🚨 Fraud Has Never Been Easier—And Congress Is About to Reward the Biggest Criminals in America 🚨

If you ever get the feeling that fraud isn’t just happening but thriving, you’re not wrong. And if you think no one in power actually cares, you’re probably right.

This week, we’re pulling back the curtain on how con artists, white-collar criminals, and regulatory negligence work together in a beautiful, bloodsucking symphony—all while the people footing the bill (you) are left to watch.

In this week’s issue:

💉 Fraudster of the Week: Death, Dollars, and Deception—Two nobodies turned Medicare into a personal piggy bank, racking up $1.2 BILLION in fraudulent healthcare claims. They hired sales reps with zero medical experience, scammed the elderly and dying, and were caught trying to flee the country with luxury watches and a DIY disappearing act.

🏛 The Five-Year Getaway: Congress is about to let COVID fraudsters walk free. In March 2025, the statute of limitations on ~$400 BILLION in pandemic fraud expires—and unless Washington acts, the biggest financial criminals in American history will escape justice.

🧠 Cognitive Warfare: They don’t need to ask you questions—they already know your answers. The CIA trains operatives in a psychological technique so powerful it can make you reveal your deepest secrets without you realizing it. It’s called cold reading—and it’s used by psychics, con artists, interrogators, and even salespeople to manipulate and control conversations.

 📞 Need a privacy overhaul? Book a Call with the Fraudfather! to fortify your defenses today!

Death, Dollars, and Deception: How Two Nobodies Made a Killing—Literally—Off Dying Patients

They built an empire on human suffering.

For 18 months, an Arizona power couple ran one of the largest healthcare frauds in U.S. history—a scheme so brazen that it milked $1.2 billion from Medicare, TRICARE, and private insurance companies.

They targeted the elderly, the dying, and the desperate.

They hired sales reps with no medical experience to comb through nursing homes, hospice care centers, and assisted living facilities, looking for anyone with a wound—no matter how minor.

They pressured nurse practitioners to abandon their medical training and follow strict orders to apply expensive wound grafts, even when the wounds were already healed.

And they got rich doing it—funding a lavish lifestyle of luxury cars, multimillion-dollar properties, and six-figure jewelry collections, all paid for with stolen taxpayer dollars.

But when the walls closed in, they did what every guilty fraudster does:

They tried to run.

On June 17, 2024, newlyweds Alexandra Gehrke and Jeffrey King were arrested at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport—moments before they could board a flight to London.

Inside their luggage?

🔹 $30,000 watches

🔹 Expensive jewelry

🔹 A copy of "How to Disappear: Erase Your Digital Footprint, Leave False Trails, and Vanish Without a Trace"

But disappearing was never in the cards.

Let’s break down how these two fraudsters nearly pulled off one of the biggest Medicare scams of all time—and what it says about the failures of our healthcare fraud detection system.

Step 1: Find Vulnerable Patients, Any Patients

Gehrke, 39, and King, 46, didn’t waste time with medical ethics—they went straight for volume and profit.

🔹 Sales reps—none of them doctors—were paid to locate elderly patients with wounds.

🔹 They didn’t care if the wounds were healing, infected, or nonexistent.

🔹 If they could slap a Medicare-funded graft on it, it was game on.

The bigger the graft, the bigger the payout.

So they ordered oversized grafts (4x6 cm or larger) for tiny wounds, inflating insurance bills to absurd levels.

Step 2: Force Nurse Practitioners to Follow the Script

Doctors? Too expensive. Too ethical. Too much trouble.

Instead, King’s company hired nurse practitioners and stripped them of decision-making power.

🔹 They were ordered to apply the grafts no matter what.

🔹 They couldn’t override the sales reps' "recommendations".

🔹 Some patients died the same day they received these unnecessary procedures.

If the nurses questioned the process, they were threatened.

For King and Gehrke, medical judgment had no place in their business model.

Step 3: Bill Medicare Like There’s No Tomorrow

Between November 2022 and May 2024, the couple submitted $1.2 billion in fraudulent claims.

🔹 $960 million went to federal healthcare programs—Medicare, TRICARE, CHAMPVA.

🔹 $614 million was actually paid out before anyone noticed.

🔹 Gehrke personally pocketed $279 million in kickbacks from the company supplying the grafts.

