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Who is Angela Aquino?
By Cristina DC Pastor Around 2019, a dear friend introduced me to Angela Aquino, a fashion entrepreneur. He said she could be an interesting personality for the paper. She had just broken up with her long-time partner and was restarting her vintage apparel business – and her life — with her young son. It was […]
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Rey Grabato II wanted for $650-M real estate Ponzi scheme: FBI, DOJ
Hoboken, N.J. resident Rey E. Grabato, II is wanted for his alleged participation in a scheme that defrauded approximately 2,000 investors, including hundreds of investors in New Jersey, of over $650 million between February 2018 and January of 2022, according to the FBI website. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $150,000 for […]
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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 […]