Category: Health

MIL-OSI Security: Taunton Man Sentenced to More Than Two Years in Prison for $1 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme

Source: US FBI

BOSTON – A Taunton man, formerly of Brockton, was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for orchestrating a scheme to defraud various health insurance companies of over $1 million in false reimbursement claims for bogus medical expenses purportedly incurred during international travel.

Henry Ezeonyido, 37, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to 27 months in prison, to be followed by three of supervised release. Ezeonyido was also ordered to pay $655,313 in restitution and to forfeit $396,998 in criminal proceeds. In February 2025, Ezeonyido pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and six counts of health care fraud.

Ezeonyido was arrested and charged in July 2024 along with co-conspirators Brendon Ashe, Aqiyla Atherton, Darline Cobbler and Ariel Lambert. Ezeonyido was later indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2024. All four of Ezeonyido’s co-defendants pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme and were subsequently sentenced to probation.

From approximately October 2019 to February 2022, Ezeonyido submitted fraudulent health insurance claims – on his own behalf and on behalf of at least seven other individuals, including Ashe, Atherton, Cobbler and Lambert – to five different health insurance companies for expensive medical treatment that they purportedly received and paid for out-of-pocket while traveling overseas. Many of the claims included fake traumatic injuries such as stabbings, gunshot wounds and hit and run car accidents that the defendants and others purportedly suffered requiring their hospitalization abroad. In nearly all instances, the individuals were actually in the United States at the time of the purported international medical events. Some of the individuals on whose behalf Ezeonyido submitted claims were knowing and willful participants in the scheme, while others either had no knowledge of the claims submitted on their behalf or were manipulated into providing their health insurance information, which Ezeonyido then used to submit fraudulent claims, later demanding a cut of the proceeds.

Ezeonyido submitted fabricated documents to the victim health insurance companies in support of the fraudulent claims, including fabricated medical records purporting to show the medical care received, fabricated bank records purporting to show payment to the international treatment facilities and, where the claim related to a fake traumatic injury, fabricated police reports describing the circumstances of the alleged event. In many instances, the details of the claims – including the purported dates of service, country where the alleged medical event occurred, and nature and circumstances of the alleged injuries – and the fabricated records submitted in support of the claims were nearly identical to one another.

As a result of these fraudulent claims, the victim health insurance companies were billed over $1 million for services that were never provided, resulting in payments totaling approximately $655,313. Upon receiving these payments from their health insurance companies, Ashe, Cobbler, Lambert and others, paid a portion of the proceeds to Ezeonyido and other co-conspirators, including Atherton, who acted as an intermediary, bringing others into the scheme in exchange for a cut of their paid claims. In total, Ezeonyido retained approximately $396,998 in fraud proceeds.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Kimberly Milka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Boston Division; and Anthony DiPaolo, Insurance Fraud Bureau Executive Director made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie A. Wright of the Health Care Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Director of Mobile Medical Diagnostics Company Agrees to Plead Guilty to Kickback Scheme

Source: US FBI

Scheme allegedly resulted in approximately $70.6 million in fraudulent bills to Medicare

BOSTON – A New York-based director of operations and sales for the Northeast region of a mobile medical diagnostics company has been charged and has agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to provide kickbacks to doctors in exchange for ordering medically unnecessary brain scans.

James Rausch, 57, of Port Jefferson Station, N.Y., has been charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the Court.

According to the charging documents, from approximately March 2015 through September 2020, Rausch conspired with others, including two managers for a mobile medical diagnostics company that performed transcranial doppler (TCD) scans, to enter into kickback agreements with various doctors. TCD scans are brain scans that measure blood flow in parts of the brain. It is alleged that Rausch and his co-conspirators agreed to offer and pay doctors kickbacks, some in cash and others by check, based on the number of TCD ultrasounds the doctors ordered. Rausch and his co-conspirators allegedly created purported rental and administrative service agreements that, on paper, made it appear as if the doctors’ practices were compensated for the TCD company’s use of space as well as for administrative costs associated with processing each order – based on fair market value, not based on the volume or value of referrals. It is alleged that these agreements were shams that hid the true nature of the payment arrangement for each test.

It is alleged that the scheme as a whole resulted in fraudulent bills of approximately $70.6 million to Medicare. Medicare paid approximately $27.2 million to the TCD company for the fraudulent claims.

The charge of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Roberto Coviello, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; Kimberly Milka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Thomas Demeo, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office; Kelly M. Lawson, Acting Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, Boston Regional Office; Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division; and Christopher Algieri, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Howard Locker and Mackenzie Queenin of the Health Care Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: NCDHHS Emphasizes Summer Safety Practices as Temperatures Rise Across North Carolina
Source: US State of North Carolina

Headline: NCDHHS Emphasizes Summer Safety Practices as Temperatures Rise Across North Carolina

NCDHHS Emphasizes Summer Safety Practices as Temperatures Rise Across North Carolina
jawerner
Thu, 05/22/2025 – 13:54
As summer approaches, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is reminding residents to take simple, proactive steps to enjoy outdoor activities safely. With the arrival of warmer weather, NCDHHS is highlighting key tips on water safety, heat protection and food safety to help prevent illness, injury and death.

May is National Water Safety Month, and a timely reminder that drowning remains the leading cause of death for children ages one through four, but it is preventable.

“Every North Carolinian deserves to enjoy the summer season without risk to their health or safety,” said Dr. Kelly Kimple, Interim State Health Director and NCDHHS Chief Medical Officer. “By taking small, thoughtful actions — like supervising children near water, staying cool during extreme heat and practicing safe grilling — we can all stay safe this summer.”

Water Safety: Preventing Tragedy Before It Happens

As families head to pools, lakes and beaches, NCDHHS urges everyone to keep these water safety practices in mind:
- Actively Supervise: Drowning can happen silently and in seconds. Always keep a close eye on children near water.
- Secure Pool Areas: Keep gates and doors closed and locked. Remove pool ladders when not in use.
- Know the Water: Be aware of currents, depth changes and undertows at beaches, lakes and rivers.
- Stay Healthy: Don’t swim when ill with diarrhea to prevent spreading germs.
- Check Water Quality: Ensure pools are properly disinfected. Local health departments routinely inspect public pools, spas and splash pads.
- Be Cautious in All Recreational Waters: Lakes and rivers may carry bacteria or harmful algae blooms. Check advisories before swimming.
Heat Safety: Protecting Against Rising Temperatures

According to the North Carolina Climate Science Update, the state continues to experience an increasing number of extreme heat days — those reaching 95 degrees or higher. From May through September 2024, North Carolina recorded over 4,600 emergency department visits for heat-related illness.

NCDHHS encourages all residents to:
- Watch for Symptoms: Nausea, dizziness, headache, confusion or a rapid pulse could indicate heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
- Hydrate and Cool Down: Move to a cooler area, sip water slowly and seek medical help if symptoms persist.
- Know Who’s at Risk: Children, older adults, pregnant individuals, outdoor workers, athletes and those without air conditioning are most vulnerable.
To stay informed, sign up for the NCDHHS Heat Health Alert System on the NC Climate and Health team webpage.

Grill Smart: Avoid Foodborne Illness This Summer

Summer gatherings often mean grilling and increased risk for foodborne illness. The majority of reported foodborne outbreaks in North Carolina occur between May and August.

Stay safe with these grilling guidelines:
- Wash Up: Scrub hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food.
- Separate Raw and Cooked Foods: Prevent cross-contamination by keeping raw meats apart from other foods.
- Cook to Safe Temperatures: Use a food thermometer to ensure meats reach the correct internal temperature.
- Store Leftovers Promptly: Refrigerate or freeze within two hours; consume within three to four days.
- Clean the Grill: Sanitize surfaces and utensils before and after each use.
For more information on healthy swimming practices, visit the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Healthy Swimming page, and for tips on safe grilling, visit Safe Grilling Tips. The CDC also has guidance for heat-related illness prevention. More summer safety tips are also available on the NCDHHS Division of Public Health website.

A medida que se acerca el verano, el Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos de Carolina del Norte les recuerda a los habitantes que tomen medidas simples y proactivas para disfrutar las actividades al aire libre de manera segura. Con la llegada del clima más cálido, NCDHHS está destacando consejos clave sobre seguridad del agua, protección contra el calor y seguridad alimentaria para ayudar a prevenir enfermedades, lesiones y muertes.

Mayo es el Mes Nacional de la Seguridad del Agua y es un recordatorio oportuno de que el ahogamiento sigue siendo la principal causa de muerte entre los niños de uno a cuatro años, pero se puede prevenir.

“Todos los habitantes de Carolina del Norte merecen disfrutar de la temporada de verano sin riesgo para su salud o seguridad”, dijo la Dra. Kelly Kimple, Directora de Salud Estatal Interina y Directora Médica de NCDHHS. “Al tomar medidas pequeñas y reflexivas, como supervisar a los niños cerca del agua, mantener la calma durante el calor extremo, y asar a la parrilla con cuidado, todos podemos estar seguros este verano”.

Seguridad del agua: prevenir la tragedia antes de que suceda

Mientras las familias se dirigen a piscinas, lagos y playas, NCDHHS anima a todos a tener en cuenta estas prácticas de seguridad en el agua:
- Supervisar activamente: El ahogamiento puede ocurrir en silencio y en segundos. Vigile siempre de cerca a los niños cerca del agua.
- Asegure las areas de la piscina: Mantenga las puertas y portones cerrados con llave. Retire las escaleras de la piscina cuando no esté en uso.
- Conozca el agua: Esté atento a las corrientes, cambios de profundidad y resacas en playas, lagos y ríos.
- Manténgase saludable: No nade cuando esté enfermo con diarrea para evitar la propagación de gérmenes.
- Compruebe la calidad del agua: asegúrese de que las piscinas estén desinfectadas correctamente. Los departamentos de salud locales inspeccionan rutinariamente las piscinas públicas, los spas y las áreas de chapoteo.
- Tenga cuidado en todas las aguas recreativas: Los lagos y ríos pueden transportar bacterias o proliferacion de algas dañinas. Consulte las advertencias antes de nadar.
Seguridad contra el calor extremo: protección contra el aumento de la temperatura

De acuerdo con la Actualización de la ciencia climática de Carolina del Norte, el estado continúa experimentando un número creciente de días de calor extremo, aquellos que alcanzan los 95 grados o más. Desde mayo a septiembre de 2024, Carolina del Norte registró más de 4600 visitas al departamento de emergencias por enfermedades relacionadas con el calor.

NCDHHS anima a todos los habitantes a:
- Estar atento a los síntomas: Las náuseas, los mareos, el dolor de cabeza, la confusión o un pulso rápido podrían indicar agotamiento por calor o golpe de calor.
- Hidratarse y refrescarse: Muévase a un área más fresca, beba agua lentamente y busque ayuda médica si los síntomas persisten.
- Saber quién está en riesgo: Los niños, los adultos mayores, las personas embarazadas, los trabajadores al aire libre, los atletas y los que no tienen aire acondicionado son los más vulnerables.
Para mantenerse informado, regístrese en el Sistema de Alerta de Salud por Calor de NCDHHS en la página web del equipo de Clima y Salud de NC.

Haga parrillada inteligentemente: evite las enfermedades transmitidas por los alimentos este verano

Las reuniones de verano a menudo significan asar a la parrilla y un mayor riesgo de enfermedades transmitidas por los alimentos. La mayoría de los brotes transmitidos por alimentos reportados en Carolina del Norte ocurren entre mayo y agosto.

Manténgase seguro con estas pautas para asar a la parrilla:
- Lavarse: Frote las manos con agua y jabón durante al menos 20 segundos antes y después de tocar los alimentos.
- Separar los alimentos crudos y cocidos: evite la contaminación cruzada manteniendo las carnes crudas separadas de otros alimentos.
- Cocinar a temperaturas seguras: Use un termómetro de alimentos para asegurarse de que las carnes alcancen la temperatura interna correcta.
- Almacenar las sobras rápidamente: Refrigerar o congelar en dos horas; consumir en tres o cuatro días.
- Limpiar la parrilla: Desinfectar las superficies y los utensilios antes y después de cada uso.
Para obtener más información sobre prácticas de natación saludables, visite la página web de los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC, por sus siglas en inglés) Natación saludable, y para obtener consejos sobre hacer una parrillada segura, visite Consejos sobre la parrillada segura. Los CDC también tienen una guía para la prevención de enfermedades relacionadas con el calor. También hay más consejos de seguridad de verano disponibles en el sitio web de la División de Salud Pública de NCDHHS.
May 23, 2025

MIL OSI USA News –
May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Steer Clear of Harmful Algae Blooms this Summer

Source: US State of Rhode Island

As we approach the summer months and recreational activities on the State’s abundant lakes, ponds and rivers increase, the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) remind the public to be on the lookout for harmful algae blooms (HABs). HABs are caused by blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, which are naturally present in bodies of freshwater. Higher temperatures, slow moving water, and high amounts of nutrients cause the cyanobacteria to grow excessively and create potential for HABs. These HABs can produce toxins which can be harmful to humans and animals.

RIDOH and DEM work together to monitor and respond to HABs and issue recreational advisories when thresholds are met. During a HAB, all recreation, including swimming, fishing, boating, and kayaking should be avoided. In addition people should not drink untreated water or eat fish from affected waterbodies. Pet owners should not allow pets to drink or swim in this water. State and local officials work to post warnings around bodies of water when HABs are present. However, the public should be on the lookout for HABs and know to avoid affected waters if they encounter a HAB before warnings have been posted.

Affected waters may be bright to dark green in color and have dense, floating algal mats on the water’s surface. The water may look like green paint, thick pea soup, or green cottage cheese. If you see bodies of water that look like this, it’s best for people and pets to avoid contact with the water.

Skin contact with water containing blue-green algae can cause irritation of the skin, nose, eyes, and throat. Symptoms can include stomachache, diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea. Less common symptoms can include dizziness, headache, fever, liver damage, and nervous system damage. Young children and pets are at higher risk for health effects associated with HABs because they are more likely to swallow water when they are in or around bodies of water.

If you come into contact with a HAB, rinse your skin with clean water as soon as possible and, when you get home, take a shower and wash your clothes. If your pet comes into contact with the water, immediately wash your pet with clean water and do not let the pet lick algae off its fur. Call a veterinarian if your pet shows any symptoms of blue-green algae poisoning, including loss of energy, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, or any unexplained sickness that occurs within a day or so after being in contact with a HAB. People who have had contact with a HAB and have any of the symptoms described above should call a healthcare professional.

To report suspected blue-green algae blooms, contact DEM’s Office of Water Resources at 401-222-4700 or DEM.OWRCyano@dem.ri.gov and if possible, send a photograph of the reported algae bloom.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Rep. French Hill Applauds House Passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman French Hill (AR-02)

Rep. French Hill Applauds House Passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 22, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Rep. French Hill (AR-02) voted to pass the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act, a major legislative victory that delivers real results for central Arkansas and includes two of his own bills focused on helping Arkansans save, invest, and build a stronger future.

“This bill is a critical win for families and small businesses in central Arkansas. It prevents the largest tax hike in American history and puts us back on the path to smart, sustainable economic policy. It reflects tried and true conservative, pro-growth principles — spending discipline, tax relief, and restoring the integrity of programs that many Arkansans rely on like Medicaid and SNAP. It also sends a clear signal that House Republicans are serious about governing and delivering results for our constituents and for the American people.

“I am proud that two of my legislative priorities are included in the reconciliation bill that passed the House today. One helps Arkansas families save for health care, and the other provides tax relief for Americans wrongfully detained abroad.”

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes two bills authored by Rep. Hill:
- The Catch-Up Act – Allows married Americans over age 55 to make catch-up contributions to their spouse’s Health Savings Account (HSA), giving families more flexibility and financial security to plan for health care costs.
- The Stop Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act – Provides tax relief for Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad by postponing deadlines and authorizes the IRS to revoke tax-exempt status from nonprofits that materially support terrorist organizations.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act also:
- Secures America’s Southwest border through increased enforcement and infrastructure
- Strengthens national defense readiness and military investment
- Reduces burdensome regulations that stifled growth and harm small businesses
- Unlocks domestic energy production that will result in lower prices for Americans
- Protects programs that vulnerable Americans rely on, including Medicaid and SNAP, by reducing waste and abuse
- Makes President Trump’s tax cuts permanent for working families and small businesses
MIL OSI USA News –
May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Earlier support for speech and language for 20,000 children
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

Press release

Earlier support for speech and language for 20,000 children

Up to 20,000 more young children, including those with SEND, will have their needs identified and supported earlier, breaking down barriers to opportunity.
Up to 20,000 more children are set to benefit from earlier targeted support to overcome speech and language challenges before concerns escalate, as the government ensures every child gets the best start in life through its Plan for Change.

Backed by £3.4 million this year, the Early Language Support for Every Child (ELSEC) programme deploys specialist teams across primary schools and early years settings, helping to identify and respond to speech and language needs, particularly for children with SEND.

Developmental delays have been a growing issue since the pandemic, with more than 40,000 children waiting over 12 weeks for speech and language therapy as of June 2024.

It is particularly prevalent for children with SEND as numbers have skyrocketed from 1.3 million in 2020 to 1.67 million in 2024 – with one in four of these children requiring additional help to overcome difficulties listening, understanding and talking.

A lack of early identification can have a devastating impact on development, social skills, attendance, and academic attainment for all children – holding them back from progressing in school and life.

This is seen by the staggering rise in children requiring specialist support, with the number of children on Education Health Care Plans escalating from under 250,000 in 2015 to over 575,000 in 2024.

The ELSEC programme paves the way for a reformed SEND system that embeds earlier intervention and targeted support, enabling children to thrive at their mainstream school and making sure all children have the best start in life.

Minister for School Standards, Catherine McKinnell said:

When challenges with speech and language go unnoticed, it can have a devastating impact on children’s attainment, attendance, social abilities and future life chances.

ELSEC is turning this around for so many pupils – and particularly those with SEND – helping them find their voice and thrive at school and with their friends and family.

This type of approach is exactly what we want to see in a reformed SEND system that delivers the support children need at the earliest stage and restores parents’ trust in a system which has let them down for too long.

Minister for School Standards, Catherine McKinnell visited Hasmonean primary school in Barnet, which has been part of the ELSEC programme since January, and observed a small group intervention in one of the school’s calming environments. The activity focused on developing children’s social communication skills by engaging the children’s attention, promoting interaction and vocabulary, and making learning and communication fun.

