Another Obama Admin SCUMBAG Busted for Corruption
The Obama Department of Justice never embraced ethics. In fact, the very people tasked with helping Americans were extorting the system.
Jeffery Wertkin certainly lives up to his share of crooked lawyer joke punchlines.
Before joining his current law firm in 2016, he worked in the Department of Justice. In fact, Wertkin handled whistle-blower lawsuits against companies on the government’s behalf. His job was to recover taxpayer funds paid out based on fraudulent claims. It didn’t take Wertkin long to find a way to exploit the system.
The Scheme
Whistle-blower lawsuits fall under the False Claims Act. Accordingly, they are filed under seal, so the DOJ can determine whether or not to join the cases. Once the case is settled, whistle-blowers can receive a cut of any settlement or verdict.
Wertkin saw a big opportunity in the sealed documents. So, he removed copies of various complaints to use in one big money making scheme. So Wertkin came up with an alias named “Dan”, and then “Dan” started making phone calls.
As Conservative Daily details:
One day in November of 2016, he picked the name “Dan” and then picked up the phone. On the other end was a manager of a “California-based security company” who had no idea they were subjected to a sealed investigation. Dan explained how a sneak peek at evidence could be a valuable heads up to “get out ahead of the investigation.”
The Sunnyvale based executive dropped a dime to the FBI. After that, all of Wertkin’s calls were caught on tape. They made a deal to swap the information for a “consulting fee” of $300,000 in bitcoin. Negotiations ensued. Wertkin was willing to back down on his insistence to be paid in untraceable digital currency but added 10k to his price “to cover his travel expenses.”
A hotel in Cupertino was chosen for the exchange. The company representative in the deal was supposedly one of the firm’s other executives, “Bill,” in charge of the money. He was to sit in the lobby on the chair with a folded newspaper. “When you walk into the lobby, there is a water station on your left. Just past the water is a chair with a newspaper on it. Please sit in that chair and I will come meet you,” Wertkin texted on his way to the meet.
Wertkin walked into the Hilton Garden Inn wearing a wig and simply handed the man the envelope full of lawsuit copies. He was supposed to get “a duffel bag full of money.” Instead, his contact showed his badge. That is when he found out the company rep was really with the FBI. “My life is over,” Wertkin gasped.
Collateral Damage
This is just one more example of how Obama’s DOJ was incompetent.
Fraudulently billing the government or overcharging on invoices is a violation of the federal False Claims Act. Unhappy employees often rat on their bosses, especially if they get the boot for something. By snitching to the feds, they can be rewarded with a cut of the take after the government shakes the company back down.
According to court records in the case, the paperwork Wertkin got busted trying to market “was filed under seal in January 2016.” It was only one of “several whistleblower complaints” Wertkin removed “without permission for his personal use.” Each worth hundreds of thousands in his mind.
Before he was arrested, the charging complaint states he tried to peddle a second sealed action to a company based in Oregon, which is how the federal court in San Francisco ended up with jurisdiction, covering both California and Oregon.
One of the high profile cases he worked on at the Justice Department illustrates how the process works and how inside information can be a big plus.
Here is another example.
AseraCare is a medical giant that specializes in providing “hospice” care to those facing terminal illness. Wertkin led the 2015 prosecution before a federal court in Birmingham. The company was accused by a whistleblowing employee of illegally billing “Medicare millions of dollars for patients who were not really on the verge of dying.”
Wertkin put a $200 million dollar price tag on the case, to cover “reimbursement, fines, and fees.” The Chief U.S. District Court Judge, Karon Bowdre presided. In the first phase of the trial, the jury found “AseraCare had filed false claims in 104 of 121 patient cases.” The judge wasn’t happy though. She “tossed out the verdict and ordered a new trial” over technical defects.
Then, in March of 2016, Judge Bowdre tossed the rest of the suit out too. It turns out that “the government’s claims that AseraCare had filed false claims to Medicare were based on the opinion of one doctor.” Things that throw monkey wrenches into litigation heavy enough to kill the case are valuable to know indeed.
Of course Medicare is riddled with fraud. It’s hard for citizens to speak out against powerful companies. That’s why whistleblowers are so valuable in protecting patients and taxpayers who fund Medicare. However, Obama’s lawyer was selling evidence sealed by the government to defendants. Wertkin cashes in $300k while the offenders weasel out of paying fines or facing consequences for ripping off the government.
Corruption Runs Deep
So to break it down, the fraudsters get away with fraud. Meanwhile, the person taxpayers trust to protect the government works against us for his own personal gain. Therefore, no one learns accountability and the taxpayers are left holding the bag. It’s just another aspect of Obama’s agenda to destroy this country.
In fact, Obama ran the most expensive administration in history. Meanwhile, he claimed he was running a “scandal-free” game filled with transparency.
However, as Kevin Jackson wrote:
The Obama administration was among the least transparent administrations in modern history, while simultaneously being one of the most obstructive.
Obama spent over $36 million to hide his many scandals. But as Wertkin found out, nothing stays hidden forever. And he will soon be sentenced for his crimes.
Trump’s DOJ doesn’t look kindly upon corruption. Perhaps Wertkin’s new address in the penitentiary will send a message to the rest of the fraudsters still hiding in our government. The swamp is being drained.
