Recently covered

FBI captures $547M Medicare fraud fugitive

Khalid Ahmed Satary, accused of orchestrating a $547 million Medicare fraud scheme through diagnostic laboratories across multiple states, was captured overseas and returned to the United States, marking the third arrest from the FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters list in five weeks. Prosecutors say the operation leveraged telemarketing, patient recruiters, and illegal kickbacks to push expensive, medically unnecessary cancer genetic tests billed to Medicare from 2016 to 2019, and Satary was indicted in 2019 on multiple health care and fraud charges.

7 sources

Photo: Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Abbott signs order cracking down on birth tourism

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order directing state agencies to investigate and crack down on unlawful birth tourism schemes, including enforcement actions against licensed or regulated providers who participate. The order aims to prevent citizenship-for-sale by allowing penalties such as license revocation, contract bans, and other state-law actions, and it builds on prior steps by HHSC to probe hospitals advertising birth tourism packages.

10 sources

Photo: Daniel Schwen / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Trump admin pauses $1B Medicaid payments California Minnesota

The current Trump administration is pausing and freezing over $1 billion in federal Medicaid funding for California and Minnesota amid fraud concerns, demanding documentation to prove legitimacy of the payments. Health officials cite audits identifying fraud-prone services and say funds will remain deferred until the states substantiate claims and provide required receipts, part of a broader crackdown on healthcare fraud.

7 sources

Photo: City of Detroit / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Palou wins Nashville IndyCar, extends season lead

Palou won the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix at Nashville for his fifth win of the season, further tightening his grips on the championship lead, which stood at 83 points after the race; the event was delayed by rain and run on Monday, with Josef Newgarden finishing second and David Malukas third as Scott McLaughlin and Felix Rosenqvist also contended for top positions.

28 sources

Photo: U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Robert Cloys / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

ESPN Fires Ryan Clark Amid Broad Layoffs

ESPN has cut ties with former Steelers safety and current analyst Ryan Clark as part of a wave of layoffs ahead of its first Super Bowl coverage, signaling significant staffing shifts at the network. Clark, one of ESPN's highest-paid on-air talents at about $2 million per year and a regular on First Take and The Pivot, joined ESPN in 2015 and had been central to NFL coverage and Super Bowl plans.

35 sources

ICE Pauses Most Vehicle Stops Nationwide

ICE has ordered a nationwide halt on most vehicle stops in immigration enforcement, with exceptions only for the most egregious criminal targets, following fatal shootings in Maine and Texas. The temporary policy change could significantly constrain ICE operations and is described as a training measure, potentially affecting how arrests are initially pursued.

32 sources