Three dental practices in Southwest Washington reached settlements totaling more than $1 million to resolve allegations that they engaged in fraudulent billing practices that overcharged the Medicaid program.
“Accuracy and honesty from healthcare providers are fundamental to the integrity of the Medicaid system and our ability to help people get the care they need,” Attorney General Nick Brown said. “These settlements are one piece of our many efforts to safeguard the Medicaid program from fraud and abuse.”
The following dental practices reached settlements with the Washington Attorney General’s Office Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Division (MFA) following investigations that found they had submitted unjustified charges to Medicaid:
- Toothdocs, a dental practice in Camas, agreed to a $500,000 civil settlement to resolve claims that 100% of the provider’s billings for so-called parenteral…
THE HASHFLARE “CLOUD MINING” PONZI SCHEME (GLOBAL/ESTONIA)
Date: February 13, 2025 (Guilty Pleas) Perpetrators: Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin
Case Description: This $577 million cryptocurrency fraud remains one of the largest digital asset scams in history, with major legal developments concluding in 2025. Potapenko and Turogin operated “Hashflare,” which they marketed as a massive cryptocurrency mining operation. Hundreds of thousands of victims worldwide purchased “mining contracts,” believing they were renting hash power to mine Bitcoin. In reality, the duo was running a sophisticated Ponzi scheme.
They created fake customer dashboards that showed “real-time” mining profits, but the money being paid out was simply the capital of newer investors. They laundered the proceeds through shell companies to purchase luxury real estate and a fleet of high-end vehicles. After a massive international investigation involving the FBI and Estonian authorities, the pair agreed to forfeit over $400 million in assets. This case underscores the “Cyber-enabled Fraud” warning issued by the FATF in early 2026: as technology evolves, the scale of fraud moves from local millions to global billions in the blink of an eye.
Link to Original: ACFE – High Profile Fraud of 2025