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16 wanted fugitives accused of millions of dollars in fraud named by the Labor Department in its first-ever Most Wanted List. One suspect has already been caught in Hungary.
My full story below
A first-ever most wanted list has been released by the Labor Department's inspector general. One fugitive, a former FBI official, has already been arrested in Hungary in an alleged $4 million kickback scheme.
In total, 16 fugitives are accused of stealing more than $55 million from taxpayers.
The alleged crimes include visa fraud, unemployment fraud, labor trafficking and money laundering. Most of the fugitives are believed to be overseas, in Romania, Iran, Nigeria, China and elsewhere.
"(Fraud) fuels violent crime...when you're fueling violent crime, you also see so many of these people that are connected to some of our greatest adversaries, whether it's the Chinese Communist Party or whether it's Russia," says Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D'Esposito.
U.S. adds 3 Chinese entities to a list barring imports, citing the use of Uyghur forced labor.
It's the first time the Chinese genomics company BGI's own entities have landed on the list. Officials had previously added BGI affiliates to the Commerce Department's Entity List.
The three are:
-BGI Genomics Co., Ltd.
-MGI Tech Co., Ltd., BGI's sequencing-instrument maker
-Shenzhen BGI Technology Co., Ltd., a parent company that also runs the China National GeneBank
Under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, anything made wholly or partly by a listed company is presumed to involve forced labor and is barred from entering the U.S. Importers are able to get an exception only with clear and convincing evidence to the contrary.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforces the ban at the border.
U.S. officials say China holds more than a million Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim minorities in camps in Xinjiang and forces many of them to work in factories and fields. Since 2022, U.S. law has assumed that goods tied to the region or to listed companies were made with forced labor, and it bars them from entering the U.S.
Uyghurs held in Xinjiang's detention camps have also been forced to undergo blood tests and organ exams, and United Nations human rights experts and an independent tribunal in London say that points to a risk they're being targeted for forced organ harvesting.
A first-ever most wanted list has been released by the Labor Department's inspector general. One fugitive, a former FBI official, has already been arrested in Hungary in an alleged $4 million kickback scheme.
In total, 16 fugitives are accused of stealing more than $55 million from taxpayers.
The alleged crimes include visa fraud, unemployment fraud, labor trafficking and money laundering. Most of the fugitives are believed to be overseas, in Romania, Iran, Nigeria, China and elsewhere.
"(Fraud) fuels violent crime...when you're fueling violent crime, you also see so many of these people that are connected to some of our greatest adversaries, whether it's the Chinese Communist Party or whether it's Russia," says Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D'Esposito.
Just announced: ICE has arrested dozens of non-citizens who allegedly voted illegally in U.S. elections, DHS says.
DHS named 13 of them, with voting allegations dating from 1992 to the ‘2026 election’.
What to know:
-Phath Vorn, a Cambodian national, voted in the 1992 election, DHS says. Convictions listed include assault with intent to murder.
-Two Honduran nationals, Juan Carlos Matute-Hernandez and Darwin Yoel Zelaya-Orellana, are listed as voting in the "2026 election." DHS doesn't say which election.
-Aden Hassan Aden, a Somali national, is listed as voting in 2020. Mai Tran, a Vietnamese national, is listed as voting in 2024.
-Exact arrest numbers have not been announced yet. DHS lists 13 as examples of ICE's ongoing investigations and arrests.
"The patriots of ICE have arrested dozens of non-citizens who illegally voted in American elections," DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin says. "The Trump Administration will not allow illegal aliens to steal the votes of hardworking American citizens. American elections are for Americans only."
Of the 13 people named, only Marva Marie Cook has a reported response at this time. Her attorney, Paul Tuck, said Oct. 21 that she is not a flight risk: "[T]here's absolutely no risk that Marva is not going to answer these charges and appear in court."
Broader context:
DHS says the arrests are part of its push to enforce the ban on noncitizen voting, improve election integrity, and protect the votes of U.S. citizens.
Some Voting-rights advocates say noncitizen voting is rare and claim that aggressive federal investigations could intimidate eligible voters, particularly naturalized citizens and people in immigrant communities.
Everyone named is presumed innocent of the allegations until proven guilty.
dhs.gov/news/dozens-illegal-…
48 non-citizens charged in election-related cases across five states.
