Feds allege California Marines involved in $67 million health fraud
Federal authorities say Southern California Marines were recruited for a scheme that bilked the government’s military health insurance provider out of $67 million.
The San Diego Union-Tribune says a complaint was filed Thursday in San Diego as part of a civil asset forfeiture case. Authorities are trying to seize the property of a Tennessee couple.
Investigators say Marines were recruited at up to $300 a month for a so-called medical study that involved phone consultations with a doctor’s office in Cleveland, Tennessee owned by Jimmy and Ashley Collins.
The Marines were prescribed costly compound drugs.
A pharmacy in Bountiful, Utah filled thousands of prescriptions and billed them to the insurer, TRICARE.
Lawyers for the couple deny they committed fraud. AP
Russia to hold joint drills with allies in Central Asia
The Russian military says it will conduct joint military maneuvers with its ex-Soviet allies in Central Asia in response to regional threats.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at the Aug. 18 meeting with the top military brass that the war in Afghanistan has posed a threat to the region’s stability.
He said that as part of efforts to prepare for potential threats, Russia staged joint maneuvers with Tajikistan earlier this year. The drills in July involved launches of the Iskander-M missiles, one of the most advanced weapons in Russian military arsenals.
Shoigu said that Russia will hold joint war games later this year with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Russia has military bases in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. AP
U.S. general pledges to defend Japan from North Korean attack
America’s top military official reiterated Aug. 18 his country’s pledge to defend Japan against a North Korean missile attack, as western Japan carried out a test of an emergency alert system.
“I think we made it clear to North Korea and anyone else in the region that an attack on one is an attack on both of us,” Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in Tokyo.
North Korea has threatened to test-fire missiles that would fly over Japan and land in waters off the U.S. territory of Guam. The U.S. is treaty-bound to defend Japan from outside attacks.
Dunford and his Japanese counterpart Katsutoshi Kawano agreed to work together to strengthen missile defense systems. The U.S. general is on the last stop of an Asia tour that took him to China and South Korea and has been dominated by talk of the North Korean threat.
Sirens wailed across nine prefectures in western Japan in the test of the emergency system. Twitter users in the region said the sirens didn’t work in some areas.
The flight path of the North Korean missile test would cross that part of the country. AP
Passengers sue Boeing for 2016 Emirates crash in Dubai
Passengers who were aboard an Emirates plane that crash-landed in August 2016 are suing Chicago-based Boeing for an alleged malfunction of the aircraft’s electronics.
The lawsuit filed Aug. 15 in Cook County Circuit Court alleges the aircraft’s electronics system prevented the operation of a switch at a critical moment. More than a dozen passengers involved in the lawsuit claim the system didn’t provide any warning to the crew that the switch wasn’t working.
The Emirates Boeing 777-300 flying from India crash-landed in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
All 300 people aboard survived, scrambling down emergency slides before flames destroyed the plane. A firefighter was killed battling the blaze.
UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority earlier this month determined there were no mechanical problems leading up to the incident.
A spokesman for Boeing declined to comment on the lawsuit, noting the litigation is pending. AP