U.S. Marshals Arrest Murder Suspect in Columbus Homeless Shelter

Columbus, OH – The U.S. Marshals Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team arrested a Georgia man today on outstanding warrants from Fulton County.

Deontae Brooks is wanted in Georgia on one count of murder, one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a single count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The charges stem from a shooting that occurred on 07/22/2015 in which Brooks allegedly opened fire on two men in a home on Cedarhurst Way in Atlanta. One of the victims, Brandon Tinch, died from his wounds.

Working closely with deputies of the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, Columbus-based Deputy Marshals and task force officers located Brooks at Faith Mission located on Grant Avenue in Columbus. Brooks surrendered to officers and was arrested without incident.

Peter C. Tobin, United States Marshal for the Southern District of Ohio, said, “Today’s arrest is a another fine example of Deputy Marshals from several states working together to bring an alleged murderer to justice.”

Columbus SOFAST is a fugitive-focused, U.S. Marshals Service-led task force consisting of local, state and federal authorities including the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, Ohio Adult Parole Authority, Columbus Police Department, Reynoldsburg Police Department, Delaware County Probation, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, United States Secret Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Leading Oncology Practice to Pay $4.1 Million to Settle False Claims Act Investigation

Georgia Cancer Specialists Overbilled Medicare for Evaluation and Management Services

ATLANTA—The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced today that it has reached a settlement with Georgia Cancer Specialists I PC, which agreed to pay $4.1 million to settle claims that it violated the False Claims Act by billing Medicare for evaluation and management services that were not permitted by Medicare rules. Georgia Cancer Specialists is one of the largest private oncology practices in the country with 27 offices located throughout the Atlanta metro area.

Sally Quillian Yates, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said, “Health care providers should be on notice that if they inflate their billings, we will aggressively seek to recover not only the overcharges but also significant penalties under the False Claims Act.”

Ricky Maxwell, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated, “The FBI continues to do its part in ensuring that federal funds appropriated to Medicare are spent appropriately and today’s settlement is an example of those efforts. The FBI urges anyone with information related to overbilling or fraudulent billing of our Medicare programs to contact their nearest FBI field office.”

“Today’s settlement sends a clear message to health care providers across the country that they will be held responsible if they misrepresent the services they bill to Medicare,” said Derrick L. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General for the Atlanta region. “The Office of Inspector General will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to stamp out fraud, waste, and abuse within the Medicare system.”

The civil settlement resolves the United States’ investigation into Georgia Cancer Specialists’ practices relating to billing for evaluation and management (E&M) services on the same day as a related procedure. Generally, providers are not permitted to bill both E&M services and a related procedure on the same day under the Medicare program’s regulations. In specific circumstances, providers can avoid this prohibition by submitting their claims marked with modifier-25, which tells Medicare to pay both the procedure and the E&M service. Here, the U.S. Attorney’s Office alleged that Georgia Cancer Specialists applied modifier-25 to claims that did not qualify for its use, leading to overpayments by Medicare.

Because of widespread abuse of the use of modifier-25, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, has targeted the use of modifier-25 in its yearly work plans. The yearly work plans outline the current focus areas of the OIG and lead to increased scrutiny by the OIG of those areas. The focus on the abuse of the use of modifier-25 was prompted because prior OIG work has shown that improper use of the modifier resulted in inappropriate payments to Medicare providers.

This resolution is part of the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud under the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced by Attorney General Eric Holder and Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services in May 2009. The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation. One of the most powerful tools in that effort is the False Claims Act, which the Justice Department has used to recover more than $9.2 billion since January 2009 in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs. The Justice Department’s total recoveries in False Claims Act cases since January 2009 are over $12.8 billion.

This case was investigated by special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. The civil settlement was reached by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher J. Huber.

The claims settled by the settlement agreement are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Information Office at USAGAN.Pressemails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

Son and Associate of Former Gwinnet County Commissioner Sentenced for Accepting Bribes and Trafficking Drugs

John Fanning, Former Zoning Board Member, and Carl “Skip” Cain Sentenced as Part of Gwinnett County Corruption Probe

ATLANTA—John Fanning, 34, of Dacula, Georgia, and Carl “Skip” Cain, 65, of Flowery Branch, Georgia, were both sentenced today by United States District Judge Charles A. Pannell, Jr., to four years and nine months in prison for public corruption and drug offenses. Lassiter and Cain pled guilty to participating in a scheme to sell former Gwinnett County Commissioner Shirley Lasseter’s vote on a proposed real estate development project, and for conspiring to traffic cocaine. Lasseter was sentenced by Judge Pannell on September 5, 2012, to serve 33 months in prison for her role in the bribery scheme.

“Before law enforcement stopped them, these defendants sold the office of a Gwinnett County commissioner to individuals whom they believed to be drug traffickers and tried to become drug traffickers themselves,” said U.S. Attorney Sally Yates. “They showed a shocking indifference to prior law enforcement efforts to root out corruption in Gwinnett County and the dangers to the community posed by the illegal drug trade. Today’s sentences show that those who violate the public trust and the law will be taken off the streets and brought to justice.”

