HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett announced that agents from the Attorney General’s Insurance Fraud Section have filed criminal charges against two sisters accused of switching identities to secure nearly $30,000 in medical insurance coverage for a surgical procedure performed at a Philadelphia hospital.
Corbett identified the defendants as Tirhas Mekonnen, 26, of Wilmington, Delaware, along with her sister Woinshet Mekonnen, 34, of Ethiopia.
Tirhas Mekonnen
Woinshet Mekonnen
Corbett said that Tirhas Mekonnen allowed her sister, Woinshet, to use her medical insurance identification cards in order to have a surgical procedure performed in Philadelphia. The sisters conspired to switch identities in the belief that the medical insurance system could be easily manipulated, and also because Woinshet Mekonnen preferred to have the surgery performed in the U.S. rather than in Ethiopia.
“Insurance fraud schemes, including medical ID Theft, ultimately take money out of the pockets of every Pennsylvania resident, boosting insurance premiums for employers and employees alike,” Corbett said. “Fraudulent claims are a driving force behind the increased cost of health insurance and the Attorney General’s Insurance Fraud Section is committed to identifying and prosecuting the individuals who orchestrate these scams.”
According to the criminal complaint, Woinshet Mekonnen utilized her sisters’ insurance to cover all of her
medical expenses incurred during and after the surgery, ultimately resulting in a bill of in excess of $29,000 being submitted to Blue/Cross and Blue Shield by Northeastern Hospital in Philadelphia. Multiple doctors and home health care workers treated Woinshet Mekonnen, holding herself out as her sister.
The defendants are each charged with two counts of insurance fraud, one count of conspiracy, and one count of theft by deception, all third-degree felonies which are each punishable by up to seven years in prison and $15,000 fines.
Tirhas Mekonnen and Woinshet Mekonnen were both arrested in Wilmington, Delaware by officers from the Wilmington Police Department, who assisted the Attorney General’s Insurance Fraud Section. Both defendants are currently free on $10,000 cash bail, awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania. An extradition hearing is scheduled for March 24, 2008, in Wilmington.
The case will be prosecuted in Philadelphia County by Senior Deputy Attorney General Gregg Shore of the Attorney General’s Insurance Fraud Section.
Corbett thanked the Wilmington Delaware Police Department and the Delaware Department of Insurance, Fraud Prevention Bureau, for their cooperation and assistance with this investigation.
Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (Andinet) held two meetings today to decide on its next move after the Woyanne-controlled Electoral Board of Ethiopia on Friday refused to issue the necessary letter allowing the party to start collecting 1,500 signatures that are required for registration. Read more by zikkir News Serivce
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — A British teacher who was convicted of defamation after a report she made exposed sexual abuse at a children’s charity in Ethiopia will not serve time in jail, a court ruled Friday.
Jill and Gary Campbell address reporters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Friday.
Jill Campbell and her husband, Gary, compiled evidence in 1999 that helped convict the director of an Ethiopian orphanage that the Swiss charity Terre Des Hommes-Lausanne used to run.
The charity acknowledged the abuse took place, but brought a successful defamation case against the Campbells for their claims that the charity’s senior staff covered up the scandal.
The Swiss charity asked the court not to sentence Jill Campbell because her husband, Gary, had made a public apology last month, said Seleshi Ketsela, a lawyer who represented her in the case.
“The case is closed. … They said one (apology) is enough,” Seleshi told The Associated Press.
Jill Campbell was convicted Wednesday and had faced up to six months in prison. She said that she was relieved by the outcome, but was unhappy that the charity had not formally apologized to the victims or financially compensated them.
“I regret nothing and I apologize for nothing as well because we did nothing wrong,” she told journalists.
Gary Campbell issued a public apology for the comments last month, then said he did so only because nobody would be able to care for the couple’s children if they both went to jail.
Friday’s court session — closed to the media — took only about five minutes. As soon as the Campbells emerged from the court there was jubilation from their foreign and Ethiopian friends who had gathered outside the courthouse. A number of them hugged each other on receiving the news of the court’s decision.
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The Campbells, who have lived in Ethiopia for more than a decade, have drawn wide support.
Their report on sexual abuse, which was sparked by stories they had heard from local friends, prompted the charity to apologize and leave Ethiopia. In 2003, an Ethiopian court sentenced orphanage director David Christie to nine years of hard labor for abusing several young boys.
The report included testimony from several young boys at the orphanage, including one who said he had been at the orphanage run by TdH in the northeastern town of Jari.
“I thought I was lucky to have been chosen to sleep with this man, I was a vulnerable young boy with no knowledge of the world that existed outside Jari,” the boy, who went by the initial G, says in the report. “I trusted white men who had, on the surface, appeared to make Jari a good place to live in.”