Head of Early Years and SEN Support at Hasmonean Primary School, Jemma Brahams, said:

The ELSEC team first trained me on how to run a small group intervention for our pupils who are experiencing speech and language difficulties. The team was there to help me from the start and was always available as I got used to implementing the approach.

The training provided on these interventions has been huge for us, as we now don’t need to wait for anyone to come into the school or go on any waiting lists – we can just take it forward straightaway. In fact, I’m now able to train other staff members in the school to deliver intervention groups, so we can have it running frequently and across different year groups.

The impact on our pupils’ development has been really positive too. As the activity is creative and interactive, it supports the children’s speech and language development, concentration and attention – we’ve seen so much progress.

Parent of Raphael at Hasmonean Primary school, Deborah, said:

Raphael is 4 and did not speak until recently, he only made noises which was so frustrating for him, but with interventions he has progressed amazingly.

With 3-4 interventions a week he has massively grown in confidence, he is communicating with his friends and expressing himself more than ever – we are now hopeful that Raphael can go to Reception in September which was not an option a few months ago!

This programme has been so impactful for my son and it is amazing to see the work being done for children like Raphael.

Communication needs can manifest itself in a number of ways, including physically through stuttering and issues putting sentences together, as well as difficulty understanding words.

As part of the ELSEC programme, Speech and Language Therapy Assistants become part of the fabric of the school, working across numerous settings in their area to assist pupils aged 2-11 years old who need help with their language skills – whether that’s universal support for the whole class, or specialist 1:1 help for pupils with intensive needs.

Staff are taught to use characters and games to boost engagement and improve expression in ways that children can understand.

This support can also have a huge impact on children’s wellbeing at school, and as a result, their attendance. Last year, SEN children in primary school with Speech Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) as a primary need missed almost a week more of school than children without SEND.

Jointly funded by NHS England, ELSEC has already supported over 200 early years and primary school settings, trained over 3,000 setting staff and provided support to just over 20,000 pupils so far since launching in 2023.

Clinical Coordinator in Barnet’s ELSEC team, Georgia Roskin, said:

It can be very easy for teaching staff to identify children with significant needs but the children with mild-moderate needs often get missed, which can sadly cause long-term speech and language difficulties, and poorer outcomes.

That’s why when we first partner with a setting, we train teaching staff to screen every single child, which assures us (and parents!) that no children go undetected.

We work intensively within a setting for six weeks, helping to identify pupils who may need support, while also upskilling the school staff on different interventions and teaching approaches they can adopt. We then stay in regular contact, coming back into the setting every couple of months to see how they’re getting on and address any new concerns.

NHS National Director for Primary Care and Community Services, Dr Amanda Doyle, said:

It is vital that children with speech, language and communications needs get access to support as early as possible, to help give them the best start in life.

That’s why the NHS is working closely with the Department for Education and early years and primary school settings to transform the way children access support, enabling them to get the right care at the right time.

Chief Executive of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, Steve Jamieson, said:

We’re delighted that the Department for Education and NHS England will fund the Early Language Support for Every Child programme until March 2026.

It has shown that when speech and language therapists, therapy support workers and education staff work together, they can identify children’s needs earlier and put timely support in place.

Providing early intervention for children’s speech, language and communication needs can improve their wellbeing, development, and educational attainment. The extension of the funding means more children will benefit from this important programme.

ELSEC forms one part of the government’s work testing SEND reforms through a reformulated Change Programme focused on early intervention and support in mainstream schools.

Local areas will also test how children in so-called alternative provision – for children who have been excluded or have behavioural needs – can get the right support to return to mainstream provision.

This includes by supporting the expansion of Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforces (APST) – multi-agency teams, including SEN specialists, youth workers, and mental health practitioners, working in AP settings, with mainstream schools to provide holistic support and ensure more children receive the right support to achieve and thrive.

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Published 23 May 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Jury Finds Doctor Guilty in $10 Million TRICARE Scheme

Source: US FBI

LITTLE ROCK—An Alexander doctor has been convicted for his involvement in a multi-million-dollar kickback conspiracy at the conclusion of a week-long trial. A federal jury found Joe David “Jay” May, 41, guilty on all 22 counts for which he was indicted.

The jury returned their verdict Thursday evening after deliberating for about three hours. United States District Judge Kristine Baker presided over the trial, and Judge Baker will sentence May at a later date.

  “Dr. May used his signature as a rubber stamp to help his friends rake in millions of dollars in kickbacks from fraudulent prescriptions,” said Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. “His crimes are a reprehensible abuse of his Hippocratic oath and his medical license. Our office and our federal law enforcement partners at the FBI and Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) are resolved to continue to bring to justice all other health care professionals who defraud our nation’s healthcare systems.”

  A grand jury returned an indictment against May in January 2020. The indictment alleged that May signed off on illegitimate prescriptions for pain cream in order to trigger a payout from TRICARE, the nation’s insurance for veterans. A pharmacy promoter paid recruiters to find TRICARE beneficiaries, regardless of whether they needed the drugs, and then paid others to get medical professionals, including Jay May, to rubber stamp prescriptions for TRICARE beneficiaries.

TRICARE paid over $12 million for compounded drugs prescribed through this scheme. Evidence at trial indicated that May wrote 226 prescriptions over the course of ten months, for which TRICARE paid $4.63 million. All but one of those prescriptions were supplied by drug sales representatives, Glenn Hudson and Derek Clifton, both of whom have pleaded guilty in the scheme, and directed to prescribers, May and a nurse practitioner named Donna Crowder, who has also pleaded guilty. May accepted cash bribes totaling nearly $15,000 and signed off on the prescriptions without consulting patients and without determining whether or not the prescription was needed.

  One recruiter hosted a meeting at Fisher Armory in North Little Rock. At that meeting, he signed people up for the drugs and offered to pay them $1,000. Thirteen of those patients were routed to Dr. May, who signed each prescription, and this group alone cost TRICARE $370,000. The conspirators learned that reimbursements from TRICARE might fall in May 2015, so April was the last opportunity to profit from the program. In the last ten days of April 2015, May signed 59 prescriptions, for which TRICARE paid $1.4M. During a single 9-week period at the height of the scheme, May deposited $9,925 cash; an FBI forensic accountant testified this was more cash than he deposited in 2014 and 2016 combined.

  “TRICARE is dedicated to serving our veterans, military members, and their families,” said FBI Little Rock Special Agent in Charge James Dawson. “Dr. May displayed a lack of integrity by defrauding millions from our nation’s military insurer and lying to our Agents in an effort to conceal his crimes. The FBI is committed to working alongside our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office to protect our service members and their loved ones from corrupt medical professionals like Dr. May.”

  “Dr. May engaged in a kickback scheme that undermined federal health care programs,” said Special Agent in Charge Miranda L. Bennett of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. “This verdict is a testament to strong law enforcement partnerships committed to holding physicians accountable for providing quality care to beneficiaries of these programs,” said HHS-OIG Special Agent in Charge Miranda Bennett.

  The statutory penalties for May’s convictions are: wire fraud, mail fraud, and falsifying records, not more than 20 years imprisonment; violation of the anti-kickback statute, not more than 10 years imprisonment; and conspiracy and making false statements, not more than five years imprisonment. In addition to any sentence imposed, May will also serve an added four years for convictions on two counts of aggravated identity theft. All offenses of conviction include a potential penalty of not more than a $250,000 fine and not more than three years of supervised release.

  The investigation was conducted by the FBI and HHS-OIG. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander Morgan and Stephanie Mazzanti.

# # #

This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, is available online at

https://www.justice.gov/edar

Twitter:

@EDARNEWS

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Trussville Man Charged in Multi-Million-Dollar Kickback and Health Care Fraud Case

Source: US FBI

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Another individual has been charged in a series of related cases involving multi-million-dollar health care fraud conspiracies, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Carlton L. Peeples, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Special Agent in Charge Tamala E. Miles.

A federal grand jury yesterday week returned a five-count indictment against John Alan Robson, 40, of Trussville, on charges of health care fraud conspiracy, kickback conspiracy, and kickbacks. According to the indictment, Robson was a sales rep who marketed to doctors’ offices various health care products and services, including prescription drugs from specialty pharmacies, durable medical equipment (DME), and electro-diagnostic testing. Robson was paid fees for the prescriptions, DME, and tests he generated from doctors. From at least 2014 through 2018, Robson allegedly conspired with others to pay and receive kickbacks to induce medical providers to issue medically unnecessary prescriptions and order medically unnecessary goods and services, which were then billed to Medicare and other health insurers.

One of those services was electro-diagnostic testing provided by a Huntsville-based electro-diagnostic testing company called QBR, or Diagnostic Referral Community. Robson received per-patient payments from QBR for inducing medical providers to order tests from QBR. According to the indictment, medical providers received payments from QBR too; the payments were disguised as hourly payments for the ordering physician’s time and staff’s time, but in reality they were per-patient kickbacks.

The case against Robson is related to several other cases that have resulted in convictions in the last year. Dr. Eric Beck, 64, of Huntsville, pleaded guilty last year to health care fraud conspiracy for his role in the QBR scheme. John Hornbuckle, 53, of Huntsville, pleaded guilty to health care fraud and kickback conspiracy offenses for his role, as QBR’s CEO, in orchestrating the fraud. James Ewing Ray, 52, of Gadsden, pleaded guilty to health care fraud and kickback conspiracy for his role as a sales rep who marketed QBR’s scheme to medical practices and received kickbacks per test ordered.

Early last year, a jury convicted Dr. Mark Murphy, 65, and his wife Jennifer Murphy, 66, both of Lewisburg, Tennessee, of drug distribution, fraud, and kickback crimes. The Murphys operated North Alabama Pain Services, which closed its Decatur and Madison offices in early 2017. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, the Murphys took kickbacks from QBR of more than a million dollars. In return, Dr. Murphy ordered electro-diagnostic tests from QBR for his patients, regardless of whether there was a medical need for those tests. Dr. Murphy also pre-signed prescriptions for expensive specialty topical creams, sprays, and patches, which patients then received whether they wanted the products or not. Before the Murphys went to trial, a co-defendant, Brian Bowman, 42, of Gadsden, pleaded guilty to health care fraud conspiracy. According to Bowman’s plea agreement, Bowman marketed QBR’s electro-diagnostic testing to medical providers, and was paid a fee for each test they ordered. Bowman received nearly a million dollars in fees from QBR. Bowman also marketed high-reimbursing specialty prescription drugs to the Murphys and other providers and received payments for the prescriptions he generated.

Beck, Hornbuckle, Ray, Mark Murphy, Jennifer Murphy, and Bowman are all awaiting sentencing. Other co-conspirators have already been sentenced.

The maximum penalty for conspiracy to commit health care fraud is ten years in prison; the maximum penalty for conspiracy to receive kickbacks is five years in prison; each kickback count also carries up to ten years.

The FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys J.B. Ward and Don Long are prosecuting it.

An indictment contains only charges. Each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Pain Clinic Owners Sentenced for Unlawfully Distributing Opioids and Multi-Million-Dollar Health Care Fraud

Source: US FBI

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A judge sentenced a Tennessee physician and his wife yesterday for unlawfully distributing opioids and defrauding insurers through their now-shuttered Alabama clinics.

Chief U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced Mark Murphy, 66, and his wife, Jennifer Murphy, 66, both of Lewisburg, each to twenty years in prison for conspiracy to unlawfully distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to commit health care fraud, along with various substantive counts related to the same, and conspiring to defraud the United States and receiving kickbacks.

“Dr. Murphy and his wife preyed on countless vulnerable patients and stole tens of millions of dollars from Medicare and other taxpayer-funded health insurance programs,” said U.S. Attorney Escalona. “Our office will continue to prosecute drug dealers and health care fraudsters to the full extent of the law.”

“The abuse of prescription drugs, especially opioids, is a serious problem in our communities,” said DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Towanda Thorne-James. “All too often, this abuse leads to addiction, shattered lives, and even death. For the health and safety of our citizens, DEA and our law enforcement partners will continue to target those who illegally distribute these potentially dangerous drugs. We hope that the sentences in this case serve as a reminder to anyone who might illegally divert pharmaceuticals that they will be held accountable for the harm they cause.”

“Mark and Jennifer Murphy learned today that unlawfully distributing controlled substances, committing health care fraud, and receiving kickbacks comes with hefty legal consequences,” said James E. Dorsey, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Atlanta Field Office. “Their conviction today serves as a lesson to others who think no one is paying attention.”

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Mark Murphy and Jennifer Murphy owned and operated North Alabama Pain Services (NAPS), which closed its Decatur and Madison offices in early 2017. Mark Murphy was the sole doctor at the two locations, and the evidence at trial showed that some patients went months or years without seeing him during their monthly office visits, even though they continued to get opioid prescriptions that he had pre-signed. Over the approximately five-year period leading up to the clinic closing its Alabama locations, the evidence at sentencing showed, Murphy wrote prescriptions for more than ten million opioid pills, including millions of oxycodone 30 mg tablets. During the same five-year period, Murphy and his wife Jennifer, who helped run the clinics, ordered tens of millions of dollars of unnecessary items and services that were paid by taxpayer-funded and private insurance programs. The Murphys received kickbacks for those orders and prescriptions. In all, Medicare, TRICARE, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama were billed more than $280 million as a result of the fraud and kickback schemes, and paid more than $50 million. Mark Murphy and Jennifer Murphy were each ordered to pay more than $50 million in restitution. Jennifer Murphy was also convicted of tax-related charges for underreporting clinic income.

Also yesterday, co-conspirator, Christie Rollins, 52, of Petersburg, Tennessee, was sentenced to twenty-four months in prison for her role in selling medically unnecessary durable medical equipment and expensive topical creams at NAPS. Rollins agreed to pay restitution of more than $564,000.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona for the Northern District of Alabama; Special Agent in Charge Bradford L. Byerly of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) New Orleans Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Carlton L. Peeples of the FBI Birmingham Division; Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Atlanta Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Tamela E. Miles of the Department of Health and Human Service Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Atlanta Region made the announcement.

FBI, HHS-OIG, IRS-CI and DEA investigated the case.

Assistant Chief Jillian Willis and Trial Attorney Emily Gurskis of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney J.B. Ward of the Northern District of Alabama prosecuted the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid (ARPO) Strike Force. Since its inception in October 2018, the ARPO Strike Force, which operates in 10 districts, has charged more than 90 defendants who are collectively responsible for distributing more than 105 million pills. The ARPO Strike Force is part of the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, which since March 2007 has charged more than 4,200 defendants who collectively have billed the Medicare program for more than $19 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at: https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

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May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: New Hope Man Sentenced for His Role in Multi-Million-Dollar Kickback and Health Care Fraud Cases

Source: US FBI

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – A federal judge has sentenced another individual charged in a series of related cases involving multi-million-dollar health care fraud conspiracies, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Carlton L. Peeples, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Special Agent in Charge Tamala E. Miles.

Last Friday, Chief United States District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced John Hornbuckle, 53, of New Hope, to 80 months in prison. In November 2022, Hornbuckle pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to receive kickbacks. Between 2012 and 2018, Hornbuckle owned QBR. According to the plea agreement in Hornbuckle’s case, QBR billed insurers millions of dollars for electro-diagnostic testing that its technicians performed, regardless of whether there was a medical need for them. Hornbuckle caused QBR to pay medical providers a per-patient fee for the tests they ordered from QBR that were reimbursed by insurers, including Medicare and other government health care programs. The payments were disguised as hourly payments for the provider’s time and the time of the provider’s staff, but the provider was actually paid a fee per patient who received a test. Insurance programs paid more than nine million dollars for the medically unnecessary tests that QBR paid doctors to order.

Hornbuckle was also ordered to pay $9,192,005.20 in restitution, a fine of $250,000, and forfeiture of $176,449.19.

The case against Hornbuckle is related to several other cases that have resulted in convictions in the last year. Dr. Mark Murphy, 66, and his wife Jennifer Murphy, 66, both of Lewisburg, Tennessee, were sentenced last week. Brian Bowman, 41, of Gadsden, has pleaded guilty to health care fraud conspiracy. According to Bowman’s plea agreement, Bowman marketed QBR’s electro-diagnostic testing to medical providers, and was paid a fee for each test they ordered. Bowman received nearly a million dollars in fees from QBR. James Ewing Ray, 52, of Gadsden, has pleaded guilty to health care fraud and kickback conspiracy for his role as a sales rep who marketed QBR’s scheme to medical practices and received kickbacks per test ordered. John Alan Robson, 40, of Trussville, was indicted last month on charges of health care fraud conspiracy, kickback conspiracy, and kickbacks. According to his indictment, Robson was a sales rep who marketed to doctors’ offices various health care products and services, including prescription drugs from specialty pharmacies, durable medical equipment (DME), and electro-diagnostic testing. Robson was paid fees for the prescriptions, DME, and tests he generated from doctors.

Brian Bowman and James Ray are awaiting sentencing.

The FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the cases. Assistant U.S. Attorneys J.B. Ward and Don Long prosecuted the cases.

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May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Medical Billing Company Owner Pleads Guilty to Health Care Fraud

Source: US FBI

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Scott Newcombe, age 40, of Plattsburgh, New York, pled guilty today to health care fraud.

United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman; Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and Naomi Gruchacz, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), New York Regional Office, made the announcement.

Newcombe admitted that from approximately April 2020 through April 2023, he acted as the office manager and health care claims biller for two physicians’ practices in Plattsburgh through a company that he formed called SJ Healthcare Management Services, LLC (SJHMS). SJHMS charged a fixed monthly fee under which Newcombe performed various management, administrative, and billing services for the practices. He admitted that he submitted false and fraudulent claims to public and private insurers on behalf of those practices for services that, in some instances, were never provided and, in other instances, were provided at lower reimbursement rates than the amounts billed. For example, Newcombe admitted that he submitted claims to insurers for medical procedures that were purportedly performed by a provider on him but which, in fact, never occurred.

Newcombe is scheduled for sentencing on February 28, 2025. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of up to 3 years. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the statute the defendant violated, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.

The FBI and HHS investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael D. Gadarian and Adam J. Katz are prosecuting the case.

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May 27, 2025
PM Modi inaugurates Rising North East Investors Summit 2025

Source: Government of India

Source: Government of India (4)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Rising North East Investors Summit 2025 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi today, reaffirming the government’s commitment to the holistic development of the North Eastern region. Addressing a gathering of dignitaries, industry leaders, and stakeholders, the Prime Minister expressed pride and confidence in the region’s vibrant future.

