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Miranda Rachel Briggs, of Rincon, Georgia, pleaded guilty to wire fraud for improperly claiming benefits. Briggs married a veteran in November 2015, divorcing less than a year later. Soon after the divorce was final, the VA granted the veteran’s request to remove Briggs as a recipient of their benefits. After the veteran died in early 2018, Briggs filed for VA benefits, falsely claiming to be the veteran’s surviving spouse. Then in April 2018, she claimed to be the veteran’s spouse when applying for benefits from the VA’s Civilian Health and Medical Program. As a result of those false claims, Briggs received approximately $49,000 for medical care and approximately $80,000 in benefits from the VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation Program. The VA OIG investigated this case.
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Dr. Tajul Shams Chowdhury of Edinburg, Texas, and his son, Mohammad Imtiaz Chowdhury, pleaded guilty to conspiring to receive $6.6 million in kickbacks in exchange for referring prescriptions to pharmacies. Dr. Chowdhury owned and operated a medical practice called Center for Pain Management. His son worked as a purported marketer for a local pharmacy. The center referred prescriptions for costly compound drugs to the pharmacy in exchange for kickback payments that the pharmacy paid to Mohammad. The case was investigated by the VA OIG, US Postal Service OIG, Department of Labor OIG, FBI, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Department of Health and Human Services OIG, and Texas Health and Human Services OIG.
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Are you a veteran in crisis or concerned about one?
Dial 988 or 800.273.8255 and press 1, chat online, or text 838255
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