Medicaid and Medicare Fraud

Published on: March 23, 2020

Florida Doctor to Repay $1.74 Million in Medicare Fraud Claims | Whittel & Melton

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

A Florida doctor has agreed to pay $1.74 million to resolve allegations that he submitted fraudulent Medicare claims, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Orlando announced.

The doctor and the Village Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery were accused of billing Medicare for higher levels of reimbursements than were performed in the central Florida facility, according to a news release.

The cases involved tissue transfers that were apparently billed as more complex cases between Jan. 1, 2011 and July 31, 2016, the statement said. This included 14,000 level tissue transfers which should have been billed as lower level wound repairs.

The inflated claims were paid by Medicare.

“Protecting federal healthcare programs and the patients who receive their care is among our top priorities,” U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez said in a statement released Friday. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to hold accountable those who inflate claims to Medicare or abuse any of our nation’s healthcare programs.”

Medicare and medicaid fraud has been at the top of the list for the federal government for many years, so naturally as new health care laws get implemented, they will continue to closely monitor medicaid reimbursement submissions for any suspicious activity. Similarly, investigators will also be keeping a close watch for medicare fraud crimes against insurance companies.

If you are a doctor or any other medical professional that has been accused of health care fraud or another federal white collar crime, you are facing very serious charges that must be dealt with accordingly. You will be going head to head with prosecutors that have very deep pockets and numerous resources at their disposal. If you want to stand a fighting chance, you must have a strong attorney on your side. This is what you will find when you work with our Florida Medicare Fraud Defense Attorneys at Whittel & Melton.

Have You Been Accused of Medicare Fraud in Florida?

When it comes to health care fraud cases, the burden lies with the prosecution to prove that the accused had a willful intent to defraud the government or private insurance company. The truth is that many doctors and other medical professionals accused of these crimes did not knowingly commit them. Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement forms are complex and can be hard for even the most intelligent of people to fully understand. Coding and bookkeeping errors are often mistaken as intentional crimes by the federal government.

You Have Legal Options

Everyone has legal rights, and we can use the law to protect yours. Most people find themselves under investigation for or charged with health care fraud related to the following:

Billing for medical services not actually performed, known as phantom billing
Billing for a more expensive service than was actually rendered, known as up coding
Billing for several services that should be combined into one billing, known as unbundling
Billing twice for the same medical service
Dispensing generic drugs and billing for brand-name drugs
Giving or accepting something in return for medical services, known as a kickback
Bribery
Providing unnecessary services
False cost reports
Embezzlement of recipient funds

When you are a medical professional accused of health care fraud, the stakes are high. Your freedom, future and medical license are all at risk. Our Medicare Fraud Defense Lawyers at Whittel & Melton will vigorously protect your rights. We will review every piece of evidence against you to identify any errors or discrepancies. After a careful analysis, we may be able to get the charges against you dropped or reduced.

Health Care Fraud Penalties

When charged at the federal level, criminal penalties for healthcare fraud depend on which law was violated. For example, under the False Claims Act, penalties may include a maximum of five years in federal prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and a loss of license. Likewise, under the Anti-Kickback Statute, violators may be jailed up to five years and fined up to $75,000 per violation.

Criminal consequences for health care fraud may increase in certain circumstances. If the act resulted in injury to another person, it could be punishable by 20 years of federal prison time for each count of fraud. If a patient died as a result, the penalty could be elevated to a life sentence.

Published on: November 26, 2019

Manager of New York Medical Clinics Found Guilty in Nearly $100 Million Money Laundering and Health Care Kickback Scheme

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

The manager in charge of multiple medical clinics in Brooklyn and Queens, New York, was found guilty of his role in a nearly $100 million health care kickback and money laundering scheme.

After a two-week trial, the 44-year-old Brooklyn man was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, two counts of money laundering, one count of conspiracy to receive and pay health care kickbacks and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States by obstructing the IRS. Sentencing has been set for April 8, 2020.