Welcoming participants to the summit, the Prime Minister recalled the recently held Ashtalakshmi Mahotsav at the same venue, saying that today’s event is not just a meeting of minds but a celebration of investment and opportunity in the Northeast.

Highlighting the enthusiastic participation of industry leaders, PM Modi praised the collaborative efforts of ministries and state governments in creating an investor-friendly environment. “The presence of so many industry leaders reflects the growing interest in the Northeast’s potential,” he said, extending his best wishes to all stakeholders involved.

Describing India as the world’s most diverse country, the Prime Minister said that the Northeast represents the most diverse part of this diversity. He underlined the region’s strengths across sectors—trade, tradition, textiles, and tourism—and identified it as a hub of bio-economy, bamboo, tea, petroleum, sports, skill development, eco-tourism, organic products, and energy.

Referring to the Northeast as Ashtalakshmi, symbolising prosperity and opportunity, he said that each Northeastern state is now asserting itself as ready for investment and leadership.

Underscoring the strategic importance of Eastern India in the mission to build a Viksit Bharat (Developed India), the Prime Minister said, “For us, EAST is not just a direction—it is a vision: Empower, Act, Strengthen, and Transform. This is the guiding framework of our policy for Eastern India.”

The Prime Minister also highlighted the transformation witnessed in the Northeast over the past 11 years. He stressed that this progress is not confined to statistical achievements but is visible in real, on-ground development. He said the government’s engagement with the region goes beyond policy—it is rooted in an emotional connection with its people.

“Infrastructure projects in the region are not just about roads and bridges; they are about emotional connectivity,” he said.

He further stated that the government’s transition from a “Look East” to an “Act East” policy has brought tangible results. “The Northeast was once seen as a frontier region; today, it is emerging as a front-runner in India’s growth story,” the Prime Minister concluded.

The Rising North East Investors Summit 2025 is a two-day event being held on May 23 and 24. The agenda for the two-day summit includes ministerial sessions, Business-to-Government (B2G) and Business-to-Business (B2B) meetings, and a dedicated exhibition zone.

Key sectors identified for focused investment promotion include Tourism and Hospitality, Agro-Food Processing and allied industries, Textiles, Handloom and Handicrafts, Healthcare, Education and Skill Development, IT and IT-enabled Services, Infrastructure and Logistics, Energy, as well as Entertainment and Sports.

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Florida Man Sentenced for Misleading Federal Agents

Source: US FBI

LITTLE ROCK—A Florida man was sentenced today for lying to federal agents. Steve Hill, 57, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $345,727.15 by United States District Judge Brian S. Miller.

      Formerly of the Memphis area, Hill spent nearly a quarter century working in the medical sales industry for various Fortune 500 companies, during which time he received standard compliance training on the Anti-Kickback Statute. In 2014, then working under Brad Duke of Little Rock, Hill began to promote expensive compounded prescription drugs covered by TRICARE. Hill operated on a commission basis, earning a fixed percentage of whatever TRICARE paid for the drugs.

  To generate sales, Hill encouraged a Memphis area doctor to prescribe the expensive compounded drugs by agreeing to share his commission on the doctor’s prescriptions through payments to the doctor’s spouse. Most of Hill’s payments would eventually be routed to a Tennessee shell corporation formed under the spouse’s name. Within a year, Hill’s arrangement succeeded in generating over $1 million in TRICARE compounded prescription drug claims, earning Hill $345,727.15.

  Federal agents investigating the case discovered the connection between Hill, the shell corporation, the spouse, and the doctor. In August 2017, federal agents visited Hill’s Memphis area home to discuss his promotion of compounded prescription drugs. When asked about his financial dealings with the spouse, Hill denied paying the spouse anything in relation to the doctor’s prescriptions.

  The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), and the case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Alexander D. Morgan.

# # #

This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, is available online at

https://www.justice.gov/edar

Twitter:

@EDARNEWS

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May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Ringleader of $10 Million TRICARE Scheme Sentenced

Source: US FBI

LITTLE ROCK—The organizer of a multi-million-dollar kickback conspiracy was sentenced today. Brad Duke, 47, of Little Rock was sentenced to 36 months’ imprisonment and ordered to forfeit $1,055,855.86 by United States District Judge Brian S. Miller.

Duke promoted prescription pain creams, scar creams, and supplements for a Mississippi-based compounding pharmacy, earning a share of whatever the pharmacy was paid for prescriptions issued by Duke’s affiliated doctors. After learning TRICARE, the national military’s health insurer, paid tens of thousands of dollars per month per patient for the compounded drugs he was promoting, Duke began to offer and pay kickbacks to generate prescriptions for those with TRICARE insurance.

Duke paid kickbacks to recruiters, including Michael “Chance” Beeman (52, of Maumelle), Michael Sean Brady (53, of Little Rock), Jason Greene (35, of Nashville, Tenn.), Brian Means (47, of Fort Smith), and Jennifer Sorenson (44, of McKinney, Tex.), to find TRICARE beneficiaries around the country willing to receive the drugs. Duke explained a doctor would sign off on the necessary prescriptions without ever consulting the patients. All Duke needed was TRICARE beneficiary insurance information sufficient to fill out prescription forms.

Upon receipt of beneficiary information from his recruiters, Duke routed prescriptions in the names of the TRICARE beneficiaries to local medical assistant Charlotte Leija (41, of Conway), to whom Duke paid kickbacks, usually $1,000 per prescription, to file the prescriptions under the name of the doctor for whom she worked.

Within a year, Duke’s scheme generated over $10 million in compound drug prescriptions for over 100 TRICARE beneficiaries hailing from as far west as Chula Vista, Calif., to as far east as Foxborough, Mass. No one ever consulted a prescriber. Duke paid his recruiters more than $2 million to supply the beneficiaries and over $250,000 to Leija to issue the prescriptions.

Judge Miller previously sentenced co-conspirators Brady, Beeman, Green, Means, Sorenson, and Leija to prison terms ranging from 8 months to 28 months and ordered them to forfeit illicit proceeds ranging from $198,799.00 to $598,435.99. As of today’s sentencing hearing, the U.S. Marshals had already seized $1,055,855.86 from Duke.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), and the case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Alexander D. Morgan.

# # #

This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, is available online at

https://www.justice.gov/edar

Twitter:

@EDARNEWS

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May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Pain Management Physician Sentenced for Unlawfully Distributing Opioids

Source: US FBI

An Ohio physician was sentenced today to seven years in prison for unlawfully distributing opioids from his clinic.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Thomas Romano, 74, of Wheeling, West Virginia, owned and operated a self-named pain management clinic in Martin’s Ferry, Ohio, to which individuals traveled hundreds of miles to obtain prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances. The prescriptions Romano issued for opioids and other controlled substances greatly exceeded recommended dosages and were in dangerous, life-threatening combinations that fueled the addiction of the individuals to whom he prescribed. Between October 2014 and September 2019, Romano prescribed over 137,000 pills, including opioids, benzodiazepines, and muscle relaxants, to nine individuals.

A federal jury convicted Romano in September 2023 of 24 counts of unlawfully distributing controlled substances in violation of the Controlled Substances Act.

Principal Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker for the Southern District of Ohio; Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Detroit Field Division; Special Agent in Charge J. William Rivers of the FBI Cincinnati Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Mario M. Pinto of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement.

The DEA, FBI, HHS-OIG, Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, and Ohio Board of Pharmacy investigated this case.

Trial Attorneys Devon Helfmeyer and Danielle Sakowski and Counsel Alexis Gregorian of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,400 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $27 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

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May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Former Children’s Hospital Employee Pleads Guilty to Sharing, Receiving Child Pornography

Source: US FBI

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A former Nationwide Children’s Hospital employee who treated child burn patients pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to downloading, exchanging and receiving child pornography.

Ryan Ramos, 38, of Columbus, pleaded guilty to one count of distributing and receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. He faces an imprisonment range of five to 20 years in prison.

Ramos worked at Nationwide Children’s Hospital from 2018 until 2020 and then at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in the ICU in burn trauma until 2023.

According to court documents, a 2020 FBI investigation in their Brooklyn-Queens office led agents to discover Ramos’s participation in a Signal app group dedicated to the exchange of child pornography.

Ramos shared hundreds of images and videos of child sexual abuse, including abuse of young boys and infants, to the chat group.

Further investigation into Ramos revealed that, in 2018, he had paid a sexual offender in New York City and received child pornography created by the offender in exchange for his payment. Ramos sent more than $500 via PayPal to the child exploiter.

Ramos’s iPhone contained more than 346,000 Signal, Telegram and other online chat messages, in most of which Ramos was distributing, seeking, receiving or discussing child pornography.

Ramos was charged by a bill of information on May 6 and pleaded guilty during his arraignment in federal court this afternoon. He is in custody pending sentencing.

Congress sets the minimum and maximum statutory sentences. Sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the Court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Elena Iatarola, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, announced the guilty plea entered today before U.S. District Judge Sarah D. Morrison. Assistant United States Attorney Emily Czerniejewski is representing the United States in this case.

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May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Rite Aid Corporation and Elixir Insurance Company Agree to Pay $101 Million to Resolve Allegations of Falsely Reporting Rebates

Source: US FBI

The Justice Department announced that Rite Aid Corporation and Rite Aid subsidiaries, Elixir Insurance Company, RX Options LLC and RX Solutions LLC, have agreed to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by failing to accurately report drug rebates to the Medicare Program. As part of the settlement, Elixir Insurance and Rite Aid will pay the United States $101 million, and RX Options and RX Solutions will grant the United States an allowed, unsubordinated, general unsecured claim for a total of $20 million in Rite Aid’s bankruptcy case pending in the District of New Jersey. The settlement is based on the companies’ ability to pay and was approved on June 28 by the bankruptcy court as part of Rite Aid’s plan of reorganization, which is expected to become effective later this summer. In addition to operating one of the country’s largest retail pharmacy chains, Rite Aid offered Medicare drug plans and pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) services through Elixir Insurance, RX Options and RX Solutions.

“Participants in Medicare’s drug program must accurately report price concessions, including drug manufacturer rebates, to ensure that the government receives the benefit of those concessions,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Today’s settlement reflects the Justice Department’s commitment to hold accountable entities that pursue their own financial interests at the expense of taxpayer programs.”

“Rite Aid and its Elixir subsidiaries lined their corporate pockets with millions of dollars of manufacturer rebates that should have been reported to Medicare,” said U.S. Attorney Rebecca C. Lutzko for the Northern District of Ohio. “Each of those dollars could have been used to benefit Americans with genuine health care needs. Our office will not tolerate deceptive health-insurance practices, and we will vigorously pursue those who violate the FCA.”

Under Medicare Part D, private entities known as Part D Plan Sponsors offer and administer insurance plans that provide prescription drug coverage to enrolled Medicare beneficiaries. Part D Sponsors must submit annual reports to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) with information about rebates and other remuneration the Plans received from drug manufacturers in connection with the Part D drugs provided to beneficiaries, which ensures that the government receives the benefit of any price concessions provided by drug manufacturers to purchasers of the drugs covered under the Part D plan. CMS relies on the reports in the annual reconciliation process that determines payments due to the Plans or CMS at the end of the year.

The settlement resolves allegations that, between 2014 and 2020, the defendants improperly reported to CMS portions of rebates received from manufacturers as bona fide service fees, even though manufacturers did not negotiate with the defendants to pay such fees. The United States further alleged that Elixir Insurance knew the retained rebates did not meet the regulatory definition of bona fide services fees.

“Truthful and accurate documentation in the delivery of health care goods or services is crucial to the integrity of federal health care programs,” said Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Christian J. Schrank of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “Improper submission of manufacturer drug rebates and fees by Part D Plan Sponsors for pharmaceutical products in order to make more money will not be tolerated. Collaborating with our law enforcement partners, HHS-OIG is committed to preventing and investigating health care fraud in Medicare and other taxpayer-funded health care programs.”

The civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought in 2021 under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act by Glenn Rzeszutko, who previously worked for RX Options. The FCA authorizes a private party to sue on behalf of the United States and share in any recovery. The qui tam case is captioned United States ex rel. Rzeszutko v. Rite Aid Corporation et al., No. 5:21-CV-574 (N.D. Ohio). The relator’s share of these proceeds has not yet been determined.

Trial attorneys Christopher Wilson and Dan Schiffer of the Civil Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jackson Froliklong for the Northern District of Ohio handled this matter. HHS-OIG and the FBI Cleveland Field Office provided substantial assistance in the investigation. Trial Attorneys Mary Schmergel, Gregory Werkheiser and Ryan Lamb of the Civil Division’s Corporate/Financial Litigation Section are handling the Rite Aid bankruptcy.

The settlements illustrate the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the FCA. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement can be reported to HHS at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).

The claims asserted against defendants are allegations only. There has been no determination of liability.

Settlement

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May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Ohio Medical Doctor Sentenced to Prison for Health Care Fraud Scheme

Source: US FBI

TOLEDO – Ankita Singh, 42, formerly of Maumee, Ohio, was sentenced to 26 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary, for her role in a durable medical equipment (DME) scheme that defrauded the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicare Program. She was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $4,470,931.02, serve two years of supervised release, and pay a special assessment fee of $600.

On Feb. 29, 2024, a jury found Singh guilty of six counts of health care fraud for signing false orders for orthotic braces, that patients never requested and did not need, as part of a DME scheme.

Beginning in 2019, Singh worked as an independent contractor for at least two companies, to purportedly provide “telehealth services,” and was paid a fee to conduct patient consultations. The consultations never took place. Telemarketers would cold call Medicare beneficiaries and tell them that orthotic braces would be provided to them at no cost. The beneficiaries were not previously Singh’s patients and she never spoke to them. Singh never saw them in person and did not conduct a telehealth visit. The telemarketers would prepare orders with the beneficiaries’ names, Medicare numbers, and purported diagnosis to support a false diagnosis that the braces were medically necessary. Orders were then electronically sent to Singh to affix her signature and certify that she was treating the Medicare beneficiary and affirm that the brace was medically necessary. Singh signed more than 11,000 prescriptions for orthotic braces for approximately 3,000 Medicare beneficiaries with whom she had no patient-physician relationship, and frequently ordered multiple braces for each patient, without ever having examined them.

As a result of Singh’s false orders, more than $8 million was billed to Medicare for orthotic devices that were not medically necessary. In all, Medicare paid approximately $4.47 million in claims for the fraudulent prescriptions that Singh signed.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gene Crawford and Angelita Cruz Bridges for the Northern District of Ohio. The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – Office of Inspector General, and the FBI.

To report suspected health care fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement of HHS programs, visit https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/report-fraud/contact/ or call 1-800-447-8477.

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May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Federal Court Permanently Prohibits Ohio Physician From Prescribing Opioids and Imposes $4.7 Million Judgment for Alleged Unlawful Opioid Distribution

Source: US FBI

CLEVELAND – A federal court prohibited a Sandusky, Ohio-area physician from prescribing opioids and other controlled substances and ordered him to pay $4.7 million in a case alleging violations of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and the False Claims Act (FCA).

In a civil complaint filed in August 2018, the United States alleged that Gregory Gerber, MD, age 59, of Port Clinton, Ohio, who operated an office in Sandusky, unlawfully issued prescriptions without a legitimate medical basis for opioids and other controlled substances in violation of the CSA and the FCA. The complaint alleged that one patient died from an overdose of fentanyl patches prescribed by Gerber. The complaint further alleged that Gerber received kickback payments from a drug manufacturer as part of a scheme to unlawfully prescribe Subsys, a powerful opioid drug containing fentanyl, in violation of the FCA.

“Medical professionals who knowingly facilitate the abuse of opioids violate their legal obligations,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The department will pursue justice against anyone who seeks to profit from unlawfully prescribing opioids.”

“All doctors must follow the law when prescribing opioids — their patients, and the public more generally, rely on such compliance,” said U.S. Attorney Rebecca C. Lutzko for the Northern District of Ohio. “Gerber’s patients trusted him. But instead of safeguarding that trust, Gerber accepted payments from a drug company in exchange for prescribing dangerous, addictive drugs and wrote thousands of prescriptions that were not for a legitimate medical purpose. Our office will use all available tools — civil and criminal — to fight the opioid epidemic and protect patients and their families so that doctors like Gerber do not profit from abusing our healthcare system.”

“Dr. Gerber betrayed the trust placed in him and willfully violated his oath to protect the public and the provisions of the Controlled Substance Act,” said Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)’s Detroit Field Division. “His reckless behavior contributed to the opioid crisis gripping the nation and brought suffering to many communities in northern Ohio. This ruling will hopefully deter other medical practitioners who are inclined to put profit over patient health and safety.”

“Health care professionals who exploit opioid addiction for financial gain do so at the risk of endangering their patients and undermining critical public health efforts to address the opioid epidemic,” said Deputy Inspector General Christian J. Schrank of Investigations of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “Working with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to work to ensure that bad actors are held accountable for such schemes in order to protect both patients and taxpayers.”

“Ignoring the law by distributing prescriptions to opioids for illicit profit harms the communities that physicians are meant to help,” said Executive Assistant Director Michael D. Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch. “The FBI is glad that Gerber will not be able to prescribe controlled substances ever again.”

Gerber agreed to a consent judgment to settle the allegations in the complaint. The order entered by the court permanently prohibits Gerber from prescribing opioids or other controlled substances, permanently prohibits him from managing, owning or controlling any entity that dispenses controlled substances and requires Gerber to pay approximately $4.7 million under the FCA. Gerber was also sentenced in March to 42 months in prison and one year of home confinement in a related criminal case brought by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey J. Helmick entered the judgment and permanent injunction in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. In August 2018, Judge Helmick issued a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction prohibiting Gerber from prescribing opioids or other controlled substances.

The DEA, FBI, HHS-OIG, Ohio Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy and State Medical Board of Ohio investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patricia Fitzgerald and Angelita Cruz Bridges for the Northern District of Ohio and Trial Attorney Scott B. Dahlquist of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch handled the case.

The claims made in the complaint are allegations that the United States would need to prove by a preponderance of the evidence if the case proceeded to trial.

View Consent Decree

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: DH appeals to high-risk individuals to remain vigilant despite COVID-19 activity slowdown in Hong Kong

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

â€‹The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health today (May 23) said that there are early signs that the rate of increase in the COVID-19 activity level in Hong Kong has begun to slow down. However, it is expected to remain at a relatively high level in the near future. High-risk individuals, especially the elderly and those with underlying illnesses, should continue to stay vigilant and receive a free booster dose in a timely manner to minimise the risk of serious complications or death after infection.

