News

Mohammad Khan, assistant administrator of a Houston-area hospital has pleaded guilty on charges involving a $116 million scheme to defraud Medicare by making false claims for mental health services called partial hospitalization program (PHP). The PHP services were not ordered by a doctor and so not considered medically necessary, and in some cases, they were not actually provided.

Khan...

Because of alleged tax fraud, California resident Maria Teresita Viray may no longer prepare federal tax returns for others, according to the federal judge who recently issued a permanent injunction against Ms. Viray. Ms. Viray consented to the injunction, which also requires her to provide the federal government with a list of all the individuals for whom she prepared tax returns between 2007...

A kickback scheme designed to defraud Medicare has landed Butler Moultrie, the operator of a Fort Lauderdale-area halfway house, in prison for 33 months. After he serves his prison term, he will be subject to 3 years supervision. He will also be required to pay $801,000 in restitution.

The kickback scheme improperly funneled patients to American Therapeutic Corp. (ATC). Moultrie...

Albert “Jack” Stanley, former chairman and CEO of Kellogg, Brown & Root Inc. (KBR) has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for his part in a decade-long conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by bribing Nigerian government officials for business advantages. Through the bribery scheme, KBR sought engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts. After...

Michelle Turner of Spring, Tex., a patient recruiter for a Houston-area durable medical equipment (DME) business has been convicted of health care fraud connected with an “arthritis kit” fraud scheme. The charges include conspiracy to commit heath care fraud and conspiring to receive illegal kickbacks in exchange for referring Medicare patients.

Turner and others were recruited by...

The federal government has filed suit in the Southern District of Mississippi against the Florida-based Technological Research and Development Authority (TRDA). The case was filed under the False Claims Act, a statute used to recover funds fraudulently obtained from the government.

The U.S. alleges that TRDA relied on false statements in seeking federal grants from two federal programs...

The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered the government to respond to a request for a rehearing filed by Frederic Bourke, the Dooney & Bourke co-founder convicted in 2009 for conspiring to violate the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The government alleged that Bourke participated in a scheme to bribe government officials in Azerbaijan in an unsuccessful attempt to take over...

In late February, the primary whistleblower in a False Claims Act suit against WellCare Health Plans of Tampa, Florida finally conceded to settle. For 2.4 million Medicare and Medicaid recipients, WellCare provides managed-care health plans.

For months, Sean Hellein objected to the government’s $137.5 million settlement as being too low. Now the whistleblower has consented to a...

The federal government has intervened in a False Claims Act suit filed against American Commercial College Inc. (ACC), a West Texas chain of for-profit colleges. The suit alleges that ACC’s certification that it had complied with the “90/10 Rule” was false. The 90/10 Rule is a provision of federal law that prevents a university or college from receiving more than 90 percent of its...

A settlement has been reached in three False Claims Act lawsuits filed against Odyssey HealthCare, a subsidiary of Gentiva Healthcare. Odyssey, which provides hospice services in approximately 27 states, will pay $25 million to settle the claims. The lawsuits alleged that Odyssey engaged in health care fraud regarding Medicare hospice benefits. Odyssey did not admit to the allegations against...