108 charged with Medicare fraud; bogus claims hit $455 million

108 charged with Medicare fraud; bogus claims hit $455 million


By Richard A. Serrano
11:30 AM CDT, May 2, 2012

WASHINGTON — Doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers from around the nation – 108 in all – were charged Wednesday in what federal officials in Washington called a “nationwide takedown” against medical professionals they said fraudulently billed Medicare out of nearly half a billion dollars in bogus claims.

The sweep of arrests in seven major cities, where some $455 million was allegedly fraudulently billed, marked the highest amount of false claims in a single raid in the history of the federal strike force. The strike force was convened to combat rising fraud in the medical industry; the Obama administration said the scope of the investigation means that it is continuing to get tough on those preying on the Medicare assistance system during the recession.

In addition, federal Health and Human Services officials suspended or took other administrative actions against 52 medical providers after analyzing billing requests and finding additional “credible allegations of fraud.”

In Los Angeles, eight people, including two doctors, were charged with fraudulently billing about $20 million for services never provided. Officials said the Los Angeles defendants billed Medicare for power wheelchairs that were never purchased, and feeding tubes for patients who never required them.

Further, they said, one healthcare group paid recruiters “kickbacks” to go out and find “patients” who were perfectly fine, and then have doctors knowingly write phony prescriptions for them.

One case was handled in Chicago, where a defendant was charged for his alleged role in scheming to submit about $1 million in false Medicare billings for psychotherapy services.

Editor's note:  Feds:  Just one case in Chicago????

Of the 108 defendants charged, 87 were arrested Wednesday. Federal agents were either still looking for the other 21, or were expecting them to voluntarily surrender.

The other cities were Miami, Tampa, Fla.; Houston; Baton Rouge, La.; and Detroit.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/la-na-nn-medicare-fraud-20120502,0,4373602.story

Editor's note: Feds: In the Probate Court of Cook County, with the Sykes, Tyler and Gore cases alone there is 15 - 20 million dollars in fraud.

Alice R. Gore Estate value about 1 million dollars: Alice R. Gore, deceased, a disabled 99 year old ward of the Probate Court of Cook County, Judge Kawamoto’s courtroom was hours away from ending up in the Cook County Morgue. Alice's estate was depleted by probate court parasites and there were reportedly no funds to bury her. Her loving family paid for the burial expenses so that Alice would not have to suffer the indignity of being stacked like an Auschwitz inmate in the Cook County morgue. The judge allowed an easily manipulated mentally disabled granddaughter to be appointed as Alice’s guardian and yet no sanctions were instituted against the judge or court officers for this blatant infraction of the law.



Strangely, 16 of Alice’s annuity checks, two of which show forged endorsements, disappeared. Alice’s daughter has a copy of a check with her signature possibly forged. The daughter’s attorney has been trying to obtain copies of the 16 other annuity checks for two years without success. Even more puzzling is a $150,000 life insurance policy owned by Alice and not inventoried into the estate by the court. The Probate Court of Cook of Cook County refuses to investigate these blatant infractions of the law. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

KawamotoDragon.com