Eleven Houston suspects face felony Medicaid fraud charges
Texas Attorney General News Release
June 23, 2008
Austin, Texas – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) has arrested three Medicaid providers for their involvement in a $6.1 million scheme to defraud Texas taxpayers. Seven other providers also were taken into custody while one fugitive remains at large. Harris County District Attorney Ken Magidson’s office will prosecute the suspects, who face multiple felony charges for participating in organized criminal activity.
The arrests stemmed from MFCU’s investigation into a Humble-based medical billing service, Frazier Medical Marketing, and its owners Dyain Eligha Frazier, 35, and Tajuana Krischell Frazier, 35. According to MFCU investigators, the Fraziers colluded with eight durable medical equipment companies to bill the Texas Medicaid program for supplies that were never delivered to recipients.
“These defendants are charged with orchestrating a complex scheme to bill Texas taxpayers for services not rendered,” Attorney General Abbott said. “The Medicaid program is designed to help the neediest Texans, including children and seniors, with basic health care services. Unfortunately, some Medicaid providers submit false billing records, thereby illegally enriching themselves to the detriment of the taxpayers and patients who depend upon Medicaid for health care.”
Attorney General Abbott added: “Thanks to an outstanding effort by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, a multi-million dollar scam to defraud the taxpayers has been shut down. We are grateful to HHSC for bringing this case to our attention and to Harris County District Attorney Ken Magidson for prosecuting the suspects in this case.”
MFCU investigators arrested the Fraziers on June 10 at a luxury automobile dealership in Houston, where the couple was attempting to trade in a 2006 Bentley for a new Mercedes-Benz and cash. The suspects were booked into the Harris County Jail.
The MFCU also arrested Charles Robertson Wickware, 26, on May 30, on charges that he received more than $400,000 in fraudulent reimbursements. On July 12, Mississippi authorities arrested another suspect, Vincent Alan Walker, 38, who operated Dreammakers Medical Supply in Humble. Walker is accused of receiving more than $300,000 in fraudulent Medicaid reimbursements.
Six providers voluntarily surrendered to law enforcement authorities, including:
• Demetria Monique Boston, 34, who operated Anointed Medical Supply in Houston; accused of stealing more than $1.9 million
• Marcus Lee Jefferson, 34, a former contractor with Anointed Medical Supply; accused of supplying illegally obtained Medicaid recipient numbers used to bill the program
• Wilma Perkins Gibson, 42, who operated Perkins Mobility in Houston; accused of stealing more than $300,000
• Christopher Charles Williams, 37, who operated Resource Solutions Medical Supply in Houston; accused of stealing more than $400,000
• Robert Christopher Turner, 38, and Jeffrey Bernard Scales, 37, who operated First American Medical Supplies in Humble; accused of stealing more than $400,000
Jacqueline Ann Briscoe, 41, who operated Briscoe Medical Supply in Houston, is accused of receiving more than $180,000 in illegal Medicaid reimbursements. Briscoe remains a fugitive. Texans with information on her whereabouts should contact the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at (800) 252-8011.
The cases stemmed from a November 2006 MFCU investigation into 32 Harris County businesses that illegally billed Medicaid for adult diapers, wheelchairs and other medical supplies that were never provided to recipients. Thirty-three people were indicted in a scheme that cost Texas taxpayers more than $7 million. During the 2006 investigation, MFCU personnel conducted more than 1,200 interviews and prepared numerous investigative reports, including evidence against C&M Medical Equipment, which uncovered the Fraziers’ unlawful billing scheme.
In 2006 alone, the costs of the Medicaid program in Texas totaled more than $17 billion. As the state’s chief law enforcement official, Attorney General Abbott has dramatically expanded the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit to save more taxpayer dollars and increase protection for Texas seniors. The Unit has established field offices in Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, Lubbock, McAllen, San Antonio and Tyler through authorization and funding from the 77th Texas Legislature. Attorney General Abbott’s MFCU works with federal, state and local agencies to identify and prosecute those who defraud Medicaid.
Attorney General Abbott’s MFCU was honored in 2004 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with the Inspector General’s State Fraud Award for effectiveness and efficiency during federal fiscal year 2003 in combating fraud, patient abuse and neglect in the Medicaid program.
To obtain more information about the Attorney General’s efforts to fight Medicaid fraud, access the agency’s Web site at www.texasattorneygeneral.gov.
