fraud

I took a break to enjoy the holiday, as I’m sure many of you did, but my inbox kept busy, and on Friday came a doozy, courtesy of the Washington Post.

You remember that little bit of a banking crisis we had a couple of years back, where banks around the world might have possibly, maybe, just a little, conspired in a giant scheme to package toxic mortgage loans into Grade A, investment-ready securities instruments, which then blew up in everyone’s faces to the tune of a whole lot of taxpayer bailouts?

Well all of a sudden, it looks like an agency of the Federal Government is looking to do something about it, in a real big way.

Last Friday the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced they’re suing 17 firms (I’ll give you a list, bit it’s pretty much all the usual suspects); depending on who you ask the Feds are seeking an amount as high as $200 billion.

As Joe Biden would say, it’s a big…well, it’s a big deal, anyway, and that’s why we’re starting the new week with this one.

No wonder it took so long:

The N.C. Department of Transportation has launched an internal investigation into allegations of fraud involving the department and contractors paid to handle maintenance at the Interstate 40 rock slide site. The letter alleges that contractors were paid for idled equipment, that trucks hauled away asphalt scraps for use on private jobs and that state-issued credit cards were used improperly.

North Carolina's Insurance Commissioner, Wayne Goodwin, and the Department of Insurance are going after yet another person charged with illegally dropping health insurance for employees of a small business.

The exploits of North Carolina’s Insurance Commissioner as crime fighter have been well-documented on this site and in other places, including countless news accounts and the official website of the Department of Insurance.

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DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

Fighting insurance crime doesn't require a cape and secret identity in North Carolina.

Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin and his stellar team of sworn law enforcement officers in the Department of Insurance have cracked down on insurance fraud with a vengeance.

Note the reports linked here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. This is merely a representative sample from the last two months.

These results are not surprising in light of both the rise in insurance fraud during economic downturns such as now and the lengthy history of fraud fighting that North Carolina's insurance regulator has had over the years: Goodwin's Criminal Investigations Division is the oldest of its kind in the nation, and celebrates 65 years of service this year.

To date in 2010, Goodwin and his expert criminal investigators have seen more than 165 cases successfully closed with more than $5.8 million in restitution and recoveries, 40 criminal convictions and more than 65 arrests. Last year Goodwin's administration recovered approximately $10.2 million in restitution for North Carolina families and businesses.

Many consumers across North Carolina have questions about what the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009, or the health care reform bill, means to their lives and their specific circumstances.

While the N.C. Department of Insurance and other involved agencies are making headway in sorting through the countless details and interpretations included in the health care reform bill, there are still a lot of unknowns.

In a civil suit filed by a former employee:

The lawsuit, filed in New Hanover County Superior Court, also alleges Ballantine, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2004, participated in “racketeering activity” and fraud, including inflating the quantities of waste the company disposed of at the New Hanover County Landfill and charging customers based on the inflated amount.

The suit names Waste Hauling Services, Ballantine, Russ Britton, Jeffrey Milliken and George Cunningham Jr. as defendants. It seeks more than $10,000 for eight separate claims, including breach of contract, fraud, and unfair and deceptive trade practices.

Your state Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin and his highly-trained experts at the Department of Insurance have given ample examples of their dedication to stamping out insurance fraud this week.