WASHINGTON – Mohammad Rasekhi M.D., Sheila Busheri, Southern California Medical Center (SCMC) and R & B Medical Group Inc., doing business as Universal Diagnostic Laboratories (UDL) (collectively, the defendants), have agreed to pay $10 million to resolve allegations that they submitted false claims to Medicare and California’s Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal, arising from allegations of paying kickbacks and making self-referrals. The defendants are all based in southern California. Rasekhi is the founder and chief medical officer of SCMC and the co-owner of UDL. Busheri is the chief executive officer of SCMC and the co-owner and chief executive officer of UDL. SCMC is a federally qualified health center that operates six clinics in southern California. UDL is a reference and esoteric laboratory in Southern California.

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October 4, 2024 – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has seen an increase in illegal online pharmacies selling and shipping counterfeit pills made with fentanyl and methamphetamine to unsuspecting customers in the United States who believe they are purchasing real pharmaceutical drugs such as Oxycodone, Adderall, Xanax, and other drugs from legitimate pharmacies.

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Largest Ever Criminal Enforcement Action Targeting Distributors of Pharmaceutical Opioids and Commonly Abused Prescription Drugs with Estimated Street Value of $1.3B

Charges against five pharmaceutical distributor executives and five pharmaceutical sales representatives and brokers have been unsealed in the Southern District of Texas, Southern District of Florida, Eastern District of Missouri, and Eastern District of North Carolina as part of a larger enforcement action related to the unlawful distribution of nearly 70 million opioid pills and over 30 million doses of other commonly abused prescription drugs to alleged Houston-area pill-mill pharmacies. Three Houston-area pharmacy operators were also charged in the Southern District of Texas for their role in the schemes. Nine individuals have pleaded guilty.

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AGUADILLA, Puerto Rico – U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations (AMO) interdicted Wednesday a vessel attempting to smuggle pounds 1321 pounds (599.1 kilograms) of cocaine into the western coast of the island. The estimated value of the seized narcotics is $ 11.9 million.

During a routine patrol on Oct.2, the crew of an AMO Maritime Enforcement Aircraft (MEA) detected a vessel navigating east towards Puerto Rico. The MEA maintained surveillance to assist the crew of an AMO Coastal Interceptor vessel, which they intercepted the approximately 16 miles east of Desecheo island.

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By Larissa Bungo
Senior Attorney

If you’ve seen ads for home title lock insurance, they might have you worried. After all, the ads say thieves can steal the title to your home. But then the ads tell you to buy title lock insurance to supposedly prevent home title theft. Stop. Take a breath. It’s just a ploy to scare you.

First, know that “title lock insurance” is not title insurance. If you’re a homeowner, you might remember buying title insurance when you first bought your house. It protects you against challenges to the title, like a lien you didn’t know about. But “title lock insurance” is different — and it’s not insurance at all. Instead, it’s a service that claims to monitor your deed to protect you against title fraud. You’d only find out AFTER your title got transferred to someone else without your authorization. So much for the lock.

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