Dennis Romero reports: A Torrance-based doctor was convicted this week of charging insurance companies for medically unnecessary procedures that included facelifts and tummy tucks, according to the U.S. Deptartment of Justice. Lawrence Saks, a 57-year-old from Rolling Hills Estates, even used other doctors’ names when submitting claims, a jury concluded. He was found guilty of…
Author: Dissent
(follow-up) Woman files suit against newspaper
Stephanie Porter-Nichols provides a timely reminder that an indictment is not a conviction and that people’s lives can be devastated by media accusations that are inaccurate. The following is an update to a case first reported in March 2009: A Chilhowie woman is suing the Smyth County News & Messenger, claiming that she was defamed…
AU: Support Staff survives data theft attempt
Ry Crozier reports: A recruiter hit by a thief attempting to install malware had fielded calls from government departments anxious for assurances that the business’s IT systems were not breached. Support Staff Australasia’s managing director Richard Gilham told iTnews he had assurances from police investigators and his IT team that the thief did not access…
Ca: Nine charged under new identity theft law
Three Brampton men are among nine people charged with province-wide point-of-sale “pin pad” tampering following a joint forces investigation led by the OPP Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau. The investigation started in Parry Sound last November and a group of suspects was soon identified. They were believed responsible for numerous incidents of tampering with credit card…
MO: Former police officer, wife plead guilty to ID theft targeting UCM students
Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a former officer for the University of Central Missouri Police Department and his wife have pleaded guilty in federal court to their roles in an identity theft conspiracy that targeted students at the university. Amanda J. Drake, 30, of Warrensburg, Mo.,…
MO: Man pleads guilty to ID theft, card fraud
Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former Kansas City, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to stealing identity information from customers at the Plaza restaurant where he worked, then using that information to make online purchases. John David Woody, 35, of Los Angeles, Calif., formerly…