Showing posts with label Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Show all posts
Dublin Doctor Defrauds Medicare, Medicaid, Gets Four Years Probation For Health Care Fraud
Source: rockbridgeweekly.com
Acting United States Attorney Julia C. Dudley announced today that Dr. Linda Sue Cheek, age 59, of Dublin, Virginia, was sentenced yesterday in United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke for defrauding Medicaid and Medicare.
“These taxpayer-funded health care programs are designed to allow our friends and neighbors who are in need of medical care, the opportunity to obtain it,” Acting United States Attorney Julia C. Dudley said today. “When physicians like Dr. Cheek take advantage of these programs in order to get rich, it is our job to hold them responsible for their actions.”
Cheek was sentenced to serve four years of probation for her role in a scheme to knowingly and willfully defraud the Medicaid and Medicare health care programs for her own personal, financial gain. In February Cheek pled guilty to one count of health care fraud, admitting that she had been stealing from the two programs from January 2002 to March 2006.
In addition, Cheek was ordered to pay a total of $24,210.37 in restitution to Medicare and Medicaid and will be required to serve 600 hours of community service in a non-medical field. As part of her sentencing, her license to practice medicine was also revoked.
The defendant, who was a licensed physician by the Commonwealth of Virginia, operated New River Medical Associates, Inc. located in Dublin, Virginia. The facility operated primarily as a pain management and alternative medicine practice.
Cheek previously admitted that between January 2002 and March 2006 she submitted a series of false Medicare and Medicaid claims relating to her medical practice, including the practice of billing Medicaid and Medicare for services she had not performed.
In addition, Cheek admitted to billing Medicaid for services she claimed to perform herself that were, in fact, performed by one or both of the two nurse practitioners employed by New River Medical Associates. Cheek admitted that during many of these procedures she was out of the office and, at times, out of the country.
Finally, Cheek admitted to billing Medicaid and Anthem Blue Cross Beneficiaries for individual treatments called “cleansing sessions,” an investigational service. These “cleansing sessions” were performed and billed as regular, individual office visits but were carried out in a group setting. Medicaid, Medicare and other insurance providers do not allow medical professionals to bill for group sessions.
This case was investigated for the United States Attorney’s Office, Western District of Virginia by the Virginia Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, the Virginia State Police Drug Diversion Unit and the Financial Investigation Unit of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Assistant United States Attorneys Patrick Hogeboom and Charlene Day prosecuted the case for the United States.
Acting United States Attorney Julia C. Dudley announced today that Dr. Linda Sue Cheek, age 59, of Dublin, Virginia, was sentenced yesterday in United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke for defrauding Medicaid and Medicare.
“These taxpayer-funded health care programs are designed to allow our friends and neighbors who are in need of medical care, the opportunity to obtain it,” Acting United States Attorney Julia C. Dudley said today. “When physicians like Dr. Cheek take advantage of these programs in order to get rich, it is our job to hold them responsible for their actions.”
Cheek was sentenced to serve four years of probation for her role in a scheme to knowingly and willfully defraud the Medicaid and Medicare health care programs for her own personal, financial gain. In February Cheek pled guilty to one count of health care fraud, admitting that she had been stealing from the two programs from January 2002 to March 2006.
In addition, Cheek was ordered to pay a total of $24,210.37 in restitution to Medicare and Medicaid and will be required to serve 600 hours of community service in a non-medical field. As part of her sentencing, her license to practice medicine was also revoked.
The defendant, who was a licensed physician by the Commonwealth of Virginia, operated New River Medical Associates, Inc. located in Dublin, Virginia. The facility operated primarily as a pain management and alternative medicine practice.
Cheek previously admitted that between January 2002 and March 2006 she submitted a series of false Medicare and Medicaid claims relating to her medical practice, including the practice of billing Medicaid and Medicare for services she had not performed.
In addition, Cheek admitted to billing Medicaid for services she claimed to perform herself that were, in fact, performed by one or both of the two nurse practitioners employed by New River Medical Associates. Cheek admitted that during many of these procedures she was out of the office and, at times, out of the country.
Finally, Cheek admitted to billing Medicaid and Anthem Blue Cross Beneficiaries for individual treatments called “cleansing sessions,” an investigational service. These “cleansing sessions” were performed and billed as regular, individual office visits but were carried out in a group setting. Medicaid, Medicare and other insurance providers do not allow medical professionals to bill for group sessions.
This case was investigated for the United States Attorney’s Office, Western District of Virginia by the Virginia Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, the Virginia State Police Drug Diversion Unit and the Financial Investigation Unit of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Assistant United States Attorneys Patrick Hogeboom and Charlene Day prosecuted the case for the United States.
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