Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced the entry of a consent judgment against Happy Fun Events, LLC, Owen Spencer Hunn, and Martha Hunn. The Hunns owned Happy Fun Events, a Utah-based company, that put on “Lantern Fest” events around the country. Happy Fun Events had scheduled an event in Jefferson County for November 2018 that it […]
Tag: Fraud
Jury convicts University of Kansas researcher for hiding ties to Chinese government
A former University of Kansas (KU) professor was convicted by a federal jury on three counts of wire fraud and one count of false statements after he deliberately concealed that he was also employed by a government-affiliated university in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) while working on U.S. government-funded research at KU. Feng Tao, […]
Woman pleads guilty to racketeering conspiracy involving the forced labor of Mexican agricultural workers
A woman in Florida pleaded guilty to a federal racketeering conspiracy that victimized Mexican agricultural workers admitted into the United States under the H-2A temporary visa program. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement. According […]
Former pain management clinic owner sentenced to over 16 years in prison for unlawful opioid distribution
A Florida man was sentenced today in the Southern District of Florida to 200 months in prison for illegally distributing opioids at his pain management clinic in Miami, Florida. According to court documents, Habib Geagea Palacios, 40, of Miami, owned General Care Center Inc., a cash-only pain management clinic in Miami. At General Care, Palacios […]
Promissory note scam allegedly defrauds investors in 35 States
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s Securities Division is seeking a final order from Commissioner David Minnick for $200,000 in civil penalties and other remedies against California-based Until Tomorrow Drivetrains, LLC and Dennis R. Di Ricco. Between December 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017, Until Tomorrow Drivetrains, LLC and Di Ricco, with the assistance of an […]
Preferred Family Healthcare to pay more than $8 million in fines related to embezzlement, bribery investigation
Springfield, Missouri-based nonprofit Preferred Family Healthcare will pay more than $8 million in forfeiture and restitution to the federal government and the state of Arkansas under the terms of a non-prosecution agreement announced, which acknowledges the criminal conduct of its former officers and employees. “Preferred Family Healthcare must relinquish the illegal profits it garnered from […]
Grand Jury indicts former CEO of major construction company in Missouri in Minority Business Enterprise fraud scheme
A federal grand jury indicted Brian Kowert, Sr., former Chief Operating Officer of the HBD Construction Company, on March 30, 2022, for five counts of wire fraud relative to his falsifying of Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) participation in several construction and redevelopment projects from 2014 through 2022. Kowert, Sr. was an owner, executive vice president, […]
Physician convicted for unlawfully prescribing over 1 million opioid pills in a single year
A physician was convicted for unlawfully prescribing more than one million pills of the opioid hydrocodone. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, James Pierre, 52, a doctor, of Houston, Texas, unlawfully prescribed controlled substances from June 2015 through July 2016 to individuals posing as patients at West Parker Medical Clinic (West […]
Jackson County contractor arrested for fraud and financial exploitation of the elderly
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that charges brought by his office resulted in the arrest of Jerry Thompson, Jr., of Blue Springs, Missouri. The arrest warrant asserts eight counts of deceptive business practices and three counts of financial exploitation of an elderly person. “My Office will hold accountable anyone who preys on our society’s […]
Missouri State Auditor begins audit of Carroll County Ambulance District
State Auditor Nicole Galloway today announced her office has begun an audit of the Carroll County Ambulance District. The ambulance district board of directors passed a resolution requesting the audit after a complaint to the State Auditor’s Whistleblower Hotline led to an initial review of the allegations by the Auditor’s Public Corruption and Fraud Division. […]
Former Missouri police officer sentenced to 1 year and 1 day in prison on multiple counts of fraud
United States District Court Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk sentenced former St. Louis Metropolitan Police Officer Brad Stephens to one year and one day in federal prison for 3 counts of Mail Fraud by obtaining taxpayer money from the Tower Grove South Concerned Citizen Special Business District (“Tower Grove South”) by means of material false representations. […]
Audio: Missouri unemployment benefits could be on the chopping block
The Missouri Senate debated a bill Monday night that could cut unemployment benefits from 20 to 8 weeks if Missouri’s average jobless rate is at or below 3.5-percent. State Senator Mike Bernskoetter, a Republican from Jefferson City, says his bill aims to put more people back to work while so many jobs are open. State […]
Hawley introduces bill to strengthen investigations of fraud in COVID-19 relief programs
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced new legislation to continue to fund and restore the jurisdiction of the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery so that it can investigate fraud within the Treasury Department’s pandemic programs, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). This anti-fraud legislation comes as the Biden Administration is lobbying for more federal […]
Father and son convicted of $1.7 Million COVID-19 relief fraud
A federal jury in the Western District of North Carolina convicted two men for the submission of fraudulent loan applications seeking more than $1.7 million in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. According to evidence presented during a six-day trial, Izzat […]
Missouri Attorney General announces top 10 consumer complaints for 2021
The Missouri Attorney General’s Office received 126,100 total consumer complaints in 2021, submitted in writing or via phone call. The Consumer Complaint Unit received 86,856 complaints and inquiries and the No-Call Unit received 39,244 complaints. The Attorney General’s Office has advocates who take complaints and work actively to mediate those complaints between consumers and businesses […]
Missouri Attorney General charges car salesman with consumer fraud
Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that his office has charged Marcus James Hill of Lebanon, Missouri, with thirteen violations of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act in relating to his two car dealerships, Variety Auto Sales and Hilltop Auto Sales. Charged in Laclede County, Hill faces thirteen felony counts of deceptive business practices. The charges allege […]
Audio: Former Branson performer receives 5 years probation for wire fraud
A one-time Branson performer has been sentenced to five years’ probation after pleading guilty last year to wire fraud. Jason Patrick Garrett was the star of the John Denver Tribute, performed at the Branson IMAX theater 6 nights a week for several years. He ended his shows by asking audience members to donate […]
Former doctor sentenced to 20 years in prison for unlawfully distributing opioid pills
A former Delaware doctor was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for unlawful drug distribution and maintaining a drug-involved premises. Patrick Titus, 58, of Milford, was convicted by a federal jury in July 2021 of 13 counts of unlawfully distributing and dispensing controlled substances and one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises. “This sentence […]
Missouri judge hands down five year prison sentence for $1.6 million investment fraud scheme
A man was sentenced in federal court for defrauding two Kansas City-area brothers who have also been convicted in the investment fraud scheme. Duc Nguyen, also known as “Doug,” 58, of Houston, Texas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to five years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Nguyen to […]