47 are lawful permanent residents with one illegal immigrant from Cuba.
The cases are in Pennsylvania, California, Florida, New York and Nevada.
These are the most recent in what the Justice Department is calling a push to enforce laws barring non-citizens from voting and to protect election integrity.
The charges include voting by a non-citizen and falsely claiming U.S. citizenship to register or vote.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Just in: ‘Most Wanted Fraudster’ sentenced to 20 years.
Herbert Kimble pleaded guilty to a conspiracy involving $365 million in fraudulent Medicare claims, DOJ says.
More to know:
-He was one of the first placed on the FBI’s ‘Most Wanted Fraudsters’ list on June 4th and was arrested days later in the Philippines.
-DOJ says he ran offshore call centers and sham telemedicine companies that produced medically unnecessary orthotic brace prescriptions. That caused over $365 million in fraudulent claims. Medicare paid over $199 million, and DOJ says he personally profited more than $195 million.
-A judge sentenced him to 240 months in prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States and failure to appear. He must forfeit over $195 million and pay Medicare over $199 million in restitution.
"Today's sentence proves that fleeing overseas won't spare healthcare fraudsters from the reach of the Department of Justice," said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division.
justice.gov/usao-sc/pr/fugit…
A flying black triangle is one of the latest cases documented in the seventh UFO Files release.
It was described as “a matte black triangular shape of extremely low aspect ratio that was nonreflective," by federal agents in the western U.S.
They said it hovered while making no sound, then sped into a canyon.
More to know:
-Witnesses estimated its wingspan to be 13 to 15 feet.
-They said it rose straight up for about 10 seconds, hovered for about 20, then flew off fast and dropped into a canyon in two to three seconds
-A ground survey the next morning "located no wreckage, ground scarring, or vegetation damage"
-The memo offers no explanation for what they saw
-The sighting happened in the Western United States
New UFO File releases have been happening about every four weeks since May 8th by the Pentagon.
This account is in an All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office memo, file DOW-UAP-D176, released Oct. 23 in Release 07.
37 new election-crime cases announced this week by the Justice Department in five states:
California: 28 green card holders charged in "Operation Protect the Vote," 11 arrested Oct. 19. Prosecutors allege they falsely claimed citizenship to register to vote, and that most voted.
Florida: Six lawful permanent residents charged in the Middle District of Florida, accused of illegally voting in the 2022 or 2024 federal elections, or both. Three are also charged with falsely claiming U.S. citizenship to vote.
Missouri: Hanlie Venter, 67, a lawful permanent resident from South Africa, charged with voting in the November 2024 federal election.
New York: Marva Cook, 66, a German national and lawful permanent resident in Syracuse, charged with voting as a noncitizen in a federal election.
New Jersey: Gaye Tyndale-Simpson, 55, a citizen of Jamaica, pleaded guilty to voting as a noncitizen in the November 2024 general election. Sentencing is set for Feb. 24, 2027.
Defendants who have not pleaded guilty are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The Justice Department says these cases are part of its broader effort to enforce laws barring noncitizens from voting and to protect election integrity. It says the California sweep followed the state’s refusal to review a federal list of more than 20,000 people DOJ characterized as likely noncitizen registrants.
Critics and some election-law experts say noncitizen voting is rare and caution that individual criminal cases do not establish widespread fraud. They also note that improper registration can result from administrative errors, rather than deliberate voting fraud.
Just in: 15 charged in alleged $2 billion Los Angeles health care fraud takedown, DOJ says.
Included is a scheme where homeless and addicted people were allegedly lured to Southern California with free flights, cash and drugs, then drugged "to knock the client out" if they tried to leave.
"Our message is simple: if you steal health care dollars from the American taxpayer or abuse your position to harm patients, we are coming for you – and the data will lead us to you," said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division.
Case Facts:
-Fifteen defendants are charged, including six medical professionals. Eight were arrested today.
-The sober-home case alleges more than $1.6 billion in sham treatment billed to private insurers, the largest of its kind DOJ has ever prosecuted.
-Prosecutors say father and son Nathan Young, 39, and David Young, 71, of Los Angeles, ran it, using "body brokers" to recruit patients.
-The alleged "therapy" was Zoom sessions with more than 100 people, which patients only had to turn their cameras on for.