“The CHP believes that COVID-19 has become an endemic disease with cyclical patterns. Epidemiological data from local and other regions around the world show that there are generally periodic upsurges in the COVID-19 activity level every six to nine months. However, the timing of the increase in the activity level of COVID-19 may vary from region to region depending on local factors, such as the herd immunity of the population and changes in the circulating strains and vaccination rates,” said the Controller of the CHP, Dr Edwin Tsui.

“Hong Kong has experienced an upsurge in COVID-19 cases since April this year, more than half a year after the last increase in July and August of last year. This increase is expected and similar to last year’s increase, with no unusual situations. Although some surveillance indicators suggest that the upward trend of COVID-19 has begun to slow down over the past week, we expect the activity level of COVID-19 to remain at a high levels in the coming few weeks,” Dr Tsui said.

According to the latest surveillance data as of the week ending May 17, the increase in the viral load of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from sewage surveillance and the test positivity rate of respiratory samples have slowed down when compared to the past week. Among them, the percentage of respiratory samples testing positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus increased slightly from 13.66 per cent in the week ending May 10 to 13.8 per cent. For sewage surveillance, the per capita viral load of SARS-CoV-2 virus increased from around 710 000 copy/litre to 770 000 copy/litre, but the rate of increase was significantly lower than that of the previous two weeks.

The upsurge of COVID-19 cases in the last one or two months is a regional phenomenon. Neighbouring areas such as Singapore, Thailand, Mainland China and Taiwan have also recorded a similar increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. Japan and Korea experienced upsurges of COVID-19 cases from January to February and from March to April this year respectively, and these surges have already slowed down. In North America and Europe, the activity level of COVID-19 peaked in the third quarter of last year, then declined in the fourth quarter, and has remained relatively stable so far this year.

“In general, the symptoms of COVID-19 infection in the general public are mostly mild, similar to other common respiratory infections. There is no need for the public to be overly concerned. However, high-risk groups (including the elderly and young children, persons with underlying illnesses and persons who are immunocompromised) are more likely to develop severe symptoms. Therefore, COVID-19 vaccination is important to protect these high-risk populations,” Dr Tsui added.

Apart from vaccination, the public should maintain stringent personal, environmental and hand hygiene at all times to minimise the risk of contracting COVID-19 and other respiratory infectious diseases. When respiratory symptoms appear, one should wear a surgical mask, consider avoiding going to work or school, avoid going to crowded places and seek medical advice promptly.

For the latest surveillance data, members of the public can refer to the CHP’s weekly COVID-19 & Flu Express. For more information on vaccination, please refer to the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme webpage.

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: California Doctor Sentenced for Health Care Fraud Scheme

Source: US FBI

A California man was sentenced today to 37 months in prison for his role in a $2.8 million fraud scheme in which Medicare was billed for hospice services that the patients did not need.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, John Thropay, M.D., 75, of Arcadia, was the medical director of multiple hospice companies, including Blue Sky Hospice Inc., located in Van Nuys, California. From October 2014 to March 2016, Thropay fraudulently certified Medicare patients of Blue Sky Hospice as having terminal illnesses that the patients did not have so that the company could bill Medicare for hospice services. In 2015, Thropay was listed as attending provider for more hospice claims paid by Medicare than any other provider in the nation.

Thropay was convicted at trial in the Central District of California of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and four counts of health care fraud on Feb. 15.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney E. Martin Estrada for the Central District of California, Acting Assistant Director in Charge Akil Davis of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Timothy DeFrancesca of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG)’s Los Angeles Regional Office made the announcement.

The FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case.

Assistant Deputy Chief Niall M. O’Donnell and Trial Attorney Eric C. Schmale of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,400 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $27 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: San Jose Man Sentenced to Nearly Three Years for Defrauding Investors of $4.7 Million

Source: US FBI

Joon Woo Kim Started An Investment Fund Focused On Publicly Traded Electric Vehicle Companies But Secretly Diverted Investors’ Funds To His Failing Private Business And Lost Millions

SAN FRANCISCO – Joon Woo Kim was sentenced today to 33-months in prison for two fraud schemes – the first, a scheme to mislead investors to contribute millions to an electric vehicle investment fund he formed in San Francisco, and the second, a scheme to obtain multi-million dollar business loans by lying to a bank – announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert K. Tripp. The sentence was handed down by United States District Judge James Donato.

On March 4, 2024, Kim, 58, of San Jose, Calif., pleaded guilty to two fraud charges against him, one count of committing wire fraud and the other for making false statements to a bank to obtain a loan. The first fraud scheme occurred from June 2015 through March 2022 and involved creating and running an investment fund that Kim named the M5 Doctors Fund. Kim admitted in his plea agreement that he ran the M5 Doctors Fund, along with a separate management entity M5 Management, with the intent to deceive investors. Kim represented to investors that he would invest the funds of the M5 Doctors Fund in securities of electric vehicle companies, including Tesla, and would always invest only in publicly traded securities. Instead, Kim transferred nearly all the millions invested by investors in the M5 Doctors Fund into a failing private company called CKR Enterprise, Inc. (CKR). CKR was a wholesale food distribution company operated by Kim and his wife and owned by them, among others.

Kim defrauded investors out of $4,690,000 due to his transfer of the M5 Doctors Fund assets to CKR. While this was occurring, Kim continued to mislead investors by sending quarterly reports to them suggesting their money was invested in public securities such as Tesla.

Kim engaged in a second fraud scheme in which he defrauded Hanmi Bank by applying for two loans for CKR, a $1,300,000 line of credit and a $3,200,000 business loan. Kim admitted the bank loan application contained materially false and fraudulent representations. Based on those representations, Kim obtained the proceeds of these loans.

In a memorandum filed for the sentencing hearing, the government argued that Kim gained the trust of his investors due to his impressive profile, which included multiple Ivy League degrees and extensive investment experience. Many M5 Doctors Fund investors were non-profit institutions that could invest only in public securities and would not have invested with Kim if they knew the truth, that is, that Kim transferred their money to a private company owned by Kim and his wife. The government pointed out that while Kim drained this fund, he continued to deceive his investors into believing the fund still had money that it no longer had.

A federal grand jury charged Kim on June 27, 2023, with multiple counts of wire fraud, bank fraud, and making a false statement to a bank. In his plea agreement, Kim pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, and one count of making a false statement to a bank, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014.

In addition to the 33-month term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge James Donato sentenced the defendant to a three-year period of supervision following his release from prison and ordered Kim to pay more than $4.7 million in restitution to his victims. Kim was ordered as one condition of his supervised release to make at least three 30-minute presentations to university MBA classes to inform students about the consequences of engaging in fraudulent business practices and behaviors.

Kim was ordered to surrender into custody on September 3, 2024.

Chris Highsmith is the Assistant U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case, with the assistance of Tina Rosenbaum and Aarian Beti and Victim Specialist Alicia Guevara. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI.

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: West New York Financial Advisor Sentenced to 41 Months in Prison for Role in Multimillion-Dollar Health Care Fraud Conspiracy

Source: US FBI

CAMDEN, N.J. – A West New York financial advisor was sentenced today to 41 months in prison for 11 counts of defrauding public health insurance plans out of more than $4 million and transacting in the criminal proceeds, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Kaival Patel, 55, of West New York, New Jersey, was convicted on Dec. 7, 2023, of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud, four counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering by transacting in criminal proceeds, and five counts of money laundering by transacting in criminal proceeds following an 11-day trial before U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler. U.S. District Judge Edward S. Kiel imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.

“This defendant lined his own pockets by taking advantage of health insurance plans for New Jersey state and local government employees, defrauding them of millions of dollars by conspiring to obtain reimbursements for medically unnecessary compound prescription medications. Together with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to investigate and prosecute those who abuse and defraud the health care system.”

U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger

According to documents filed in this case and the evidence at trial:

Compounded medications are specialty medications mixed by a pharmacist to meet the specific medical needs of an individual patient. Compounded medications require a prescription from a physician.

Patel created and operated a company called ABC Healthy Living LLC to market compound prescription medications. Patel and his conspirators learned that certain state and local government employees had insurance that would reimburse up to thousands of dollars for a one-month supply of certain compound medications such as vitamins, scar creams, pain creams, libido creams, and acid reflux medications. Patel and a conspirator approached Patel’s family member, a medical doctor who owns and operates a clinic in Newark, New Jersey, and convinced him to authorize prescriptions for the compound medications for patients who had no medical need for the prescriptions. Patel received commissions for the compound medication prescriptions.

Patel and his conspirators paid a group of corrections officers to go to Patel’s family member’s medical practice for the purpose of receiving fraudulent prescriptions. Patel conspired with a compounding pharmacist to add unnecessary ingredients to the compound medications to further increase their cost and augment his illicit profits. Patel engaged in a series of financial transactions to receive proceeds from the health care fraud and wire fraud conspiracy.

To date, approximately 48 people have been convicted or pleaded guilty in the overarching conspiracy.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Kiel sentenced Patel to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution of $4.72 million.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI’s Atlantic City Resident Agency, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson I. Delgado in Newark; special agents of IRS – Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan in Newark; and the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Mellone, with the investigation leading to the sentencing.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel A. Friedman of the Criminal Division and R. David Walk Jr., Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division.

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Three High-Ranking MS-13 Gang Members Plead Guilty to Racketeering Charges in Connection with Nine Murders

Source: US FBI

Two Defendants Were the New York Leaders of the Gang’s Hollywood and Sailors Cliques

Earlier today and on January 16, 2025, in federal court in Central Islip, three members of the violent transnational criminal organization La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the MS-13, pleaded guilty to multiple crimes, including nine murders committed on Long Island and elsewhere between 2016 and 2017. David Sosa-Guevara, also known as “Risky,” the New York regional leader of the Hollywood Locos Salvatruchas (Hollywood) clique of MS-13, and Victor Lopez-Morales, also known as “Persa,” a high-ranking member of the Hollywood clique, pleaded guilty on January 16, 2025. Kevin Torres, also known as “Inquieto” and “Quieto,” the New York regional leader of the Sailors Locos Salvatruchas Westside (Sailors) clique of MS-13, pleaded guilty on January 17, 2025.

Collectively, the three defendants pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in connection with their respective roles in nine MS-13 driven murders: (1) the April 26, 2016 murder of Samuel Martinez-Sandoval in Freeport; (2) the April 29, 2016 murder of Oscar Acosta in Brentwood; (3) the May 21, 2016 murder of Kerin Pineda in Freeport; (4) the September 4, 2016 murder of Josue Amaya-Leonor in Roosevelt; (5) the September 5, 2016 murder of Marcus Bohannon in Central Islip; (6) the October 10, 2016 murder of Javier Castillo in Freeport; (7) the October 14, 2016 murder of Carlos Ventura-Zelaya in Roosevelt; (8) the July 21, 2017 murder of Angel Soler in Roosevelt; and (9) the August 29, 2017 murder of David Rivera in Maryland, as well as narcotics trafficking. Additionally, Sosa-Guevara and Lopez-Morales pleaded guilty to participating in an August 2017 conspiracy to kidnap an individual identified in the superseding indictment as “John Doe #3.”

The three guilty plea proceedings were held before United States Magistrate Judge Lee G. Dunst. When sentenced by United States District Judge Joan M. Azrack, pursuant to the terms of their plea agreements, Sosa-Guevara and Torres each face up to 65 years in prison, and a minimum sentence of 40 years in prison. Victor Lopez-Morales faces up to 60 years in prison and minimum sentence of 40 years.

Carolyn Pokorny, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), Robert E. Waring, Acting Commissioner, Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), Patrick J. Ryder, Commissioner, Nassau County Police Department (NCPD) and Anne T. Donnelly, Nassau County District Attorney, announced the guilty pleas.

“The defendants have admitted to their participation in numerous murders savagely committed with machetes and guns, all on behalf of the MS-13 and to increase their status in that depraved criminal organization,” stated Acting United States Attorney Pokorny. “As a result of the guilty pleas, the defendants will be severely punished by serving decades in prison and provide some measure of relief and closure to the families of the many victims.”

FBI Assistant Director in Charge Dennehy stated: “MS-13 callously used murder in an attempt to exert control over territory for their ruthless gang operations. As demonstrated by the guilty pleas of these three, high-ranking MS-13 members for their roles in nine murders, this type of extreme and senseless violence will not go unpunished. The FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to bring to justice members of MS-13 or any other violent gang using violence and murder to terrorize our communities.”

“These defendants used their rank in the gang to help orchestrate multiple brutal murders and other crimes,” stated SCPD Acting Commissioner Waring. “We in law enforcement will never stop working to fight the pervasive violence sowed throughout these gangs.”

“The charges brought forth is a clear example of the results when Law Enforcement Personnel from Federal and Local Agencies combine their efforts and resources,” stated NCPD Commissioner Ryder. “Their relentless and continued investigations resulted with the charging of these criminals who were responsible for committing these murders. This combined investigation demonstrates the diligence of the well trained and determined investigators. The Nassau County Police Department remains committed in working with our law enforcement partners halting any gang activity on our streets and keeping our residents safe. I would like to thank all of the assisting agencies and their investigators on a job well done.”

“These defendants carried out vicious and senseless violence to instill fear and assert their dominance. Today’s guilty pleas bring us one step closer to ridding this dangerous gang activity from Nassau County communities,” stated Nassau County District Attorney Donnelly. “Together with our partners, we remain committed to protecting Long Island from this criminal organization’s brutality and ensuring individuals involved in these devastating acts are held accountable for their crimes.”

According to court filings and statements made during the guilty plea proceedings, Torres was the New York regional leader of the Sailors clique, Sosa-Guevara was the New York regional leader of the Hollywood clique, and Lopez-Morales was a high-ranking member of the Hollywood clique. The defendants admitted to committing the crimes set forth below in order to maintain and increase their membership and status within the gang, and to further the mission of the MS-13.

April 26, 2016 Murder of Samuel Martinez-Sandoval

The defendants pleaded guilty to the murder of 20-year-old Martinez-Sandoval, which was carried out in April 2016, by the defendants and other members from the Sailors, Hollywood and Normandie Locos Salvatruchas cliques, who planned a joint operation to lure and kill Martinez-Sandoval because they believed that he was a member of the rival Sureños gang.

On April 26, 2016, MS-13 members convinced Martinez-Sandoval to drive with them to a secluded, wooded area near Freeport Lake in Roosevelt, under the guise of smoking marijuana. Separately, more than a half dozen MS-13 members, including the defendants, armed with machetes and other weapons, had gathered at a designated location along Freeport Lake where it was agreed that the other gang members would bring the victim. When Martinez-Sandoval arrived, Sosa-Guevara, Torres, Lopez-Morales and the other MS-13 members surrounded and attacked the victim, each taking turns hacking him with a machete and other weapons. After the victim was killed, the MS-13 members dug a shallow grave and buried the victim. However, because the initial hole was not deep enough to conceal Martinez-Sandoval’s body, a group of MS-13 members went back the following day, reburied the victim and covered his body with cement and dirt. Martinez-Sandoval’s body was not found until September 2024.

April 29, 2016 Murder of Oscar Acosta

Torres pleaded guilty to the murder of 19-year-old Acosta. In early 2016, Torres, as leader, ordered a “greenlight” authorizing other gang members to murder Acosta because the gang suspected that he was associating with the rival 18th Street gang after previously aligning himself with the MS-13. Torres assigned roles as to which members would take the lead in planning and carrying out the murder.

On April 29, 2016, MS-13 members met Acosta in a wooded area near an elementary school in Brentwood where he had been lured under the guise of smoking marijuana. They brutally beat Acosta with tree limbs, knocking him unconscious. They bound Acosta’s hands and feet, wrapped an article of clothing around his mouth to prevent him from making noise and summoned other MS-13 members who arrived in two cars. The MS-13 members loaded Acosta into the trunk of one of the cars and drove to a more secluded area in Brentwood near the abandoned Pilgrim State Psychiatric Hospital. The MS-13 members then removed Acosta, who was still alive, from the trunk and carried him deeper into the woods where they took turns hacking him to death with a machete. The murder was supervised by the local leaders of the Sailors clique who reported back to Torres once completed. After killing Acosta, the MS-13 members buried his body in a shallow grave.

Acosta’s body was discovered by law enforcement nearly five months later, on September 16, 2016, during a search for another MS-13 victim. His cause of death was homicidal violence, including sharp and blunt force injuries to his head and torso.

May 21, 2016 Murder of Kerin Pineda

The defendants also pleaded guilty to the murder of 20-year-old Pineda, who, like Acosta, was killed because of his suspected membership in the 18th Street gang. Torres, again, ordered the “greenlight” for Pineda, marking him for death. In response, MS-13 members from the Sailors and Hollywood cliques, including Sosa-Guevara and Lopez-Morales, devised a plan to kill Pineda.

On May 21, 2016, MS-13 members, armed with machetes, lured Pineda to a secluded wooded area near the Merrick-Freeport border. Torres, Lopez-Morales, and Sosa-Guevara acted as lookouts for police and coordinated the attack, staying in contact with the MS-13 members in the woods while they waited for Pineda. When Pineda arrived, he was surrounded and violently attacked by the group of MS-13 members, each of whom took turns hacking and slashing him with the machetes. Pineda’s body was then buried in a hole that had been dug in the ground the day before, in anticipation of the murder. Before leaving the scene, the MS-13 members contacted the lookouts – Torres, Lopez-Morales, and Sosa-Guevara – who advised them that they could safely come out of the woods and drove them away from the scene.

September 4, 2016 Murder of Josue Amaya-Leonor

Sosa-Guevara and Lopez-Morales pleaded guilty for their roles in the murder of 19 year-old Amaya-Leonor on September 4, 2016. Like the other victims, Amaya-Leonor was lured to a secluded wooded area and killed because of his perceived association with the 18th Street gang. On the evening of the murder, MS-13 members convinced Amaya-Leonor to venture deep into the Roosevelt Preserve, in Roosevelt, to smoke marijuana. Sosa-Guevara was in communication with the gang members by cell phone and was directing them on where to bring the victim. Once there, Amaya-Leonor was surrounded by the MS-13 members who were armed with machetes; he was struck repeatedly, and killed. Thereafter, Lopez-Morales, who was in the immediate area of the murder looking out for police, arrived on the scene and supervised the other MS-13 members as they dug a hole and buried Amaya-Leonor’s body, which was not found until May 2018 – over a year and a half after the murder had occurred.

