Whistleblower News
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Aon Corporation Agrees to Pay a $1.76 Million Criminal Penalty to Resolve Violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act—12/20/11
Jan 6
Posted by: Staff | Number of Comments: Comments Off
Category: Whistleblower News | Date Posted: Friday, January 6th, 2012
One of the largest insurance brokerage companies in the world, Aon Corporation, has agreed with the DOJ to pay a $1.76 million penalty to settle violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The agreement states that Aon’s UK subsidiary used funds—given for education and training purposes relating to its reinsurance business with Instituto Nacional De Seguros (INS) in Costa Rica—to reimburse INS officials for travel expenses with their spouses or for other unspecified, non-legitimate business purposes.
Read more at: http://ww…
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Patient Recruiter Pleads Guilty in Health Care Fraud Conspiracy—12/16/11
Jan 4
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Category: Whistleblower News | Date Posted: Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
Alliance Healthcare Services patient recruiter, Ollie Futrell, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge for engaging in a scheme to defraud Medicare and Medicaid, announced the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Her four co-owners also pled guilty last week for their roles in the fraud scheme. The case was the first to be prosecuted by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in Dallas.
Read more at: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/December/11-crm-1657.html…
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Three arrested in $90 million Medicare fraud scheme – 12/14/11
Jan 3
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Category: Whistleblower News | Date Posted: Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012
Three owners of Spectrum Care in West Houston, a mental health care program, were arrested for defrauding Medicare out of $90 million in fake treatments. According to the indictment, Mansour Sanjar, Cyrus Sajadi, and Chandra Nunn’s scheme involved illegal healthcare kickbacks and fraudulent Medicare billings for treatments that amounted to patients “watching movies, playing bingo or engaging in other activities.”
Read more at: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/3-arrested-in-90-million-Medicare-fraud-scheme-2403896.php
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Medtronic to Pay 23.5M for False Claims Settlement—12/13/11
Jan 3
Posted by: Staff | Number of Comments: Comments Off
Category: Whistleblower News | Date Posted: Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012
Medtronic will pay $23.5 million to settle DOJ allegations of illegal kickbacks and wrongful use of cardiac implants, but will not admit any misconduct. DOJ civil division Tony West states, “Kickbacks, like those alleged here, distort sound medical judgments with financial incentives paid for by the taxpayers.” Medtronic’s Dr. Marshall Stanton states that Medtronic is happy to have the investigation behind them.
Read more at: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/12/12/medtronic-to-pay-23-5m-to-settle-kickback-claims/
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Senators Scrutinize CMS over Felons Enrolled in Medicare —12/12/11
Dec 29
Posted by: Staff | Number of Comments: Comments Off
Category: Whistleblower News | Date Posted: Thursday, December 29th, 2011
Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) are questioning the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) ability to protect seniors and taxpayer dollars, when the organization has allowed dozens of convicted felons to enroll in Medicare and bill the government for services. “We believe that the lack of systematic editing, the refusal to implement enhanced oversight of high-risk providers and suppliers, and malleable policy positions are the wrong direction for the Medicare program,” the senators have stated.
Read …
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Home Healthcare Services Booming in Houston, but Violating Regulations—12/03/11
Dec 20
Posted by: Staff | Number of Comments: Comments Off
Category: Whistleblower News | Date Posted: Tuesday, December 20th, 2011
Medicare has given $1.25 billion for home-based health care services in Houston, Texas for over four years. But according to a Houston Chronicle investigation, nearly all the agencies that provide care for the elderly and disabled have violated state and federal regulations. Although declining to provide details due to ongoing investigations, Assistant U.S. Attorney Justo Mendez informed the Chronicle that some companies in Houston bill fraudulently for services not rendered.
Read more at: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Home…
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Olympus Former Chief Executive and Whistleblower Resigns from the Board —12/03/11
Dec 19
Posted by: Staff | Number of Comments: Comments Off
Category: Whistleblower News | Date Posted: Monday, December 19th, 2011
Former chief executive of Japan’s Olympus Corp. has resigned from the board in light of several allegations of a whistleblower. Michael Woodford, who worked at Olympus for three decades, was fired in October after questioning the company’s accounting practices. Upon his departure, Woodford vowed to work with shareholders to replace the company’s board and hopes that the company will come clean about its accounting cover up. Speculation still remains as to the amount that Olympus falsified. The company must submit a proper financial report…
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Diakon’s Erroneous Claims to Medicare Cost Hospice $10.56M—12/02/11
Dec 16
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Category: Whistleblower News | Date Posted: Friday, December 16th, 2011
Diakon Hospice Saint John, which operates hospice care facilities in Pennsylvania, has agreed to pay $10.56 million in a false claims settlement. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and the HHS’ Office of the Inspector General, Diakon erroneously submitted claims to Medicare for hospice care provided to individuals who were not eligible to be beneficiaries at that time. These errors went on from 2004 to 2010. The President of Kiakon, Mark T. Pile, apologized for the “mistakes,” which he claims…
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Fake Doctor Sentenced to Over Five years in Prison—12/02/11
Dec 15
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Category: Whistleblower News | Date Posted: Thursday, December 15th, 2011
Matthew Paul Brown, who posed as a fake doctor for two years in Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to five years and ten months in prison. He was charged for health care fraud and wrongful disclosure of patients’ health information. United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “[u]nlike most fraud cases, which endanger the bank accounts and financial soundness of victims, this defendant’s fraud scheme also placed his victims’ health at risk. While posing as a doctor, he treated over 1,100 patients. His crime defrauded those individual…
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Dorchester Pharmacist Sentenced to 12 months for Medicare and Medicaid Fraud—12/02/11
Dec 14
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Category: Whistleblower News | Date Posted: Wednesday, December 14th, 2011
Dorchester pharmacist Ernest M. McGee was sentenced to 12 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M Gorton, the DOJ reports. The judge also ordered McGee to pay restitution to Medicaid and to Medicare, in the amounts of $292,635 and $60,037 respectively. McGee worked at Codman Square Pharmacy in Dorchester, which was owned by Amadiegwu Onujiogu, who was also convicted separately of the same crime. According to the claims, McGee paid customers to bring prescriptions to the pharmacy, but would not then dispense medications to them. McGe…