FLUSHING, N.Y. — Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz confronted employees at two New York City senior care centers over suspected Medicaid fraud, challenging their billing practices as Fox News Digital got an exclusive look at the crackdown in action.

Oz, accompanied by senior federal health officials, delivered warning letters to Kent Senior Care and Evergreen Adult Day Care in Flushing, Queens, during a broader fraud crackdown that involved the FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the NYPD and other agencies.

The letters notified the facilities that their billing practices had raised concerns among federal authorities. The two visits by Oz were part of a broader crackdown in which CMS officials conducted more than 80 visits and delivered warning letters to providers across New York City on Tuesday.

Fox News Digital accompanied Oz as he pressed employees about questionable billing records and challenged their explanations for how taxpayer dollars were being spent.

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“The whole experience was suspicious,” Oz told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview following the visits.

Oz said federal authorities were conducting a broader crackdown that included arrests, search warrants and efforts to stop certain operators from billing Medicaid, although Fox News Digital did not independently witness those enforcement actions at either Queens facility.

Kent Senior Care declined comment during a phone call with Fox News Digital on Tuesday. Evergreen Adult Day Care did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Oz questions senior center director: ‘We don’t believe you’

The first stop came around 8:30 a.m. at Kent Senior Care, where Oz entered the facility and personally handed its director a letter from the federal government notifying the business that its billing practices were under scrutiny.

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“The bills are much higher than they should be,” Oz told the director. “The billing is for more people. It doesn’t look very crowded here.”

The director pushed back during the exchange, explaining that it was still early and additional seniors would arrive later in the morning, as Oz questioned whether the facility’s Medicaid billing records accurately reflected its actual attendance.

The occupancy of the space was 70 persons, according to an observe posted maximum occupancy sign on the wall.

“The bills we’re getting are as though it’s completely full all the time,” Oz said.

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The director maintained that the facility billed only for seniors who actually attended, and that it required participants to sign attendance sheets.

“You’re getting this letter from the U.S. Government because we don’t believe you,” he told the director.

During the exchange, Oz also questioned why the center’s billing records appeared to reflect seniors attending five days a week when the director acknowledged that many participants typically attended only two or three days.

The director insisted the facility billed for actual attendance and said some seniors attended more frequently than others.

The confrontation intensified when Oz and other federal officials raised questions about specialized transportation services billed for seniors using wheelchairs.

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“I don’t see any wheelchairs here,” Oz told the director.

Fox News Digital observed seniors inside the facility, including individuals using walking aids, but did not see anyone using a wheelchair during the visit.

Another official said billing records included charges for specialized wheelchair transportation, raising questions about whether the services had been provided and which company was responsible for submitting the charges.

The director said some seniors had mobility difficulties, including those recovering from strokes, and that the facility had wheelchairs available. He also said that workers could have copied information from previous files instead of properly updating the billing codes as it applied to wheelchair use.

“Probably he just copy and pasted,” the director said.

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During the visit, Oz walked over to several mahjong tables set up inside the facility, questioning whether taxpayer dollars were being properly spent on the recreational activities offered through the Medicaid-funded program.

“Should the American taxpayers be paying so folks can play mahjong?” Oz asked the director.

The director defended the activity, explaining that mahjong helps seniors exercise their fingers, socialize and improve their memory, particularly those experiencing cognitive difficulties.

“It’s free for them, not free for the taxpayers,” Oz responded. “Is that what our federal tax dollars for Medicaid is supposed to go to? Or is it life-saving heart surgery? Or, you know, new therapies for cancer?”

Oz raises concerns over seniors entering without signing in

Oz raised additional concerns about the facility’s attendance records after observing seniors entering without signing in, despite the director’s insistence that participants were required to document their attendance.

“People were just walking in there without signing anything,” Oz said. “And then after I showed up and he saw what we were doing with my team, he started collecting these documents to be signed.”

Oz said the apparent inconsistencies raised further questions about whether the facility’s attendance records accurately reflected the services being billed to Medicaid.

Fox News Digital also witnessed several seniors enter Kent Senior Care without immediately signing attendance sheets. Additional seniors who arrived later were instructed to sign in.

Social adult day care programs can provide eligible seniors with structured activities, supervision, meals and social support. Medicaid reimbursement depends on applicable program rules, individual eligibility and documentation of services provided.

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At the second stop, Evergreen Adult Day Care, Oz confronted a floor manager over another set of billing discrepancies before examining the facility’s attendance records.

The manager told Oz that approximately 200 seniors attended the facility on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, compared with about 150 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, although it was unclear whether those figures represented total daily attendance or the number of seniors present at one time.

