The owner of a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based telemedicine company has pleaded guilty to organizing and leading a $46.2 million Medicare fraud conspiracy, the Justice Department said in a March 27 news release.
Christopher Harwood owned and operated TelevisitMD through which he and co-conspirators targeted Medicare patients through aggressive telemarketing campaigns, inducing them to accept medically unnecessary orthotic braces and genetic tests. Mr. Harwood paid physicians to approve orders for these products without meaningful interaction with patients and then sold the signed orders to DME supply companies and laboratories.
Mr. Harwood also owned and operated multiple DME supply companies that billed Medicare millions of dollars for unnecessary orthotic braces. Medicare paid $17.9 million based on the fraudulent claims, of which Mr. Harwood personally received more than $10.4…
CLICK HERE to read the FULL Florida man sentenced in $46M DME fraud scheme – Becker's ASC article.
THE BHI TRUST PONZI SCHEME (SOUTH AFRICA)
Date: Ongoing updates through February 2026 Perpetrator: Craig Warriner (Principal), with alleged co-conspirators
Case Description: The BHI Trust scandal remains one of South Africa’s most devastating financial crimes, involving the loss of between R1.9 billion and R3 billion. Craig Warriner, the “genius trader” behind the trust, turned himself in during late 2023, but the legal and recovery battles reached a fever pitch in 2025 and 2026. Warriner operated the trust as a textbook Ponzi scheme, utilizing “Old Boy” networks and high-profile brokers to lure in pensioners and high-net-worth individuals with promises of 20% annual returns.
In early 2025, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) faced heavy criticism for “provisionally withdrawing” charges against alleged co-conspirators Michael Haldane and Sona Pillay. However, civil recovery efforts by joint trustees have continued into 2026, aiming to claw back hundreds of millions in “fictitious profits” from early investors to redistribute to those who lost everything. The case is a masterclass in the failure of fiduciary duty; the FSCA eventually banned several advisors for up to 30 years for peddling the unlicensed scheme despite clear red flags, such as the lack of a website, the absence of regulated financial reports, and a fee structure that was triple the industry average.
Link to Original: Moneyweb – BHI Trust Scandal Deep Dive