Kickbacks

Though just two Baltimore officers accused of taking kickbacks from Majestic Auto Repair are on trial this week in federal court, witnesses, prosecutors and attorneys have broadly described police behaving badly . One of the defendants falsified police reports to curry favor with a woman, and he let a drunken driver who had just crashed his car stumble into a liquor store, according to witnesses. Another officer, who previously pleaded guilty, falsely reported his personal vehicle stolen because he couldn't make the payments, according to one witness, while another officer used the Rosedale body shop for on-duty rendezvous with women, a defense attorney alleged.

A sixth Baltimore Police officer was sentenced Friday for his role in a massive kickback scheme involving an auto body shop, receiving two years in prison and being ordered to pay $24,000 in restitution. Officer Rafael Concepcion Feliciano Jr., 31, admitted last year that he referred accident vehicles to the Majestic Auto Body shop in Rosedale after being introduced to the store's owners by a fellow officer, Rodney Cintron, prosecutors said. Prosecutors estimate that Feliciano alone caused a loss of between $120,000 and $200,000.

When 17 Baltimore City police officers were arrested last week for steering towing business to a non-authorized company, it was hardly surprising to economists. In fact, most economists would predict that such "corruption" would be inevitable in Baltimore's highly regulated towing market. What may be surprising to some is that such kickbacks may contribute, in a way, to economic efficiency. Baltimore city runs a "medallion system," which gives authorized towing companies exclusive rights over police-dispatched tows and illegally parked vehicles.

The last of 17 Baltimore police officers charged in a kickback scheme pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy and extortion in federal court, bringing the prosecution phase of the case to a close. Over a five-month period, Jaime Luis Lugo Rivera, 36, steered car crash victims to Majestic Auto Repair in Rosedale in exchange for cash payments worth at least $6,000, falsified police reports, persuaded at least one vehicle owner to submit a false insurance claim and supported efforts by the body shop owners to increase damage for bigger insurance payouts, according to his plea agreement.

Skipping through the Candy Land of the health care bill, one is tempted to hum a few bars of "Let Me Call You Sweetheart." What a deal. For deal-makers, that is. Not so much for American taxpayers, who have been misled into thinking that the sweetheart deals have been excised. Not only are the deals still there, but they're bigger. And the health care "reform" bill is, consequently, more expensive by billions. Yes, gone (sort of) is the so-called "Cornhusker kickback," extended to Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson when his 60th vote needed a bit of coaxing.

Two former employees of defense contractors have been accused of soliciting and accepting bribes for information on military subcontracts, a U.S. attorney said.Charged were Joseph L. Ritchey, 45, of Morgan Hill, Ca., a former deputy program manager for a California-based defense contractor, and Sumner Louis Barton, 68, of San Jose, Ca., a former consultant to AAI of Cockeysville.Each has been charged with one count of soliciting and accepting $2,000 in kickbacks for inside information about federal subcontracts.

A former Bata Shoe Co. purchasing agent pleaded guilty today to a federal felony count of soliciting and accepting kickbacks from suppliers on a Defense Department boot contract.Bell Container Corp., of Newark, N.J., and Kurt Faulhammer, 49, owner and president of K&R Fabrics, in Wilbraham, Mass., also pleaded guilty today to felony charges of paying kickbacks to the purchasing agent, Alvin Grieninger, 58, of Havre de Grace, in return for orders for boxes and fleece that Bata used to make and ship cold-weather boots to the military.

A Miami man admitted yesterday to soliciting kickbacks from a construction company that was renovating nursing homes in Millersville and Denton.Edwin J. Mason, 64, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to one count of interstate transportation of stolen property. Chief Judge Walter E. Black Jr. set sentencing for Oct. 1.Under federal guidelines, Mason could receive eight to 21 months in prison, depending on whether Judge Black determines that he received more than $120,000 in kickbacks and other factors.

A former purchasing agent for the Bata Shoe Co. was sentenced yesterday in federal court to a month in prison, two months in a community facility and two months in home confinement for soliciting kickbacks on government contracts for military boots.Alvin Grieninger, 58, of Havre de Grace pleaded guilty Jan. 10 to taking kickbacks totaling $37,652.54 between 1985 and 1989 to influence his choice of subcontractors for materials while he was purchasing agent for the Belcamp contractor.As part of the sentence, U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis fined Mr. Grieninger $10,000 and ordered him to pay the $3,685.

It's one of American real estate's seamier practices, and it's almost impossible for consumers to detect: kickbacks and sweetheart payoffs among realty agents, title and escrow companies, lawyers and lenders for referrals of homebuyers' mortgage or closing services. Now the federal government is mounting its most aggressive campaign in decades to stamp out illegal referral-fee schemes. Though it hasn't attracted widespread attention, the government's anti-kickback effort thus far this year has racked up six times the number of out-of-court settlements with alleged violators that it did in 2004.

A second Baltimore police officer was sentenced to federal prison Monday for participating in an extortion scheme that led to the criminal conviction of 16 city officials and the suspension of 14 others. Jerry Diggs Jr., 25, was sentenced to 30 months and ordered to pay restitution of $13,105 for illegally referring car owners to Majestic Auto Repair for towing services and repairs after crashes in exchange for cash. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and extortion in October in Baltimore's U.S. District Court.

Maryland will get nearly $10,000 as part of a national settlement involving kickbacks to doctors to encourage them to implant pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators in patients, Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced Thursday. Medtronic Inc, the developer of the medical devices, settled with the federal government for $23.5 million. Medtronic paid physicians who agreed to participate in clinical studies or registries involving their pacemakers and ICDs, according to the agreement.

Though just two Baltimore officers accused of taking kickbacks from Majestic Auto Repair are on trial this week in federal court, witnesses, prosecutors and attorneys have broadly described police behaving badly . One of the defendants falsified police reports to curry favor with a woman, and he let a drunken driver who had just crashed his car stumble into a liquor store, according to witnesses. Another officer, who previously pleaded guilty, falsely reported his personal vehicle stolen because he couldn't make the payments, according to one witness, while another officer used the Rosedale body shop for on-duty rendezvous with women, a defense attorney alleged.

A federal jury on Thursday convicted the last of 17 Baltimore police officers charged in a broad kickback scheme, hours after another officer who had stood trial pleaded guilty. Officer Samuel Ocasio, 36, was found guilty by the jury of conspiracy and extortion under color of official right, while Officer Kelvin Manrich, 42, pleaded guilty to the same counts earlier in the day, before jurors began deliberating. Ocasio, who is from Edgewood, and Manrich, from Middle River, face a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy, and a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for extortion.

Repair shop owner Alex Moreno said he was approached in 2008 by a Baltimore police officer with an idea to help boost sales at his fledgling Rosedale business: In exchange for a cut, officers would funnel cars to the shop. Soon, Majestic Auto Repair was getting customers almost exclusively from city police - he testified Tuesday in federal court that more than 60 officers would ultimately get in on the scheme , receiving $300 for each referral. Business grew so fast that he had to expand to new lots to store all the cars; the backlog was so deep that they paid for rental cars to keep customers from becoming frustrated by the wait.

Bell Container Co. has been fined $100,000 for paying kickbacks on defense contracts to a former purchasing manager at Belcamp, Md.-based Bata Shoe Co.Richard Brateman, Bell Container's vice president, accepted the fine on behalf of the Newark, N.J., box-maker at a sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.Brateman, on authorization from Bell Container's board of directors, had pleaded guilty on behalf of the company in January to one count of violating the federal Anti-Kickback Act. The fine was recommended by the government in the company's plea bargain.