Armen Kazarian is alleged to be responsible for the largest-ever Medicare fraud racket. (Photo Credit: CC BY/Medicare DMEPOS Surety Bond)

Many Americans 65 and older depend upon Medicare for their health insurance coverage. Thus, when a criminal like Armen Kazarian preys upon the weak and vulnerable with a Medicare scam, the scale of outrage is tremendous. According to the New York Post, Armenian gangster vor (equivalent to a Mafia godfather) Armen Kazarian was recently arrested along with dozens of cohorts for a “smorgasbord” of offenses including “the largest-ever Medicare fraud by a single crime syndicate.”

Armen Kazarian’s coast-to-coast operation

More than $160 million in fake Medicare invoices were generated from 118 fake medical clinics in 25 states under Armen Kazarian’s watch, said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. The vast majority of the supposed clinics were rented Mail Boxes, Etc. addresses. All told, more than $35 million in taxpayer money went toward the fake bills Kazarian’s men generated out of an office above a Brooklyn, N.Y., auto-body business. Things like this can drive people on fixed income to short term loans.

Extortion, disembowelment and money laundering

Charges have been filed in California, Georgia, New Mexico and Ohio against a total of 73 defendants, writes the Post. Noted among the defendants is Robert Terdjanian, 35, of Brooklyn. He was allegedly the East Coast ringleader of Armen Kazarian’s gang, and charges against him include threatening to disembowel one of his extortion victims. Davit Mirzoyan of Los Angeles is alleged to have been in control of other illegal operations for which the Kazarian group is being charged, including sale of illegal narcotics, untaxed cigarettes and Viagra. Also in the realm of insurance, Aron Chervin is accused of recruiting strippers to file bogus automotive insurance claims. Various suspects are accused of money laundering via the purchase of Las Vegas casino chips.

The tale of the tape

Reportedly the first vor ever charged with racketeering in the United States, Armen Kazarian, 46, was surreptitiously recorded by federal authorities making threats against those Medicare patients who failed to pay his racket’s fake medical bills. Attorneys for the accused have indicated that their Armenian clients plan to plead not guilty on all charges.

Sources

New York Post

To what layer of the Inferno will the actions of the Vatican Bank descend? (Photo Credit: CC BY/Dimitry B/Flickr)

The Catholic Church has experienced a landslide of scandals in recent decades that it would rather forget. The old adage that “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” may have some currency in the minds of the faithful, but the church’s current scandal has a lot to do with currency, so perhaps that’s a poor choice of words. BBC News reports that the head of the Vatican Bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, is under investigation for suspicion of money laundering. Currently, $30 million (23 million euros) has been seized by prosecutors in the case from Vatican Bank’s account with a smaller financial institution.

Suspicious Vatican Bank transactions reported to Italian tax police

Vatican Bank was created during World War II to be the bank for religious officials of the Catholic Church. Known officially as the Institute for Religious Works, the organization has the full support of the Vatican. In a statement, Vatican officials reiterated their support for Tedeschi, but went on record as saying that the state is officially “perplexed and astonished” by the money laundering accusations.

Tedeschi and a senior Vatican Bank official are being accused of participating in suspicious activities with two different Italian banks and violating national laws regarding financial transparency. The 23 million euros were seized from Vatican Bank’s account with Credito Artigianato, according to reports.

Vatican Bank has drawn suspicion before

BBC News reports that in 1982, Vatican Bank was involved in the scandal surrounding its governor, Archbishop Paul Marcinkus. Marcinkus was indicted due to his involvement in the collapse of Banco Ambrosiano, which was Italy’s largest private bank at that time. The archbishop wasn’t arrested, but public opinion was that Vatican Bank had blood on its hands after two top executives of Banco Ambrosiano – including Chairman Roberto Calvi – were murdered. According to the BBC, Calvi was widely known as “God’s Banker” because of his close financial ties to the Vatican.

Sources:

BBC News

It’s now a formal investigation against Ettore Gotti Tedeschi

Mayor Peter Cammarano (Photo: thehobokenjournal.blogspot.com)

A mayor and some rabbis walk into a bar. They launder lots of money on an international scale while they’re there, so they are arrested. That’s exactly what happened to Peter Cammarano and the rabbis arrested in a huge money laundering scheme that the New York Daily News calls a “sweeping” probe. If they needed money, there are plenty of honest quick cash to be had from cheap loans. But they chose the path that isn’t kosher with the laws of the land.

Here’s the skinny

Dozens of individuals, including Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano, at least five rabbis and numerous other “top-ranking New Jersey politicians and dozens of others in the Garden State and Brooklyn” were taken in by the busload by law enforcement. They are alleged to be involved in a money laundering network of international proportions. In total 44 people were charged during raids against the operation, which is believe to operate between Deal, New Jersey, Brooklyn, New York and somewhere in Israel.

The money went through charities controlled by the rabbis

According to AP reports, “Peter Cammarano, Secaucus, New Jersey Mayor Denis Elwell, Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Baldini, Jersey City Council President Mariano Vega and two state assemblymen” were rounded up by the FBI and are headed for U.S. District Court.

What makes this all the more stunning is that Peter Cammarano had only been in office for three weeks. He is being charged with accepting $25,000 in bribes from an undercover operative. More big money that is documented as having changed hands is $15,000 in bribes for building approvals to Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith and $10,000 to Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt.

Mmmmm… organ meat

You don't need to see my identification. These aren't the rabbis you're looking for. (Photo: bangitout.com)

Numerous area rabbis have been charged with washing the gains of criminal activities through the guise of donation to their own charities. That may be shocking, but there’s someone else who stands out. The AP points to Levy Rosenbaum, a Brooklynite who has apparently been trafficking in human organs for 10 years. Rosenbaum reportedly convinced the sick to donate their kidneys for $10,000. After obtaining them, he’d quickly sell them for $160,000 each to those in need, say prosecutors.

Oh, there’s a gubernatorial race going on there, too

Incumbent Democratic Governor Jon Corzine is battling against Republican Chris Christie. How happy are they that this scandal has nothing to do with them (so far as we know)? I still want to know why the rabbis were so short of cash that they felt they had to resort to such illegal means of filling the temple. What would dear old Solomon say? Likely, he’d say that they should take the quick cash from cheap loans and cut it right in half. The one who protests the loudest would be forced to be the whipping boy for the members of the charity who believed their operation was honest.

Hey, I wonder if this can be traced back to Madoff? He’s an easy target. Your budget, however, doesn’t have to be. If you need quick cash, apply now below. Solomon is watching you…

Related Video: