Everyone hates Medicare fraud, but Matthew Snorek of Wisconsin did something about it. It took more than five years of persistence and patience, but it paid off big last week. Snorek started an investigation that saw the founder of Dr. Comfort, a shoe company, repay the federal government $27 million and agree to plead guilty to a crime that could land him in prison for 18 months.
Snorek, a former hourly worker at the company, got a check Friday for about $800,000, his share of a reward paid to those who blow the whistle on businesses that rip off the federal government. He’ll net about $250,000 after attorney fees and taxes. He’s glad for the money, but it rankles that a former company executive Snorek felt was part of the problem got $4 million after he later decided to become a whistle-blower, too.