CrimProf Blog

Governor Blagojevich's Criminal Defense Lawyer to Resign

Gov. Rod Blagojevich's chief defense attorney announced Friday that he is bailing out of the fraud and bribery case against the governor, strongly hinting that his embattled client refused to listen to his advice.

"I never require a client to do what I say, but I do require them to at least listen," Edward Genson said. "I intend to withdraw as counsel in this case."

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Illinois Governor Arrested on Corruption Charges

Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested this morning on federal corruption charges. Wiretaps recorded Blagojevich discussing how to "sell or trade" the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama "for financial and personal benefits for himself and his wife," prosecutors allege. Also charged in the 2-count indictment, with a lurid 76-page FBI affidavit, was Blagojevich's chief of staff, John Harris.

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Sleuths go door to door to sniff out Medicare fraud

MIAMI — Medicare investigators Suzanne Bradley and Cecilia Franco rap on an apartment door a little before 10 a.m. on a muggy Thursday.

They're seeking an 86-year-old man — allegedly a homebound diabetic whose home health care agency is billing Medicare for daily visits by a nurse to help him inject insulin. He wasn't home when they stopped by twice the day before, but this time they hear someone inside.

"We're from Medicare. We'd like to speak with you," says Franco, the Miami Field Office director for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Visits such as this one late last month are part of an effort to battle Medicare fraud in one of the nation's hot spots for such scams: Miami-Dade County.

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