May 12, 2015

Alexander Lara,  an owner of Miami home health care company Longcare Home Health Corporation was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $13,771,528.94 in restitution and to forfeit $13,771,528.94 for his leading role in a $13 million Medicare fraud scheme that involved paying kickbacks and bribes to patient recruiters, Medicare beneficiaries and others in South Florida doctors’ offices and medical clinics.  Lara admitted his company fraudulently billed...

May 1, 2015

Accredo Health Group, a unit of Express Scripts Holding Co., agreed to pay $60 million to settle False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute charges that the company participated in a kickback scheme with Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. involving the prescription drug Exjade.  According to the government, Novartis provided kickbacks, in the form of patient referrals and related benefits, to Accredo in exchange for Accredo recommending refills to Exjade patients.  The government...

April 16, 2015

Felix Gonzalez, owner of Miami home health care company AA Advanced Care Inc. was ordered to pay $21,423,160 in restitution and sentenced to 113 months in prison in connection with a $32 million Medicare fraud scheme.  Gonzalez admitted operating his company for the purpose of billing the Medicare program for expensive physical therapy and home health care services that were not medically necessary or provided at all.  He further admitted...

April 15, 2015

Rahmat Begum, owner of Detroit-area home health care agency Empirical Home Health Care Inc. pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges in connection with her role in a $2.6 million home health care scheme.  According to her guilty plea, Begum conspired to submit falsified claims to Medicare based upon referrals obtained through illegal kickbacks to patient recruiters and physicians.  DOJ

April 9, 2015

Virginia-based cardiovascular testing disease laboratory Health Diagnostics Laboratory Inc. agreed to pay $47 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to physicians in exchange for patient referrals and billing federal health care programs for medically unnecessary testing.  A second cardio testing lab, California-based Singulex Inc., agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle similar charges.  The allegations first arose in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Dr....

March 23, 2015

Former principal vice president of Bechtel Corporation Asem Elgawhary was sentenced to 42 months in prison for accepting $5.2 million in kickbacks to manipulate the competitive bidding process for state-run power contracts in Egypt.  One of the power companies who supplied the bribes, Alstom S.A., pleaded guilty in December to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  DOJ

March 20, 2015

A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted Hakop Gambaryan, owner of Colonial Medical Supply, of four counts of health care fraud in connection with a $3.3 million Medicare fraud scheme.  According to evidence presented at trial, Gambaryan paid cash kickbacks to medical clinics for fraudulent prescriptions for durable medical equipment, such as expensive power wheelchairs, which the patients did not need, and then used these fraudulent prescriptions to bill Medicare. ...

March 20, 2015

A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted Sylvia Walter-Eze, former owner ofEzcor Medical Supply, in connection with a $3.5 million Medicare and Medi-Cal fraud scheme.  The evidence at trial demonstrated that Walter-Eze paid illegal kickbacks to patient recruiters in exchange for patient referrals, and to physicians for fraudulent prescriptions for power wheelchairs and other medically unnecessary equipment.  DOJ

March 16, 2015

Los Angeles pharmacist Rouzbeh Javaherian pleaded guilty to defrauding the Medicare Part D program through his pharmacy called Emoonah Inc. (d/b/a Westaid Pharmacy and Medical Supply).  Specifically, he paid illegal cash kickbacks to Medicare beneficiaries to induce them to submit their prescriptions to Westaid and he submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare Part D plan sponsors for prescriptions he did not actually fill.  DOJ

March 13, 2015

Mohammed Sadiq, the owner of two Detroit home health care companies, pleaded guilty to his role in a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicare for $12.6 million in home health services that were not provided or were obtained through illegal kickbacks.  DOJ