Turkia Mullin's doctor brother facing federal charges
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By Charlie LeDuff Fox 2 News
DETROIT (WJBK) -- You remember Turkia Awada Mullin, Bob Ficano's right hand gal who is caught up in that federal corruption probe. Now there are more problems for the Awada family because her brother Sam Awada was arrested at an office raided in Warren on allegations that he was running a drug ring selling prescriptions for cash.
Dr. Awada was charged in federal court on Wednesday with unlawful distribution of controlled substances and conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud.
They allege that the doctor performed unnecessary medical procedures, defrauding Medicare of millions of dollars, and that the doctor wrote prescriptions for pain killers to people without legitimate medical conditions in exchange for cash -- a little hustle that netted him about $50,000 a month. Finally, they say he billed the government for treatments on patients who were dead.
"He'd give you whatever you'd ask for?" I asked patient Tracy Wilczak.
"Basically," she answered.
"What did you ask him for?" I further asked.
"Vicoden, narco, you know, basics," she responded.
What happened to all that money? The feds allege that Awada spent some of it on his new building and that he may have shipped a storage container filled with cash to Lebanon.
"Those are false allegations and they're preposterous and baseless," Awada told me.
Awada was released on $10,000 cash, forced to give up his passport and forbidden from prescribing medication.
Friday, June 7 2013 5:49 PM EDT2013-06-07 21:49:09 GMT
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A stunt designed to test Detroiters' attention to detail went real bad, real quick. The experiment had an officer posing as a purse snatcher. Not factored into the scenario was an FBI agent who wasn't in on the plan.
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Federal authorities say they've raided 7-Eleven stores across Long Island and in Virginia as part of a probe into human smuggling, identity theft and money laundering.
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Photo courtesy of @N42_21_W71_04)
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