Skip to main content

Two Miami-Area Corporations Plead Guilty to More Than $200 Million Medicare Fraud

WASHINGTON—Two Miami-area corporations, American Therapeutic Corporation (ATC) and Medlink Professional Management Group Inc., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Miami for a fraud scheme that resulted in the submission of more than $200 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS) announced.

According to court documents, ATC is a Florida corporation headquartered in Miami that operated purported partial hospitalization programs (PHPs) in seven different locations throughout South Florida and Orlando, Fla. A PHP is a form of intensive treatment for severe mental illness. Medlink is a Florida corporation headquartered in Miami that purported to act as a “management company” for health care businesses. In reality, ATC and a related company, the American Sleep Institute (ASI), were Medlink’s only clients. ATC and Medlink are each charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in a superseding indictment unsealed on Feb. 15, 2011. ATC is also charged in the superseding indictment with health care fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive illegal health care kickbacks.

“ATC and Medlink, and their owners, have now pleaded guilty to perpetrating a massive $200 million Medicare fraud scheme in South Florida,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The fraud scheme was staggering in scope, and those who concocted the scheme exhibited a complete disregard for the elderly, infirm, and disabled victims who were used to commit it. Today’s guilty pleas mark an important step forward in our effort to hold accountable everyone—and every entity—involved in the scheme, and to recover the maximum amount possible on behalf of American taxpayers.”

“The defendants altered patient files, diagnoses, and medication types and levels to make it appear that patients being treated qualified for PHP treatments,” said U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer for the Southern District of Florida. “This was done so that the defendants could fraudulently bill Medicare for more than $200 million in medically unnecessary services. We are pleased to have put these unscrupulous operators out of business.”

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

15 Gang Members Convicted on Conspiracy, Weapons Possession, Firearms Trafficking Charges Case Follows Recent Convictions of 137th Street Crew and East Harlem Narcotics Trafficking Organization

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced the results of the investigation and prosecution of one of Central Harlem’s most destructive criminal street gangs, referred to as “ONE TWENTY-NINE” or “GOODFELLAS/THE NEW DONS,” which terrorized the neighborhood surrounding West 129th Street between Lenox and Fifth Avenues. Thirteen members of the gang have previously pleaded guilty to importing, possessing, and using firearms over the course of the conspiracy.

Mortgage Fraud

Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced today the indictment of 13 individuals and a mortgage origination company for perpetrating over $100 million in mortgage fraud over a four-year period in the New York City metropolitan area. In addition, 12 individuals have already waived indictment and pleaded guilty to felonies relating to their participation in the mortgage fraud scheme. The indictment charges 13 individuals and the mortgage company, AFG FINANCIAL GROUP, INC., with enterprise corruption, grand larceny, scheme to defraud and conspiracy involving 19 fraudulent mortgage transactions. The defendants include the principals and a number of employees of the mortgage company, as well as bank employees, appraisers, and three attorneys. Two other attorneys are among the defendants who already pleaded guilty. The crimes charged in the indictment occurred between June 2004 and April 2009 with the bulk of the fraudulent closings occurring from mid-2005 through the end of...

DISTRICT ATTORNEY VANCE ANNOUNCES INDICTMENT OF SIX SUBCONTRACTING COMPANIES AND THEIR OWNERS IN MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR FRAUD

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictments of six subcontracting companies and their owners for colluding with LEHR CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION (LEHR) in a multimillion dollar scheme that defrauded numerous construction clients over the past decade. See, related story. The announcement comes one day after DA Vance announced LEHR and four executives were indicted on crimes including Enterprise Corruption, the New York State Racketeering law. GODSELL CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION and its owner ARTHUR GODSELL are charged with Grand Larceny in the Second Degree. JT ROSELLE LIGHTING, INC. and its owner JAMES ROSELLE, LIBERTY CONTRACTING CORPORATION and its owners GEORGE FOTIADIS and KEVIN FOTIADIS, PJ MECHANICAL and its owner JAMES PAPPAS, SUPERIOR ACOUSTICS, INC. and its owner KENNETH MCGUIGAN, and SWEENEY & HARKIN CARPENTRY and its owner MICHAEL HAYES are charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree.[1] "The defendants in this case cheated clie...