And the system? Did nothing to stop them.

HHS, Medicare fraud units, insurance companies—none of them caught on until it was far too late.

The Lifestyle of a Medicare Billionaire

If you’re wondering how $600 million in taxpayer money gets spent, here’s the answer:

🔹 $68 million in seized bank accounts

🔹 $22 million in life insurance annuities

🔹 Four luxury cars worth $980,000

🔹 Gold, jewelry, and other assets totaling over $520,000

🔹 Multiple properties across Arizona

But it wasn’t enough.

By the time the feds closed in, the couple was preparing to flee the country—off to enjoy the millions they had stolen from a system meant to help the most vulnerable Americans.

The Government Let This Happen—Again

Despite all the supposed fraud-detection tools in place, two nobodies from Arizona were able to drain hundreds of millions from Medicare and private insurers before anyone noticed.

Why?

🔹 HHS and CMS are slow, bureaucratic, and reactive.

🔹 Fraud schemes are caught after the money is gone, not before.

🔹 Despite having over 1,600 employees at HHS OIG, this fraud still took 18 months to shut down.

And let’s not forget the real cost:

Some elderly and terminally ill patients suffered horribly from these unnecessary procedures.

Some died immediately after being subjected to treatments that were never meant to heal them.

This was not a victimless crime.

The Sentencing: Will They Pay for Their Crimes?

Gehrke and King pleaded guilty—not because they had a crisis of conscience, but because they got caught.

• 🔹Gehrke faces up to 20 years in prison (sentencing scheduled for February 11, 2025).

   🔹 King faces up to 20 years (sentencing date pending).

  🔹 They’ve been ordered to pay back $1.2 billion, but good luck seeing that money again.

The government has seized $100 million—a fraction of the total stolen.

The rest? Gone.

And what about the allograft supplier that profited massively from this fraud?

Still untouched by DOJ.

The real question is: How many other healthcare fraud rings are still operating under the radar?

The Bottom Line: This Won’t Be the Last Time

Healthcare fraud is a $100+ billion problem every year.

Medicare and Medicaid hemorrhage money daily, and the watchdogs meant to stop it are either too slow or too incompetent to act in time.

Gehrke and King are just one case of many.

And the next healthcare billionaires are already out there—exploiting the system, stealing from taxpayers, and getting rich off unnecessary procedures.

If the government doesn’t drastically improve real-time fraud detection, this $1.2 billion scandal will look small in comparison to what’s coming next.

The question isn’t if this will happen again.

The question is—who’s next?

 📞 Book a Call with the Fraudfather! to fortify your defenses today!

The Crime of the Century—And We’re Letting It Slide

You were robbed. So was everyone you know. But unlike a street mugging or a home invasion, the thieves didn’t just take your wallet—they siphoned hundreds of billions straight from the U.S. Treasury.

And now? They’re about to get away with it.

In March 2025, the five-year statute of limitations on pandemic-era unemployment fraud expires. That means unless Congress acts immediately, fraudsters who stole as much as ~$400 billion will walk free.

For perspective, that’s more money than the annual budget of 48 states. It’s twice the yearly spending of the U.S. State Department. It’s a larger heist than any single criminal enterprise in American history. And yet, the clock is ticking toward mass amnesty for the culprits.

How Did We Get Here?

Pandemic unemployment fraud was an industrial-scale operation. States, overwhelmed by an avalanche of claims, abandoned basic identity verification. This created the ultimate buffet for cybercriminals, identity thieves, and organized fraud rings—many operating out of Russia, Nigeria, and China.

• Fraudsters stole identities and filed multiple claims across states.

• Inmates and the deceased collected checks.

• Fake businesses were approved without scrutiny.

• Some even applied under the names of state governors—and got paid.

The system was so broken that criminals flaunted their success on social media, posing with stacks of cash bought with stolen taxpayer dollars.

The consequences?

• The Federal Reserve printed more money to cover government losses, fueling inflation.

• States borrowed billions, now leaving small businesses with higher unemployment taxes.

• Law-abiding citizens who desperately needed aid were locked out because the fraudsters had already drained the accounts.

I Warned Congress—They Must Act Now

I continue to be at the forefront of this fight.

