Whistleblower News From The Insider -- August 31, 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

Baltimore retailers charged with $16 million food stamp trafficking scheme – 14 retailers allegedly engaged in a scheme to defraud the government by paying customers cash for food stamp cards at a discount and pocketing the excess value of the cards.  Baltimore Sun

Mother and child reunion . . . in prison? – Niurka Fernandez and her son, Roberto Alvarez, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit health care fraud in connection with their fraudulent billing of over $16 million for unnecessary prescriptions or prescriptions that were never even dispensed to Medicare beneficiaries.  USAO – SDFla

Miami-area health care company owner hit with 20-year prison term for $57 million fraud conspiracy – Khaled Elbeblay was convicted of conspiring to use three companies he managed and owned, Willsand Home Health Agency, JEM Home Health Care, and Healthy Choice Home Services, to bill the government for services that were not provided or were not necessary and for paying kickbacks to doctors and others in order to obtain patient referrals.  DOJ

Mount Sinai Health Systems hospitals agrees to pay almost $3 million to settle whistleblower suit – Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke’s, and Mount Sinai Roosevelt allegedly kept more than $844,000 in overpayments that should have been returned to Medicaid.  Legal News Line

Pediatric dentist settles False Claims Act lawsuit for $1.3 million – Connecticut dentist Jesus Villegas allegedly had been billing Medicaid for x-rays taken by unqualified assistants.  Milford Mirror