Lindsay Whitehurst and Tom Murphy, Associated Press
1 hour ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has charged dozens with multiple medical fraud and prescription drug schemes, including $1.9 billion in fraud and indicting doctors for ordering fake ankle braces for amputated patients. have been indicted, officials said Wednesday.
The scheme, which involves filing about $2 billion in bogus claims, is one of the largest medical fraud cases ever filed by the Justice Department, the agency said. This is one of several announced as part of the crackdown in states across the country.
A total of 78 people were indicted in 16 states in a series of separate cases, including a scheme to buy back HIV drugs from patients and resell the pills.
Federal investigators said the defendants targeted vulnerable people and used the money to buy rare cars, jewelry and yachts. The federal government seized millions of dollars in cash, cars and real estate as part of the crackdown.
“The Department of Justice intends to find and bring to justice criminals who seek to deceive Americans and steal from taxpayer-funded programs,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
In one case in the Southern District of Florida, 20 fraudulent telemedicine claims were submitted to government-funded compensation programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, which primarily target people over the age of 65 and low-income individuals, respectively. Nearly $100 million was found, investigators said. On Wednesday, lawyers for the three men charged in connection with online platform DMERx were not listed, and messages left for the parent company were not immediately responded to.
Investigative sources said the cases involved fake doctor’s order templates for braces and painkillers that were used in exchange for kickbacks and bribes.
In another telemedicine fraud case, prosecutors signed more than 2,800 fraudulent orders involving ankle braces for a patient whose leg was amputated years ago by Washington doctor David Antonio Becerril. announced. It is accused of taking less than 40 seconds to review and sign each order. One of his lawyers, William Poltanova, declined to comment.
Omar Perez Aibar, special agent for the Miami District Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said that in some cases computer software created fake doctor orders and patients never saw a doctor or had a short conversation with a doctor. It is said that they were not exchanged. Universal.
“We had providers and patients all over the country,” he says.
In another case, a Brooklyn man is accused of colluding with others to purchase more than $150 million in prescription drugs, including HIV drugs, from a vendor who bought drugs back from patients. Stephen Diamanstein has been accused of allegedly relabeling drugs for sale. Attorney Zach Intrater said Diamanstein has pleaded not guilty to the charges and that he “looks forward to fighting in court.”
Perez Aybar said the investigation involved the coordination of multiple agencies, including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and state Medicaid anti-fraud divisions.