September 5, 2016 Murder of Marcus Bohannon

Torres pleaded guilty to authorizing the murder of 27-year-old Marcus Bohannon. On September 4, 2016, members of the Sailors clique met at the house of local clique leaders Alexi Saenz and Jairo Saenz, in Central Islip, where Torres directed the gang members to go out hunting for rival gang members to kill. The MS-13 members separated into several cars and drove around Central Islip and Brentwood, until one of the cars spotted Bohannon walking along Lowell Avenue in Central Islip in the early morning hours of September 5. Suspecting that Bohannon was a member of the rival Bloods gang, two MS-13 members, carrying firearms, got out of the vehicle, approached him and started shooting. Bohannon was struck nine times, including in his head, neck, and chest, and died from his wounds.

October 10, 2016 Murder of Javier Castillo

Torres also pleaded guilty to the murder of 15-year-old Javier Castillo. In October 2016, the MS-13 targeted Castillo because he was believed to be a member of the 18th Street gang. On October 10, 2016, members of the Sailors clique in Brentwood convinced Castillo, who lived in Central Islip, to go with them to Freeport – approximately 30 miles away – to smoke marijuana. Torres authorized the members of the clique operating in Brentwood to bring Castillo to his territory in Freeport to be killed. The MS-13 members took Castillo to an isolated marsh area along the water in Cow Meadow Park, in Freeport, where they attacked and killed him, taking turns hacking him with a machete. Torres also served as the lookout for police in the area during the murder. Thereafter, the MS-13 members dug a hole and buried Castillo’s body, which was not recovered until one year later, in October 2017.

October 14, 2016 Murder of Carlos Ventura-Zelaya

Sosa-Guevara and Lopez-Morales pleaded guilty to the murder of 24-year-old Ventura-Zelaya, who had been marked for death by the MS-13 because of his suspected membership in the rival 18th Street gang. On the day of the murder, Ventura-Zelaya was observed at a deli in Roosevelt by a member of the Hollywood clique. Sosa-Guevara mobilized other members of the clique to kill Ventura-Zelaya and conducted surveillance of the victim until the other gang members arrived. The gang members tasked with carrying out the murder first drove to pick up a gun from Lopez-Morales. After obtaining the weapon, the group drove in the direction of the deli to look for and kill the victim. Once they spotted Ventura-Zelaya walking on Hudson Street in Roosevelt, two MS-13 members got out of the car, approached him and one

of them fired multiple times, striking and killing the victim. They then ran back to the car and drove away from the scene.

July 21, 2017 Murder of Angel Soler

Sosa-Guevara and Lopez-Morales also pleaded guilty to the murder of 15-year-old Soler. The MS-13 suspected Soler was an 18th Street gang member, and Sosa-Guevara ordered his murder. Lopez-Morales and other MS-13 members carried out the murder, luring Soler to wooded lot near Milburn Creek in Roosevelt to smoke marijuana. The group attacked Soler with machetes and a pickaxe, and buried his body in a shallow grave. The following day, MS-13 members went back to lay cement over Soler’s body, in order to better conceal it. Soler’s remains were recovered in October 2017.

August 2017 Conspiracy to Kidnap John Doe #3

Lopez-Morales and Sosa-Guevara also admitted that, just weeks after the Soler murder, they and other MS-13 members planned the kidnapping, assault, and/or murder of John Doe #3, an MS-13 member who had violated the rules of the gang. Specifically, Sosa-Guevara assigned Lopez-Morales and two other MS-13 members to carry out the kidnapping and attack. Lopez-Morales was instructed that, once they had John Doe #3, to wait for further guidance from MS-13 leadership as to whether to kill or brutally assault him. On August 6, 2017, Lopez-Morales and the other gang members’ plan to kidnap John Doe #3 was foiled by law enforcement, who had been intercepting the calls arranging the attack, pursuant to court-ordered wiretaps of certain MS-13 members’ cell phones, and Lopez-Morales was taken into custody.

August 29, 2017 Murder of David Rivera

Sosa-Guevara also admitted to his participation in the murder of 16-year-old Rivera in Maryland. To avoid law enforcement in New York, Sosa-Guevara and another Hollywood member from Long Island relocated to Maryland where they connected with the local Hollywood clique. After arriving, Sosa-Guevara learned of a plan to kill a rival gang member and directed the other Long Island member of his clique to participate. On August 29, 2017, Sosa-Guevara drove the other gang member to a park outside of Edgewater, Maryland, for him to participate in the Rivera murder. The victim was brought to that location by other MS-13 members, attacked with machetes and killed. After the murder, Sosa-Guevara drove the member of his clique away from the scene. Rivera’s body was not found until June 7, 2024.

Narcotics Trafficking Conspiracies

Finally, Torres pleaded guilty to conspiring with the members of the Sailors clique to distribute cocaine and marijuana, and Sosa-Guevara and Lopez-Morales pleaded guilty to conspiring with members of the Hollywood clique to distribute marijuana. These charges stemmed from the MS-13 cliques’ street-level sales of cocaine and marijuana on Long Island, the proceeds of which were used to help finance the MS-13’s criminal operations.

                                    *          *          *          *

These guilty pleas are the latest achievements in a series of federal prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York targeting members of the MS-13, a violent, transnational criminal organization. The MS-13’s leadership is based in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, but the gang has thousands of members across the United States. With numerous branches, or “cliques,” the MS-13 is the most violent criminal organization on Long Island. Since 2003, hundreds of MS-13 members, including dozens of clique leaders, have been convicted on federal felony charges in the Eastern District of New York. A majority of those MS-13 members have been convicted on federal racketeering charges for participating in murders, attempted murders and assaults. Since 2010, this Office has obtained indictments charging MS-13 members with carrying out more than 70 murders in the Eastern District of New York, resulting in the convictions of dozens of MS-13 leaders and members in connection with those murders. These prosecutions are the product of investigations led by the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force, which is comprised of agents and officers of the FBI, SCPD, NCPD, Nassau County Sheriff’s Department, Suffolk County Probation Office, Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, the New York State Police, the Hempstead Police Department, the Rockville Centre Police Department and the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

The government’s case is being handled by the Criminal Section of the Office’s Long Island Division. Assistant United States Attorneys Paul G. Scotti, Justina L. Geraci and Megan E. Farrell are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Assistant District Attorney Jared Rosenblatt of the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office and Paralegal Specialist Kerry Ucci and Automated Litigation Specialist Michael Compitello.

The Defendants:

VICTOR LOPEZ-MORALES (also known as “Persa”)
Age: 36
Roosevelt, New York

DAVID SOSA-GUEVARA (also known as “Risky”)
Age: 33
Roosevelt, New York

KEVIN TORRES (also known as “Quieto” and “Inquieto”)
Age: 29
Freeport, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 20-CR-251 (S-1)(JMA)

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Cincinnati Woman Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Crimes Related to COVID-19 Relief Fraud

Source: US FBI

CINCINNATI – A Cincinnati woman convicted at trial last summer of fraud crimes was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 84 months in prison.

Kelli Prather, 52, fraudulently requested more than $1.2 million in pandemic relief loans. She was convicted on all 14 counts following a trial in July 2023 before U.S. District Judge Matthew W. McFarland.

According to testimony and evidence presented during the trial, Prather applied for six Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans as part of the CARES Act COVID-19 pandemic relief. She claimed to own six businesses – Enhanced Healthcare Solutions, Life Skills Enhancement, Prather Property Management, Reliable Ambulette Services, Rich Glo Management Services and Tots R Us.

Separately, Prather also applied for eight Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). In three of the EIDL applications she filed in November 2020, she represented that the businesses were majority owned by her disabled nephew.

Prather sought more than $1.2 million in fraud relief and fraudulently received approximately $19,700. As part of her sentence, she will pay $19,682 in restitution.

The jury convicted her of bank fraud, making false statements in connection to credit or loan applications, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, and other members of the Financial Crimes Working Group Pandemic Fraud Committee announced the sentence imposed today by Judge McFarland. Assistant United States Attorneys Anthony Springer and Ebunoluwa A. Taiwo are representing the United States in this case.

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MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Matawan Cardiologist Sentenced to 35 Months in Prison for Defrauding Health Insurance Companies of More Than $1.9 Million Through Health Care Fraud Scheme

Source: US FBI

TRENTON, N.J. – The owner and sole medical provider of a New Jersey medical practice was sentenced today to 35 months in prison for orchestrating a health care fraud scheme causing over $1.9 million in insurance reimbursements for false claims, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Dr. Fazal Panezai, 76, of Morganville, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner to an information charging him with participating in a health care fraud scheme. Judge Castner imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.

According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court:

Panezai, who owned and operated Matawan-Aberdeen Heart & Medical Center, for years submitted false claims to at least six health insurance benefit programs for office visits that either never occurred or did not take place for the length of time that he claimed.

For example, Panezai submitted claims for office visits lasting approximately 1,675 minutes – approximately 27.9 hours – for one day’s worth of office visits on May 27, 2022. Panezai also billed health insurance providers over $80,000 for office visits when he was out of the country and not conducting any office visits. Panezai also submitted claims for office visits when patients only picked up a prescription for a controlled substance from the front desk and never met with him. The false claims caused insurance plans to issue reimbursement checks to the center. Panezai kept the illicit profits, which totaled more than $1.9 million.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Castner sentenced Panezai to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution of $1.95 million.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson I. Delgado in Newark, with the investigation leading to the sentencing. He also thanked the Matawan Police Department.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys DeNae Thomas of the Health Care Fraud Unit and Jessica R. Ecker of the Criminal Division in Newark.

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: High-Ranking MS-13 Gang Member Pleads Guilty to Seven Murders, Multiple Attempted Murders, Arson and Firearms Offenses

Source: US FBI

Earlier today, in federal court in Central Islip, Jairo Saenz, also known as “Funny,” a high-ranking member of the Brentwood/Central Islip chapter of the Sailors Locos Salvatruchas Westside (Sailors) clique of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the MS-13, a transnational criminal organization, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in connection with his participation in seven murders, namely, the January 28, 2016 murder of Michael Johnson; the April 29, 2016 murder of Oscar Acosta; the September 13, 2016 murders of Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens; the October 10, 2016 murder of Javier Castillo; the October 13, 2016 murder of Dewann Stacks; and the January 30, 2017 murder of Esteban Alvarado-Bonilla. Saenz also pleaded guilty to his participation in three attempted murders, arson, narcotics trafficking, firearms offenses and a conspiracy to kill Marcus Bohannon, who was murdered on September 5, 2016 by other members of the MS-13.

Today’s guilty plea proceeding was held before United States District Judge Gary R. Brown. When sentenced, Jairo Saenz faces up to 60 years in prison, and a minimum sentence of 40 years in prison under the terms of his plea agreement.

Carolyn Pokorny, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI) and Robert E. Waring, Acting Commissioner, Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), announced the guilty plea.

“Today, Jairo Saenz pleaded guilty to seven murders that can only be described as barbaric, and multiple acts of senseless gang violence that had turned parts of Long Island into a war zone, with MS-13 gang members wielding guns, machetes, bats and fire that threatened the safety of our communities,” stated Acting United States Attorney Pokorny. “I commend my Office’s prosecutors and the Long Island Gang Task Force who are committed to holding MS-13 gang members accountable for the crimes they have committed and harm they have caused. It is my sincere hope that today’s guilty plea brings some measure of solace and closure to the families of the defendant’s victims who continue to mourn the deaths of their loved ones.”

According to court filings and statements made during today’s guilty plea proceeding, Jairo Saenz was a high-ranking member of the Brentwood/Central Islip chapter of the Sailors clique of the MS-13 – one of the more powerful, violent and well-established cliques on the East Coast of the United States. At the time, he was second in command to his brother, Alexi Saenz, who pleaded guilty to the same crimes on July 10, 2024. Jairo Saenz committed the following crimes in order to maintain and increase his membership and status within the gang, and to further the mission of the MS-13:

January 28, 2016 Murder of Michael Johnson

On January 28, 2016, Alexi Saenz and other MS-13 members and associates were at the Jocorena Deli in Brentwood, where they saw 29-year-old Michael Johnson, and claimed to recognize him as a member of the rival Bloods street gang. At that point, Johnson was marked as their “food” – a reference to their intention to kill him.

After receiving the requisite approval from the New York leader of the Sailors clique to commit this murder, Alexi Saenz contacted Jairo Saenz and several other MS-13 members, informed them of the plan to kill Johnson and instructed them to bring weapons, including a machete and a baseball bat, to a wooded area in Brentwood. Alexi Saenz then lured Johnson to that secluded meeting location under the guise of smoking marijuana. The MS-13 members and associates, including Jairo Saenz, ambushed Johnson from behind – striking Johnson with the baseball bat, stabbing him with a knife and taking turns hacking him with the machete. They fled after hearing police sirens in the area.

Johnson was reported missing by family members. Less than one week after his murder, on February 2, 2016, members of the SCPD responded to a 911 call about a body found in the woods by a passerby and recovered Johnson’s body. An autopsy determined Johnson’s cause of death to be sharp and blunt force injuries.

April 29, 2016 Murder of Oscar Acosta

In early 2016, Alexi Saenz, Jairo Saenz and their fellow Sailors clique members decided to “green light,” or approve, the murder of 19-year-old Oscar Acosta because they suspected that he was associating with the rival 18th Street gang after previously aligning himself with the MS-13. The New York Sailors clique leader assigned roles as to which members would take the lead in planning and carrying out the murder.

On April 29, 2016, MS-13 members met Acosta in a wooded area near an elementary school in Brentwood where he had been lured under the guise of smoking marijuana. They brutally beat Acosta with tree limbs, knocking him unconscious. They bound Acosta’s hands and feet, wrapped an article of clothing around his mouth to prevent him from making noise and summoned other MS-13 members, including Alexi Saenz and Jairo Saenz, who arrived together. The MS-13 members loaded Acosta into the trunk of the Saenz brothers’ car, and drove to a more secluded area in Brentwood near the abandoned Pilgrim State Psychiatric Hospital. At the direction of Alexi Saenz, the MS-13 members removed Acosta, who was still alive, from the trunk and carried him deeper into the woods where they took turns hacking him to death with a machete. The murder was supervised by the Saenz brothers. The MS-13 members then buried Acosta’s body in a shallow grave.

Acosta’s body was discovered by law enforcement nearly five months later, on September 16, 2016, during a search for another MS-13 victim. His cause of death was homicidal violence, including sharp and blunt force injuries to his head and torso.

July 18, 2016 Attempted Murders of John Doe #1 and John Doe #2

On July 18, 2016, during a Sailors clique meeting at the Saenz brothers’ house in Central Islip, Alexi Saenz instructed the group to hunt for rival gang members who had been disrespectful to the MS-13, in order to attack and kill them.

Later that evening, Jairo Saenz and other members of the MS-13, who were driving around Brentwood armed with firearms and a machete, spotted a group of men on Apple Street. Believing these men to be members of a rival gang, three MS-13 members got out of the car driven by Jairo Saenz and attacked the group, firing rounds from two different guns, and then using a machete to hack at one of the men who had fallen to the ground.

Two individuals were injured as a result of this attack. John Doe #1 was struck with a bullet, but survived. John Doe #2 was attacked with a machete, and was permanently disfigured.

August 10, 2016 Attempted Murders of Suspected Rival Gang Members

In 2016, members of the MS-13 were engaged in a series of disputes with members of the Goon Squad, a rival gang in Brentwood.

On August 10, 2016, Alexi Saenz and another MS-13 member drove through the neighborhood around Lukens Avenue in Brentwood, and spotted several men who they believed were members of the Goon Squad. They then rallied other members of the Sailors clique, including Jairo Saenz, to come kill the rivals.

The MS-13 members divided into two vehicles and drove towards the house where the suspected Goon Squad members had been spotted. The Saenz brothers’ car kept watch for the police, while two other MS-13 members, each armed with a gun, approached the group of suspected rivals and fired numerous shots in their direction. No one was hit, although a stray bullet entered a neighbor’s house and struck the headboard of a bed in which the neighbor was sleeping.

September 5, 2016 Murder of Marcus Bohannon

On September 4, 2016, after a Sailors clique meeting at the Saenz brothers’ house in Central Islip, Jairo Saenz, Alexi Saenz and other MS-13 members went out hunting for rival gang members to kill.

The MS-13 members separated into several cars and drove around Central Islip and Brentwood, until Alexi Saenz’s group spotted 27-year old Marcus Bohannon walking along Lowell Avenue in Central Islip in the early morning hours of September 5. Suspecting that Bohannon was a member of the rival Bloods gang, two MS-13 members, carrying firearms, got out of the vehicle, approached him and started shooting. Bohannon was struck nine times, including in his head, neck, and chest, and died from his wounds.

September 12, 2016 Arson

During the summer of 2016, Sailors clique members of the MS-13 were regularly having altercations with local gang members based in a neighborhood on Freeman Avenue in Brentwood.

On September 12, 2016, the MS-13 members retaliated by setting fire to a car parked in the driveway of one of the houses in that rival gang neighborhood. Alexi Saenz directed other gang members to purchase gasoline and carry out the arson, while he drove around watching for police. Jairo Saenz drove the other MS-13 gang members to that house, where they poured gasoline on a car parked in the driveway, and set it on fire. The car exploded and set another parked car on fire.

September 13, 2016 Murders of Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens

On September 13, 2016, Sailors clique members brutally murdered 15-year-old Nisa Mickens and 16-year-old Kayla Cuevas, both students at Brentwood High School.

In the months leading up to the murders, Cuevas was involved in a series of disputes with members and associates of the MS-13. Approximately one week before the murders, these disputes escalated when Cuevas and several friends were involved in an altercation with MS-13 members at Brentwood High School. After that incident, the MS-13 members vowed to seek revenge against Cuevas.

On the evening of September 13, 2016, the Saenz brothers and other members of the Sailors clique of the MS-13 were driving in separate cars around Brentwood in search of rival gang members to attack and kill. One group of MS-13 members spotted Cuevas and Mickens walking down residential Stahley Street. Recognizing Cuevas, they called the Saenz brothers and were granted permission to kill the girls. Several MS-13 members then chased down and attacked both Cuevas and Mickens, wielding baseball bats and a machete, striking each of the girls numerous times in their heads and bodies, while the Saenz brothers’ car drove around watching for police. After the murders, the group retreated to the Saenz brothers’ home in Central Islip, where they changed clothes and hid the weapons.

Mickens, whose body was discovered later that evening on Stahley Street, not far from Cuevas’s home, sustained significant sharp force trauma to her face and blunt force trauma to her head. Cuevas, whose body was discovered the following day behind a house adjacent to where Mickens’s body was found, sustained significant blunt force trauma to her head and body and multiple lacerations.

