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A28 u.s. news
Diabierna 8 OctOber 2021

Dad who fled Afghanistan sues US to reunite with young sons

conducted one of the largest airlifts in York-based International Refugee As-
history, but they were left behind. sistance Project.

A State Department spokesperson Zaretsky said Mohammad is one of
said in an email to The Associated thousands of Afghans who worked
Press that it does not comment on for the U.S. government in Afghani-
pending litigation. stan and were forced to leave behind
close family members to be able to
Mohammad communicates daily get to safety. Many are still fighting
with his sons either through calls or to be reunited with them. The ad-
texts. ministration has provided no figures
for how many special immigrant visa
His youngest has broken down cry- applicants and their family members
ing, asking, “Dad, are they going to are still stuck in Afghanistan a month
kill me?” after the U.S. withdrew its troops,
and it has yet to take substantial ac-
“What can I say?” Mohammad asks. tion to protect them, according to the
lawsuit.
He sent another letter to the State
(AP) — The Afghan man was at- grandmother and uncle, he said. He Department on Sept. 9 asking that his Mohammad said he wants his sons
tending a conference in Califor- asked that only his first name be used sons be granted humanitarian parole, to know that his work in promoting
nia as part of his job for a U.S.- to protect them. but again he said he got no response. women’s rights in Afghanistan for a
government funded project in He also contacted his California law- program funded by the U.S. govern-
Afghanistan when the Taliban On Thursday, the International Refu- makers. ment was worth it, even if many of
sent a written death threat to gee Assistance Project, whose lawyers those advances may vanish under the
his home, forcing him to make are working on his behalf, filed a law- Mohammad was approved for a spe- new Taliban government.
a heart-wrenching decision: He suit in a federal court in San Francis- cial immigrant visa in January and
would not return to his wife and co against Secretary of State Antony applied the next month for his sons, He said he also wants them to see
two young sons and instead would Blinken, alleging the administration requesting that their visa applications “because of my loyal service to the
seek asylum and try to bring them failed in its legal obligations under be expedited because they are in “im- United States,” they have the chance
to the United States. the Afghan Allies Protection Act to minent danger.” Their applications to come to a good country like the
help his family despite his work for are still pending. U.S. where “your future is guaran-
Two years later, Mohammad said he the U.S. government during the 20- teed” and they can get a “good educa-
regrets leaving them, and wished he year war there. The lawsuit states that “removing his tion and other rights that human be-
had never worked for the U.S. gov- children from Afghanistan, where ings should have.”
ernment given the price he has paid. “The only thing that I want is just one they are in daily peril, and reuniting
hug” from my kids, Mohammad said. them with their only remaining par- He tries to encourage them not to
As Mohammad tried to get visas for ent is essential to their survival and give up, though he is losing faith in
his family, his wife collapsed in 2020 Mohammad said he has repeatedly wellbeing.” his words.
and died of a heart attack while the asked the U.S. government for help.
Taliban threatened them. Moham- He contacted the State Department “At this point the government has “I’m giving them hope whenever
mad, who lives in California, has in August after bullets pierced the known since mid-August at mini- I am talking to them, but I’m also
been fighting ever since to be re- home where his sons were hiding be- mum that these kids are alone and in thinking, ‘But is this even possible?
united with his sons, who are now 9 fore the Taliban took control of the serious danger, and they didn’t take Are they ever going to be reunited
and 11, and are moving from house- country. He asked for his children any action to protect them,” said law- with me here?’” he said.
to-house, living in hiding with their to be evacuated as the U.S. military yer Alexandra Zaretsky of the New

18 ex-NBA players charged in $4M health care fraud scheme

(AP) — Eighteen former medical and dental proce- fendants received about $2.5 fraudulent claims to the plan players to defraud the plan
NBA players were charged dures that never happened. million in fraudulent pro- in November 2017 for chiro- and offered to provide fraud-
Thursday with pocketing ceeds. practic care. The claims led to ulent invoices from a chiro-
about $2.5 million illegally Strauss said prosecutors have a $7,672 payout for Williams. practor and dentist in South-
by defrauding the league’s travel records, email and GPS Strauss said each defendant ern California and a wellness
health and welfare ben- data that proves the ex-play- made false claims for reim- The indictment said he then office in Washington state.
efit plan in a scam that ers were sometimes far from bursements that ranged from recruited other former NBA
authorities said involved the medical and dental offices $65,000 to $420,000.
claiming fictitious medi- at the times when they were
cal and dental expenses. supposedly getting treated. A request for comment to the
league wasn’t immediately
“The defendants’ playbook In one instance, she said, an returned.
involved fraud and decep- ex-player was playing basket-
tion,” U.S. Attorney Audrey ball in Taiwan when he was Michael J. Driscoll, the head
Strauss told a news confer- supposedly getting $48,000 of New York’s FBI office,
ence after FBI agents across worth of root canals and said the case demonstrated
the country arrested 15 ex- crowns on eight teeth at a the FBI’s continued focus on
players and one of their wives Beverly Hills, California, uncovering health care fraud
in a three-year conspiracy dental office in December scams that cost the health
that authorities say started in 2018. care industry tens of billions
2017. of dollars a year.
According to an indictment The indictment said the
returned in Manhattan fed- scheme was carried out from Strauss said the conspiracy
eral court, the ex-players at least 2017 to 2020, when was led by Terrence Wil-
teamed up to defraud the the plan — funded primarily liams, who began his career
supplemental coverage plan by NBA teams — received as a first-round NBA draft
by submitting fraudulent false claims totaling about pick in 2009. The indictment
claims to get reimbursed for $3.9 million. Of that, the de- said he submitted $19,000 in