Last year, I testified before Congress, imploring lawmakers to take action. As a former Special Agent with the U.S. Secret Service and an expert in fraud prevention, I laid out exactly how pandemic-era unemployment fraud devastated the system and what must be done to fix it.

My message was clear:

✅ Strengthen identity verification—we cannot let antiquated systems continue bleeding taxpayer money.
✅ Hold criminals accountable—without an extension of the statute of limitations, we are rewarding fraud.
✅ Recover stolen funds—the DOJ has barely scratched the surface of this crime wave.

Despite my testimony, Congress has dragged its feet.

But now, they have one last chance to fix this before the fraudsters walk free.

Congress’s Last Chance to Deliver Justice

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) has introduced a bill to extend the statute of limitations on these crimes from five to ten years. This is the bare minimum required to ensure justice.

Why? Because fraud investigations take time.

• Only 5% of fraudulent UI payments have been recovered so far.

• The DOJ was asleep at the wheel, prioritizing political prosecutions over financial crime.

• Prosecutors are only now uncovering the full scale of these fraud rings.

With a 10-year statute of limitations, investigators can continue tracking down the ringleaders, freezing assets, and returning stolen funds to taxpayers.

Without it? The fraudsters win.

The Cost of Complacency

If Congress fails to act, it won’t just be about letting criminals walk. You’ll be paying for their crimes.

Here’s the dirty secret no one in Washington wants to talk about: State unemployment programs don’t just absorb losses. They borrow from the federal government to cover them.

That means every dollar stolen in pandemic fraud had to be replaced with loans—loans that states are now scrambling to repay. And how do they repay them? By raising payroll taxes on businesses.

• If you’re a small business owner, your tax bill is going up to cover fraud you didn’t commit.

• If you’re an employee, your paycheck shrinks as companies pass the cost onto you through wage suppression.

• If you’re unemployed in the future, your benefits will be lower because state funds were drained by fraudsters.

In states like California, businesses are already facing years of increased unemployment taxes because of unpaid federal loans. Other states are following suit.

So, when Congress shrugs at pandemic fraud, they aren’t just letting criminals walk free—they’re handing you the bill.

This isn’t about politics. It’s about whether America rewards criminals or holds them accountable.

With only weeks left to act, Congress must decide:

✅ Extend the statute of limitations and bring fraudsters to justice.
❌ Let the criminals walk—and invite an even bigger heist next time.

I said it in my congressional testimony, and I’ll say it again now:

If Congress fails to act, history will remember them as the ones who let the greatest financial crime in American history go unpunished—and made the American people pay for it.

The choice is clear.

Cold Reading: How to Read (and Manipulate) People Like a Pro

Cold reading is not just the parlor trick of psychics and con artists—it is a psychological weapon, refined and wielded by intelligence agencies, law enforcement, and interrogators worldwide. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), among others, has trained operatives in techniques that mirror cold reading because it is one of the most effective ways to extract information without directly asking for it.

Why? Because the best way to get people to reveal their secrets is to make them believe you already know them.

Why the CIA and Skilled Interrogators Use Cold Reading

In intelligence and interrogation, cold reading serves three critical purposes:

1. Gaining Control Over a Conversation – A skilled cold reader dictates the flow of information, leading the subject into revealing details they wouldn’t otherwise share.

2. Building Rapport and Trust – If a person believes you have insight into their emotions, fears, and motivations, they will lower their guard.

3. Extracting Intelligence Without Direct Questions – By making broad statements and letting the subject “correct” or “clarify” details, an interrogator can gather intelligence without tipping off their target.

This is not theoretical. CIA field manuals describe techniques that are eerily similar to cold reading, with an emphasis on psychological manipulation, body language analysis, and the exploitation of cognitive biases.

The same tools used to fool someone into believing in psychic powers can be used to break a terrorist, extract confessions, or manipulate a foreign asset into cooperation.

🚨 How to Perform Cold Reading Like an Intelligence Operative

1. Establish Authority Without Asking for Permission

In intelligence work, authority is power. You do not ask someone about their life—you tell them about it. Cold reading is most effective when you act as though you already know the answers.

• Weak Approach: "Is your father strict?" (This invites a yes/no answer.)

• Strong Approach: "I get the sense that a strong male figure in your life imposed high expectations on you."

If they nod or react, you confirm the statement. If they hesitate, you adjust.

