While a dead doctor isn't much use to a patient, it turns out they can be quite helpful to perpetrators of Medicare fraud.

From The Associated Press:

Sellers of wheelchairs, drugs, and other medical supplies collected as much as $93 million in fraudulent Medicare claims based on prescriptions from doctors who actually were dead, some for 10 years or more, a congressional investigation has found.

Less than a month after disappearing under suspicious circumstances, former hedge fund cofounder Samuel Israel gave himself up to authorities Wednesday, the Associated Press reports.

So where was this crooked executive hiding out all this time?

From the Associated Press:

Officials said that after Israel abandoned his car, he took off in a white recreational vehicle carrying a motor scooter and his belongings. He was believed to be staying at RV parks, campgrounds, or highway rest areas.

Last week, attorneys general in California and Illinois filed lawsuits against beleaguered mortgage lender Countrywide. On Monday, Florida threw its hat in the ring as well:

From Reuters:

Florida sued mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. on Monday for predatory lending practices, alleging the company at the center of the U.S. mortgage crisis made subprime loans to people who could not repay them.

Beleaguered mortgage lender Countrywide faces a fresh set of headaches after attorneys general in two states filed lawsuits against the company.

From the Associated Press:

Countrywide Financial Corp. is accused of using misleading advertising and other unfair business practices to trick borrowers into taking on risky home loans they didn't fully understand in a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the California attorney general's office.

Roland Harper, an ex-Chicago Bears fullback who once charted running lanes for Hall of Famer Walter Payton, could find himself in prison for more than a year after admitting his involvement in a fraudulent scheme.

Harper pleaded guilty Tuesday to serving as "a front man in a fraud involving a $1.5 million Chicago Public Schools landscaping contract reserved for minority firms," the Associated Press reports.

The mystery surrounding the whereabouts of financial fraudster Samuel Israel III deepened Monday, as the feds officially ruled out suicide.

Israel's abandoned vehicle was found on a bridge in New York State—with the phrase "Suicide is Painless" written on it—on the very same day he was supposed to begin serving his 20-year prison sentence for fraud and conspiracy.

From the Associated Press:

Although a financial fraudster reportedly left his car on a bridge with the words "Suicide is Painless" written in dust on the vehicle, police and investors aren't convinced he took his own life.

Why? Because the swindler—Bayou hedge fund cofounder Samuel Israel III—was recently sentenced to a 20-year prison term for fraud and conspiracy. He was scheduled to begin serving the sentence Monday, the same day his abandoned car was found.