The man was said to be the leader of a large scale healthcare kickback and money laundering scheme in which he and his co-conspirators stole tens of millions of dollars from the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

According to evidence presented at trial, the man and his co-conspirators operated a series of medical clinics in Brooklyn and Queens over the course of nearly a decade that submitted approximately $96 million in medical claims. The clinics employed doctors, physical and occupational therapists, and other medical professionals who were enrolled in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. In return for illegal kickbacks, the man and his co-conspirators referred beneficiaries to these health care providers, who submitted claims to the Medicare and Medicaid programs, according to court records. The man then laundered a substantial portion of those proceeds through companies he and his co-conspirators controlled, including by cashing checks at several New York City check-cashing businesses; he and his co-conspirators then failed to report that cash income to the IRS. The man used that cash to enrich himself and others and to pay kickbacks to patient recruiters, including ambulette drivers, who, in turn, paid beneficiaries to receive treatment at the defendant’s medical clinics. Evidence established that the man used shell companies and fake invoices to conceal his illegal activities.

More than 25 other individuals have pleaded guilty to or been convicted of participating in the scheme, including physicians, physical and occupational therapists, ambulette drivers, and the owners of several of the sham shell companies used to launder the stolen money.

This case was investigated by the HHS-OIG and IRS-CI, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.

The Fraud Section leads the Medicare Fraud Strike Force. Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which maintains 15 strike forces operating in 24 districts, has charged more than 4,200 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for nearly $19 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

If you’re charged with Medicare or any other type of health care fraud, you may face serious penalties imposed by state or federal courts. Our Florida Medicare Fraud Defense Attorneys at Whittel & Melton have extensive experience providing criminal defense for anyone charged with crimes related to health care fraud.

At the state and federal level, fraud related to health care and Medicare cost taxpayers billions of dollars a year, which is why government agencies work vigilantly to uncover any schemes. Due to the fact that federal and state authorities are so aggressive about prosecuting cases of perceived fraud relating to health care or Medicare, many innocent people can be caught up in investigations. If you are charged and convicted of health care fraud, you can be subject to serious penalties such as lengthy prison sentences, fines, and restitution.

Medicare fraud convictions require the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that an individual knowingly or willfully submitted a false claim or engaged in kickbacks or health care fraud. However, the prosecution does not have to prove the person had actual knowledge or specific intent to obtain a conviction. A person can actually be convicted if they are found to have acted with blatant disregard of the truth or falsity of the claim.

Published on: October 2, 2019

Florida Residents Charged in $2 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

Seven Floridians, including four doctors, are among 35 people arrested Friday by the FBI for alleged involvement in a $2.1 billion fraud that charged Medicare for false cancer genomic tests (CGx tests).

According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the alleged fraud was perpetrated by defendants in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas and exploited seniors’ curiosity about genetic medicine by enticing them to get unneeded DNA tests.

Dubbed “Operation Double Helix,” the crackdown targeted telemedicine companies, nine doctors and numerous labs following a joint investigation by the DOJ, the FBI, the U.S. Health & Human Services (HHS) Inspector’s General Office and U.S. attorneys’ offices.

The DOJ said the alleged scheme involved a telemarketer or in-person “recruiter” who would persuade a Medicare enrollee to take a genetic test, assuring them the program would pay full cost.

A doctor “in league with the fraudsters” would then approve the test and collect a kickback from the “recruiter,” the indictment reads.

A lab would run the test, bill Medicare, and share payments with the “recruiter,” according to the DOJ.

Reports indicate that the genetic testing bills submitted to Medicaid ranged from $7,000 to $12,000, with some as high as $33,000. In many cases, he said, the patient never got a report back, or the results provided were incomprehensible.

U.S. attorney’s offices in the Southern and Middle districts of Florida filed charges against defendants while four Florida doctors were indicted by U.S. attorneys in New Jersey.

The federal government and the state of Florida are serious about finding and punishing those who are involved in health care fraud. Law enforcement uses any means to uncover fraud like task forces and undercover operations. Anyone can be the target of an investigation from an individual doctor to a billing company to an entire hospital system.

