Owner of Houston-are DME company sentenced to prison for fraud scheme
Compliance Monitor, May 25, 2011
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Doris Vinitski, a Houston-area resident and owner of Onward Medical Supply, was sentenced to serve 84 months in prison for her role in a Medicare fraud scheme, according to a Department of Justice (DOJ) press release.
Vinitski admitted she paid kickbacks, sometimes $1,000 per patient, to recruiters who brought patients to Onward. Vinitski and her co-conspirator and estranged husband, John Lachman, then billed Medicare for durable medical equipment that the patients either did not need or never received, including power wheelchairs and orthotic devices.
Lachman also pleaded guilty in April 2010 to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and was sentenced to 26 months in prison. According to court documents, the fraud scheme at Onward resulted in more than $2 million in fraudulent billing to Medicare.
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