Thieves of America

While millions of Americans go to work every day to not only support their families, but also to support their country...criminals are working just as hard at not working. Thieves wake up each day with a sense of entitlement and a desire to live well...off other peoples money. Scam artists are no longer content to make mere thousands, now they devise methods to rob the people of this country of millions and millions of dollars each year.

According to the June 22, 2009 Department of Justice press release, Riccy Mederos, a resident of Miami, Florida pled guilty to a $6.5 million dollar Medicare fraud conspiracy. The evidence showed at the plea hearing that from 2005 to 2008 Ms. Mederos, along with her co-conspirators, conspired to bill Medicare $6.5 million in fraudulent claims for a clinic called United Therapy by recruiting patients from local homeless shelters even though many had no medical problems, and many did not receive any treatments from the clinic ever. Sadly, Ms. Mederos is only one of many robbing a system each American worker pays into. Medicare is funded at least in part through our payroll taxes, FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) to be exact. FICA funds Medicare and Social Security. Medicare tax is 2.9%, 1.45% which employers withhold from the employee and the employer matches the other 1.45%.

Many Americans do not realize how not only the much complained about "rich" companies but also their workers support many of the programs in this country. And when people like Ms. Mederos and her cohorts decide to take money they did not earn from our government programs...they have stolen from every American in one way or another.

In the wake of the mortgage and bank bailouts, 41 more defendants, in five cases announced by the Department of Justice on June 23, 2009, are facing federal charges for Mortgage fraud totaling more than $48 million dollars in fraudulently obtained mortgages. The mortgages were obtained from various lenders and "secured" by properties throughout the Chicago area. Some of the loans were obtained on dilapidated properties whose values were falsely represented. The loans went into default and the lenders suffered millions of dollars in losses. The defendants include a Title Company and a chief executive of a Burr Ridge mortgage lender who was accused of obtaining over $15 million in funding from GMAC bank for fake residential loans. Last year 67 defendants were charged with Mortgage fraud also in the Chicago area, and in March of this year, two dozen more were charged.

Mortgage fraud has played a large part in the current lending crisis in this country, with billions of dollars lost. It not only affects the lending institution but also every citizen who has invested in the bank/lending institution, but also the ability for others to obtain honest mortgages.

But the thieves in America don't stop at mortgages or bilking Medicare. Every time a person files false claims on their insurance...they have robbed the American people. Insurance companies lose an estimated $30 billion dollars each year to insurance fraud. This loss costs the average American household an extra $300.00 per year in higher premiums. Insurance companies try to recoup from their losses by raising the cost of insurance for every individual.

Fraudulent insurance claims come from "padding" of claims and from actual organized accident staging "rings" that specialize in fake accidents, stolen vehicles which have not actually been stolen, and arson. Some involve not only people who deliberately set up and cause accidents, but the doctors and lawyers they have lined up to help scam the insurance company. But often...insurance fraud is perpetrated by average people who decide it is an easy way to make some fast cash and live free. People find many ways to justify their claims and will say "I only robbed the Insurance companies that rob us". Yet, in a country where insurance is often a requirement...that attitude never takes into account those who will suffer and actually pay the claim. A smart business does not give away free money without a method to retrieve it, and unfortunately that method takes away from the scam artist's fellow Americans.

Thieves of America ...from the lowliest of shoplifters to the most refined, sophisticated fraud organizations - cost each and every one of us. Every time a store loses money due to loss of inventory...we lose money in higher cost of goods, and it has become very evident our entire nation has lost because of mortgage and banking fraud. How can we as average citizens without power help? By realizing we are NOT without power.

Every thief knows somebody and somebody always knows when a person is not being upfront or truthful in their dealings. You don't have to be a "snitch" to make a difference. Disapproval goes a long way in not enabling people to commit actions they know inside are unethical. I have found throughout my life that often people will only do that which they or someone else has helped them to justify. If met with disapproval, many people will waiver in their conviction that they have a "right" to what they are trying to "steal". If you know a person filing a fraudulent insurance claim, show disapproval and tell others to show it too. Don't help them, don't encourage them...and do let them know you don't like them ripping you off. In other words, don't smile politely when your neighbor comes to show off his new vehicle he bought with illicit insurance money.

If we as a collective start openly ostracizing instead of embracing thieves in our midst then theft may become less appealing.

But in an environment of apathy and acceptance...more and more people are feeling encouraged to scam their way into money and materialistic belongings. The anti-corporation mentality has given many an excuse to steal from stores, restaurants, hotels, insurance companies, you name it...nothing is off limits. Children watch their parents take items as simple as salt and pepper from a fast food restaurant or lie to get an extra burger or fries, then listen to the parent justify it - and the attitude starts to develop. We need to all remember our children learn by example and the old "do as I say not as I do" thing really does not work. What they see us do, what they see us accept decides much of the future.

We all need to send out a message through our own actions and to those we know who contribute to stealing from - not the "big corporations or the government"- but from each and every one of us - a message that says, "Thieves of America...we don't want to support you any more!"

Sources:

FBI

Medicare

SmartMotorists