October 10, 2016 Murder of Javier Castillo

In October 2016, the MS-13 targeted 15-year-old Javier Castillo because he was believed to be a member of the 18th Street gang, one of MS-13’s principal rivals.

On October 10, 2016, Jairo Saenz and other members of the Sailors clique convinced Castillo, who lived in Central Islip, to drive with them to Freeport – approximately 30 miles away – to smoke marijuana. Once there, they met Alexi Saenz and other Sailors clique members. The group then lured Castillo to an isolated marsh area in Cow Meadow Park, where they attacked him, taking turns hacking him to death with a machete.

Afterwards, the MS-13 members dug a hole and buried Castillo’s body, which was not recovered until one year later, in late October 2017. Castillo was determined to have suffered multiple sharp force injuries to his head, neck, torso and extremities.

October 13, 2016 Murder of Dewann Stacks

On the evening of October 13, 2016, the Saenz brothers and other members of the Sailors clique of MS-13 were driving around Central Islip and Brentwood in search of rival gang members to attack and kill.

That night, they spotted 34-year-old Dewann Stacks and, believing him to be a rival gang member, Alexi Saenz authorized his murder. While Alexi Saenz drove around watching for police presence, Jairo Saenz drove three MS-13 members, armed with two machetes and a baseball bat, to attack Stacks. The three armed MS-13 members got out of the car, and beat and hacked Stacks to death on American Boulevard, a residential street in Brentwood. Stacks sustained severe sharp and blunt force trauma to his face and head, leaving his body nearly unrecognizable.

January 30, 2017 Murder of Esteban Alvarado-Bonilla

On the morning of January 30, 2017, Alexi Saenz and other members of the Sailors clique of MS-13 spotted 29-year-old Esteban Alvarado-Bonilla inside El Campesino Deli in Central Islip. Alvarado-Bonilla was wearing a football jersey bearing the number “18,” which led the MS-13 to conclude that he was a member of a rival gang, and they plotted to kill him.

After Alvarado-Bonilla was observed in the Deli, Jairo Saenz drove MS-13 members to get a mask and another vehicle, both of which would be used when committing the murder. Alexi Saenz provided the clique’s 9-millimeter handgun for use in the murder.

At approximately 10:30 a.m., a masked MS-13 member entered the deli, approached Alvarado-Bonilla from behind, and shot him multiple times, killing him. One of the bullets pierced through Alvarado-Bonilla’s head and struck the chest of a female employee of the deli, who was standing directly in front of him. The deli employee survived the gunshot wound.

Narcotics Trafficking Conspiracy

For a year and a half, from approximately April 2016 through March 2017, in order to finance the illegal operations of the Sailors clique, the Saenz brothers obtained wholesale quantities of cocaine and marijuana, which they distributed to other Sailors clique members and associates for street-level sales in Brentwood and its surrounding areas. After the sales, the profits were turned over to the Saenz brothers, for use in, among other things, purchasing firearms for use by clique members, wiring money to MS-13 leaders in El Salvador and buying additional narcotics for further distribution.

Today’s guilty plea is the latest achievement in a series of federal prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York targeting members of the MS-13, a violent, transnational criminal organization. The MS-13’s leadership is based in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, but the gang has thousands of members across the United States. With numerous branches, or “cliques,” the MS-13 is the most violent criminal organization on Long Island. Since 2003, hundreds of MS-13 members, including dozens of clique leaders, have been convicted on federal felony charges in the Eastern District of New York. A majority of those MS-13 members have been convicted on federal racketeering charges for participating in murders, attempted murders and assaults. Since 2010, this Office has obtained indictments charging MS-13 members with carrying out more than 70 murders in the Eastern District of New York, resulting in the convictions of dozens of MS-13 leaders and members in connection with those murders. These prosecutions are the product of investigations led by the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force, which is comprised of agents and officers of the FBI, SCPD, Nassau County Police Department, Nassau County Sheriff’s Department, Suffolk County Probation Office, Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, the New York State Police, the Hempstead Police Department, the Rockville Centre Police Department and the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

The government’s case is being handled by the Criminal Section of the Office’s Long Island Division. Assistant United States Attorneys John J. Durham, Paul G. Scotti, Justina L. Geraci and Megan E. Farrell are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Kerry Ucci and Automated Litigation Specialist Michael Compitello.

The Defendant:

JAIRO SAENZ (also known as “Funny”)
Age: 28
El Divisadero, Morazán, El Salvador; and Central Islip, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 16-CR-403 (S-8)(GRB)

MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Columbus Man Faces 20 to 23 Years in Prison as Part of Narcotics Guilty Plea Involving Killing of Another Columbus Resident

Source: US FBI

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A Columbus man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to a drug crime and admitted to his role in the killing of a local man. The defendant is one of nearly two dozen individuals charged in a case involving a large-scale drug and human trafficking ring.

Dustin A. Speakman, 34, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances within 1,000 of an elementary school. As part of his plea, Speakman admitted to his role in the death of one victim which occurred during the time he was operating a drug distribution house. His plea includes a sentencing recommendation of 20 to 23 years in prison.

Speakman, who is also known as “Dawg,” is one of 23 defendants charged in a narcotics and human trafficking case that involves at least two deaths.

According to court documents, from 2008 until June 2022, lead defendants Patrick Saultz and Cordell Washington ran a large-scale drug trafficking organization in Columbus that included sex trafficking, labor trafficking, and money laundering.

Court documents detail that the drug trafficking organization brought large quantities of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, oxycodone, alprazolam and marijuana into Columbus. These drugs were sold or used to coerce individuals into sexual activity for some members of the drug ring and their profit.

Speakman joined the drug trafficking organization after being released from jail in 2022, where he was housed with Saultz. Speakman was a mid-level drug distributor for the group out of residences on South Ogden and South Warren.

As part of his guilty plea, Speakman admitted to severely beating one of his drug runners in May 2022 and then providing him with free drugs to make up for the attack. Witnesses said the male was beaten by Speakman and then given cocaine and fentanyl as compensation. Shortly after, the victim began to seize and foam at the mouth and did not respond to Narcan. The victim was driven to an alley near Grant Hospital where he was found unconscious by Columbus Fire Department personnel with severe trauma to the face and head. His cause of death was ultimately determined to be blunt force trauma caused by Speakman.

“Any loss of life is significant,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker. “Our office will continue to work to hold perpetrators of illegal drug trafficking accountable and secure justice for victims of violent and drug-related deaths.”

As of today, 18 of the 23 defendants have pleaded guilty. One defendant, Carmela Brooks, has been sentenced and received a term of imprisonment of five years.

U.S. Attorney Parker commended the investigation coordinated by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes Columbus Division of Police Chief Elaine Bryant; Shawn Gibson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and Orville O. Greene, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Other agencies that have assisted the task force with the investigation include the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, HIDTA Task Force, IRS-Criminal Investigation, FBI, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI), Ohio National Guard Counter Drug Task Force, Pickerington Police Department, New Albany Police Department, and the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team.

Assistant United States Attorneys Timothy Prichard and Emily Czerniejewski are representing the United States in this case.

This investigation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. More information about OCDETF can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

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MIL Security OSI –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: 23 May 2025 Six public health champions celebrated at the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly

Source: World Health Organisation

At an award ceremony taking place during a Plenary of the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly in Geneva on Friday, 23 May 2025, public health prizes and awards were presented to persons and institutions from around the world for their outstanding contributions to public health.

The six 2025 laureates received their awards from the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly President Teodoro J. Herbosa, together with high-level representatives of the foundations that established these public health awards and prizes, and WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

In February 2025, the Executive Board of the World Health Organization decided to distinguish six laureates to celebrate their unique role for public health in their countries, their regions and globally.

They come from four WHO Regions: Africa, Eastern Mediterranean, Europe and Western Pacific.

Sasakawa Health Prize

Dr Merete Nordentoft from Denmark is the 2025 winner of the Sasakawa Health Prize

The Sasakawa Health Prize is awarded for outstanding innovative work in health development to a person or persons, an institution or institutions, or a nongovernmental organization or organizations. Such work includes the promotion of given health programmes or notable advances in primary health care.

The Executive Board awarded the Sasakawa Health Prize for 2025 to Dr Merete Nordentoft from Denmark for her outstanding innovative work in health development.

Dr Merete Nordentoft giving the opening speech at the welcoming reception at the IEPA (International Early Psychosis Association) congress in Tokyo. IEPA has played a pivotal role in implementing specialized early intervention services in many countries around the World. Merete Nordentoft was president for IEPA 2014–2016, and she was chairing the scientific committee. © 2014, Courtesy of Merete Nordentoft

Dr Merete Nordentoft has made important contributions to mental health care by providing concrete, primary health-care-based solutions to address gaps in the chain of care. In 1998, she created the OPUS outreach treatment programme that has resulted in significantly improved outcomes for young people with first-episode psychosis, demonstrating substantial achievements in advancing mental health programmes and improving the quality of care. One of OPUS’s key success factors is the direct involvement of communities and family members. The concept has since served as inspiration for many countries throughout the world. Her intervention research on suicide prevention has directly informed Denmark’s national action plan for suicide prevention, which includes regional suicide preventive clinics and collaboration between helplines run by nongovernmental organizations and professional helplines.

The focus on early intervention and increasing the accessibility of mental health services at the community level benefits vulnerable groups.

“With the right support, early enough, recovery is not only possible – it is likely,” said Dr Merete Nordentoft.

United Arab Emirates Health Foundation Prize

Dr Jožica Maučec Zakotnik from Slovenia won the 2025 United Arab Emirates Health Foundation Prize

The United Arab Emirates Health Foundation Prize is awarded for an outstanding contribution to health development to a person or persons, an institution or institutions, or a nongovernmental organization or organizations.

The Executive Board awarded the 2025 Prize to Dr Jožica Maučec Zakotnik from Slovenia for her outstanding contribution to health development.

Dr Zakotnik (to the right) at a press conference to launch a new national plan on mental health. © 2017, Courtesy of Jožica Maučec Zakotnik

Dr Jožica Maučec Zakotnik has made exceptional contributions to the promotion of healthy lifestyles and to ensuring equal access to preventive services in health care for all. She co-developed an innovative model of multidisciplinary, free-of-charge health promotion centres that include access to mental health services, breaking access barriers for the most vulnerable through collaboration with social services and schools.

She also led the establishment in 2005 of the MURA Health and Development Centre, meant to address social determinants of health in an impoverished region, that became a WHO collaborating centre in 2009 for cross-sectoral approaches to health and development. At the National Public Health Institute, Dr Zakotnik collaborated with firefighting associations to increase awareness of colorectal cancer screening amongst men. As a State Secretary (2001–2004 and 2017–2018), she helped to scale up successful pilot programmes at the national level, including for the first national programme on nutrition, the strategy for promotion of health-enhancing physical activity and the MURA mental health programme.

“Together we can make a lasting difference in the lives of countless individuals – at home and beyond,” said Dr Jožica Maučec Zakotnik.

Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Prize for Research in Health Care for the Elderly and in Health Promotion

Professor Huali Wang (China) and the Geriatric Healthcare Directorate of the Ministry of Health (State of Kuwait) are the 2025 winners of the Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Prize for Research in Health Care for the Elderly and in Health Promotion

His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Prize for the Promotion of Healthy Ageing is awarded to a person or persons, an institution or institutions, or a nongovernmental organization or organizations who have made an outstanding contribution to research, health promotion, policy and/or programmes on healthy ageing.

The Executive Board awarded the 2025 Prize jointly to Professor Huali Wang (China) and the Geriatric Healthcare Directorate of the Ministry of Health (State of Kuwait) for their outstanding contributions to healthy ageing.

Professor Huali Wang (middle, the front row) advocated for raising awareness of dementia care and prevention. © 2019, Dementia Care and Research Center, Peking University Institute of Mental Health

Professor Huali Wang has made significant contributions to healthy ageing at the national and global levels. She helped shape China’s national healthy ageing strategic plan and national dementia action plan, developing a comprehensive approach for mental care. The approach, now active across 27 regions, has resulted in dementia screenings for over 100 000 older adults, as well as health education campaigns and interdisciplinary, community-based service models that integrate professional and family support. Professor Wang also pioneered the development of dementia caregiver support groups, establishing in 2000 China’s first Memory Café, which promotes community involvement and has since become a national model. Professor Wang has championed cognitive stimulation therapy training and implementation in over 20 provinces. Professor Wang has collaborated with WHO on global dementia guidelines and on the iSupport online course, helping to extend caregiver support worldwide. The social prescribing pilot programme that Professor Wang initiated in Shangrao has received global recognition.

“This award is not just a recognition of our past work but a call to action for future endeavours – together, we can make a difference in the lives of many,” said Professor Huali Wang.

On-site training of the adopted Kuwait version of the WHO Global Ageing Population Survey (WHO-GAPs) methodology – Kuwait Older Adults Health Survey (KOAHS). © 2024, Courtesy of Fatemah Bendhafari

The Geriatric Healthcare Directorate at the Ministry of Health, Kuwait, has designed a multifaceted and comprehensive approach to healthy ageing. It developed a National Health Strategy for Older Adults (2024–2030) that provides a clear framework for the provision of accessible, high-quality integrated care and the promotion of active and healthy ageing. The implementation of the Kuwait Older Adults Health Survey has helped to inform policies and improve service delivery. Innovative mobile vaccination campaigns have benefited an additional 1000 older adults and caregivers. Comprehensive training programmes on healthy ageing, benefiting over 1000 caregivers, physicians, pharmacists and nurses are reported to have improved health-care delivery and coverage for older adults by 40%. The Directorate carries out community engagement initiatives to create inclusive and accessible environments that are responsive to the needs of older people and it also collaborates with nongovernmental organizations to foster community support.

“This recognition is not only a reflection of our efforts, but a renewed responsibility to continue striving for excellence in elderly care, preserving dignity and honouring their lifelong contributions,” said Dr Fatemah Bendhafari from the UAE Geriatric Healthcare Services Directorate of Kuwait’s Ministry of Health.

Dr LEE Jong-wook Memorial Prize for Public Health

Professor Helen Rees from South Africa is the 2025 winner of the Dr LEE Jong-wook Memorial Prize for Public Health

The Dr LEE Jong-wook Memorial Prize for Public Health is awarded to a person or persons, an institution or institutions, a governmental or nongovernmental organization or organizations, who have made an outstanding contribution to public health.

The WHO Executive Board awarded the 2025 Prize to Professor Helen Rees (South Africa) for her outstanding contribution to public health at the local, national, regional and global levels.

Professor Helen Rees in one of Wits RHI’s Clinical Trial Laboratories. © 2015, Anthea Pokroy

Professor Helen Rees founded the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute (Wits RHI) in 1994, which has treated over 650 000 people living with HIV and which operates in 52 sites across South Africa with regional partnerships in 23 countries. In 2004, she created the Hillbrow Health Precinct, an innovative model that integrates urban regeneration, medical research and community-based health services, such as care for adolescents living with HIV and vaccination services, and that provides essential health services to some of Johannesburg’s most marginalized residents. Professor Rees has also made major research contributions covering HIV prevention, vaccines against human papillomavirus and COVID-19 and her research on HIV prevention, including pre-exposure prophylaxis and long-acting injectable treatments, has transformed HIV-prevention strategies for vulnerable populations.

“Public health and human rights are intertwined, driven by the social determinants of health and the access people have to care – let us continue the struggle for health for all,” said Professor Helen Rees.

Nelson Mandela Award for Health Promotion

Dr Majed Zemni from Tunisia is the winner of the 2025 Nelson Mandela Award for Health Promotion

The Nelson Mandela Award for Health Promotion is awarded to a person or persons, an institution or institutions, a governmental or nongovernmental organization or organizations, who or which has/have made a significant contribution to health promotion.

The Executive Board awarded the 2025 Award to Dr Majed Zemni (Tunisia) for his outstanding contribution to health promotion.

Dr Majed Zemni (front row, fourth from the right), Chief Executive Officer of the Office National de la Famille et de la Population (ONFP) with participants from various African countries at the international training session in the management of sexual and reproductive health programmes, as part of cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Tunis 2013. © 2013, Office National de la Famille et de la Population

Dr Majed Zemni has made extensive and impactful contributions to health promotion, particularly in his roles as President of the Tunisian Association of Forensic Medicine and Criminal Sciences and as President of the National Office of Family and Population (ONFP) of Tunisia. He helped issue key legal instruments, such as guidelines for forensic medicine and legislation relating to patients’ rights and medical liability. As part of the National Committee of Medical Ethics, he contributed to the development of protocols for managing the deceased that ensured human dignity during the COVID-19 pandemic. He worked at the Psychological Assistance Centre for Women and Children Victims of Violence. He also maintained the ONFP’s International Training and Research Centre as a WHO collaborating centre. His efforts have helped reorient health services with a patient-centred approach, with particular attention to people living with HIV and persons deprived of their liberty, and through multisectoral engagement involving other ministries and stakeholders in the development and implementation of programmes.

“Health is a common denominator for all humanity, regardless of borders, races or policies,” said Dr Majed Zemni. “We must all strive to establish health security and a healthier future for all.”

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The call for nominations of candidates for each prize is sent out each year after closure of the World Health Assembly. Nominations can be made by national health administrations of a WHO Member State and by any former recipient of the prizes. At its 156th session in February 2025, the Executive Board designated the 2025 winners of the prizes, based on proposals made by a selection panels composed of Executive Board Members, and working independently for each prize.

See more on public health prizes and awards web page.

Read detailed information about the public health prizes and awards process.

Full information can be found in this 78th World Health Assembly document (A78/INF./1).

