A postal clerk in Florida allegedly stole mail and passport applications in what federal prosecutors are calling an identity theft scheme.  The 30-year-old Ruskin woman was arrested Monday, according to court records. Last week, a federal grand jury in Tampa charged the woman with aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and theft of a postal key. According to the indictment, while working at a St. Petersburg United States Postal Service the woman allegedly conspired with others in a scheme to defraud financial institutions that are federally insured. She is accused of ..read more

Two city officials in Jacksonville, Florida have been convicted of fraud and money laundering. Federal court records show that jurors in Jacksonville found 39-year-old Katrina Brown and 57-year-old Reginald Brown guilty Wednesday on multiple charges. The former Jacksonville City Council members are scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 27. The government is seeking forfeiture of more than $750,000. Prosecutors believe Katrina Brown obtained millions of dollars in U.S. Small Business Administration loans to expand her family’s barbecue business and create local jobs. Investigators say she and Reginald ..read more

The Justice Department announced charges against 24 people across the U.S., including doctors accused of writing bogus prescriptions for unneeded back, shoulder, wrist and knee braces. Others charged included owners of call centers, telemedicine firms and medical equipment companies. The Health and Human Services inspector general’s office said the alleged scam morphed into multiple related schemes, fueled by kickbacks among the parties involved. The FBI, the IRS, and 17 U.S. attorney’s offices took part in the crackdown. Arrests were made Tuesday morning. Medicare’s anti-fraud unit said it’s ..read more

Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents arrested the city of Port Richey’s acting mayor Terrence Hagan Rowe, 64, on Wednesday charging him with obstruction of justice, conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice, and use of a two-way communications device to facilitate the commission of a crime. According to the agency, agents received information that Rowe was conspiring to interfere with an active criminal investigation. Rowe has served as Port Richey’s acting mayor since the previous mayor, Dale Glen Massad, was arrested in February following an incident where he allegedly fired a weap ..read more

Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin are among 50 charged in a nationwide college entrance exam scandal, according to court documents filed Tuesday in Boston. Several NCAA D-1 college coaches, company CEOs and one college administrator have also been implicated in the scandal utilizing 200 FBI agents, dubbed “Operation Varsity Blues.” Documents show those indicted allegedly paid millions in bribes to get their children into elite colleges. Those colleges include Yale, Stanford and the University of Southern California. Arrest warrants have been issued. Thirteen of the accused were ta ..read more

Authorities have arrested a Jacksonville elementary school principal accused of trying to defraud his insurance carrier in the wake of Hurricane Irma. According to a statement provided through a spokesperson, Duval County Public Schools has assigned the man to an off-campus role until the district’s investigation is complete. The man allegedly sought $16,000 in reimbursements from State Farm for home repairs linked to damage from Irma, but two invoices he filed were apparently altered and a third was completely made up. Investigators determined that invoices submitted for repairs to his roof ..read more

Nearly two dozen men are accused of massive construction fraud, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. They were arrested last week as part of an undercover sting, and now authorities are warning the public about protecting themselves against unlicensed contractors. The nine-day undercover sting was designed to catch unlicensed contractors that authorities believe were targeting senior citizens in the area. Detectives posed as homeowners and responded to advertisements placed by the alleged unlicensed contractors. The contractors gave the detectives $117,000 in alleged fake est ..read more

A Clearwater doctor has pleaded guilty to one count of health-care fraud and has agreed to surrender her DEA registration number, her Florida medical license and to a permanent exclusion from Medicare and Medicaid programs, according to the justice department. The 66-year-old woman violated a Florida law that requires doctors to perform an in-person office visit and examine the patient before prescribing a Schedule II controlled substance, according to the Department of Justice. The woman owned a pain management clinic on Druid Road East in Clearwater. From as early as July 2011 through Decemb ..read more

A former Jacksonville Jaguars player faces insurance fraud charges linked to dental treatment authorities said he never received. Marlon McCree is accused of filing nearly $78,000 in bogus insurance claims, according to reports. McCree allegedly received $31,000 in reimbursements as a result. McCree, 41, turned himself into the Nassau County jail Saturday morning, where he remains in custody on five counts of filing false insurance claims, jail logs show. The former NFL defensive back and one-time Jaguars assistant defensive backs coach faces up to 30 years in prison and $30,000 in fines if co ..read more

A Columbus doctor has been indicted as part of the nation’s largest health-care fraud enforcement action by the federal government, according to reports. The 44-year-old Columbus podiatrist was indicted on June 19 in the Southern District of Florida and charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and receive health-care kickbacks and three counts of receiving health-care kickbacks. The man’s charges are part of a broader investigation by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force and includes 601 defendants across 58 federal districts, including 76 doctors, as well as nurses and ot ..read more