Technical challenges of running a high-scale "pill mill":
Twin brothers Chris and Jeff George ran "pill mills" in South Florida that
helped people get bogus scrips for painkillers. They made so much cash
doing this that their employees actually burned the $1 bills because they
took up too much space and were too much trouble to deposit. The crooked
docs who worked with them were issued rubber stamps for signing scrips so
that they wouldn't get hand-cramps.
The deluge of cash became a problem. Employees could be heard on the
wiretaps complaining about cash drawers being stuffed to the top. It wasn't
worth keeping dollar bills, so those were separated and then burned by the
barrel. Bigger bills were stuffed into garbage bags, then hauled to a bank.
Chris George's wife, Dianna, accepted the chore of making these rather
suspicious deposits, although not without grousing that she'd become her
husband's “money mule.”
Other cash-filled bags went to the home of the Georges' mother, Denice
Haggerty, who stacked it in safes in her attic. At one point, says a friend
of the Georges, there were 14 safes in the attic, each containing $1
million. Haggerty, who divorced John George in 1988, pleaded guilty to
conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
The cash piled up despite the brothers' free-spending ways. Jeff George
bought a monster truck, multiple Lamborghinis and a Mercedes Saks 5th
Avenue Edition. There were only five of those cars made, and George liked
his so much that when he totaled it, he bought himself another, according
to a friend.
Jeff George assembled a small navy, including a 36-foot racing vessel, a
39-foot sports boat and two yachts, 38 and 55 feet in length. He also
bought the shopping plaza housing his favorite strip club. The purchases
were a convenient way to launder money, according to the indictment.
How Florida brothers' 'pill mill' operation fueled painkiller abuse epidemic
(via Kottke)
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Posted By Blogger to LinuxCommand.org: Tips, News And Rants at 5/08/2012
04:04:00 PM
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