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When care turns to crime
The FilAm Editorial Marizel Yukee’s name is now on every Filipino’s lips. She is not the first Filipino American to be linked to a major healthcare fraud scheme. Others have come before her, and others have followed. Yet, registered nurse Yukee has become the poster girl of large-scale healthcare fraud because of the staggering scope […]
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Physical therapist wanted in yet another Medicare fraud totaling $2.8M
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG), is seeking information on the whereabouts of Conrado Dizon Lopez Jr., a licensed physical therapist and former owner of Total Rehab in Brooklyn, New York, who is wanted in connection with a multimillion-dollar health care fraud case. According to the HHS […]
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PNAA statement on fraud indictment vs RN Marizel Yukee: ‘Actions of a few do not reflect the conduct of the many’
“The Philippine Nurses Association of America (PNAA) acknowledges the recent announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the charging of more than 450 individuals, including physicians and nurse practitioners, in connection with large-scale healthcare fraud schemes. “We are deeply concerned by the magnitude of the alleged offenses and the reported harm caused to patients […]
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Candidate for NYC Public Advocate Angela Aquino charged with wire fraud
A criminal complaint was unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn, charging Angela Aquino, a 2025 candidate for New York City Public Advocate, with wire fraud in connection with her scheme to defraud New York City’s campaign finance system to obtain public matching funds, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District […]
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Filipino couple among those charged in hospice care fraud allegedly taking money from patients who were not dying
Nita Almuete Paddit Palma, 76, a thrice-convicted health care fraudster now incarcerated at a federal prison in Seattle, and her husband, Adolfo Catbagan, 68, of Glendale, are charged in an 11-count indictment with operating at least three fraudulent hospice care facilities, according to an April 2 press release from the U.S. Department of Justice Central District of […]
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Nancy Guthrie and the ‘missing white woman syndrome’
The FilAm Editorial On February 1, Nancy Guthrie was taken from her home in the mountainous outskirts of Tucson, Arizona. In the weeks since, the country has not stopped looking for her. The search has been vast and unrelenting. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department, the FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and volunteer search-and-rescue teams […]
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Filipino employees find Jeffrey Epstein a generous, ‘amazing boss’
By Cristina DC Pastor Filipinos who worked for Jeffrey Epstein spoke appreciatively of the late convicted pedophile in emails contained in the so-called Epstein Files, with one referring to him as an “amazing boss.” A review of emails currently accessible on the U.S. Department of Justice website shows several Filipino names on Epstein’s payroll, including […]
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Commissioner Tisch brags about decline in crime in 2025, credits Hochul, Mamdani who’s been mayor only six days (Part 1)
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said 2025 was a historic year for the NYPD and for the City of New York. In a prepared address, she commended the city’s crime-fighting success “in recorded history” and thanked the NYPD’s partnership with Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani who took office on January 1, 2026. There was […]
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Hate crimes down 12 percent in 2025, recites Police Commissioner Tisch (Part 2)
“Progress extended into our transit system. 2025 was the safest year on our subways outside of the pandemic years since 2009. For six consecutive months, major crime on the subway system fell, contributing to a 4 percent drop over the course of the year. Transit robberies reached their lowest levels ever in 2025, even when […]