Our Florida Medicare Fraud Defense Attorneys at Whittel & Melton have extensive experience defending clients against accusations of fraud and related state and federal crimes. We can help with the defense of anyone in the healthcare industry, including:

Doctors, nurses and pharmacists
Hospitals, hospital systems and clinics
Home health care companies
Medical billing and coding companies

Medicare and Medicaid fraud investigations in Florida are often the result of inaccurate claims. These claims may include excessive charges, charges that weren’t authorized, and false charges.The federal government will label these claims as fraudulent billing or reimbursement requests. The most common causes of a Medicare or Medicaid fraud investigation are:

Phantom billing – billing for services that were never performed
Submitting a claim for unnecessary medical services or medical equipment
Submitting a claim for medical supplies, equipment, or services that were never ordered
Submitting a claim of certification for medically unnecessary supplies
Submitting a claim of certification for medically unnecessary services, like hospice or home health care
Double billing
Upcoding
Inflating charges
Overusing medical equipment or services
Providing or accepting kickbacks

Doctors, nurses, health care services, physician-owned entities, nursing homes, registered care providers and facilities, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, laboratories, DME providers, DNA centers, and cancer centers are the most common targets of a health care fraud investigation. As we have stated before, this list is certainly not all-inclusive and any individual, business, facility, or entity in the healthcare industry can be the subject of health care fraud criminal charges. If a person submits a false claim to a federal health care program, even if they do not realize that the claim will be classified as false, they may end up as the subject of a Medicare or Medicaid fraud investigation.

Criminal penalties for Medicare or Medicaid fraud may include one or more of the following:

Hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines
Up to 10 years in prison for each count of Medicare or Medicaid fraud
Up to 20 years in prison for each count of Medicare or Medicaid fraud that resulted in serious bodily harm
Life sentence behind bars if the Medicare or Medicaid fraud results in the death of the patient

Published on: July 1, 2019

Pasco County Man Convicted in Medicare Fraud Scheme

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

A federal jury found the owner of a Tampa Bay area medical marketing company guilty on Thursday for his role in a $2.2 million-plus Medicare fraud scheme involving the payment of kickbacks and bribes to medical clinics in Miami in exchange for the referral of DNA swabs that were obtained from Medicare beneficiaries.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez of the Middle District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Michael McPherson of the FBI’s Tampa Field Office and Assistant Inspector General Shimon Richmond of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office made the announcement.

After a four-day trial, the 49-year-old Land o’ Lakes man and owner of DBL Management LLC was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to pay health care kickbacks and one count of structuring currency transactions to avoid reporting requirements.

The man is expected to be sentenced Oct. 2 by U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew of the Middle District of Florida, who presided over the trial.

According to the evidence presented at trial, the man was paid by Clinical Laboratory Company A for each DNA swab that he arranged to be referred to the laboratory. In order to obtain DNA swabs, the man paid cash kickbacks and bribes to medical clinics in Miami in exchange for the referral of DNA swabs that were obtained from Medicare beneficiaries. The man directed the owners of the medical clinics to collect the DNA of all of the patients at the clinics, regardless of medical necessity.

In the first phase of the scheme, from November 2013 to May 2014, the evidence at trial showed that the man paid these cash kickbacks directly. In the second phase of the scheme, from May 2014 to November 2014, after his arrest on other charges, the man established shell companies, including Healthcare Marketing Florida of Melbourne, and conspired with nominee owners to facilitate the payment of kickbacks, receipt of fraud proceeds, and transfer of unlawfully obtained DNA samples for medically unnecessary testing. Over the course of the entire conspiracy, Clinical Laboratory Company A submitted more than $2.2 million in genetic testing claims and paid the man a percentage of the Medicare reimbursements that it received.

The evidence at trial showed that, in order to conceal his payment of illegal cash kickbacks, the man would travel to different ATMs and bank branches throughout southern Florida and make separate withdrawals of thousands of dollars in cash in order to avoid the filing of U.S. Department of Treasury “currency transaction reports” for an individual withdrawal of more than $10,000.

The man was previously found guilty by a jury in December 2015 of various health care fraud, money laundering and identity theft charges in a case handled by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

He is currently serving 14 years in prison.

The state of Florida, along with every other state, is constantly looking for ways to bring in additional revenue and to cut the rapidly growing costs of Medicare and Medicaid programs, which is why they are going to such great lengths to uncover potential Medicaid and Medicare fraud and abuse cases.

