Texas man facing charges of Medicare fraud
Compliance Monitor, April 26, 2006
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A Houston man faces charges of fraud for allegedly falsely billing Medicare for motorized wheelchairs that he never delivered to patients, according to the Fort Bend Herald and Texas Coaster in Rosenberg, TX.
According to the indictment, Anthony Epke Etim, who owned Makey Medical Sales and Supplies a durable medical equipment company, purchased prescriptions and Certificates of Medical Necessity from marketers for between $500 and $1,000. He then billed medicare for motorized wheelchairs costing $6,000, but delivered less expensive scooters to patients that cost between $800 and $1,200.
Etim is also accused of billing patients for enteral supply kits, which are used to deliver nutrition to the patient, but never giving them to the patients. In one year Etim billed Medicare $1.5 million and was paid $1 million. He could face hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and up to 10 years in prison for each of the six counts of healthcare fraud and up to 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud. He is also facing charges of money laundering.
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