Archive

November 4, 2016

New Jersey announced that the owner of an in-home senior care company in Atlantic County was sentenced to state prison for engaging in a scheme with her sister and a lawyer to steal millions of dollars from their elderly clients. Jan Van Holt, 60, of Linwood, former owner of “A Better Choice,” a firm that offered elderly clients in-home care and legal financial planning, was sentenced to 12 years in state prison, including 5 ½ years of parole ineligibility. Van Holt and Steen conspired with Barbara Lieberman, 64, of Northfield, a lawyer who specialized in elder law, to steal over $2.7 million from 12 elderly clients from 2003 through 2012. NJ

October 24, 2016

New Jersey announced that a doctor from Middlesex County pleaded guilty to engaging in sophisticated fraud and money laundering schemes by which he hid approximately $3.6 million in income from his medical practices to evade taxes. He also pleaded guilty to using money from the schemes to pay illegal kickbacks to doctors. Dr. Manoj Patharkar, 45, of South Amboy, N.J., pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Michael A. Toto in Middlesex County to first-degree conspiracy, first-degree money laundering, seven counts of third-degree filing fraudulent tax returns, and three counts of third-degree failure to pay taxes. He also entered guilty pleas to all of those same counts on behalf of his corporation Pain Management Associates of Central Jersey (PMACJ). Those charges were contained in an Aug. 24, 2015 indictment. In addition, he pleaded guilty to an accusation charging him with second-degree conspiracy and second-degree commercial bribery in connection with the illegal kickback scheme. NJ

October 21, 2016

New York-based hematology and oncology practice Hudson Valley Associates agreed to pay $5.31 million to settle charges of violating the False Claims Act by improperly waiving patient copayments and submitting claims for services it did not provide and/or were not permitted under the Medicare and Medicaid program rules.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  The whistleblower will receive a yet-to-be-determined whistleblower award from the proceeds of the government's recovery.  DOJ (SDNY)

October 21, 2016

Mark Gilmore, owner of Florida compound pharmacy QMedRx, agreed to pay $4.25 million to settle charges that he violated the False Claims Act by billing the government for services that were not reimbursable.  Specifically, the government contends that QMedRx submitted to federal healthcare programs compounded prescriptions that were tainted within the meaning of the Anti-Kickback Statute. The government is still pursuing penalties and fines from other participants within QMedRx.  DOJ (MDFL)

October 19, 2016

Elaine Davis and Pramela Ganji, the owner and medical director of New Orleans medical service company Christian Home Health Inc., were respectively sentenced to 96 months and 72 months in prison for their involvement in a $34 million Medicare fraud scheme.  According to evidence introduced at trial, Davis directed a massive fraud scheme through her company, using elderly and disabled Medicare recipients in New Orleans and adjacent communities to fraudulently bill Medicare for home health care services these patients did not require.  DOJ

October 17, 2016

Ohio-based nursing home pharmacy Omnicare, Inc. agreed to pay roughly $28 million to resolve charges of violating the False Claims Act by soliciting and receiving kickbacks from pharmaceutical manufacturer Abbott Laboratories in exchange for promoting the prescription drug, Depakote, for nursing home patients.  The settlement follows the May 2012 settlement under which Abbott agreed to pay $1.5 billion to resolve Abbott’s liability under the False Claims Act for, among other things, alleged kickbacks to nursing home pharmacies, including Omnicare and PharMerica Corp.  In October 2015, PharMerica agreed to pay $9.25 million to settle its role in the alleged scheme.  The allegations underlying this settlement as well as the prior Abbott and PharMerica settlements originated in two whistleblower lawsuits filed by former Abbott employees Richard Spetter and Meredith McCoyd under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  Ms. McCoyd will receive a whistleblower award of $3 million from the proceeds of this settlement.  Whistleblower Insider

October 7, 2016

Pilar Garcia Lorenzo, the owner of Tampa home health care agency Gold Care Home Health Services Inc., was convicted for her participation in a multimillion-dollar health care fraud and money laundering scheme.  According to evidence presented at trial, Gold Care submitted millions of dollars’ worth of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for home health services that had never been provided and had not been legitimately prescribed by a physician resulting in $2.5 million in improper Medicare reimbursements.  DOJ

October 6, 2016

Valery Bogomolny, the owner of Los Angeles medical supply company Royal Medical Supply, was sentenced to 60 months in prison for his role in a scheme that fraudulently billed more than $4 million to Medicare.  According to evidence presented at trial, Bogomolny used his company to improperly bill Medicare for power wheelchairs, back braces and knee braces that were medically unnecessary, not provided to beneficiaries or both.  The evidence further showed that Bogomolny created false documentation to support his false billing claims, including creating fake reports of home assessments that never occurred.  DOJ

October 4, 2016

Arizona not-for-profit community health system Yavapai Regional Medical Center agreed to pay $5.85 million to resolve claims that it violated the False Claims Act by misreporting data about the hours worked by its employees on its annual cost reports, which improperly inflated the amount of money it received from the Medicare program.  According to the government, the artificially inflated wage index was used by the Medicare program when it calculated the amount of the payments it made to Yavapai.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Gregory Kuzma under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  Mr. Kuzma will receive a whistleblower award of $1.17 million from the proceeds of the government's recovery.  DOJ (DAZ)

October 3, 2016

Major hospital chain Tenet Healthcare Corporation and two of its Atlanta-area subsidiaries, Atlanta Medical Center Inc. and North Fulton Medical Center Inc., agreed to pay over $513 million to resolve charges they violated the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback statute through illegal kickbacks it paid in exchange for patient referrals.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Ralph Williams under the qui tam provisions of the federal and Georgia False Claims Acts.  Mr. Williams will receive a whistleblower award of approximately $84 million from the proceeds of the federal and state civil recoveries.  DOJ