by WorldTribune Staff, November 5, 2026 — Real World News
In April of this year, independent journalist Christopher Rufo reported on what he called the "largest financial crime in American history."
Crime rings, the report said, stole at least $180 billion from California's unemployment, healthcare, and welfare programs.
Rufo referred to California as "Gavin Newsom's empire of fraud."
The state's own auditors have confirmed billions lost to fraud.
When the Trump Administration raised child-care fraud concerns, Newsom dismissed the claims as "deranged. This is about polarization, politicalization, weaponization."
When a man was arrested for stealing $23 million from the Los Angeles homeless services program, Newsom claimed credit for "exactly the kind of accountability the state has pushed for." First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, responded that no one made an arrest until he was appointed to investigate fraud in California.
"We followed the money and very quickly we uncovered massive amounts of fraud," Essayli said.
An April 2026 report by independent outlet Garry's List noted: "The pattern across California government is depressingly consistent: spend massively, refuse to measure outcomes, attack anyone who audits. $37 billion on homelessness, and the homeless population grew 24%. $185 billion in unemployment benefits, with $32.6 billion potentially fraudulent. The mechanism is always the same: money goes out the door, nobody checks where it lands."
Kyle Reyes, owner of Law Enforcement Today, Blue Lives Matter, and The Police Tribune, refers to "Land of the never-ending Democrat FRAUD!"
Democrats hold a supermajority in both chambers of the California legislature. No Republican has won statewide office in California since 2006. Dan Schnur, who teaches political communications at USC and UC Berkeley, put the structural problem plainly: "There is no shared responsibility here for Republicans. If you had a state in which Republicans were actually competitive, they would bear some responsibility for these problems."
Reyes noted in a post to LinkedIn:
A California doctor was sentenced to 15 years in prison after a jury found she billed Medicare more than $45 million for Botox injections that were never given or medically unnecessary.
⠀
Violetta Mailyan of Glendale owned Healthy Way Medical Center. She submitted claims for thousands of treatments on days the clinic was closed, including more than $19 million in such charges. She also billed while vacationing in Cabo, Hawaii, Las Vegas, and other places.
⠀
In one case she billed over $200,000 for California patients on a day a photo showed her on a Cabo beach. She later falsified records and forged signatures, including for a man who was in federal prison at the time.
⠀
Prosecutors said the money funded a Tesla Cybertruck, multiple properties, a $12,000 antique crossbow, and other luxury items. The court ordered forfeiture of more than $16 million in assets and $32.9 million in restitution.
⠀
The judge called the scheme "truly breathtaking in scope." Mailyan was convicted in May on nine counts of wire fraud and three counts of obstruction.
Then there's high-speed rail. The project is decades behind schedule. The price has skyrocketed to more than $125 billion. Californians have yet to see any usable tracks.
"A moon base would cost less than the high-speed rail boondoggle," said Rep. Vince Fong, a Republican who represents California's 20th Congressional District (and was re-elected on Tuesday).
State Sen. Tony Strickland, a Republican member of the Senate Transportation Committee, noted:
"The California High-Speed Rail Authority has had four CEOs since 2010, including Ian Choudri, appointed in 2024. Instead of reshuffling the chairs on the Titanic, it's time to pull the plug on the high-speed fail and deliver immediate relief to struggling Californians paying the nation's highest gas taxes. Californians deserve accountability, not another revolving door of leadership."
Reyes noted:
MORE CALIFORNIA FRAUD! California's high-speed rail boss Ian Choudri quits after inspectors catch nearly $600,000 in consultant luxury travel waste on a project with zero trains running.
Ian Choudri stepped down late Wednesday and blamed "important personal and family priorities."
In his letter he called leading the authority "one of the most meaningful and rewarding chapters of my professional life" and insisted he had fixed the mess. Board chair Steve Kawa said the exit shows "commitment to accountability and transparency" and declared "Californians deserve a project they can trust."
Newsom's office called it a positive step while finance director Joe Stephenshaw takes over as interim CEO.
Inspectors found consultants billed roughly $600,000 for unallowable trips between 2024 and 2026. That included first-class flights, late-night rideshares near Choudri's Folsom home, and visits to a nightclub plus an escape room.
One consultant flew Denver to Sacramento 30 times in a year and charged big travel-time fees. Staff signed off with almost no questions.
The board had already yanked Choudri's power to approve contracts under $25 million. Voters backed the rail in 2008 expecting San Francisco to Los Angeles service by 2020 for a few tens of billions.
Costs have ballooned past $126 billion and maybe $231 billion with service possibly not until 2040.
Only a Central Valley stretch is under construction and no high-speed trains operate. The authority also lost about $4 billion in federal money for missing deadlines.
Environmental clearance and a trainset contract are done but most of the line still has no funding.
Source link