MIL OSI United Nations News –

May 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: President Lai presides over fourth meeting of Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

Details
2025-02-27
President Lai presides over third meeting of Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee
On the afternoon of February 27, President Lai Ching-te presided over the third meeting of the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee. In his opening statement, the president stated that the best strategies to care for citizens’ health are to increase physical activity, boost food literacy, and improve the domestic food environment, preventing chronic diseases from the front end. The president said that the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has upgraded preventive health services for adults this year, lowering the age eligibility to 30. He expressed hope that public-private sector cooperation can help reduce the incidence of chronic diseases and their associated disability risks and achieve the goal of lowering the standardized mortality rate for chronic diseases related to the “three highs”(high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar) by one-third by 2030. With regard to the hospital congestion issue, President Lai noted that through local health departments, the government will strengthen the supervision and distribution of emergency room beds, boost the distribution of inpatient beds in medical centers, and enhance joint prevention mechanisms among regional hospitals to reduce the pressure on emergency departments. The president said that the government will continue to incentivize hospitals to hire more nursing personnel and will consider adjusting health insurance coverage to encourage more hospitals to participate in emergency and critical care so as to reduce the pressure on medical institutions. By taking a multi-channel approach, the president said, we hope to resolve the problems facing healthcare in Taiwan, provide the public with better care, and achieve our vision of a Healthy Taiwan. A translation of President Lai’s opening statement follows: Today is the third meeting of the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee. First, I would like to thank both deputy conveners, our advisors and committee members, and our friends online for their continuing concern about the planning and implementation of the Healthy Taiwan initiative. At the last meeting, we heard a report on enhancing cancer prevention and treatment strategies. Guided by the Executive Yuan, the scope of government-funded major cancer screenings will be expanded starting this year, including expanding the age parameters and the categories eligible for screening. Treatment efforts will focus on genetic testing and precision medicine, and a fund will be established that provides diversified coverage for new cancer drugs. We hope to achieve our goal of reducing the standardized cancer mortality rate by one-third by 2030. At today’s meeting, the MOHW will deliver progress reports on certain items listed in the second committee meeting, as well as chronic disease prevention and treatment initiatives under the Healthy Taiwan plan including the development of models for healthy living, obesity prevention and treatment, and the 888 Program for prevention and treatment of the “three highs.”Among the top ten causes of death in Taiwan, seven are related to chronic diseases, and five of those seven are related to “three highs” chronic diseases. Annual spending related to treating “three highs” chronic diseases is up to NT$170 billion, and has become a tremendous medical burden. According to the World Health Organization, most non-communicable diseases are the result of four particular behaviors: tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, and the harmful use of alcohol. The results of the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan show that most citizens are getting low or moderate amounts of physical activity, and have unbalanced diets that include excessive amounts of sugar and salt, and inadequate amounts of fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. Therefore, the best strategies to care for the health of our citizens are to increase physical activity, boost food literacy, and improve the domestic food environment, preventing chronic diseases from the front end. In a few minutes, the MOHW will give complete explanations for the various chronic disease prevention and treatment strategies, from building healthy lifestyles at the front end to preventing and treating obesity in the middle stage, making every effort to prevent citizens from symptoms of the “three highs.” Beginning this year, the MOHW has upgraded preventive health services for adults, lowering the age eligibility to 30. Among people who already suffer from the “three highs,” the 888 Program for the prevention and treatment of those diseases will identify a target group and then conduct interventions, making every effort to improve symptoms and avoid the development of chronic disease. This kind of action strategy needs to be promoted simultaneously in the workplace, the community, on campus, and in the military. Only through public-private sector cooperation can we reduce the incidence of chronic diseases and their associated disability risks. We have also set a goal to lower the standardized mortality rate for chronic diseases related to the “three highs” by one-third by 2030. I hope that through the expertise of our advisors and committee members, we can provide discussions and suggestions from multiple perspectives to enable the government to propose health policies that meet citizens’ needs. The government will also actively address the hospital congestion issue that everyone is concerned about. The MOHW, in addition to taking preventive measures such as purchasing additional flu vaccines before the Lunar New Year, is addressing the emergency department congestion that occurred from the Lunar New Year until recently, and has formulated a short-term response strategy as well as middle and long-term directions for reforms as directed by Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). Through local health departments, we will strengthen the supervision and distribution of emergency room beds. At the same time, we will continue to boost the distribution of inpatient beds in medical centers, and give full play to our emergency medicine network to enhance joint prevention mechanisms among regional hospitals and reduce the pressure on emergency departments. We will also enhance the public’s access to information about tiered healthcare, and implement a tiered treatment system to make better use of resources. To address middle- and long-term human resource issues, we will continue to incentivize hospitals to hire more nursing personnel to lighten their burdens. We will also consider adjusting health insurance coverage to encourage more hospitals to participate in emergency and critical care. To respond to the challenges of an aging society, home healthcare, acute hospital care at home, Long-term Care 3.0, and post-acute care programs need to be promoted together to reduce the pressure on medical institutions. By taking a multi-channel approach, we hope to resolve the problems facing healthcare in Taiwan, provide the public with better care, and achieve our vision of a Healthy Taiwan. So let us keep working hard together. Thank you. Following his statement, President Lai heard a report on the progress of certain items listed in the second committee meeting from Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源), who is also the committee’s executive secretary, and a report on chronic disease prevention and treatment initiatives under the Healthy Taiwan plan including the development of models for healthy living, obesity prevention and treatment, and the 888 Program for prevention and treatment of the “three highs” from Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Chou Jih-haw (周志浩). Afterward, President Lai exchanged views with the committee members regarding the content of the reports.

Details
2024-11-28
President Lai presides over second meeting of Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee
On the afternoon of November 28, President Lai Ching-te presided over the second meeting of the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee. In his opening statement, the president said that we are implementing mental health support programs this year to provide more support for young and middle-aged people, pointing out that the policy has served over 20,000 people since it was implemented just over three months ago. In terms of bolstering mental health resilience, the president said we still have much to do, our government must lead by example, and the public and private sectors must work together, making every effort to ensure that no one is left behind. Noting that our goal is to reduce the standardized cancer mortality rate by one-third by the year 2030, President Lai stated that next year’s budget for cancer screening will be increased to NT$6.8 billion. He also stated that plans are in the works to establish a fund for new cancer drugs, adding that in the general budget we will allocate NT$5 billion, which will gradually rise to NT$10 billion. At the same time, he said, we are also actively promoting genetic testing and precision medicine. He expressed confidence that expanding preventive screening at the front end and providing advanced treatments at the back end will effectively fight cancer and improve the overall health of our citizens. A translation of President Lai’s opening statement follows: Today is the second meeting of the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee. First, I want to thank our two deputy conveners, our advisors and committee members, and our friends online for their enthusiastic participation. I also want to welcome Committee Member Chien Wen-jen (簡文仁), who was on leave for the previous meeting. I would also like to introduce three new committee members: Let’s welcome Committee Member Huang Chin-shun (黃金舜), president of the Federation of Taiwan Pharmacists Associations. During the pandemic, he led the nation’s pharmacists in promoting services including name-based distribution systems for masks and rapid-test kits and home delivery of medications. I am sure that he will be able to provide many valuable views regarding pharmaceutical safety and supply resilience. Let’s also welcome Committee Member Ko Fu-yang (柯富揚). During his time as secretary-general of the National Union of Chinese Medical Doctors’ Association, he led the Chinese medicine community in the transition from experience-based medicine to evidence-based medicine, and promoted the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine. With his participation, the committee will be able to spur research and development in both modern and traditional medicine. Our third new committee member is Liao Mei-nan (廖美南), president of the Taiwan Nurses Association, who was unable to be here today. She has long been dedicated to raising the quality of nursing care and actively promoting a high-quality, friendly work environment for nurses. The committee will rely on her experience to strengthen the link between policy and practice in nursing care. I want to thank all the members of the committee once again for working together with the government. Since the last committee meeting, under the guidance of Minister without Portfolio Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has implemented various policies. At the beginning of October, for example, three major AI centers were set up to resolve three key AI application issues: implementation, certification, and reimbursement, helping advance Taiwan’s smart healthcare ecosystem. At today’s meeting, the MOHW will first deliver a report on the progress of certain items listed in the first committee meeting, followed by a joint report by the MOHW and Ministry of Education on bolstering public mental health resilience and a report by the MOHW on enhancing cancer prevention and treatment strategies. The World Health Organization has affirmed that “there is no health without mental health.” In a fast-changing, fast-paced society, the government should invest more resources in the field of mental health to safeguard the people’s overall health. We are therefore implementing mental health support programs this year and expanding the range of eligibility, from 15 to 30, to 15 to 45 years old, to provide more support for young and middle-aged people. That policy has served over 20,000 people since it was implemented just over three months ago. In terms of bolstering mental health resilience, we still have much to do. From the workplace to the campus and every corner of society, our government must lead by example, and the public and private sectors must work together, making every effort to ensure that no one is left behind. Aside from mental health, in view of cancer being the leading cause of death in Taiwan for 42 consecutive years, our goal is to reduce the standardized cancer mortality rate by one-third by the year 2030. And so we must expand screening and advance treatment. Last year, the government subsidized screenings for five types of cancer, providing a total of 4.87 million screenings and detecting 11,000 cases of cancer and 52,000 cases of precancerous conditions. We have allocated an additional NT$4 billion beginning next year, bringing the total budget for cancer screening to NT$6.8 billion, to expand the scope of cancer screening eligibility and services. Plans are also in the works to establish a fund for new cancer drugs. In next year’s general budget, we will allocate NT$5 billion, which will gradually rise to NT$10 billion, to provide reimbursement funding for a variety of new cancer drugs and reduce the economic burden on patients. These new measures will be reported on in detail moments from now by the MOHW. At the same time, we are also actively promoting genetic testing and precision medicine. Next generation sequencing, for example, has already been included in National Health Insurance coverage, which will help provide patients with precise, individualized treatment strategies. I am confident that expanding preventive screening at the front end and providing advanced treatments at the back end will effectively fight cancer and improve the overall health of our citizens. Today’s meeting will help the government understand viewpoints from many perspectives so we can promote policies that more closely meet the public’s needs. Let’s keep working hard together. Thank you. Following his statement, President Lai heard a report on the progress of certain items listed in the first committee meeting from deputy executive secretary and National Health Insurance Administration Director General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良), a joint report on bolstering public mental health resilience from Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) and Deputy Minister of Education Lin Teng-chiao (林騰蛟), and a report on enhancing cancer prevention and treatment strategies from Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Chou Jih-haw (周志浩). Afterward, President Lai exchanged views with the committee members regarding the content of the reports.

Details
2024-08-22
President Lai presides over first meeting of Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee
On the afternoon of August 22, President Lai Ching-te presided over the first meeting of the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee. As the committee’s convener, the president presented committee members with their letters of appointment, and explained that the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee is not just about promoting a Healthy Taiwan, but also achieving a Balanced Taiwan. The president stated that the committee spans various areas of expertise, and also considers the balance of Taiwan’s northern, central, southern, and eastern regions. The president expressed confidence that by soliciting a wide range of suggestions, engaging in diverse dialogue, and forging a consensus, the committee can help to realize health equality and further elevate the standard of medical care in Taiwan. President Lai indicated that next year, the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s total budget will be increased, along with expanded investment in medical treatment and care. In addition, he reported that the central government budget has also added a National Health Insurance (NHI) financial assistance program, which will help to enhance the work environments of healthcare professionals. The president stated that we will also launch the Healthy Taiwan Cultivation Plan to help rear talent and develop smart medicine. These budgets and programs, President Lai stated, reflect the government’s determination to create a Healthy Taiwan, and prove that “Healthy Taiwan” is not just a slogan, and has already been turned into concrete action. A translation of President Lai’s opening statement follows: At the end of my first month in office, I announced that the Presidential Office will establish three committees in response to three major global issues of nationwide concern: climate change, health promotion, and social resilience. These committees will consolidate forces from different sectors to strategize on national development. At the beginning of this month, we convened the first meeting of the National Climate Change Committee. Today, we convene the first meeting of the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee. I would like to thank the three deputy conveners and all advisors and committee members for making a commitment to the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee. I also want to thank our fellow citizens and friends joining us online to follow the committee’s proceedings. During my campaign, I was constantly thinking about what I could contribute to our people that is different from past presidents if I were fortunate enough to be elected. After a lot of thought, I felt that as a physician, I should utilize my professional background in health care and work together with people from all sectors of society to help create a Healthy Taiwan. Healthy Taiwan is our goal, and health is both a basic human right and a universal value. Health promotion not only involves the well-being of a nation’s people, but is also of great concern to humankind so that we may survive and thrive. Taiwan is a responsible member of the international community. Amid the challenges of the pandemic over the past few years, we have shared disease prevention supplies, technology, and experience with countries around the world, and have continued to contribute to the global public health system. Going forward, Taiwan must actively address critical health-related challenges, including cancer, transnational communicable diseases of unknown origin, antibiotic-resistant superbugs, a low birth rate, and an aging society. We are confident that, sharing countermeasures and experience with countries around the world, we can keep people healthy and make the nation stronger so that the world embraces Taiwan. I want to thank former Superintendent of National Cheng Kung University Hospital Chen Jyh-hong (陳志鴻), who is also a mentor of mine, for organizing five regional forums and a national forum for the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Alliance this past March and April. Over 1,200 healthcare professionals from all over the country attended the forums and shared their views. Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), and I were also invited to attend the national forum and participate in full. I also want to thank the experts from various fields for their suggestions throughout this process, which became key reference points for promoting policies after we took office on May 20. The position paper on the table in front of you is a compilation of those valuable insights, which will be the foundation of our future actions. To implement the Healthy Taiwan initiative, we must also achieve a Balanced Taiwan. Therefore, the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee established today not only spans various areas of expertise, but also considers the balance of Taiwan’s northern, central, southern, and eastern regions to achieve nationwide health equality. I want to thank the nine advisors here with us today: Superintendent Wu Ming-shiang (吳明賢), Superintendent Chen Wei-ming (陳威明), Chairman Cherng Wen-jin (程文俊), President Chiu Kuan-ming (邱冠明), and Chairman Chang Hong-jen (張鴻仁) from northern Taiwan; Superintendent Chen Mu-kuan (陳穆寬) from central Taiwan; Superintendent Lin Sheng-che (林聖哲) and President Yu Ming-lung (余明隆) from southern Taiwan; and Superintendent Lin Shinn-zong (林欣榮) from eastern Taiwan. Your participation will give us a better understanding of viewpoints from around the country. The objective of Healthy Taiwan is to raise the population’s average life expectancy while simultaneously reducing time spent living with illness or disability, while also caring for physical, mental, and spiritual health. The 20 members of the committee are therefore drawn from a variety of fields of professional expertise. We have Superintendent Chen Shih-ann (陳適安) in the field of smart medicine, Vice-Superintendent Susan Shur-fen Gau (高淑芬) in pediatric psychiatry, medical and long-term care service integration specialist Superintendent Chan Ding-cheng (詹鼎正), and emerging infectious disease specialist Director Shen Ching-fen (沈靜芬). We have also invited Professor Tsai Sen-tien (蔡森田) to provide suggestions on optimizing healthcare services and health insurance sustainability, and invited President Chou Ching-ming (周慶明) and President Huang Cheng-kuo (黃振國) to continue promoting The Family Doctors’ Plan 2.0 and report on primary care issues. We have also recruited President Li Yi-heng (李貽恒), who put forward the 888 Program for prevention and treatment of the “three highs” (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar) and kidney disease, pediatric health specialist President Ni Yen-hsuan (倪衍玄), women’s health care specialist Secretary-General Huang Jian-pei (黃建霈), and President Hung Te-jen (洪德仁), who is focused on community development. We also have Dean Shan Yan-shen (沈延盛) from the field of cancer prevention and treatment, psychiatric and mental health specialist Professor Su Kuan-pin (蘇冠賓), epidemiology expert and Emeritus Research Fellow Ho Mei-shang (何美鄉), and biomedicine and regenerative medicine specialist Professor Patrick Ching-ho Hsieh (謝清河). The committee also includes specialist in nutrition and health for all ages President Kuo Su-e (郭素娥), and expert in the promotion of physical activity and health Vice Chairman Chien Wen-jen (簡文仁). I also want to thank Chairman Lin De-wen (林德文) for participating as we work together to enhance the health and well-being of indigenous peoples. In addition, public sector participants include Minister of National Development Liu Chin-ching (劉鏡清) and Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀), as well as Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源), who is serving as executive secretary, and NHI Administration Director General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) serving as deputy executive secretary. Over 80 percent of the committee’s members are from the private sector, and I will take advantage of this opportunity to continue to combine the strengths of all stakeholders throughout society to promote a healthy lifestyle for one and all, and enhance medical care for all ages. At today’s first meeting of the committee, the Ministry of Health and Welfare will brief us on two topics: the first is the Healthy Taiwan vision plan, illustrating Taiwan’s current challenges and opportunities, as well as an action blueprint. The second issue is reform and optimization for NHI sustainability. Next year will mark the 30th anniversary of our NHI system. NHI is the pride of Taiwan, because health insurance can free citizens from the vicious cycle of poverty caused by illness, or illness caused by poverty. Since 2020, the NHI system has achieved a public satisfaction rate of over 90 percent. Next year, Taiwan will also become a “super-aged society,” which means that one of every five people will be a senior citizen 65 or older. Due to new pharmaceuticals of all kinds, the development of new technologies, and citizen expectations for an optimized medical practice environment, many aspects of health insurance operations will face an increasing number of challenges. The NHI system’s core values are health equality and mutual assistance for all. Better care for everyone, however, depends on sustainable NHI operations. We closely monitor NHI system point values, but also want to embody the greater values of the system. The government will continue to refine the budget system and management, rationally distribute medical resources and stabilize point values, and continue to optimize NHI finances to enhance the efficiency and quality of services. We also look forward to working with everyone to achieve sustainable NHI development, enhance health equality, and further elevate the standard of medical care in Taiwan. I also want to report that next year, the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s total budget will reach NT$370.2 billion, an increase of NT$31.8 billion over this year. The total budget is expected to allocate NT$60.7 billion to expand investment in medical treatment and care to create a Healthy Taiwan. The central government budget has also added an NHI financial assistance program that includes incentives for maintaining specified nurse-patient ratios across all three shifts and rotating night-shift nursing staff, and promoting smart information upgrades at medical facilities to enhance the work environments of healthcare professionals. We will also launch the Healthy Taiwan Cultivation Plan, investing funds to support medical institutions at all levels nationwide, rear talent, and develop smart medicine. Regarding the fund for new cancer drugs that many cancer patients care deeply about, in next year’s general budget we will allocate NT$5 billion for health insurance funding. In 2026, that figure is expected to reach NT$10 billion. We will also promote the fifth-stage national plan for cancer prevention and treatment, and beginning next year the budget for cancer screening will be increased by NT$4 billion, reaching NT$6.8 billion, to boost screening rates. I want everyone to know that these budgets and programs reflect the government’s determination to create a Healthy Taiwan. Since I took office, the government has created plans and programs to increase nursing staff levels and promote public mental health. We also launched an Acute Hospital Care at Home pilot project to provide integrated long-term and medical care services. Once again, I would like to thank everyone here today for participating, and thank our fellow citizens for their support. I also want our fellow citizens to know that Healthy Taiwan is not just a slogan, and has already been turned into concrete action. These are all concrete, substantive actions by a government team that has been in office for less than 100 days. I am confident that with the support and participation of our committee members and advisors, and through soliciting a wide range of suggestions, engaging in diverse dialogue, and forging a consensus, our actions to create a Healthy Taiwan will more closely align with society’s expectations, and we will move more quickly and steadily toward realizing our vision. Thank you. Following his statement, President Lai presented letters of appointment to the committee members, heard a report from Minister Chiu illustrating the Healthy Taiwan vision plan, and heard a report from Director General Shih on reform and optimization for NHI sustainability. Afterward, President Lai exchanged views with the committee members regarding the content of the two reports and the Rules of Procedure for Meetings of the Office of the President Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee.

