I don't understand, why would guys assume the HEALTH CARE FRAUD was small time?

When I first saw it, I immediately thought of the first episode of Sopranos, with the Medicaid MRI scam Tony wanted to pull, and the other guys words, " Could be major, as big as garbage". And that was like 17 years ago lol.....



I also thought of ALL THE OLD PEOPLE DOWN THERE, I was expecting something to do with that, kinda like Colleti....


If you follow this stuff closely, that's one of the Genoveses biggest white collar rackets. Didn't Colleti from queens have all the handicapped, like I don't know, all the medical car services/ transportation in Queens? Maybe even NY.
This is the type of stuff I expect to see from the Ivey league of crime.

To be honest when you guys mentioned the philly guys were into rehabbing, I immediately thought of HUD....Another government program with a massive budget, and too many loopholes.....


I read something on Medicare awhile back, I think the government kicks in like 600-800 billion? Yearly? Some crazy ass number. One percent of that is 6-8 billi, HALF OF THAT is 3-4, HALF OF THAT is STILL a couple billion a year to steal, that people are too slow to miss. Now factor in the baby boomers or whatever, that definitely Los like a "growth industry for crime"....

I think I've said before, Merlino was never no big racketeer, all I ever heard of him doing was shaking down bookies. But the GANGSTER aspect, well different story. He's been powerful ever since they hit the bosses son. People focus on the money sometimes a little too much, you gotta look at the power too. Merlino is a lot like Gotti, he seems to mainly value relationships and connections. And like I pointed out in that Machiavelli excerpt, as long as his core group of guys is loyal to HIM, not Cosa Nostra per se, or his rank or whatever, they are loyal to HIM, he will always be powerful, and if he has power, he will always be in a position to make money.

This racket even goes a long way to explaining why the guys are loyal to him. Being loyal to him, they figure they can get some crumbs from that windfall. Maybe get to partner up with NY through Joey on some rackets... Who knows...


But I got a different perspective, like Bruno was rich, but I consider him less a gangster than even Scarfo, even though Scarfo was a "brokester" most his career. I consider Narducci less a gangster too, even though he was richer. There's a lot of examples actually but y'all get the point...

This is definitely the biggest bust since the Rizzuto thing....