California men accused of using homeless for fraud
Healthcare Auditing Weekly, August 12, 2008
Federal authorities arrested two Los Angeles men accused of using homeless people in a Medicare fraud scheme, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Feds are accusing Rudra Sabaratnam, 64, owner and top executive of City of Angels Medical Center, and Estill Mitts, 64, operator of the Assessment Center in Skid Row, of recruiting homeless people from Skid Row and promising them payments for unnecessary medical services.
Mitts set up the Assessment Center in 2004, according to the DOJ report, and hired a co-conspirator to recruit the patients. After a medical doctor admitted the patients to the hospital, Sabaratnam paid Mitts illegal referral fees. Mitts allegedly attempted to conceal the illegal kickbacks by executing fake consultant contracts between his companies and the hospital.
Sabaratnam and Mitts are jointly charged with conspiring to receive and pay kickbacks for patient referrals and committing healthcare fraud. If convicted on all counts, Sabaratnam faces a maximum penalty of 50 years in federal prison, while Mitts faces a maximum of 140 years.
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