June 28, 2023
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has charged dozens of people in several healthcare fraud and prescription drug schemes, including one totaling $1.9 billion and a doctor accused of ordering fake ankle braces for a patient whose leg had been amputated, officials said Wednesday.
The scheme involving the submission of nearly $2 billion in bogus claims is one of the largest healthcare fraud cases ever brought by the Justice Department, the agency said. It’s one of several announced as part of a crackdown in states around the country.
In total, 78 people in 16 states were charged in a series of separate cases, which also included an alleged scheme to buy back HIV medication from patients and then resell the pills.
The defendants targeted vulnerable people and used the money they made to buy exotic cars, jewelry and yachts, federal investigators said. The federal government seized millions of dollars in cash, automobiles and real estate as part of the crackdown.
“The Justice Department will find and bring to justice criminals who seek to defraud Americans and steal from taxpayer-funded programs,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
Read More