In the majority of cases, Medicare fraud involves using false information to obtain unauthorized benefits, and can take a variety of forms, but it typically involves defrauding the Medicare system through billing for services that were not provided or that were not provided as described. Medicare beneficiaries are sometimes involved in fraud schemes where they split the Medicare or Medicaid funds with another party for care that was not provided.

A number of programs exist at both the state and federal level to uncover and prosecute cases of Medicare fraud by patients, providers, insurers, or owners of a company in the healthcare industry.

Medicare and Medicaid costs the federal government between $80 and $100 billion each year, so government investigators make it their top priority to constantly be on the lookout for any red flags. The Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) is one tool that the government uses to prosecute actions of fraud. The AKC makes it a crime to give or receive bribes or kickbacks in exchange for patient referrals.

The penalties for violating the AKS are very serious. The AKS is a criminal statute, and a conviction equates to a felony. A conviction under the AKS can lead to five years in prison and fines of $25,000 per violation. The government can also seek hefty financial penalties of $50,000 for each violation of the AKS.

Published on: April 11, 2019

Feds Allegedly Bust $1.2 Million Medicare Scam

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

The Justice Department announced charges against 24 people across the U.S., including doctors accused of writing bogus prescriptions for unneeded back, shoulder, wrist and knee braces.

Others charged included owners of call centers, telemedicine firms and medical equipment companies.

The Health and Human Services inspector general’s office said the alleged scam morphed into multiple related schemes, fueled by kickbacks among the parties involved. The FBI, the IRS, and 17 U.S. attorney’s offices took part in the crackdown. Arrests were made Tuesday morning.

Medicare’s anti-fraud unit said it’s taking action against 130 medical equipment companies implicated. They allegedly billed the program a total of $1.7 billion, of which more than $900 million was paid out.

Telemarketers would apparently reach out to seniors offering “free” orthopedic braces, also advertised through television and radio ads. Beneficiaries who expressed interest would be patched through to call centers involved in the alleged scheme. Officials described an “international telemarketing network” with call centers in the Philippines and throughout Latin America.

The call centers would verify seniors’ Medicare coverage and transfer them to telemedicine companies for consultations with doctors.

The doctors would allegedly write prescriptions for orthopedic braces, regardless of whether the patients needed them or not. In some cases several braces were prescribed for the same patient.

The call centers would collect prescriptions and sell them to medical equipment companies, which would ship the braces to beneficiaries and bill Medicare. Medical equipment companies would get $500 to $900 per brace from Medicare and would pay kickbacks of nearly $300 per brace.

The alleged scam was detected last summer, officials said. Complaints from beneficiaries were pouring in to the Medicare fraud hotline, and some consumer news organizations warned seniors.

Officials said it’s one of the biggest frauds the inspector general’s office has seen. Charges were being brought against defendants in California, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas.

Medicare is a federal health care program that provides insurance benefits to seniors. Nationally, over 50 million people receive Medicare benefits. Due to Medicare fraud increasing in recent years, federal investigators and prosecutors have been on the hunt for anyone suspected of Medicare fraud. Whether it was the result of an intentional plan, an oversight, or the actions of your staff and/or employee, being charged with Medicare fraud can wreak havoc on your life. Medicare fraud is a serious crime that may result in several years in federal prison, along with significant fines and a permanent criminal record.

Being charged with Medicare fraud can be frightening and overwhelming. Federal charges must be handled by a lawyer who has experience in this specific field. Our Florida Medicare Fraud Attorneys at Whittel & Melton have the knowledge and skill you need to bring a powerful defense against the health care fraud charges you face.

Published on: October 22, 2018

Five Tampa Men Charged in Alleged Billion-Dollar Health Care Rip Off

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

Five Tampa Bay area residents are facing charges due to an alleged billion-dollar telemedicine scheme.

Starting in 2015, the men and their pharmacy companies are accused of setting up an elaborate scheme that fraudulently solicited insurance coverage information and prescriptions from tens of thousands of consumers across the country, according to a 40-page indictment. They then are accused of using the information to sell pain creams and other similar products.

Doctors apparently approved the prescriptions not knowing that the men and their companies had “massively marked up the prices” of the invalidly prescribed drugs, federal prosecutors said. For instance, several of the pharmacies paid $27 for a lidocaine numbing ointment and billed up to $381, an increase of more than 1,300 percent.