Ricky Maxwell, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “Today’s sentencing should make clear to all that the FBI is serious in its efforts to identify, investigate, and bring forward for prosecution those engaged in similar acts of corruption as Mr. Fanning and Mr. Cain. The FBI asks anyone with information regarding such activity to immediately contact their nearest FBI field office.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court: Lasseter served as the elected District One commissioner on the Gwinnett County board of commissioners until her resignation on May 31, 2012. Fanning is Lasseter’s son and operates a landscaping business. Fanning was also a member of the Gwinnett County Zoning Appeals Board, a position with a one-year term that began in February 2011 after he was appointed by his mother.

Lasseter, Fanning, and Cain agreed to sell Lasseter’s official approval of and vote for a proposed real estate development in her district to an undercover agent with the FBI, who was posing as a businessman. Cain, who works at a trucking business, served as a “bagman” for Lasseter and Fanning, arranging the bribes required for their official approval and setting up meetings with them for the payment of the requested bribes. After Cain said that he was interested in making money from drug trafficking and illegal money laundering, the undercover agent told the defendants a fabricated story that he laundered money for drug dealers and that drug trafficking proceeds would fund the proposed real estate development.

In multiple meetings, Lasseter and Fanning told the undercover agent that Lasseter’s approval and vote regarding the proposed development was for sale. They also told the undercover agent that Fanning could use his position as a member of the Zoning Appeals Board to help secure any necessary approvals or variances. Lasseter also discussed with the agent the possibility that, in exchange for the requested bribes, the county would buy any portions of the property that could not be developed profitably. Although Lasseter said that such a purchase would be difficult because a state special grand jury had investigated county land purchases, she confirmed that she would secure the necessary approvals for the undercover agent to develop the property.

In exchange for Lasseter’s official approval and vote, the defendants demanded and were paid or promised the following benefits:

■Lasseter received a total of $36,500 in cash, paid in several installments, the largest installment being a $26,000 cash payment that she and Fanning counted out together to ensure that the total was correct. Each time Lasseter received cash in exchange for her official action on the proposed development, she confirmed to the undercover agent that she would give her official approval and vote for the proposed development.

■Cain was paid a total of $10,000, which he demanded as his fee for arranging Lasseter and Fanning’s involvement.

■Fanning was to receive an ownership stake in a business to be located in the proposed development.

Lasseter, Fanning, and Cain also said that they wanted to work with the undercover agent on additional matters involving misuse of Lasseter’s official position and other illegal activities. In several meetings, Lasseter and Fanning sought to enlist the agent’s help as a “bagman” in leveraging Lasseter’s official position to enrich themselves personally from the proposed privatization of the Gwinnett County Airport.

In addition, Fanning and Cain acted as couriers delivering what they believed to be cocaine and what they believed to be drug money. Fanning and Cain each laundered $10,000 in cash, keeping an amount that represented what they understood to be the standard fee for laundering proceeds from illegal drug trafficking. Fanning and Cain also transported a substance that they believed to be cocaine from the New York City area to Atlanta. After flying to the New York City area and spending the night, Fanning and Cain flew back with four kilograms of sham cocaine. After their plane landed in Atlanta, Fanning and Cain each took possession of two kilograms to make a delivery to a prospective buyer. Law enforcement officers detained Fanning and Cain before they could make the planned delivery. Law enforcement officers also confronted Lasseter the same day.

This case is being investigated by special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney Douglas W. Gilfillan is prosecuting the case.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta recommends parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs at the following website: www.justthinktwice.com.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Information Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

Florida Man Sentenced for Role in European Fraud Scheme

Defendant Funneled Millions in Earnest Money Through Bogus Escrow Account

ATLANTA—Eric Dallas, 41, of Panama City, Florida, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Steve C. Jones to serve five years in federal prison on the charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

“Eric Dallas preyed on small business owners who were trying to secure financing for their businesses. Instead of providing the start-up or investment funds promised, the defendant stole millions of dollars in earnest money. Now he will spend five years in prison,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.

Ricky Maxwell, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “While the FBI often investigates elaborate and varied schemes to defraud, the basic commonality is that of misplaced or abused trust and greed. Mr. Dallas had no regard for his victims as people and saw them as merely an opportunity to enrich his own bank account.”

Dallas was sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $3,199,050 in restitution. Dallas was convicted of these charges on July 6, 2012, upon his plea of guilty to a criminal information.

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court: In 2010, two Americans based in Germany, Kenneth Swenson and Heather Cote, used the Internet and telephone to promise prospective small business borrowers and others in the United States that they could assist them in securing financing from wealthy Eastern European investors. Swenson and Cote represented to victims that the investors required payment up front of “100 percent refundable consideration fees,” typically 15 percent of the contractual funding amount, as a form of earnest money. After some victims balked at sending the fees, Cote recruited Dallas to assist in the scheme. Dallas subsequently established Southeastern Escrow Express in Panama City, Florida to facilitate the fraud. Dallas entered into written contracts with would-be borrowers, promising them that their “consideration fees” would be held in escrow until needed at the closing table for the project financing. The promised closings never occurred and millions of dollars in advance fees were never refunded.

Kenneth Swenson, 49, formerly of Atlanta, Georgia, and Heather Cote, 40, of Tustin, California, are charged in a separate federal indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and several counts of wire fraud, among other charges. Swenson is a fugitive.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney Brian Pearce prosecuted the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Information Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.