Broward Health could face civil liability fines of almost $100 million
By Karla Bowsher, BrowardBulldog.org - Broward Health faces $100 million in potential civil liability due to an ongoing federal anti-kickback investigation into whether it submitted false Medicare and Medicaid claims. “We’re looking at, I’ve heard, up to $100 million,” Broward Health Commissioner David Di Pietro said at a board meeting in June. That liability estimate has [...]
Coconut Creek cops won’t be prosecuted for passing law enforcement computer data to friend
By Dan Christensen, BrowardBulldog.org - The Broward State Attorney’s Office has declined to prosecute three Coconut Creek police officers mixed up in a scheme to improperly access confidential law enforcement databases for personal reasons. Instead, Coconut Creek officials who sought criminal charges only made stick a trio of lesser administrative charges against two of the officers. [...]
Fort Lauderdale hoping for handout for bridge repairs
By Ann Henson Feltgen, BrowardBulldog.org Its ocean-access waterways and backyard yachts define Fort Lauderdale’s pricey Harbor Beach neighborhood. Yet despite its wealth, and its reliance on the water, the neighborhood is home to several of the worst bridges in Fort Lauderdale, according to a study by the city’s Public Works Department. The worst of the [...]
Justice Dept probes Broward Health over allegations of medicare fraud
By Karla Bowsher, BrowardBulldog.org - A whistleblower apparently sparked the ongoing federal anti-kickback inquiry into allegations of false Medicare and Medicaid claims at Broward Health. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agents surfaced the probe in May 2011 with a subpoena demanding records related to the public health care system’s business dealings with more [...]
Assault Weapon Makers Received Over $19 million In Tax Subsidies
By John Christie, Naomi Schalit, Theresa Sullivan Barger and Nathaniel Herz, ©Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting Taxpayers across the country are subsidizing the manufacturers of assault rifles used in multiple mass killings, including the massacre of 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. last month. A Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting examination of tax [...]
Hallandale commission fires CRA boss; abrupt move avoids airing “dirty laundry,” mayor says
By William Gjebre, BrowardBulldog.org - Hallandale Beach city commissioners last night fired the executive director of the city’s embattled Community Redevelopment Agency after just two years on the job. Alvin B. Jackson Jr.’s termination comes amid an ongoing investigation by the Broward Office of the Inspector General into management practices at both the city and the [...]
Prosecution, Defense Team Up To Convince A Skeptical Judge To Release Inmate
By Eric Barton, BrowardBulldog.org - Next month, a federal prosecutor and a defense attorney will stand before a judge in Miami and do something extraordinary. Both sides will present evidence and call witnesses to try to convince the judge to set a man free. Elroy Phillips has served nearly half of his 24-year sentence on drug [...]
Hollywood Police Chief To Step Down Amid Reports Of Infighting With City Manager’s Office
By Dan Christensen and Karla Bowsher, BrowardBulldog.org -Hollywood Police Chief Chadwick Wagner will retire in January after five years as the city’s top cop. Wagner, 52, is leaving amid reports of significant friction with his new bosses at City Hall – City Manager Cathy Swanson-Rivenbark and her top assistant Frank Fernandez, the new director of [...]
Major contributor to Gov. Scott is silent partner in Butterworth’s $44.8 million deal with DCF
By Dan Christensen, Browardbulldog.org - Another political insider – this time a major contributor to Gov. Rick Scott – has cropped up in a $44.8 million-a-year government-business deal to manage mental health services in Broward County. The Florida Department of Children and Families awarded the multi-year contract in March to Broward Behavioral Health Coalition and its [...]
Hallandale’s Ex-top Managers Collect Fat Pensions
By William Gjebre, BrowardBulldog.org - A short-lived, perk-laden retirement plan has paid off big for some top Hallandale Beach officials who helped set it up a decade ago – but today it’s costing city taxpayers extra millions of dollars. Approved and implemented by the city commission in October 2001, the plan’s key provision granted those ranking [...]