Police allege the men “directed their employees to ‘test bill’ or ‘phish’ for the highest reimbursement items” to ensure the most profit. According to the indictment, “These employees routinely submitted claims … for this purpose, contrary to one of more provider agreements.”

Federal prosecutors believe the alleged scheme bilked $174 million from private health care companies, including Blue Cross Blue Shield. In addition, the five men and their companies allegedly submitted at least $931 million in fraudulent claims.

The five men and their companies face a total of 32 counts. All four men were charged with mail fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud and introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce. If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison for each mail fraud charge, up to 10 years for each conspiracy charge and up to three years for the third charge. They and their companies could also be required to forfeit up to $154 million.

Last week, four of the men were released on bond after appearing in a federal courtroom in Tampa’s Middle District of Florida. The indictment was filed in the Eastern District of Tennessee.

The fifth man charged has already pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy for his role in the case, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tennessee.

He also pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud in a separate case.

While the man faces up to 5 years in prison for each conspiracy charge, helping federal prosecutors with the case against the other men could help reduce his sentence.

At Whittel & Melton, our Tampa Bay area Health Care Fraud Defense Attorneys handle criminal cases in Tampa and throughout the U.S. We represent health care practitioners, including doctors, nurse practitioners, therapists, clinics, hospitals, providers of medical equipment and billing companies facing criminal charges with the federal government, including:

Overbilling for services
Billing for services or tests not rendered
Prescribing unnecessary or additional services in order to bill more
Incorrectly reporting diagnoses, treatments or procedures to increase payments
Unbundling billed services
Using false billing codes
Submitting duplicate claims
Changing dates, services or names of patients on claims
Altering medical records or reports
Referral kickbacks or self-referrals

Health care fraud may be investigated by the FBI, the state Attorney General’s office, U.S. Postal Service or the Office of the Inspector General. Regardless of what department your case is being pursued by, we can apply the best possible defense strategy with the hopes of securing the best possible outcome.

Published on: September 23, 2018

Clearwater Doctor Pleads Guilty to Health Care Fraud

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

A Clearwater doctor has pleaded guilty to one count of health-care fraud and has agreed to surrender her DEA registration number, her Florida medical license and to a permanent exclusion from Medicare and Medicaid programs, according to the justice department.

The 66-year-old woman violated a Florida law that requires doctors to perform an in-person office visit and examine the patient before prescribing a Schedule II controlled substance, according to the Department of Justice.

The woman owned a pain management clinic on Druid Road East in Clearwater.

From as early as July 2011 through December 2017, she billed Medicare for face-to-face patient visits to prescribe controlled substances like oxycodone, but some of those visits didn’t take place on those dates, according to the Department of Justice. Instead, she filled the prescriptions for patients’ families who came by her office, without examining the patients.

She also submitted at least $51,500 false and fraudulent Medicare claims, according to a department of justice news release.

The case was investigated by the Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit.

Being a healthcare professional means you are subject to extensive regulations and civil statutes. If you fail to comply with the current health care regulations, you can expect to be the target of a federal prosecution. Our Tampa Bay Medicare Fraud Defense Attorneys at Whittel & Melton can help you fight allegations of health care fraud, including allegations relating to:

Medicare fraud
Medicaid fraud
Billing fraud
Kickbacks and Gratuities
Bribes
Conflicts of interest

Prosecutors also file charges against health care providers who allegedly lie about the number of patients they treat or the types of services they perform. We are ready and able to defend doctors and other healthcare professionals who find themselves wrapped up in such inquiries.

Published on: July 19, 2018

Columbus Doctor Indicted in Florida in Nation’s Largest Healthcare Fraud Investigation

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

A Columbus doctor has been indicted as part of the nation’s largest health-care fraud enforcement action by the federal government, according to reports.

The 44-year-old Columbus podiatrist was indicted on June 19 in the Southern District of Florida and charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and receive health-care kickbacks and three counts of receiving health-care kickbacks.

The man’s charges are part of a broader investigation by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force and includes 601 defendants across 58 federal districts, including 76 doctors, as well as nurses and other licensed medical professionals. They are accused of participating in health-care fraud schemes involving approximately $2 billion in false billings.