But Oz questioned those numbers after walking through the facility and observing significantly fewer people.

“So I look at maybe 25 people in the whole space now,” Oz said.

The manager disputed that estimate, explaining that some seniors were participating in classes while others had left to shop, visit a pharmacy or attend medical appointments.

“The numbers don’t seem to add up,” Oz responded.

Oz also questioned the manager about wheelchair-related billing, asking how many participants used wheelchairs.

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The manager initially indicated that none did before acknowledging that a small number of seniors used them.

“But you said there weren’t any, were you?” Oz pressed.

He subsequently discussed the apparent discrepancy with other federal officials accompanying him.

“I’m struck by how few people are here as well,” Oz said. “This makes me wonder how they sustain these billing levels.”

The visit took another turn when Oz examined the facility’s attendance books, which he said contained “fraud.”

Fox News Digital observed sign-in sheets that appeared to contain names entered for Oct. 22, and Oct. 23, dates that had not yet occurred at the time of the visit.

The entries dated Oct. 22 and Oct. 23, both after the visit, raised questions about whether the facility was documenting attendance in advance, although Fox News Digital could not immediately establish whether the entries were completed attendance records or advance schedules.

Oz alleges organized crime ties to NYC Medicaid fraud

Oz said federal authorities believed organized criminal networks were exploiting the Medicaid-funded programs by offering seniors money to attend facilities and then billing the government for services that were not actually provided.

Oz alleged that individuals he described as being connected to the “Chinese mafia” were paying some seniors between $1,000 and $1,200 to participate in fraudulent billing arrangements, though the administrator did not identify a specific criminal organization or provide supporting evidence during the interview.

Oz said the federal government had identified significant spikes in billing across the industry and claimed that annual spending on the programs had approached $1 billion.

“We know from the billing here that there’s no way this business is running in the way that they claim to be running without something being wrong,” Oz told Fox News Digital.

“Is it an innocent mistake? A hundred times in a row, I don’t think so.”

Oz alleged that proceeds from fraudulent Medicaid billing schemes were being used to finance other criminal activities, including money laundering and human trafficking, although Fox News Digital had not independently verified those connections or established any such link to the two facilities visited.

“It’s really a clubhouse for crime,” Oz said while describing the alleged broader scheme.

He said fraud accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic and criticized the previous administration for failing to address what he described as rapidly rising spending and suspicious billing.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul acknowledged the crackdown on Tuesday, calling it part of a “massive effort to combat fraud and abuse” in Medicaid and confirming that state health officials had joined federal and state law enforcement in targeting suspected fraud at social adult day care programs.

While Oz personally delivered warning letters to the two Queens facilities, state, local and federal law enforcement officials were simultaneously conducting searches at other locations across New York City as part of the coordinated crackdown.

Specific details about the facilities targeted, individuals involved and evidence recovered were not immediately available as the investigations remained ongoing.

A winery co-owned by the husband of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was shuttered amid fraud claims, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said.

Comer said over the weekend that the winery had been selling empty barrels to investors under the guise of “wine to be aged.”

“I can tell you from our initial investigation of Omar and her financial disclosure form that there are multiple fronts where you could get a search warrant issued,” Comer told Trey Gowdy on Fox News’ “Sunday Night in America.”

“First of all, not only was there a huge discrepancy in the financial disclosure form, there was the winery that was the big base of her $25 million listing on her financial disclosure form. That winery has, according to the press, been shut down because of fraud.”

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The winery, co-owned by the congresswoman’s husband, Tim Mynett, shut down in April this year amid congressional scrutiny over Omar’s finances.

His and his business partner’s lawyers told the Minnesota Reformer, “Any suggestion that Will or Tim deliberately defrauded investors or otherwise consciously conspired to rip people off would be false and defamatory.”

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The revelation is not new, but it’s one of several details that have resurfaced in recent days amid a federal probe into Omar’s citizenship in the U.S.

Federal law enforcement executed a search warrant at her D.C. home earlier this month. The operation was linked to allegations that she and her father misrepresented the congresswoman’s age to more easily obtain American citizenship.

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Omar’s critics, like House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., have called for the progressive Democrat to be deported if the allegations were proved true.

She and her allies have denied wrongdoing and attacked the investigation as a partisan hit job against one of President Donald Trump’s most vocal opponents.

But it’s not the first time Omar has faced accusations of impropriety as a member of Congress.

The House Oversight Committee had earlier probed Omar’s finances after her public disclosures showed a rapid, and at the time unexplained, increase in her net worth. Omar previously chalked up the discrepancy to an accidental accounting error.

Comer zeroed in on the winery in a February letter sent just weeks before the business closed down.

