community and a terrific track record helping defendants like you.

Published on: December 12, 2011

Tempted to Commit Los Angeles Medicare Fraud by Our Anemic Economy?

by Michael Kraut

Most people who go to jail for crimes like Los Angeles Medicare or Medi-Cal fraud do not spend weeks or months ruminating over whether to skirt the law and ultimately decisively concluding to “lead a life of crime.”

That may be the way events play out on TV. But, in reality, the temptation to commit any Southern California white collar crime, like Los Angeles credit card fraud, insurance fraud in Los Angeles, etc is slowly and incrementally hatched.

In other words, there is no “a-ha!” moment – no epiphany where a doctor, chiropractor, dentist, or other professional makes an “evil villain” type speech and crosses over to the dark side.