OWNER AND MARKETER OF MEDICAL EQUIPMENT SUPPLY COMPANY INDICTED IN MEDICARE FRAUD CASE

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Friday, November 1, 2013
Owner and Marketer of Louisiana Medical Equipment Supply Company Indicted for Roles in $3 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme

The owner of a Louisiana medical equipment supply company and a marketer who worked for the company have been indicted for allegedly engaging in a $3 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Mike Fields of the Dallas Region of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), and Special Agent in Charge Michael Anderson of the FBI’s New Orleans Division made the announcement.

Tracy Brown, 43, of New Orleans, and Sandra Parkman Thompson, 62, who is currently incarcerated in Texas, were charged in the Eastern District of Louisiana in an 18-count indictment including charges of health care fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive health care fraud kickbacks, and illegal remuneration.  If convicted, the defendants face 10 years in prison for each health care fraud conspiracy and health care fraud count, and five years in prison for each remaining count.

According to the indictment, Brown owned Psalms 23-DME and is alleged to have billed Medicare more than $3 million for power wheelchairs, wheelchair accessories and orthotic equipment for Medicare beneficiaries who neither wanted nor needed the equipment.  Brown also allegedly paid illegal kickbacks to Thompson and other “marketers” to locate doctors who were willing to prescribe the equipment to Medicare beneficiaries who did not want or need these items.  Thompson and other marketers were paid for each prescription they obtained for Psalms 23-DME, regardless of whether the items prescribed were wanted or needed.

Thompson and other marketers allegedly obtained falsified prescriptions for medically unnecessary equipment from Drs. Anthony Jase and Michael Hunter.  A third physician allegedly provided falsified prescriptions directly to Brown.  In exchange, Brown paid this physician approximately $250 per prescription.

The indictment alleges that in some cases, the equipment Psalms 23-DME billed to Medicare was never provided to a Medicare beneficiary.  In other cases, Brown would bill for the most expensive types of durable medical equipment allowed by Medicare but would provide Medicare beneficiaries with much less expensive versions of the equipment, which would not have been reimbursed by Medicare.

According to the indictment, Brown allegedly paid Thompson and other marketers approximately $500 for each wheelchair referral submitted and between approximately $200 and $250 for a so-called “arthritis kit” referral, a term used by Psalms 23-DME for a number of braces and other orthotic items that were billed for Medicare beneficiaries regardless of medical need or physician request.

Jase and Hunter pleaded guilty to health care fraud charges on Oct. 31, 2013, and Sept. 26, 2012, respectively, and are awaiting sentencing.

An indictment is merely an accusation and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless they are proven guilty.

The case was investigated by HHS-OIG and the FBI and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.  This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Arunabha Bhoumik of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrice Sullivan of the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,500 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5 billion.  In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

FORMER OWNER MEDICAL EQUIPMENT SUPPLY COMPANY SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR ROLE IN MEDICARE FRAUD

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Former Owner of Los Angeles Medical Equipment Supply Company Sentenced for Conspiring to Defraud Medicare

The owner and operator of a durable medical equipment (DME) supply company was sentenced today to serve 24 months in prison for conspiring to submit nearly $1 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr. of the Central District of California; Special Agent in Charge Glenn R. Ferry of the Los Angeles Region of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); and Assistant Director in Charge Bill L. Lewis of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office made the announcement.

Tigran Aklyan, 37, of Van Nuys, Calif., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald in the Central District of California.  In addition to his prison term, Aklyan was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $653,461 in restitution.

In April 2013, Aklyan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. In his plea agreement, Aklyan admitted that he was the owner and president of Las Tunas, a DME supply company located in San Gabriel, Calif.  Aklyan admitted that from in or around October 2007 through in or around May 2009 he conspired with others to commit health care fraud by providing medically unnecessary power wheelchairs (PWCs) and other DME to Medicare beneficiaries and submitting false and fraudulent claims to Medicare.  Aklyan admitted that he paid the owners and operators of fraudulent medical clinics to provide him with prescriptions and supporting medical documentation for the PWCs and DME that he billed to Medicare.  Aklyan knew that the prescriptions and medical documents that the clinics produced were fraudulent, yet he certified to Medicare with the submission of each claim that the DME was medically necessary.  Aklyan also admitted that he knew that it was illegal for him to pay for prescriptions, but he did so anyway.

From on or about Dec. 17, 2007, through on or about Feb. 20, 2009, Aklyan, through Las Tunas, submitted approximately $910,377 in fraudulent claims to Medicare for PWCs and related services, and Medicare paid Las Tunas approximately $653,461 on those claims.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Los Angeles Region of HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Benton Curtis and Trial Attorneys David M. Maria and Blanca Quintero of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,500 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

The Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations are part of the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), a joint initiative announced in May 2009 between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country.