Monty Grow made his brief career as a professional football player in the State of Florida. First attending the University of Florida and competing as a member of the Gators, Grow would go on to play a few games for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. However, it does not appear as if football will be at the heart of Grow’s legacy (if you can call it that) in Florida. Last week, the former linebacker was indicted in federal court with health care fraud.
According to Garry Smits of The Florida Times-Union, Grow is charged with “conspiracy to defraud the United States to pay and receive health care kickbacks, health care fraud, money laundering and causing the misbranding on drugs while held in sale.” Grow, who makes his home in Tampa, is also being charged with receiving upwards of $20 million in kickbacks from a pharmacy that Grow recruited patients for.
In Smits’ report, he reveals that Grow received payments from a Broward County compounding pharmacy between September 2014 and June 2015. The indictment alleges that Grow recruited patients who underwent no physical examinations (as is required by law) and had Tricare pay for unnecessary medication prescriptions. Tricare is a health insurance program that covers military personnel and their families.
The millions of dollars in kickbacks from the pharmacy were laundered by Grow through the purchases of real estate, luxury vehicles and securities, according to the U.S. attorney. All in all, Grow’s scheme defrauded the government of a whopping $2 billion, according to a CBS News report by Jim Axelrod. The report, which follows up on a CBS News exposé from last year, details Grow’s use of assistants to help him defraud Tricare.
“One of the people working for Grow was Deanna Dutting,” writes Axelrod, “She peddled pain creams to members of the military at no cost to them (by telling them they simply needed to submit their Tricare numbers online)….Dutting told a CBS News producer that TRICARE, the military’s health benefit plan, paid out roughly $25,000 for a one-month supply.” She too is also facing charges of conspiracy to receive kickbacks.
Axelrod notes that she is just “one of dozens” who worked with Grow to generate business for the Broward County compounding pharmacy. In an interview with CBS News, Dutting intimated that she knew what she was doing was wrong, but felt the guilt wash away the more money she made. “When the CBS News producer asked Dutting how much the pharmacy was making off the creams, she replied, ‘Oh, millions,’” reports Axelrod.
Being based in Florida makes this story hit pretty close to home for us, here at Allegiant Experts. But, as our blog has always showcased, we are very well aware that instances of health insurance fraud occur all over our country. Our team of clinical experts remains very dedicated to doing its part to diminish such cases. If you are an attorney who is involved in a case against a health insurance fraudster, we’d be happy to assist you.
For more information about our experience, expertise and how we may be able help your case, please don’t hesitate to call us at 407-217-5831 or email us at info@allegiantexperts.com.