He wrote to Mynett that Omar’s 2023 financial disclosure forms “lists a stake in your winery eStCru worth between $15,001 and $50,000.” The following year, her financial disclosure form listed a stake in eStCru “worth between $1,000,001 and $5,000,000.”

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“There are serious public concerns about how your businesses increased so dramatically in value only a year after reporting very limited assets,” the letter said.

Omar told The Wall Street Journal in mid-April that she and her husband have less than $100,000 combined.

The winery, eStCru, was based in California and was founded in 2020 by Mynett and a business partner. The industry outlet Wine Business named it one of its “Hot Brands of 2022.”

When asked about the probe, a spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee pointed out to Fox News Digital that Comer had referred the case of Omar’s finances to the House Ethics Committee for review.

“Regarding the investigation into her spouse, the House Oversight Committee referred the matter months ago to the House Ethics Committee and encouraged it to do its job and review the concerning allegations,” the spokesperson said.

The bipartisan panel is tasked with investigating accusations of impropriety by lawmakers and recommending punishments if those probes turn up wrongdoing. It has not yet taken up Omar’s case.

Fox News Digital reached out to Rose Lake Capital, another venture by Mynett and his business partner, for comment on Comer’s remarks. 

FIRST ON FOX: The State Department warns that antifascist groups are planning to participate in a “potentially more confrontational protest” this weekend as the far-right National Rally holds its political convention just days after widespread riots overwhelmed police and exposed major security failures.

As party leader Marine Le Pen prepares for the gathering on Oct. 24–25 in Orléans, France, an internal document obtained by Fox News Digital cautions that antagonists are planning more demonstrations near the convention venue that could “expose further security shortcomings and deepen political tensions.”

The warning comes at a particularly dangerous political moment for President Emmanuel Macron, considering the same unrest that exposed his government’s security vulnerabilities could also give National Rally and center-right parties an opening to challenge his record, according to the State Department assessment.

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Now, French authorities face another high-stakes security test as demonstrators prepare to converge on the congress of a party that could benefit politically from the previous unrest.

The demonstrations are expected to coincide with the National Rally’s two-day party congress, where Le Pen is set to launch her presidential campaign. Left-wing parties, unions and activist groups are planning a march Saturday, while antifascist groups have announced plans for a separate protest Sunday near the convention venue, according to the State Department assessment.

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National Rally President Jordan Bardella has ruled out canceling the congress, while local authorities are preparing additional security restrictions around the gathering.

The looming confrontation comes as France is still reeling from the Oct. 17 unrest, when authorities badly underestimated the scale of demonstrations that descended into widespread rioting and looting.

Some 550,000 people joined 110 marches nationwide, according to France’s Interior Ministry. More than 2,400 people were arrested, nearly 1,000 law enforcement officers and firefighters were injured and thousands of businesses were damaged. And intelligence failures that far underestimated the turnout left authorities overwhelmed and facing more than double the number of protesters originally estimated.

The State Department’s internal assessment notes that the violence has reshaped France’s political debate just six months before voters choose Macron’s successor. It says the unrest has shifted attention away from the economic and education grievances that initially drove the protests and toward public security and government accountability, potentially giving National Rally and center-right parties an opening to challenge Macron’s record.

French officials have acknowledged that intelligence and planning failures contributed to authorities being overwhelmed during the Oct. 17 unrest.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez offered his resignation after acknowledging police “lost control” in some major cities. Macron rejected it, citing the need for continuity in law enforcement command, and ordered “full transparency” over the failures in planning and intelligence-gathering that preceded the violence.

Nuñez has said authorities need to improve their ability to anticipate large-scale mobilizations, putting added pressure on security services to avoid a repeat when demonstrators converge on Orléans this weekend.

And the government may have little time to recover even if the National Rally congress passes without major violence.

Labor organizations are already mobilizing for nationwide strikes and demonstrations Nov. 5 over wages, public services and the proposed 2027 budget, according to the State Department document.

The internal assessment said Macron faces competing pressure to restore order while addressing the grievances fueling the protests, with limited fiscal room for concessions as parliament debates next year’s budget.

With parliamentary scrutiny looming and further demonstrations already planned, the State Department assessed that France faces another potential flash point that could “expose further security shortcomings and deepen political tensions.”

Striking a Make America Safe Again tone, Republican New York gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman blasted Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul as the “most pro-criminal governor” during a Monday campaign event riding the New York City subway system, which has been plagued by violent crimes and commuter safety fears.

“I have not heard from one person, and from all the people, that it’s safer on the subways and public transportation in New York,” Blakeman said as he rode the subway. “I’ve heard just the opposite. Everybody says they feel less safe.”

