There have been countless Hollywood films made of bank robberies. As viewers, we immediately ascertain that the perpetrators of the crimes are villains, worthy of capture by law officials and harsh prison sentencing. What we don’t see Hollywood portraying all that much are criminals who defraud America’s health insurance companies.
In fairness, there is a difference. Perhaps the action sequences in those films would leave much to be desired. In place of gun fights would be the filling out of fraudulent claims to be submitted to Medicare and Medicaid. The end result, however, wouldn’t be much different. Health care fraudsters are known for robbing millions of dollars from our nation’s health insurance programs. So what makes them any different from bank robbers?
Four people have been convicted in a $8.9 million health care fraud scheme.
We’re not saying there should be a movie made about 34 year-old, Jacklyn Price of Shelby, Michigan and her band of thieves. However, she and her three co-conspirators were charged in a case that involved an $8.9 million health care fraud scheme. As Kurt Nagl reports on CrainsDetroit.com, the medical clinic owner was sentenced to 13 years in prison for her role in the scheme. She was also ordered to pay $6.35 million in restitution.
Back in September, Detroit-area doctor, Millicent Traylor was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison. The 47 year-old was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks, and five counts of health care fraud.
Price was one of Traylor’s co-conspirators and the last to be sentenced in the case.
Price, who owned Medicare providers operating out of the Samaritan Center on the east side of Detroit, produced fraudulent Medicare claims for home health care and other services that were, according to a news release from the United States Department of Justice, “procured through the payment of kickbacks, were not medically necessary, were not actually provided, or were provided by an unlicensed physician.”
48 year-old, Muhammad Qazi of Oakland Township and 39 year-old, Christina Kimbrough of Canton Township were the other co-conspirators in this scheme. They were sentenced in September. Court documents stated that all four individuals involved were convicted of committing health care fraud under Metro Mobile Physicians in Detroit, as well as the entities Patient Choice Internal Medicine PC in Detroit and United Home Health Care Inc. in Ferndale.
According to the documents, “they were found guilty of unlawfully enriching themselves,’ by submitting false claims to Medicare, bribing Medicare beneficiaries with cash and narcotics for the use of their Medicare numbers for fraudulent claims and diverting proceeds for personal use,” reveals Nagl.
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