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2024-06-20
President Lai attends opening of International Conference on Emergency Medicine 2024
On the morning of June 20, President Lai Ching-te attended the opening ceremony of the International Conference on Emergency Medicine (ICEM) 2024. In remarks, President Lai stated that one goal of his administration is to create an even healthier Taiwan and that we will continue to strengthen our capabilities in medicine and public health to enhance health for all and help make the world a better place. The president emphasized that the global disease prevention network is something every country should be a part of, and that if any country is missing from this network, the rest of the world will be at a disadvantage. The president then asked for the participants’ support for Taiwan to participate in the World Health Organization so that we may contribute even more to the global public health system. A transcript of President Lai’s remarks follows: I would like to begin by welcoming all guests from overseas to Taiwan. ICEM is the world’s largest conference on emergency medicine. Over 2,500 experts and academics from home and abroad have gathered here for this year’s conference. This not only underlines the importance of emergency medicine, but is also a testament to global cooperation in medicine. This year also marks TSEM’s [Taiwan Society of Emergency Medicine] 30th anniversary. I would like to thank Chairperson Ng Chip-jin (黃集仁), President Hsu Chien-chin (許建清), and everyone who helped bring ICEM to Taiwan. This conference will help expand people-to-people diplomacy, showing Taiwan’s development and contributions in emergency medicine to the world. I am confident that everyone here shares my belief that health is a basic human right. And to ensure this right, emergency medical professionals are indispensable. Before entering politics, I myself worked as a clinician. I know well that emergency rooms are at the frontline of hospitals, and often the last hope for those who need lifesaving care. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, we all witnessed the rapid response and important support of emergency medical professionals, who gave their all for the health of others. I want to take this opportunity to express my utmost respect for your work. The theme of ICEM 2024 is Glocalization of Emergency Medicine: Global Wisdom and Local Solution. With that in mind, I hope that through clinical research, public health, smart tech, and other strategies, we can help reduce disparities in emergency medicine around the world. Here in Taiwan, we have made major progress in emergency medicine, from developing a cutting-edge trauma care system to implementing advanced strategies for disaster response. We are also committed to training highly skilled professionals in the field, as well as developing an advanced medical infrastructure. This conference will give Taiwan the opportunity to share our experience, and allow everyone to exchange best practices, engage in discussions, and promote the global development of emergency medicine. One goal of my administration is to create an even healthier Taiwan. We will continue to strengthen our capabilities in medicine and public health to enhance health for all and help make the world a better place. A healthier Taiwan also means a booming medical sector, and an even higher quality and diversity of medical services. Taiwan has had, and will continue to have, many medical accomplishments to share with the world. Today, all of you gather here to continue making global contributions through emergency medicine. The mission of IFEM [International Federation for Emergency Medicine] is to create a world where all people, in all countries, have access to high quality emergency medical care. On this point, the global disease prevention network is something every country should be a part of. If any country is missing from this network, the rest of the world will be at a disadvantage. I would like to ask for your support for Taiwan to participate in the World Health Organization, so that we may contribute even more to the global public health system. And as President Hsu Chien-chin has said, although the road is long, if we travel together, we can travel far. With this vision as our guide, alongside our friends from around the world, Taiwan will strive to achieve our common goals and realize quality healthcare for all. I wish ICEM 2024 great success, and all participants a rewarding experience. I also invite you to travel around Taiwan during your stay, and get to know our beautiful nation. Following his remarks, President Lai and the distinguished guests took part in the kick-off ceremony for the conference. IFEM President Ffion Davies was also in attendance at the event.

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2024-06-01
President Lai meets WHA action team
On the morning of June 1, President Lai Ching-te met with members of Taiwan’s World Health Assembly (WHA) action team. In remarks, President Lai stated that standing on the front lines, the team fought for the human right to health for both Taiwan and the world. He also thanked the international community for their support for Taiwan. The president said that Taiwan is an indispensable member of the international community when it comes to ensuring global health security. In addition, he said that one of the new government’s goals is to create a healthier Taiwan, as we want our people to live longer and healthier, and that we want to leverage Taiwan’s strengths in public health and medicine. He said we will continue to deepen our partnerships with other countries as we build an even more resilient global public health system, and that a healthy Taiwan will help make the world a better place. A translation of President Lai’s remarks follows: I would like to warmly welcome our partners from the WHA action team back from Geneva, and express my appreciation for your hard work and efforts. Standing on the front lines, you fought for the human right to health for both Taiwan and the world, and we thank you for giving it your all. Your flight only just arrived at 7 a.m., but I can see that everyone is still in high spirits. You have truly put in your heart for Taiwan, and once again, I thank you all. It is regrettable that at this year’s WHA, constrained by political factors, a proposal item for Taiwan to join as an observer was not included in the agenda yet again. However, the hard work of our WHA action team over the years has already borne fruit. Last year, the Ministry of Health and Welfare signed MOUs with the public health agencies of the Czech Republic, Canada, and the United Kingdom, and bilateral talks this year included discussion on substantive cooperation. The bilateral talks carried out by our action team in Geneva were not only more numerous this year, but also involved officials of even higher level. The team also held professional forums addressing important issues of the WHA in cooperation with various medical and health organizations. This is all proof of Taiwan’s contribution toward global public health and the human right to health. The steps we take for Taiwan to participate in world health affairs will not falter. Support for Taiwan from the international community grows stronger year by year. This year, 26 member states of the World Health Organization and the European Union, which is an observer, directly or indirectly voiced their support for Taiwan’s participation in the WHA. Their support reaffirms that Taiwan is an indispensable member of the international community when it comes to ensuring global health security. Health knows no borders. Health is a basic human right. One of the new government’s goals is to create a healthier Taiwan. We want our people to live longer and healthier. And we also want to leverage Taiwan’s strengths in public health and medicine, as we deepen our cooperation with other countries and work together to advance the health of humankind and global sustainable development. I want to thank the member states for their support for Taiwan. I also want to once again thank the members of the WHA action team and our many friends, both here and outside of Taiwan, for their hard work on this issue. Moving forward, we will continue to deepen our partnerships with other countries as we build an even more resilient global public health system. So just as democratic Taiwan continues to shine its light upon the world, a healthy Taiwan will help make the world a better place. On that note, let us keep working together toward these goals. After President Lai concluded his remarks, Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) presented a photo collage to show President Lai some of the highlights of the action team’s activities in Geneva.

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2025-05-20
President Lai interviewed by Nippon Television and Yomiuri TV
In a recent interview on Nippon Television’s news zero program, President Lai Ching-te responded to questions from host Mr. Sakurai Sho and Yomiuri TV Shanghai Bureau Chief Watanabe Masayo on topics including reflections on his first year in office, cross-strait relations, China’s military threats, Taiwan-United States relations, and Taiwan-Japan relations. The interview was broadcast on the evening of May 19. During the interview, President Lai stated that China intends to change the world’s rules-based international order, and that if Taiwan were invaded, global supply chains would be disrupted. Therefore, he said, Taiwan will strengthen its national defense, prevent war by preparing for war, and achieve the goal of peace. The president also noted that Taiwan’s purpose for developing drones is based on national security and industrial needs, and that Taiwan hopes to collaborate with Japan. He then reiterated that China’s threats are an international problem, and expressed hope to work together with the US, Japan, and others in the global democratic community to prevent China from starting a war. Following is the text of the questions and the president’s responses: Q: How do you feel as you are about to round out your first year in office? President Lai: When I was young, I was determined to practice medicine and save lives. When I left medicine to go into politics, I was determined to transform Taiwan. And when I was sworn in as president on May 20 last year, I was determined to strengthen the nation. Time flies, and it has already been a year. Although the process has been very challenging, I am deeply honored to be a part of it. I am also profoundly grateful to our citizens for allowing me the opportunity to give back to our country. The future will certainly be full of more challenges, but I will do everything I can to unite the people and continue strengthening the nation. That is how I am feeling now. Q: We are now coming up on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, and over this period, we have often heard that conflict between Taiwan and the mainland is imminent. Do you personally believe that a cross-strait conflict could happen? President Lai: The international community is very much aware that China intends to replace the US and change the world’s rules-based international order, and annexing Taiwan is just the first step. So, as China’s military power grows stronger, some members of the international community are naturally on edge about whether a cross-strait conflict will break out. The international community must certainly do everything in its power to avoid a conflict in the Taiwan Strait; there is too great a cost. Besides causing direct disasters to both Taiwan and China, the impact on the global economy would be even greater, with estimated losses of US$10 trillion from war alone – that is roughly 10 percent of the global GDP. Additionally, 20 percent of global shipping passes through the Taiwan Strait and surrounding waters, so if a conflict breaks out in the strait, other countries including Japan and Korea would suffer a grave impact. For Japan and Korea, a quarter of external transit passes through the Taiwan Strait and surrounding waters, and a third of the various energy resources and minerals shipped back from other countries pass through said areas. If Taiwan were invaded, global supply chains would be disrupted, and therefore conflict in the Taiwan Strait must be avoided. Such a conflict is indeed avoidable. I am very thankful to Prime Minister of Japan Ishiba Shigeru and former Prime Ministers Abe Shinzo, Suga Yoshihide, and Kishida Fumio, as well as US President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden, and the other G7 leaders, for continuing to emphasize at international venues that peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait are essential components for global security and prosperity. When everyone in the global democratic community works together, stacking up enough strength to make China’s objectives unattainable or to make the cost of invading Taiwan too high for it to bear, a conflict in the strait can naturally be avoided. Q: As you said, President Lai, maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is also very important for other countries. How can war be avoided? What sort of countermeasures is Taiwan prepared to take to prevent war? President Lai: As Mr. Sakurai mentioned earlier, we are coming up on the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII. There are many lessons we can take from that war. First is that peace is priceless, and war has no winners. From the tragedies of WWII, there are lessons that humanity should learn. We must pursue peace, and not start wars blindly, as that would be a major disaster for humanity. In other words, we must be determined to safeguard peace. The second lesson is that we cannot be complacent toward authoritarian powers. If you give them an inch, they will take a mile. They will keep growing, and eventually, not only will peace be unattainable, but war will be inevitable. The third lesson is why WWII ended: It ended because different groups joined together in solidarity. Taiwan, Japan, and the Indo-Pacific region are all directly subjected to China’s threats, so we hope to be able to join together in cooperation. This is why we proposed the Four Pillars of Peace action plan. First, we will strengthen our national defense. Second, we will strengthen economic resilience. Third is standing shoulder to shoulder with the democratic community to demonstrate the strength of deterrence. Fourth is that as long as China treats Taiwan with parity and dignity, Taiwan is willing to conduct exchanges and cooperate with China, and seek peace and mutual prosperity. These four pillars can help us avoid war and achieve peace. That is to say, Taiwan hopes to achieve peace through strength, prevent war by preparing for war, keeping war from happening and pursuing the goal of peace. Q: Regarding drones, everyone knows that recently, Taiwan has been actively researching, developing, and introducing drones. Why do you need to actively research, develop, and introduce new drones at this time? President Lai: This is for two purposes. The first is to meet national security needs. The second is to meet industrial development needs. Because Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines are all part of the first island chain, and we are all democratic nations, we cannot be like an authoritarian country like China, which has an unlimited national defense budget. In this kind of situation, island nations such as Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines should leverage their own technologies to develop national defense methods that are asymmetric and utilize unmanned vehicles. In particular, from the Russo-Ukrainian War, we see that Ukraine has successfully utilized unmanned vehicles to protect itself and prevent Russia from unlimited invasion. In other words, the Russo-Ukrainian War has already proven the importance of drones. Therefore, the first purpose of developing drones is based on national security needs. Second, the world has already entered the era of smart technology. Whether generative, agentic, or physical, AI will continue to develop. In the future, cars and ships will also evolve into unmanned vehicles and unmanned boats, and there will be unmanned factories. Drones will even be able to assist with postal deliveries, or services like Uber, Uber Eats, and foodpanda, or agricultural irrigation and pesticide spraying. Therefore, in the future era of comprehensive smart technology, developing unmanned vehicles is a necessity. Taiwan, based on industrial needs, is actively planning the development of drones and unmanned vehicles. I would like to take this opportunity to express Taiwan’s hope to collaborate with Japan in the unmanned vehicle industry. Just as we do in the semiconductor industry, where Japan has raw materials, equipment, and technology, and Taiwan has wafer manufacturing, our two countries can cooperate. Japan is a technological power, and Taiwan also has significant technological strengths. If Taiwan and Japan work together, we will not only be able to safeguard peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and security in the Indo-Pacific region, but it will also be very helpful for the industrial development of both countries. Q: The drones you just described probably include examples from the Russo-Ukrainian War. Taiwan and China are separated by the Taiwan Strait. Do our drones need to have cross-sea flight capabilities? President Lai: Taiwan does not intend to counterattack the mainland, and does not intend to invade any country. Taiwan’s drones are meant to protect our own nation and territory. Q: Former President Biden previously stated that US forces would assist Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. President Trump, however, has yet to clearly state that the US would help defend Taiwan. Do you think that in such an event, the US would help defend Taiwan? Or is Taiwan now trying to persuade the US? President Lai: Former President Biden and President Trump have answered questions from reporters. Although their responses were different, strong cooperation with Taiwan under the Biden administration has continued under the Trump administration; there has been no change. During President Trump’s first term, cooperation with Taiwan was broader and deeper compared to former President Barack Obama’s terms. After former President Biden took office, cooperation with Taiwan increased compared to President Trump’s first term. Now, during President Trump’s second term, cooperation with Taiwan is even greater than under former President Biden. Taiwan-US cooperation continues to grow stronger, and has not changed just because President Trump and former President Biden gave different responses to reporters. Furthermore, the Trump administration publicly stated that in the future, the US will shift its strategic focus from Europe to the Indo-Pacific. The US secretary of defense even publicly stated that the primary mission of the US is to prevent China from invading Taiwan, maintain stability in the Indo-Pacific, and thus maintain world peace. There is a saying in Taiwan that goes, “Help comes most to those who help themselves.” Before asking friends and allies for assistance in facing threats from China, Taiwan must first be determined and prepared to defend itself. This is Taiwan’s principle, and we are working in this direction, making all the necessary preparations to safeguard the nation. Q: I would like to ask you a question about Taiwan-Japan relations. After the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, you made an appeal to give Japan a great deal of assistance and care. In particular, you visited Sendai to offer condolences. Later, you also expressed condolences and concern after the earthquakes in Aomori and Kumamoto. What are your expectations for future Taiwan-Japan exchanges and development? President Lai: I come from Tainan, and my constituency is in Tainan. Tainan has very deep ties with Japan, and of course, Taiwan also has deep ties with Japan. However, among Taiwan’s 22 counties and cities, Tainan has the deepest relationship with Japan. I sincerely hope that both of you and your teams will have an opportunity to visit Tainan. I will introduce Tainan’s scenery, including architecture from the era of Japanese rule, Tainan’s cuisine, and unique aspects of Tainan society, and you can also see lifestyles and culture from the Showa era. The Wushantou Reservoir in Tainan was completed by engineer Mr. Hatta Yoichi from Kanazawa, Japan and the team he led to Tainan after he graduated from then-Tokyo Imperial University. It has nearly a century of history and is still in use today. This reservoir, along with the 16,000-km-long Chianan Canal, transformed the 150,000-hectare Chianan Plain into Taiwan’s premier rice-growing area. It was that foundation in agriculture that enabled Taiwan to develop industry and the technology sector of today. The reservoir continues to supply water to Tainan Science Park. It is used by residents of Tainan, the agricultural sector, and industry, and even the technology sector in Xinshi Industrial Park, as well as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Because of this, the people of Tainan are deeply grateful for Mr. Hatta and very friendly toward the people of Japan. A major earthquake, the largest in 50 years, struck Tainan on February 6, 2016, resulting in significant casualties. As mayor of Tainan at the time, I was extremely grateful to then-Prime Minister Abe, who sent five Japanese officials to the disaster site in Tainan the day after the earthquake. They were very thoughtful and asked what kind of assistance we needed from the Japanese government. They offered to provide help based on what we needed. I was deeply moved, as former Prime Minister Abe showed such care, going beyond the formality of just sending supplies that we may or may not have actually needed. Instead, the officials asked what we needed and then provided assistance based on those needs, which really moved me. Similarly, when the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 or the later Kumamoto earthquakes struck, the people of Tainan, under my leadership, naturally and dutifully expressed their support. Even earlier, when central Taiwan was hit by a major earthquake in 1999, Japan was the first country to deploy a rescue team to the disaster area. On February 6, 2018, after a major earthquake in Hualien, former Prime Minister Abe appeared in a video holding up a message of encouragement he had written in calligraphy saying “Remain strong, Taiwan.” All of Taiwan was deeply moved. Over the years, Taiwan and Japan have supported each other when earthquakes struck, and have forged bonds that are family-like, not just neighborly. This is truly valuable. In the future, I hope Taiwan and Japan can be like brothers, and that the peoples of Taiwan and Japan can treat one another like family. If Taiwan has a problem, then Japan has a problem; if Japan has a problem, then Taiwan has a problem. By caring for and helping each other, we can face various challenges and difficulties, and pursue a brighter future. Q: President Lai, you just used the phrase “If Taiwan has a problem, then Japan has a problem.” In the event that China attempts to invade Taiwan by force, what kind of response measures would you hope the US military and Japan’s Self-Defense Forces take? President Lai: As I just mentioned, annexing Taiwan is only China’s first step. Its ultimate objective is to change the rules-based international order. That being the case, China’s threats are an international problem. So, I would very much hope to work together with the US, Japan, and others in the global democratic community to prevent China from starting a war – prevention, after all, is more important than cure.

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

May 27, 2025