Sunday Read: Spooky Stories
Believe it or not, there have been whistleblower claims tied to exorcists, extraterrestrials and waste that could easily be fodder for the next horror or thriller film franchise. These fascinating tales provide a broad view of the various types of violations that can occur across the whistleblower spectrum.
With Halloween upon us, the National Whistleblower Center (NWC) explores some of these recent, chilling events. We also shine a light in the darkness of these crimes by providing details on the laws that protect whistleblowers who report on these violations.
But be forewarned: The tales below may not be for the faint of heart...
The Psychic Who Should’ve Known Better
Sally Ann Johnson of south Florida was known for conjuring spirits, reading futures and performing spiritual cleansings. Her national reputation attracted high-paying clientele. One client was an elderly woman living in Martha’s Vineyard, who paid her $3.5 million — much of it in cash or checks to various aliases — between 2007 and 2014 for repeated exorcisms and other “healing services.” Johnson had the confidence to confront the demonic spirits supposedly haunting her client, but avoided reporting the income to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The self-proclaimed psychic did not see the signs that the IRS was on to her and in 2017 was arrested for fraud and tax evasion. As part of a plea agreement with the government, Johnson agreed to repay $3,567,300 to the client from Martha’s Vineyard and to pay restitution to the IRS for the taxes she avoided from 2007 to 2014. In 2018, she was sentenced to 24 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Denise Casper in Boston.
The Internal Revenue Act permits individuals who provide original information to the IRS about violation of the tax laws or the underpayment of taxes to obtain a monetary regard, if their information results in a sanction against the tax law violator. For more information, visit the NWC’s IRS Whistleblower FAQ page.
“Ghost Surgeons” Leave Patients At Risk While Under the Knife
The practice of ghosting has reached a new dimension — from phones to operating rooms. Bloomberg Law reported in August on a disturbing trend among medical professionals who do not actually perform the surgery for which they are hired, and instead pass on that responsibility to residents. In some instances, the instructing physician was not even present for the procedures.
Doctors at some of the largest teaching hospitals are blowing the whistle and filing False Claims Act (FCA) suits, alleging bribery and kickbacks, among the financial crimes, while also exposing their institutions to a host of ethical violations.
Examples include:
• The University of Southern California’s hospital system being accused of billing for thousands of cases in which the physician did not oversee spine and brain surgeries.
• An FCA lawsuit filed against USC Keck Hospital and the affiliated Los Angeles County Medical Center, which alleges a decade-long fraud characterized by doctors submitting bills for up to five surgeries on the same day and time at different facilities.
• The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center paid $8.5 million to settle the Justice Department’s claims of a head surgeon’s overlapping practices and defrauding government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. The claim originated from a whistleblower tip.
The False Claims Act’s qui tam provision is one of the strongest whistleblower protection laws in the United States. For more information, visit the NWC’s FCA (Qui Tam) Whistleblower FAQ page and read “25 False Claims Act Facts,” by NWC Board Chairman Stephen Kohn.
Former DOD Officers Tells Congress Of His Close Encounter, Opening the Door for Greater Transparency
In July, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability’s Subcommittee on National Security, the Border and Foreign Affairs held a session on extraterrestrials. During the hearing, “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency,” witness testimony was provided by David Grusch, Former National Reconnaissance Officer Representative for the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Task Force.
Grusch testified to Congress that the government has been concealing information regarding unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) for decades. Grusch had previously blown the whistle to NewsNation about the non-human biologic remains recovered from downed craft.
In the aftermath of the testimony, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who attended the session, has called for greater transparency. Macse told NBC affiliate 2News in Washington, D.C.:
“It’s not about little green men, this is about national security, it’s about technology, if objects are being flown in the sky, in our planet, then what kind of…and defying the laws of gravity, defying the laws of physics….what kind of energy are they using? What kind of technology are they using? Do we have that technology? Did we develop that technology? Who has it? You know all of those things that go into very important questions that we all should have about our national security.”
Until conclusions are drawn from future UAP hearings, the truth will remain out there.
Costly Secrets Of The Ooze
The Hanford site is a 586-square-mile complex in the desert of southeastern Washington state. It is home to nine former plutonium production reactors and associated processing facilities that were operational from the 1940s to 1987.
In the 1990s, the Energy Department hired Bechtel as the contractor to lead the efforts of the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) project at Hanford, which was meant to exhume the waste, freeze it in glass, and give it a proper burial that would not harm people or the environment.
The Center For Public Integrity reported in 2015 how the costs of delays at the plant had mushroomed from the initial $4.3 billion estimate to $12 billion by 2015, and Bechtel had not yet processed any toxic waste.
This was due in part to the enormous risk of a nuclear meltdown, which in 2010 were documented in a critical report thanks to whistleblower Walter Tamosaitis, who worked for Bechtel subcontractor URS Energy and Construction and headed a team that sought to find and fix the waste plant’s design problems.
Despite Tamosaitis’ bravery, he was removed from the project within days and then fired in 2013. He filed a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit, and won a $4.1 million settlement in 2015.
Contact with nuclear waste, toxic ooze and radiation are the origin points for several horror stories and comic book characters. And though they make for fantastic fiction, they pose real-life risks to society and the environment. Those who report environmental crimes are protected by certain government agencies.
In Rules For Whistleblowers: A Handbook For Doing What’s Right, author Stephen M. Kohn, Esq. noted the protections offered by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for private sector whistleblower disclosures made to the press:
“In cases arising under the Occupational Safety and Health act and the environmental and nuclear whistleblower laws, the DOL has consistently upheld an employee’s right to communicate concerns to the press as a first step in alerting the governmental to potential safety problems. These precedents have been upheld in various judicial decisions.”
Learn more about whistleblower protections from retaliations on the NWC’s FAQ page.
Avoid Whistleblowing Horrors
Blowing the whistle on wrongdoing can sometimes feel like stepping through a haunted house: frightening obstacles lurk behind every corner as you navigate a complex legal maze and face the prospect of employer retaliation. Employees might shudder at the thought of reporting the skeletons in their employer’s closet.
NWC offered a Halloween-themed overview of tips and tricks for blowing the whistle in 2021. From the labyrinth of laws and to the trap of internal, these tips remain just as relevant and can prevent the reporting process from being a horror show.
And as mentioned in last week’s Sunday Read, reporting to the press without having first consulted legal counsel can be incredibly risky. Whistleblower protection laws are complex and vary from case to case and agency to agency. NWC advises whistleblowers to consult a lawyer before going public or making moves on their own.
Support NWC
NWC fights to protect whistleblowers who are critical to rule of law. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit our awareness building work is made possible with the support of our generous donors. Please consider donating $50 today to help us continue to educate about the whistleblower claims process and related laws.
This story was written by Justin Smulison, a professional writer, podcaster and event host based in New York.
