Federal authorities indict 10 in alleged $24 million fraud ring
Compliance Monitor, April 6, 2005
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Compliance Monitor!
Ten people in Southern California have been indicted in a $24 million Medicare fraud case that alleges improper billings for power wheelchairs and nutritional supplements that were unnecessary or never received, the San Jose Mercury News reported April 2.
According to the report, federal authorities are alleging that the owner of a Huntington Beach medical supplier, Phu Tan Luong, submitted fraudulent Medicare bills and used the proceeds to buy expensive cars and boats, and pay off a $120,000 casino tab. Two physicians were also indicted for their roles in the alleged scheme, which involved writing the bogus prescriptions that led to more than $24 million in false claims, the Mercury News reported.
Several of Luong's employees were also indicted on charges that they recruited elderly Vietnamese patients and drove them to the physicians' offices, setting up the fraudulent billing. This group also has been accused of intimidating seniors into accepting nutritional supplements they didn't want, the Mercury News reported.
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Compliance Monitor!
Related Products
-
Strategies for Health Care Compliance
News and real-life examples to increase the effectiveness of your compliance program. Strategies for Health Care Compliance...
-
Compliance Monitor
This HTML e-mail newsletter delivers news on Medicare and Medicaid fraud and abuse, as well as recent documents and targets...
-
Medicare Weekly Update
Each issue of Medicare Weekly Update includes the latest CMS proposed and final rules, CMS manual revisions, and...
-
Medicare Update for Physician Services
Medicare Update for Physician Services is a free, monthly e-zine that delivers news and information to help physician...
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Catch up on what's new with injections and infusions
- Identify potential Medicaid RAC target areas
- HIPAA Q&A: Level of encryption needed for email
- Topic: CMS, OESS post new security compliance review information, checklist
- Capturing all necessary codes for IUD insertion and removal can be challenging
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- QA:Coding multiple initial infusions
- E-mailed
-
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- CMS has reformulated payments for some bilateral procedures
- HIPAA Q&A: Level of encryption needed for email
- Q&A: Follow CMS' coding guidelines when using modifier -25
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- Catch up on what's new with injections and infusions
- New conflicts of interest create new challenges
- Q/A. One injection code or two?
- Do not code 57288 with 52000
- Searched