Lois Norder

Atlanta

Investigations Editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Investigations editor - Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Previous: Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Shreveport Journal and a small Iowa paper you've never heard of.

Articles

$5 million settlement reached in Atlanta health care fraud case

Dec 4, 2024 | timesfreepress.com | Lois Norder

New on the job at a health care company, a Fulton County woman came to believe that her employer was getting patient referrals by providing kickbacks to doctors and their staffs. Now, that employer, Atlanta-based American Health Imaging, and its founder and former CEO, Scott W. Arant, have agreed to pay $5.25 million to settle allegations brought by Tanya Benjamin in a whistleblower lawsuit.
Atlanta radiology company settles lawsuit over illegal kickbacks

Dec 3, 2024 | ajc.com | Lois Norder

New on the job at a health care company, a Fulton County woman came to believe that her employer was getting patient referrals by providing kickbacks to doctors and their staffs. Now, that employer, Atlanta-based American Health Imaging, and its founder and former CEO, Scott W. Arant, have agreed to pay $5.25 million to settle allegations brought by Tanya Benjamin in a whistleblower lawsuit.
A Ga. man promoted illegal tax shelters for the wealthy. Now he's headed to federal prison

Nov 6, 2024 | ajc.com | Lois Norder

An Atlanta area accountant sold his clients on what he assured them was a lucrative, guaranteed investment. For every dollar they paid in, they would get tax deductions of about $4.50. It didn’t take much convincing for wealthy clients to sign on. Now that longtime accountant, Herbert Lewis, is heading to federal prison for his role in promoting and selling illegal tax shelters. He was sentenced in federal district court Friday to 28 months and ordered to pay almost $4.9 million in restitution.
Death behind bars: Here’s how Georgia prisoners are being killed

Oct 17, 2024 | macon.com | Lois Norder |Carrie Teegardin |Danny Robbins

Georgia prisons saw an unprecedented 38 homicides in 2023, topping the previous record of 31 the year before. This year's death toll has already set another horrific record. At least 44 people have been homicide victims so far in 2024. Among the recent homicides is that of Mariol Rawls, 41, at Wilcox State Prison in late August.
A list of those killed in Georgia's prison system

Oct 16, 2024 | ajc.com | Lois Norder |Carrie Teegardin |Danny Robbins

Rawls’ killing comes on the heels of a similar case, that of Shane Griffith, who was allegedly punched, kicked, stomped on, whipped with a belt and burned by 11 inmates, apparently over several hours, before the staff noticed he was dead at Valdosta State Prison in May. All 11 of those men have been charged with murder. Among the other 2024 victims verified by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution are a 23-year-old woman and a 61-year-old woman incarcerated at Lee Arrendale State Prison.
Locked up but not stopped: Georgia prisoners run drug-trafficking networks

Sep 5, 2024 | ajc.com | Carrie Teegardin |Danny Robbins |Lois Norder

Editor’s note: This story was updated in August 2024 to include information on several additional drug trafficking networks prosecuted in 2023-2024. When federal prosecutors announced their massive Operation Ghost Busted case, the charges revealed a startling reality: the massive drug trafficking operation had a home base inside Georgia’s state prison system.
Georgia men sentenced in landmark tax dodge case

Jan 11, 2024 | timesfreepress.com | Lois Norder

Advertisement Advertisement Georgia men sentenced in landmark tax dodge case January 10, 2024 at 1:30 p.m. by Lois Norder / The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (TNS) A scheme led by two Atlanta-area men allowed investors to claim more than $1 billion in false federal tax deductions. Now, both men are heading to federal prison in a case that sounds a warning to others involved in what's been called a shady tax dodge for the wealthy.
Georgia men sentenced in landmark tax shelter case

Jan 9, 2024 | ajc.com | Lois Norder

A scheme led by two Atlanta-area men allowed investors to claim more than $1 billion in false federal tax deductions. Now, both men are heading to federal prison in a case that sounds a warning to others involved in what’s been called a shady tax dodge for the wealthy. Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten on Tuesday sentenced Jack Fisher, of Alpharetta, to 25 years, and James Sinnott, of Suwanee, to 23 years. The judge also ordered them to pay restitution of about half a billion dollars.
Georgia prison system clamps down on information

Dec 26, 2023 | ajc.com | Lois Norder

As the Georgia Department of Corrections has seen record numbers of deaths from homicides, suicides and drug overdoses since 2020, it has tightened its grip on information about its prisons. Two such efforts made headlines. For six months, the GDC fought a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice for records related to the government’s investigation of violence in the prison system, saying it would release them only if the federal government signed a nondisclosure agreement.
Accomplice in inmate’s $11 million heist admits to money laundering

May 12, 2023 | ajc.com | Danny Robbins |Lois Norder

A Lawrenceville man pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to helping Georgia prison inmate Arthur Lee Cofield Jr. pull off his theft of $11 million from inside the state’s highest-security correctional facility.