-In another case, surgeon Dr. Harold Tabaie, 78, and chiropractor Hany Malek, 61, allegedly billed Medicare $135 million for unnecessary artery procedures. Prosecutors say Malek posed as a medical doctor.
-Data analytics flagged Tabaie as an extreme outlier for those procedures nationwide.
-Other cases involve hospice fraud, genetic-testing kickbacks and a nearly $270 million Medi-Cal pharmacy scheme.
Indictments, complaints, and informations merely contain allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/la-…
Just in: Virginia state senator allegedly ran a marijuana ring out of her own cannabis shop, DOJ says.
"The charges alleged in this indictment reveal the behavior of a public servant who put her own financial interests before the people she was elected to serve," said Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Case Facts:
-State Sen. Louise Lucas, 82, of Portsmouth, was first elected in 1991. She has been Senate president pro tempore since 2020 and chairs the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.
-Prosecutors allege she led the "Lucas Enterprise," a family-run marijuana operation that included her two daughters and her grandson.
-It allegedly moved 100 kilograms or more of marijuana through The Cannabis Outlet in Portsmouth and laundered the proceeds.
-The FBI says the alleged scheme ran five years and was worth an estimated $4.5 million.
-Prosecutors say she used her office to shield the business and push legislation that helped it, including an alleged bribery deal over a recreational marijuana license.
-FBI agents searched The Cannabis Outlet and The CBD Shoppe on May 6 and found marijuana and firearms.
-Lucas faces five counts, including racketeering conspiracy, marijuana distribution conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and honest services fraud conspiracy. Six others are charged.
justice.gov/opa/pr/virginia-…
Two indicted on 457 counts for an alleged healthcare fraud operation in New York.
The mother-daughter duo are accused of fraudulently billing Medicaid over $530,000 through their adult day care in Staten Island.
The top count of health care fraud in the second degree carries up to 15 years in prison.
It comes as federal health officials say they sent more than 100 notices to adult day cares in New York, most of them in Queens, in a crackdown on alleged Medicaid fraud.
"Some people got arrested, some got search warrants, some are going to get excluded, which means they can't bill anybody in Medicare or Medicaid anywhere...And some people just got letters saying, 'Hey, we're watching you'," CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said at an announcement today.
CMS says one center billed $2.1 million for non-emergency medical transport, but it had no wheelchair ramps.
CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz says there is much more to come.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Officially launched: Up to $30,000 for fraud tips that lead to criminal charges under a new rewards program, DOJ says. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance made the announcement earlier today from the White House.
Vance says Nick Shirley will be the first to get rewarded through the program.
Program details:
- WHIP pays tipsters $10,000 to $30,000 for information leading to criminal charges.
- DOJ calls it the first whistleblower rewards program to pay an up-front award, instead of waiting for a case to be fully resolved.
- It covers federal health care fraud and fraud on programs run by the departments of Agriculture, Labor, HHS, HUD, Education, Veterans Affairs and War, plus the Small Business Administration.
- Health care tips involving hospice, home health care, day care and special services fraud get priority.
- Tipsters can still qualify for larger awards through other programs.
- The Treasury Department is committing $25 million to the program.
- Tips can be reported at america.gov/fraud
"The Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program (WHIP) offers everyone the opportunity to be part of the solution, help expose fraud, and be rewarded quickly for their efforts. I urge all Americans to use this program and play an active role in bringing fraudsters to justice," said Attorney General Todd Blanche.
justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-d…
The U.S. is banning Chinese AI DeepSeek from federal civilian agencies' IT systems.
A Homeland Security order published Monday requires agencies to remove DeepSeek products, plus third-party services built on it, and bars buying them. DHS warns the AI model "may result in the transfer of sensitive data to the PRC."
Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., chairman of the House Select Committee on China, backed the move:
"DeepSeek is a dangerous AI model that has no place in the federal government, and the Trump Administration is right to put this commonsense AI guardrail in place," Moolenaar said.
More to know:
- DHS says DeepSeek's servers are in China, and its prompt-and-response apps "may result in the transfer of sensitive data to the PRC."
- Agencies must remove DeepSeek immediately. They have 60 days to request an exception.
- DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin signed the order July 24. It was made public Monday.