The key is to never frame your statement as a question—always assume authority.

2. Use the Barnum Effect to Make People Feel Known

This is the trick that psychics, interrogators, and skilled manipulators all use: say something broad enough that anyone could see themselves in it. The CIA uses similar psychological principles to establish rapport during interrogations.

Example Barnum Statements for Cold Reading:

• "You're independent, but sometimes you second-guess yourself."

• "You don’t trust easily, but when you do, you’re fiercely loyal."

• "You’ve recently been thinking about a major decision, something that could change things for you."

These statements are always true for everyone. But by delivering them with confidence, you create the illusion of deep insight.

3. Shotgun for Information: Let Them Fill in the Blanks

Shotgunning is a technique used in both psychic cold readings and CIA interrogations. It works by throwing out vague or high-probability statements, then watching how the target reacts.

How Shotgunning Works in an Interrogation Setting:

• "I know you’ve been under a lot of pressure lately—maybe from work, or maybe from someone close to you."

• "This situation you’re in, it wasn’t supposed to happen this way, was it?"

• "I get the sense that there’s someone you still care about, someone you don’t want to disappoint."

The subject will correct you if you’re wrong, or subtly confirm if you’re right. Either way, you gain new intelligence.

How to Make It Work:

• If they nod or show emotion, double down: "I knew it—tell me more about that."

• If they hesitate, pivot: "Or maybe you’ve been trying to push that out of your mind."

You win either way.

4. The Rainbow Ruse: Contradictions That Always Land

Used properly, the Rainbow Ruse can make anyone believe they are being analyzed with precision. This technique is so effective that it’s been documented in covert influence operations used by intelligence agencies.

Here’s how you do it:

1. State a personality trait.

2. Then, immediately state the opposite trait.

3. The subject will recognize both in themselves and believe you are insightful.

Examples:

• "You're a disciplined person, but sometimes you can be impulsive when you feel strongly about something."

• "You enjoy the company of others, but you also need your alone time to recharge."

• "You don’t open up easily, but when you do, you care deeply."

These statements cover all bases, making them impossible to refute.

5. Watch Microexpressions: Read Without Asking

In CIA interrogation tactics, reading microexpressions—brief, involuntary facial expressions—is more valuable than any verbal confession. A single flicker of emotion can reveal whether someone is hiding something.

Common Microexpressions to Watch For:

• Tension in the jaw or lips → They are uncomfortable.

• A brief widening of the eyes → You’ve struck a nerve.

• Subtle fidgeting → They are processing information they don’t want to reveal.

You can use this to steer the conversation without asking direct questions.

Example:

• You: "I sense you have unfinished business with someone in your life."

• Them: (Brief microexpression of sadness, then a shake of the head.)

• You: "It’s complicated, isn’t it? You still think about this more than you let on."

They now feel like you know their situation—when in reality, you are just reacting to their body language.

6. Seal the Deal With a ‘Big Revelation’

The most powerful cold readings end on a dramatic, undeniable statement. This is what cements your credibility in the subject’s mind.

Here are two ways intelligence operatives and manipulators do this:

1. The Past Revelation:

• "There was a moment in your past that changed everything. It forced you to become the person you are today."

(The subject instantly searches their memory for the moment.)

2. The Future Prediction:

• "You’re on the edge of something big. There’s a major decision coming, and you already know in your gut which way you’re leaning."

(This primes the subject to act on their own instincts while believing you provided guidance.)

🚨 How to Protect Yourself From Cold Reading

1. Demand Specificity

If someone claims insight into you, ask for details. Most cold readers work in broad strokes.

2. Keep a Neutral Face

Your reactions fuel the reading. If you don’t react, they have nothing to work with.

3. Recognize the Pattern

Once you see the shotgunning, Barnum statements, and Rainbow Ruses, the illusion shatters.

Final Thoughts: The CIA Knows—So Should You

Cold reading is not just a tool for entertainers. It is a psychological weapon. Intelligence agencies, law enforcement, and interrogators use it because it works.

By mastering it, you gain two superpowers:

1. The ability to read and influence people.

2. The ability to defend yourself against manipulation.

The next time someone tries to tell you who you are, you’ll know exactly how the trick is done.

 📞 Book a Call with the Fraudfather! to fortify your defenses today!