According to the man’s indictment, he allegedly received kickback payments from PGRX, a Weston, Fla.-based business that recruited and paid doctors to prescribe compounded medications for TRICARE and private commercial insurance beneficiaries.

During the course of the conspiracy, the man and his co-conspirators allegedly signed false medical director and speaker agreements in order to conceal that PGRX was paying the defendant for writing prescriptions, according to the indictment. As a result of these prescriptions, TRICARE made payments to Atlantic Pharmacy, a pharmacy located in the Southern District of Florida.

Medicare fraud is classified as a felony as well as a federal crime that carries some pretty steep penalties, both criminal and civil. The monetary liabilities can be huge. The possibility of being held accountable for Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, and other health care fraud means you need to be proactive in your defense strategy and seek expert legal help right away. You could be branded a criminal and lose everything you have worked so hard to create in your career as a medical professional.

Regardless of how organized your practice and its operations are, the chances of being audited by Medicare are quite real, especially if you have a successful practice and submit high volume claims to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Keep this in mind: according to government statistics, claims of approximately $50 billion per year are considered suspicious and subject to Medicare fraud investigation.

Published on: June 26, 2018

Florida Medicare Fraud Defense Lawyer: Doctor and 2 Nurses Found Guilty

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

A physician and two nurses have been convicted of health care fraud in what authorities claim was a $12 million plus Medicare billing scam.

On Friday, a federal jury in Dallas convicted a 70-year-old doctor and a 47-year-old nurse of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Both were also convicted of three counts of health care fraud.

Another nurse, 42, was convicted of four counts of health care fraud.

Prosecutors believe the scheme ran from 2007 through 2015. The trio was convicted of defrauding Medicare through false claims through a home health agency and a physician house call company. Evidence showed medically unnecessary home health services were ordered and often not provided.

Sentencing is pending.

The government is aggressively cracking down on Medicare fraud throughout the country like never before. These cases usually mean the government has been investigating a clinic, doctor or facility for months, maybe even years. The government performs a hard investigation into patients’ procedures and billing to find any errors. At Whittel & Melton, our Medicare Fraud Defense Attorneys are here to protect you from the consequences of a conviction. We will help you fight Medicare fraud charges head on.

The most common types of Medicare fraud charges include:

False invoicing
Improper coding
Billing for medical services not provided to the patient
Charging for unbundled services
Charging for medical devices not provided
Billing for patients that do not exist
Multiple billings of the same procedure

Published on: May 29, 2018

Fort Myers Doctor Admits Involvement in $470K Medicare Fraud Scheme

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

A Fort Myers doctor has apparently admitted to defrauding taxpayer-supported Medicare and Tricare by receiving kickbacks for prescribing certain durable medical equipment and pain medications.

The doctor pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to taking more than $470,000 in illegal payments from the supplies and pharmacy businesses between 2010 and 2016, court documents show.

Investigators say the physician paid medical supplier A&G Spinal Solutions $50,000 to put his wife on their payroll and give her 10 percent of the profit stemming from equipment referrals he made to them.

According to related court documents, two co-conspirators and managing partners in the supply business needed the money to pay a tax bill of that same amount. Both have pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme.

The physician also put together a similar arrangement with an unnamed co-conspirator to receive a share of prescription sales, according to reports.

Finally, between 2013 and 2015, the doctor allegedly received kickbacks from sales representatives and other employees to receive fees for his participation in “largely bogus” speaker event programs, the plea agreement states.

Medicare fraud charges are not uncommon in today’s times. Thousands of unsuspecting and innocent health care providers are forced to defend their actions or face serious criminal consequences every day. Many of these investigations are the result of unfair and overzealous state and federal officials. These federal agents and regulators, who specialize in health care fraud, will raid a practice and demand health care records, computers, etc. and then tell the doctors they are basically out of business. The important thing to understand is that you must assert your rights.

The best reaction you can have is to call an attorney that is skilled in health care fraud. Our Florida Medicare Fraud Defense Attorneys specialize in health care fraud and can establish a strong defense against these allegations. We understand that healthcare providers are dedicated to their line of work and deserve the most powerful defense when their integrity and actions are called into question.