በቀጣዩ ወር በመላው አገሪቱ የሚካሄደውን የአከባቢና የማሟያ ምርጫ ከፍተኛ የመብት ጥሰትና ወከባ በመፍጠር የወያኔ ካድሬዎች በነጻ ምርጫ ስም በህዝቡ ላይ ተጨማሪ የጭቆና ዘመን ከመፍጠር ባለፈ ተቃዋሚዎች አንዳችም ወንበር የማያገኙበት በመሆኑ ከምርጫው ለመውጣት ጥምረታዊ ውይይት በማካሄድ ላይ መሆናቸውን ማንነታቸው እንዲገለጽ ያልፈለጉ ታማኝ ምንጮቻችን ገለጹ፡፡
በኢትዮጵያ የምርጫ ታሪክ ታይቶ በማይታወቅ ሁኔታ ከፍተኛ አሃዝ ያለው የእጩዎች ስብስብ በግዳጅና በተለያዩ መደለያዎች ያዘጋጀው ወያኔ በቀጣዩ ምርጫ የተወሰኑ መቀመጫዎችን ራሱ ላዘጋጃቸው ተቃዋሚ ተብዬዎች ከመልቀቅ ባለፈ ህዝቡ የሚደግፋቸውን ተቃዋሚዎች የመምረጥ እድሉ ሙሉ ለሙሉ በአደጋ ስለተከበበ በምርጫው መሳተፍ ሳይጀመር መጨረሻው የታወቀውን ምርጫ ህጋዊ ካባ ማላበስ ነው ሲሉ ፓርቲያቸውን በመወከል በጉዳዩ ዙርያ ከሌሎች ተቃዋሚ ፓርቲዎች በመወያየት ላይ ያሉት ምንጫችን እምነታቸውን ገልጸዋል፡፡ ህዝቡ ቅድመ ዝግጅት እንዲያደርግ ለምን ይፋዊ መግለጫ አትሰጡም በማለት ከዜና አገልግሎቱ ለቀረበላቸው ጥያቄ ሲመልሱም ያንን ማድረጋችን አይቀርም ሆኖም በአሁኑ ሰአት መግለጫውን መስጠቱ በእጩዎች ላይ እንግልት የሚፈጥር ከመሆኑም በላይ ውይይቱ ስላልተቋጨ የተወሰኑ ጊዜያት ያስፈልጋሉ በሚል እምነት መሆኑን አስታውሰዋል፡፡
በትግል ውስጥ ረዥም ዘመን በማሳለፍ የሚታወቁት እኒህ የፖለቲካ ሰው ጨምረው እንደገለጹት አብዛኞቹ ተቃዋሚ ፓርቲዎች ለአላማው ያሳዩት አዎንታዊ ምላሽ ከፍተኛ መሆኑን በመግለጽ ይህ ዴሞክራሲያዊ መብትን የመጠቀም እርምጃ ከዴሞክራሲ ጋር እስከወዲያኛው የተጣሉትን ወያኔዎችን አስቆጥቶ ወደ ሃይል እርምጃ ሊከታቸው ወይም በምርጫ 97 እንደሆነው ‹‹የአመጽ አማራጭ›› ተብሎ መስዋእትነት ሊያስከፍል ቢችልም አብዛኞቹ ተቃዋሚ ፓርቲዎች መንፈሳዊ ዝግጅት ማድረጋቸውን ገልጸዋል፡፡
ውሳኔው ይፋ በሚደረግበት ወቅት ሊደርሱ የሚችሉ የመብት ጥሰቶችን አስመልክቶ በአገር ውስጥ ያሉም ሆኑ በውጭ የሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያውያን ከጎናቸው በመቆም የተለመደ ድጋፋቸውን እንደሚያሳዩዋቸው ያላቸውን እምነትም ገልጸዋል፡፡
በተቀዳሚ ፕሬዝዳንት ወ/ሪት ብርቱካን የሚመራው የአንድነት ለዴሞክራሲና ለፍትህ ፓርቲ በዛሬው እለት ጠዋትና ከሰአት በኋላ ሁለት የተለያዩ ውጤታማ ስብሰባዎችን አካሄደ፡፡
የመጀመርያውና እስከ እኩለ ቀን የቆየው ስብሰባ በወ/ሪት ብርቱካን ሚደቅሳና በዶ/ር ኃይሉ አርአያ የተመራ ሲሆን የቀድሞ የቅንጅት ታዋቂና ብቃት ያላቸው አባላትን ያሰባሰበ ነበር፡፡ በዚህ 42 የአስተባባሪነት ብቃት ያላቸውን የቀድሞ አባላት ባሰባሰበ የውይይት መድረክ ላይ በርካታ ሃሳቦች ተነስተው የተንሸራሸሩ ሲሆን በቀጣዩ የትግል ሂደት ላይ መከናወን ያለባቸው አበይት ጉዳዮች ተነስተው ገንቢ ውሳኔዎች ተላልፈዋል፡፡
አባላቱ ቀደም ባሉት ቀናት በአቶ አባይነህ የሚመራውን ስብስብ በማነጋገር ወደ ትግሉ ለመመለስ ጊዜው እንዳልመሸበት ቢያሳስቡም ቡድኑ በአፍራሽ እንቅስቃሴው እንደቀጠለበት በስብሰባው ላይ ተጠቁሟል፡፡ በመጨረሻም ለትግሉ ፍሬያማነት ከምንጊዜውም በበለጠ መስራት እንዳለባቸው በመወሰን የመስራች አባላት ፊርማ የማሰባሰቡን ሂደት በሃላፊነት እንደሚረከቡ አረጋግጠዋል፡፡
ከሰአት በኋላ በተካሄደው ስብሰባ ላይ ደግሞ በ1997 ቅንጅትን በመወከል የአዲስ አበባ የቅንጅት የክልል ም/ቤት ተመራጮች የነበሩ አባላት በፓርቲው ጽ/ቤት ባደረጉት ስብሰባ ቀጣዩን የትግል ስልት አስመልክቶ የመከሩ ሲሆን ፓርቲው የሚጠናከርባቸውንና ከህዝቡ ጋር የሚኖረው ግንኙነት ከምንጊዜውም በበለጠ እንዲሻሻል ለማድረግ በየተመረጡባቸው ክ/ከተሞች ሰፊ ስራ እንደሚሰሩ በመስማማት ተጠናቋል፡፡ በስብሰባው ላይ ዶ/ር ኃይሉ የተገኙ ሲሆን በአጠቃላይ 25 ተመራጮች ተሳታፊ ሆነዋል፡፡