“So we want them to feel safe,” he said.

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Blakeman, a Nassau County executive, is a former commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Now running for governor, he was campaigning Monday in the densely populated city, which is overwhelmingly a Democratic stranglehold.

“Hire more police officers, hire more conductors, clean up our subways and get help for those who are emotionally ill – get them help that they need; not have them roam around our subways,” Blakeman told reporters as he rode the subway, targeting both the governor and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the deep-blue area.

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“The crime in the subways has gone up tremendously under Kathy Hochul and Zohran Mamdani,” Blakeman lamented. “They are not committed to public safety. I will be committed to public safety. I will make sure that our public transportation is safer and cleaner for the traveling public.”

“That’s how you get more people back in public transportation, not by putting a tax on them with congestion pricing, which is nothing more than a tax on the middle class,” he added.

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Blakeman hit Democrats for being negative influences on public safety, and Hochul specifically, for having “reduced the number of conductors on our trains and subways.”

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More police patrolling the subways and improving the lighting in dimly lit subway systems are on Blakeman’s priority list, but he also discussed having more conductors manning the subways.

Hochul vetoed Albany legislation that would have required conductors on more subway trains, leaving the MTA’s one-person train operation program in place versus the June 2025 state-passed bill requiring at least two-person crews — an operator and conductor.

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“Whether it’s cashless bail, Raise the Age, the HALT Act, Clean Slate, or refusing to cooperate with ICE and federal agents, she has made us less safe,” he said, striking at Democrat-backed legislation long rebuked by police groups and Republican public safety hawks.

Cashless bail limits when judges can require defendants to put up money to be released. Raise the Age generally keeps 16- and 17-year-olds out of adult criminal court, while the HALT Act limits solitary confinement and changes prison disciplinary practices. The Clean Slate law seals certain criminal convictions from public view after a designated waiting period.

“People feel less safe in every community that I go to in New York State,” Blakeman said.

This post appeared first on https://www.foxnews.com

FIRST ON FOX: Popular grocery delivery company Instacart has reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) after it was accused of discriminating against American workers.

The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division says it has reached a $5 million settlement with Maplebear Inc., which operates the delivery service used by Americans to get groceries sent to their front doors. The resolution addresses allegations that the company purposefully discriminated against U.S. and American workers based on country of origin, which the DOJ says violates the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII).

The company, according to the Justice Department, was abusing the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) process by placing undue burdens on American applicants by requiring them to physically mail applications to the company, deviating from Instacart’s standard electronic application process. The scheme occurred from December 2023 through February 2026.

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“This significant resolution marks the 15th settlement agreement the Civil Rights Division has reached under my leadership to protect U.S. workers,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said. “Our record demonstrates that the Justice Department is holding companies who prefer workers with temporary employment visas accountable. We will not stop fighting for U.S. workers until there is a fair playing field.”

The settlement was secured in conjunction with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Instacart will be required, under the settlement, to set up a $4 million fund to compensate applicants who may have been wronged, and another $1 million in civil penalties.

The PERM program allows employers to sponsor temporary visa workers for permanent residence in the United States. However, companies using the PERM program are required to make a “good-faith” effort to hire American workers before resorting to foreigners.

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Companies cannot create “additional burdens for U.S. and American workers; publishing job advertisements that disfavor, limit, specify, or otherwise discriminate against U.S. and American workers; or use processes that limit, segregate, or classify applicants in any way that tends to deprive U.S. and American applicants of employment opportunities,” according to the DOJ.

The settlement is the 15th of its kind since President Donald Trump began his second term in office in January 2025 and is part of a broader effort to ensure American workers aren’t illegally discriminated against.

The EEOC has dubbed the mission “Project Firewall.”

“Today’s settlement makes clear that when employers erect unlawful barriers that harm American workers, the EEOC will act decisively,” said Andrea Lucas, the chair of the EEOC. “The EEOC is committed to holding companies accountable when they deny equal work opportunities to U.S. workers by preferring temporary visa holders for jobs. Discrimination against workers based on their American national origin has no place in our economy.”

“We’re proud to be a U.S.-based grocery technology platform, employing thousands of American workers and serving millions of customers, retailers, shoppers and brands. We encourage qualified U.S. jobseekers to apply to join our team,” an Instacart spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

“Hiring and investing in American workers across our U.S. business is our priority, and we actively promote every role across many channels to ensure qualified U.S. candidates are always first in line for opportunities. While we maintain that our practices complied with all applicable laws and regulations, we’re pleased to have resolved this matter so we can keep our full focus on delivering on our mission for customers, shoppers, retailers and brands.”