Medicare Advantage has grown to insure over half of all Medicare beneficiaries, but with that explosive growth has come an explosion in fraud. Billions of dollars in taxpayer money are being siphoned off through schemes that exploit the program's risk-adjustment payment system—from upcoding patient diagnoses to fabricating medical conditions entirely.

This month, The Department of Justice's Antitrust Division announced a brand new Whistleblower Rewards Program, marking a significant step forward in empowering whistleblowers to expose antitrust crimes operating in secrecy. In today's episode, we sit down with two whistleblower attorneys, David Kovel and Poppy Alexander to discuss the new program, potential pitfalls, and opportunities for whistleblowers to take advantage of this new program. Poppy Alexander is a Partner at Whistleblower Partners and David Kovel is Managing Partner at Kirby McInerney.

Medicare Advantage now covers more than half of Medicare beneficiaries, at the cost of more than $450 billion annually. And it's growing. And where the money flows, fraud is sure to follow. On today's episode, we're interviewing Teresa Ross, a former Director of Risk Adjustment who uncovered an alleged scheme with a settlement up to $100 million. Teresa walks us through her background and her whistleblowing journey. She is joined on today's episode by one of her attorneys, Mary Inman of Whistleblower Partners.

Jamie Landolt became a whistleblower after discovering his employer was allegedly underpaying Medicaid, violating the False Claims Act. What happened next was an incredibly fast False Claims Act case, a trip to bankruptcy court, and a $234 million settlement. Jamie was joined by one of his whistleblower attorneys, Linda Severin of the Whistleblower Law Collaborative. This was the first Fraud in America interview recorded in front of a live audience, and we would like to thank the Georgetown Corporate Crime & Anti-Corruption Law Students Association for hosting us.

For more than a decade, the SEC Whistleblower Program has allowed the agencies to issue more than $6 billion in monetary sanctions, benefiting investors and the capital markets. And because DOGE is pledging to reduce the size of the federal workforce, whistleblowers will be even more crucial to investor protection. On today's episode, we're joined by Benjamin Schiffrin of Better Markets, who recently did a deep dive into the SEC Whistleblower Program, key benefits of the program, and potential improvements to help educate the public on the importance of these whistleblowers.

In today’s episode, whistleblower lawyer Jon Tycko of Tycko & Zavareei joins us to break down everything happening with tariffs and what customs fraud schemes typically look like. From what CBP enforcement actually looks like, what forms are typically falsified, and more, this 101 will let prospective whistleblowers know what to look for if they think they might have a False Claims Act case.

In our first episode of 2025, we’re sitting down with whistleblower Jesus Nunez-Unda, who uncovered fraud relating to the PPP loan his company applied for during the COVID-19 pandemic. While many PPP loan cases fall under blatant fraud, Jesus managed to show the company made false certifications and applied for the loans without financially needing them. In this conversation, we discuss his background, the type of work Lafayette RE Management does, and how he blew the whistle.

In today’s episode, whistleblower lawyer Julie Bracker of Bracker & Marcus joins us to discuss cybersecurity fraud and recent government enforcement efforts. From what defines critical infrastructure to compliance protocols, this 101 breaks down how these frauds work and what whistleblowers should be looking out for if they have a case.

Acadia Healthcare is a massive for-profit chain of psychiatric hospitals, who recently settled a False Claims Act case for nearly $20 million. In today’s episode, one of the whistleblowers, Jamie Clark Thompson, sits down with us to lay out the massive corporate fraud behind the case, holding mental health patients longer than necessary, and kept staffing at dangerously low levels. She is joined with one of her lawyers, Eva Gunasekera of Tycko & Zavareei.

Dr. Rayme Edler became the Medical Director of Escambia County, Florida after she flagged issues with the treatment of patients by the county’s emergency medical services. Once on the inside, she tried to enact changes to ensure the county medical professionals were properly licensed. Then the retaliation started. Because of her courage and determination, The Anti-Fraud Coalition named her the 2024 Whistleblower of Year! Today, she joins Fraud in America to share her whistleblowing story and how she endured retaliation by her colleagues and elected officials.

Zachary Cunha is currently the U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island, and as one of the nation's top law enforcement officials, he knows he needs the help of whistleblowers to fight fraud and protect patients. In this episode of Fraud in America, he shares his story, becoming U.S. Attorney, and protecting nursing home patients.

Last year, Colorado expanded its False Claims Act and went even further -- strengthening provisions to protect whistleblowers from workplace retaliation. On today's episode of Fraud in America, Phil Weiser, Colorado's Attorney General, joins us to discuss his career and why he helped advocate for whistleblowers.

In our newest episode of Fraud in America, we have some new faces to introduce you to! Our brand new host is a familiar face: Jacklyn DeMar, who also became the President & CEO of The Anti-Fraud Coalition, the producer of Fraud in America. In this episode, Jackie's first guest is Vince McKnight of Sanford Heisler Sharp, who was named the Chairman of TAF Coalition Board of Directors. Vince is an incredibly accomplished whistleblower lawyer who has taken on defense contractors, big banks, and big healthcare companies recovering billions of dollars.

In 2022, the pharmaceutical giant Biogen, agreed to pay $900 million to settle alleged violations of the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute. Today, we’re sitting down with Michael Bawduniak, the whistleblower behind this massive case. In this interview, Michael shares his 10-year whistleblower journey and taking on a brazen payoff scheme.

In this episode of Fraud in America, we sit down with John McMickle, a lobbyist for our sister organization, Taxpayers Against Fraud, who has helped strengthen whistleblower laws over the last two decades. We sit down with John to talk about his career, what exactly he does as a lobbyist, and what's happening in Congress with whistleblower laws.

With 2023 quickly coming to a close, we sit down with Jacklyn DeMar, the Director of Legal Education of The Anti-Fraud Coalition (TAF Coalition) to discuss the big developments of this year and what’s coming up in 2024. On this episode of Fraud in America we cover Supreme Court decisions, major whistleblower victories, and what’s happening in financial fraud spaces.

In the wake of the Great Recession, Dennis Kelleher co-founded Better Markets, a non-profit pushing for more robust interpretation of financial regulations and combat the army of bank lobbyists. On today’s episode of Fraud in America, we sit down with Dennis to break down the work Better Markets has been donig, lessons learned from the 2008 financial collapse, and how more needs to be done to crack down on Wall Street.

For more than 32 years, Rick Mountcastle worked at the Department of Justice and later at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia where he took on Purdue Pharma and their marketing of OxyContin. In today's Fraud in America episodes he dissects his career, his case against the pharmaceutical giant, and how politics got in the way of protecting vulnerable patients.

Two years ago, Frances Haugen riveted the world by blowing the whistle on Facebook, alleging the social media giant knew its users were using the platform to foment violence—and didn’t take steps to fix these safety issues. On today’s episode of Fraud in America, we sit down with Frances to discuss her background, her 14-year-career in Silicon Valley, and the inner workings of Big Tech, and potential solutions to protect users—and investors.

Cryptocurrency has exploded in popularity in the past few years, but the crypto landscape has become rife with scams and fraud. On today’s episode of Fraud in America, we’re interviewing Daren Firestone, a whistleblower lawyer who specializes in the crypto and digital assets industries. He discusses the industries, the latest trends, and the evolving role of whistleblowers in deterring fraud in crypto spaces.